Sunday, January 09, 2011

Skyline Drive revisited

Yesterday was a long day of riding to and from Cañon City, Colorado. The purpose was to test out the GoPro HD video camera's capabilities along this road which spans the top of a set of ridges just west of the town.

Cañon City also has several prisons around it and is the site of the Colorado Territorial State Prison founded in 1871; so if you're curious about such things, there's a prison museum there as well.

It's 2.5 hrs of Ural riding, with speeds in the 50s and mid-60s from my home in Centennial, CO, to Skyline Rode. The weather was warm and sunny and I found myself thinking I should have taken Brigitta, my R80 Beemer instead of Natasha.

It would actually warm up to the point I had to shed all the warming layers I had on at the start of the ride!


Or, you can watch it on youtube here:  LINK

I didn't get home till way after sunset, its amazing how puny Natasha's headlight is. It's not just because I run a total-loss electrical system I believe. I remember thinking that even when the alternator was running, that the light seemed weak. Or maybe, it's my old eyes.

Snowing today, though not much expected. 2-4 inches for today, 4-5 for tomorrow. Cut that in half, and you can see, not much; though I am sure it'll snarl traffic up nicely for Monday.

Hope you got a ride in this weekend!

Update: Sunday 9jan2011:  We have snow!  About four inches so far but its tapering off I think, no more than 2-3 more inches by morning.  Just in time to snarl up the morning commute.  On the plus side, it made running errands today much more fun:




14 comments:

cpa3485 said...

What a cool looking ride? Was that road perhaps an old rail line? It doesn't look wide enough to ever have been used by autos.
Nice video, enjoyed it a lot.

Jim

SonjaM said...

I can never get enough of the Skyline Drive. It's on my bucket list. Isn't Colorado supposed to be covered in snow by now?

redlegsrides said...

cpa3485 (Jim), Not an old rail line, not the way it sits on top of a ridgeline....it was apparently a popular scenic overlook. Here's a link to photos (then and now) to give you an idea: LINK. Thanks for the kind words, glad you liked it. I think next time I'll mount the camera higher up so you can see down the cliff sides.

redlegsrides said...

Sonja, as I type, there's perhaps two inches of snow on the ground....waiting for a bit more before heading out to play on the Ural....thanks for visiting.

redlegsrides said...

Sonja, about four inches of snow so far....made for a fun ride to "do errands". I added the video to the posting. What a difference a day makes!

Oz said...

On our summer trip this past year we road right by Skyline Drive. Sure wish we would have taken the time to ride it.

RichardM said...

A great video! Skyline drive, another road in CO that I need to find.

Richard

RichardM said...

So what happened to the new alternator?

Richard

irondad said...

Ok, ok. I'm sorry about insulting hacks. I might have to get one. Then move to somewhere it snows a lot.

Katie, guess what? Call the movers!

Good thing you stopped at one or two donuts. There might have been a video of Miles losing his lunch.

I LOVE Skyline drive! Is it one way to two way traffic. I can just imagine launching along that road on a sleek black FJR!!!!

redlegsrides said...

Motoroz, there's always the next time!

RichardM, let me know when you make it down here to Colorado....I'll show you around. As to the alternator, stupidity on my part, I'll tell you over a beer someday.

Irondad....anytime you're in the neighborhood...

As to going fast on Skyline, you'd definitely launch that FJR of yours....landing could be a bit tricky though.

good to see you're coming around to the side of sidecars...if only momentarily.

dom

SonjaM said...

Running errands with Natasha is just amazing. It will be your fault when I end up as a hack pilot one day (and my better half will not be amused...)

redlegsrides said...

Sonja, enlightenment and year-round riding in all kinds of weather await you in a sidecar rig....your better half can be the monkey and accompany you in the quest. At least, that's how I'd sell it to him if I was you.

dom

Chris said...

Nice ride. The Ural light does suck. Are you still using the stock Ural headlight or did you upgrade to something like a silverstar sealed beam? I just got a conversion kit from sealed beam to H4. My H4 to HID also arrived >:)

PS: congrats on the snow!

-Chris @ everydayriding.org - year round riding in Minnnesota

redlegsrides said...

Chris, headlamp is sealed beam headlight from autoparts store I think...