Scarlett and the First Day of Spring

I retrieved Scarlett from the URAL dealer in Fort Collins on the 17th of the month, it snowed on me on the way up and on the way down.

Randy, the dealer, had coordinated the return of the malfunctioning gearbox to URAL HQ in Redmond, WA.  Here's what I got from Jason, the VP in charge of operations and support:

Sergey is not positive what could have caused the bearing failure. It is possible the bearing may have been defective and/or damaged during installation.
We have completed the repair of your gearbox and it has been shipped back to Randy.
Sergey replaced the rear cover, bearings, seals, and also the main shaft.

I'd not had a chance to give Scarlett and extended test ride till yesterday, Sunday the 20th of March or the First day of Spring.

Scarlett and I, motored out of the neighborhood shortly before 9:00 AM I think and headed through the morass that is the Metro Denver area to the town of Morrison, CO where I fueled her up.  We took Bear Creek Canyon road to twist and turn our way through the sleepy towns of Idledale, Kittredge and Evergreen.

Bear Creek Canyon Road

At Evergreen, I got on CO Highway 74 towards the eastern end of CO Highway 103 aka Squaw Pass Road.  I wanted to see how the recent snowfall had improved the scenery.

The road quickly became snow-packed with rare clear patches of road where the sun had melted the snow away; it was quite slicker in the areas where trees and the mountain itself had kept the snow in the shadows! Ironically, the higher we went, the better the roads got....sun exposure I suppose.

Still, traffic was very light and I would pull over when I could to let them pass so I could pick my photo op sites with care and not worry about some tailgating cager behind me.

 Snow decorated trees at a hairpin turn along Squaw Pass Road

 First good views of the top of Mount Evans

The road up to the top is closed for the season

I cruised by Echo Lake but chose not to stop for pictures, sorry.  Scarlett and I then plunged downwards, twisting and turning our way down the western half of CO103 until we arrived at the town of Idaho Spring.

Though traffic on the I-70 Super Slab didn't look too bad, it was heavy enough to cause Scarlett and I to take the usual frontage roads all the way to Georgetown, CO.

From there, there's no real choice, so we got on the slab and motored as the second slowest vehicle all the way to the junction with US Highway 6 or Loveland Pass Road where we got off to enjoy the sights leading up the pass summit.

 View of nearby mountain peaks from the first major hairpin turn

on the way up to the summit of Loveland Pass

 Just before the summit of Loveland Pass

 Above is about the midway point between the summit of Loveland Pass

and the Arapahoe Basin ski resort

 A view of the Arapahoe Basin Ski Resort

 A view to the west of the summit

 You can almost see the cars parked at the summit

One last shot of the view to the west from the summit parking lot.

An incredibly gorgeous and clear blue sky as you can see from the pictures.  Scarlett and I took I-70 eastbound all the way back to the high plains desert that is the Metro Denver area.  No snow-covered landscapes here.  

Hope you were able to get a ride in, wherever you are located, this first day of Spring.  I expect I'll start seeing more motorcycles on the road now, coming out of hibernation.

Fiona update:  She's all put back together, engine is running but needs some tweaking.  Awaiting a modified clutch cable as the one she's presently got is too tight and causing the clutch disk to slip.  That's the theory anyways, we'll see when I get the cable and put it on.