By the end of the my day's riding with them, the nickname of "The Three Amigos" popped into my brain and stuck. Great day of riding my new friends, safe travels!
We rode Skyline Drive one more time, this time in broad day for pictures and this video:
The nearby Royal Gorge Bridge was a "must see" stop by the trio, however, last year's fires had destroyed most of buildings I told them and one had to pay and ride a bus to see the bridge. CCjon decided as we headed on westbound US50 to try for a shot of the bridge from the southern entrance to the site.
The paved way to the south end was closed by a gate. Not deterred, the four of us left the rigs parked near the gate and we hiked 17 "ural" miles to get the below view. (note: it was closer to a bit over 1 mile but rough and steep terrain was negotiated, I assure you).
The Royal Gorge Bridge, from near the southern end
We made our way to our sidecar rigs, and saw, with some chagrin, that somehow there was a touring company with tour trucks shuttling tourists over the road that had been barred to us! Oh well, we go the view for free and it makes for a better story.
Royal Gorge Bridge checked off the list, we motored on US50 West, enjoying the twists and turns of the road as it follows the course of the Arkansas River. Views of the high rocky canyon walls, the raging waters of the Arkansas River, with boatloads of tourists braving the swift currents and bright sunny conditions made a great ride all the way to Salida, CO
We left CCjon there to rest a bit and Lokiboy, Muzzleflash and myself took a short set of rides. First was north on US285 from Salida for a quick photo op of the Collegiate Peaks. The bright sun made for flat picture taking though. My photos didn't come out, hopefully the other guys had better luck.
Then we rode south on US285, gassed up at Poncha Springs then headed south towards Poncha Pass and one's first view of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains at the border with Saguache County.
We experienced major UDF at this point, when joined by a couple in a spiffy BMW 1200GS with Dauntless Sidecar, a '71 Beemer R75 Airhead and his traveling companion on what looked like a Harley Davidson.
The requisite picture of the summit's sign
Muzzleblast then used some app on his smartphone called findmyfriends or something like that we located CCjon's current destination, a park in Salida. Shortly afterwards, we all were together and I said my goodbyes to the "Three Amigos"
CCjon, Muzzleflash and Lokiboy
Safe Travels my friends, safe travels!
I rushed home, made it there in just over three hours with no issues, Scarlett pulling strong on the hills, fighting head-on winds and rushing cagers with elan and aplomb.
Long day, mostly in the saddle, but well worth it to have meet my new friends.
5 comments:
17:1 conversion factor for Ural miles… You must've ridden almost a million Ural miles by now…
Nice write-up of meeting the C2C50 contingent.
Dom, thanks for riding along with the three amigos, if only for a day. Until another day, another time, Vaya con Dios.
CCjon
RichardM, hah...that conversion factor only applies when on foot away from one's beloved rig.
CCjon....took a while but we finally met up....it was fun...tell the guys if they are near Denver on the way back to drop me a line....there's room at Casa Chang
Dom:
You had me at 17 Ural miles. No way I could hike in my riding boots. What do you mean about your photos not turning out ? Too bright ?
One day I hope to get to Skyline drive. It's always a nice day when riding and meeting new friends
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
Bobskoot, yeah....the light made the Collegiate Peaks look flat and uninteresting....even more than usual when without snow....
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