Snowy Sunday Riding

Our weather guessers predicted correctly that we'd get a couple of  inches of snow overnight.  I left the house shortly after 8:00AM, the sun bright in the sky already, and a brisk 15°F keeping the snow dry and crunchy underneath Yoshie's wheels.

I first wandered down towards Grandview High School hoping for a nice show of snow-laden trees but it was not to be today.  There was however a nicely lit gazebo amidst a few trees in a field near the roadside.

I next rode back up north towards Quincy Road and took it east towards the Aurora Reservoir and Aurora Park Horse Racing Track.  The place was deserted of course, it being a Sunday morning after all.  I was able to pose Yoshie with Mount Evans in the background:

The shooting angle kind of makes it like Yoshie is in the middle

of nowhere, doesn't it?

Heading southwards once again, I rode into the Antelope Neighborhood, got onto Ireland Way and this time continued onwards as the road became Travois Trail, leading to the Travois Neighborhood.  The road eventually dumps one onto Inspiration Drive.

I wandered south of this road along its dirt neighborhood roads, and came upon this nice view of a tree-framed snowy trail:

Piney Creek Road

As I was riding along, I spotted where someone had located an old fashioned horse drawn wagon, the sun was hitting it just right:

My camera's battery was nearing empty at this point so I made my way back to Inspiration Drive which I rode back towards County Line Road which I used to ride along the border trail belonging to the Blackstone Country Club.  I found the spot where I'd posed Stewie, my loving wife's scooter just shy of 24 hours ago and shot today's final shot:

Prairie near the Blackstone Country Club

The little amount of snow we got was already melting away on the main roads, I am pretty sure the roads will be dry by this afternoon.  I'd say we got just about the right amount of snow, wouldn't you?

Exercising Stewie

Martha, does not seem to have caught the penchant to ride in the cold or iffy traction conditions that I tend to prefer riding in.  Go figure.

Alas, it's been a while since Stewart, or Stewie as she calls him, her 125cc Genuine Buddy scooter had gotten some exercise.  So after cleanup chores were done in the garage this morning, I took Stewie out for a ride in brisk low 30s temperature.  I did find its battery completely dead, apparently the key had been left in the "on" position.  This is actually something very easy to do, bad design on the part of Genuine's ignition keylock supplier in my opinion.  No problem though, I deployed the scoot's kick-starter and after a few kicks, was off and running.

I buzzed around the neighborhood roads, past the 1 mile mark where her high school is located where she works as the school nurse.  I continued northward on Picadilly, past the open fields and subsequent neighboring housing developments until I reached the Plains Conservation Center where I posed Stewie:

 There's predictions of snow for the metro area by tomorrow,

here you can see the incoming weather.

At the Plains Conservation Center

I then headed east towards Gun Club Road and took it past the Southlands Mall area to Smoky Hill Road which I took west towards the Blackstone Country Club area.  Stewie got a little taste of dirt trail riding as he somewhat bumpily (not much suspension on scooters) but we got to my usual picture taking spot with no issues.

Near the Blackstone Country Club

The incoming weather's clouds had by now completely obscured the view one can get of Mount Evans so I headed on home by back roads instead of Smoky Hill Road.  Even through the thick gloves I was wearing, I was starting to feel the cold in my fingers and so I only rode about 20 miles.

Still, that's about 10% of the total mileage on this scoot, so good exercise, and no need to put Stabil in the gas tank.  I'll just make it part of the monthly maintenance routine to ensure Stewie gets a few miles of riding in.

Brigitta's first ride of 2012 and a milestone for her.

Those of you who viewed my "year in pictures" movie in my last posting of the year might have gotten the impression I was riding my sidecar rig far more often than my '87 Beemer R80 Airhead Brigitta.  The mileage figures sure point to it but in my defense, I did ride her a lot while commuting to/from work!

Today, it was sunny and "warmish" here in Colorado and there was enough pavement visible on the road out of the neighborhood so I could take Brigitta out for a ride.  The idea was to get in at least 50 miles or more in order to warm up the transmission enough to "boil off" any water that might have collected in the gearbox due to condensation.

I set off from home and headed towards the towns of Elizabeth and Kiowa to re-acquaint myself with riding on two wheels.  It felt a bit strange yet good at first, having more acceleration and nimbleness than when on a sidecar rig!

The miles rolled by as Brigitta and I got used to each again, settling into a familiar and comfortable riding experience.

Near Elizabeth, CO, I brought Brigitta to a stop by the side of the 

road as her odometer roller over to 94,000 miles!

(I put about 43,000 of those miles myself)

Past Kiowa and its water tower, I turned off onto Freese Road, a county dirt road to do some exploring.  I would end up meandering hither and yon on diverse county roads which bordered what were mostly horse and cattle ranches.  I couldn't, go faster than 35mph, but it was fast enough to allow an enjoyable exploration of these county roads.

 Rode over a hill's crest and found a small herd of Buffalo just grazing

by the side of the road!

 They all kept a wary eye on me as I took photos but stayed 

basically within 25 feet of me the whole time.

 Above and below, some of the lonely prairie scenery one can

enjoy while riding the eastern plains of Colorado.

I finally meandered enough and found my way back to Kiowa by spotting it's water tower in the far distance and using it as a guide to get me back onto CO86.

I motored along at a much faster and easier rate now that I was back on pavement and was soon nearing my home neighborhoods.  It was then that I noticed my turn signals were not working anymore.  I pulled over at a housing development and found that not only were my turn signals out but so was my brake light!  Not good.

I checked the two fuses located on the frame to the rear of the gas tank and found one was blown.  No problem, I replaced it with a spare and continued onwards.

Less than a mile later while signaling left and making a turn, I noted I lost the turn signals again.  Dammit.

Again I pulled over, and again I put in a new fuse to replace the one that had blown.  This second fuse lasted me a bit longer but still it blew within blocks of home.  I noted it seemed to be related to me using the left turn signal.  I got her home without incident and some troubleshooting later, found a loose electrical coupler!

Its purpose is to link the wiring from the headlight bucket and turn signals to the main wiring harness of the Beemer.  It had probably vibrated loose in all the washboarded dirt roads I'd been riding on.  I secured it back into position, made sure I have all the lights I need to ride safely and buttoned her up.

Not bad for a first ride of the year wouldn't you say?  Some good picture opportunities, nice weather to ride in and just a little taste of electrical gremlins by Brigitta to remind me to ride her more often!

First Ride of 2012

This morning I met up with fellow Uralisti John S. aka Spat who rode his immaculately white Ural Patrol and Julie and Craig H on their Winter Camo Arctic Patrol.  We had a leisurely breakfast at the Red Rock Grille in Morrison and caught up on things as it had been a while since we'd all ridden together.

After breakfast, we left the Morrison area and planned to ride to Sphinx Park and the Bucksnort Saloon area just to get in a short but quick first day of the year ride.  They all had social commitments this afternoon so we chose a nearby destination.

At the Red Rock Grille, getting ready to ride in the cold.

The temperature was around 32°F at this point.

We rode west out of Morrison along Bear Creek Canyon Road heading towards Evergreen.  The small towns of Idledale and Kittredge were transited with no issues and in very light traffic.  The sun was out and painting the rocky canyon walls along the way very nicely.

Once in Evergreen, we turned south along CO73 heading towards it's junction with US285 in Conifer.  After a brief stint on US285, we arrived at Pine Junction and from there took CO126 southwards towards Sphinx Park.

CO126 is a downward trending, twisty as heck road at times, two lane highway that lets one plunge down towards the South Platte River valley area.  It was quite enjoyable as traffic was pretty much non-existent and we could cruise at our pace without worrying about cagers piling up too much behind us.

From Sphinx Park, we took the South Elk Creek Rd which winds you through thick pine forests and eventually drops you off back at US285 somewhere east of Pine Junction.  It's a nice little twisty loop for those so inclined.

 Here's where we parted ways with Craig and Julie, they were going to

go home via Deer Creek Canyon road.

Now, even with all the gear on, don't they look like a happy couple?

Spat and I went our own way on US285 back towards Conifer and its junction with CO73.  We were retracing the route out as I'd seen a possible location for some photos.  I stopped at the Flying J Ranch Open Space Park and we got a few photos and the short movie.

 The road looks clear here but behind us were large patches of 

ice covering the road.

Close to the park's parking lot, the road was, as you can see, 

covered in hard-packed snow.

John and I parted ways at the intersection of CO73 and North Turkey Creek Road.  I continued wandering about at bit, eventually taking this last picture of  the day from a road called Skyline Drive.

That's Mount Evans in the distance

I got back to Evergreen and took CO74 back towards Kittredge.  It was there that I took the Parmalee Gulch Rd southwards once more.  This is another nice little twisty two lane road in the mountains which links CO74 with US285.

Once I was back on US285, I took it homewards.  First ride of the year is in the books so to speak, I hope you got a chance to ride today!