Blue Sunset

Tonight's sunset clouds presage wet weather inbound, rain is forecast for tomorrow....

Our Latest "Blizzard"

At least for us here in the Metro Denver area, it was a pretty weak blizzard to say the least.

This classic Calvin and Hobbes cartoon strip sums it up for me perfectly.

Source:  LINK

Above photo was shown on FaceBook to celebrate the 

RedlegsRides FB page going over 1000 likes.

First Day of Spring Sunrise

Here's the sunrise we woke to while camping at the Cheyenne Mountain State Park Glen Raptor camp site loop.

I wonder what it augurs in terms of weather for this Spring, what with such a  warm Winter now ended?

Umarang and I broke camp this morning and returned home once again.  It was a nice little camping break from being at the house.  Work got done, but more importantly, decompressing got done by me.

Sunset on the first day of Spring, not so great....here's a couple of shots of Scarlett with the mediocre sunset we had here on the Colorado Front Range (boosted with the IAN effect using Pixlr.

A small herd of Urals on Pikes Peak

So, what does one call a grouping of URAL motorcycles?  You group birds in flocks, crows in murders, fish in schools....hmmm.  Well lets see, URALs don't move that fast compared to other motorcycle brands, they're pretty bulky and draw attention wherever they go....kind of like Bison or Buffalo, so I'll go with herd.

It was, admittedly, a very small herd.  Four sidecar rigs  and one M70 Solo, all made by Ural though and causing a stir wherever we rode by.

Here's a video showing today's riding, a mix of video sequences and still pictures for a change, let's see if you readers like this format or not.

Here's a video of footage shot by Martha, the red gloved rider, using my GoPro camera:

Here's a short video from Tim L, from his helmet-mounted GoPro:

And now, since folks seemed to like the then/now shots from a previous posting, here's one more pair:

In a compare/contrast of conditions on Pikes Peak, here's a shot of one of my usual picture spots at the end of January of this year:

It's been such a warm winter that this is how this same spot looked today, the last day of Winter:

Pikes Peak Views and another Colorado Sunset

This past Sunday was a nice clear and sunny day, mostly, here in the great state of Colorado.

After running an errand, I found myself riding south on Colorado Highway 83 on Scarlett, my 2014 Ural Patrol Sidecar Rig.

Soon enough, we were past Parker and Franktown and motoring south past Castlewood Canyon.  Scarlett was pulling strongly and smoothly and the 1000 Kilometer break-in period for the rebuilt engine passed while riding that morning.

Soon we were past the junction with Lorraine Road and it was time to pose Scarlett with Pikes Peak as the background.

 At the junction of CO Hwy 11 and CO Hwy 83

Fast forward to Tuesday, the 14th of March.  It was yet another very nice sunset for us in the Front Range area of Colorado.  Sunsetwx had called for a rather weak sunset but my view of the clouds about 30 minutes before sunset said otherwise, so I took a chance.

 First it was the brilliant yellow colors soon after the sun dropped

down below the Front Range mountains.

 A brief period of brilliant orange colors

 As the sun moved further west, reds replaced the yellow and oranges

reflected in the clouds overhead.

 Pano of the clouds and the Front Range skyline

A short video panning the width and breath of the Front Range from the spot where Scarlett and I were located.

Like these sunset pics?  Check out the previous posting for Monday's Sunset pictures.

Previous post: A Glorious Colorado Winter Sunset

A Glorious Colorado Winter Sunset

Sunsetwx.com nailed it this evening, forecasting a good sunset potential for us here in the Colorado Front Range area.

Winter seems to be winding down early for us while the northeast part of the country on the other hand is expecting a major snow storm!

Lots of clouds up high to reflect the setting sun and no low lying clouds hovering just above the peaks of the Front Range mountains to block the sun.

Skyline Drive Memories

Many is the time that I've ridden one of my motorcycles over to Cañon City, Colorado with the express purposes of enjoying the riding and scenery of nearby Skyline Drive.

Created by prison labor I read somewhere, it is laid astride a hogback ridge next to the town itself.

All paved, but a bit narrow, it's a one-way road which one can take to enjoy the scenery or to dare the fates as the edges of the road are quite near.

It's a nice little road to ride when in the area; whether visiting the state's prison museum or a few miles down the road, the Royal Gorge Bridge.  

US Highway 50 goes right by Skyline Drive if one is crossing the state in a more sedate manner than the super slab known as I-70 further to the north of the state.

Here's a compendium of photos from some of the rides I've done over the years:

Some of you may have missed it when I first published this video of riding this neat road.

Just a ride down memory lane.

Thursday Sunset

I installed an adjustable voltage regulator on Brigitta Thursday afternoon, hoping to get a reading close to 14V while riding at speed.  Like Fiona, my Bural with the '84 R80 Beemer engine, Brigitta's alternator is pretty anemic.

After a few attempts (each involving removal of the gas tank), I think I got the new voltage regulator putting out enough that I read at least 13.6V on the analog volt meter from VDO.  Not quite as accurate as a digital voltmeter and it reads 1 volt less than actual due to how it's wired up.

Before the new voltage regulator, it was reading perhaps 13.2V or so.

We'll see how that works out.  As I was doing the test rides though, the sunset potential looked pretty good so I switched to Scarlett, my 2014 Ural Patrol for sunset pictures.

 Soon after sun went behind the Front Range Mountains

 Several minutes after sunset

Sunday Ride for Brigitta, Sunset for Scarlett

It was Brigitta's turn for some exercise this Sunday morning, a bit windy but not cold.  Cloudy skies with gaps allowing the sunshine through every once in a while.

Headed south on Colorado Highway 83, through Parker, through Franktown and down some nice pavement with really nice sweeping curves keeping things interesting while the wind tried to push us outside our lane.

First stop was just past Castlewood Canyon, on a turn off from the state highway.  It was here that I realized I'd forgotten to put the memory card back into my Sony A5000 camera.  I had to make do with my iPhone 6's camera.

Continuing south towards the new preferred spot for posing motorcycles with Pikes Peak in the background:

Brigitta and I will have to return another day, with the real camera.  The telephoto abilities of the iphone 6 proved "lacking" today.

That evening, Scarlett (now much quieter since I reseated and tightened the muffler) and I motored towards the usual Sunset viewing spot.  Sunsetwx had predicted a pretty good sunset potential:

Warmer colors mean better sunset potentials

Things started in a promising manner:

As darkness fell with the sun setting behind the Front Range Mountains, I was starting to think that sunsetwx was going to be wrong this time about the sunset.

Then, the magic happened.  The light from the sun shone out fiercely from behind Mount Evans, casting a red/orange glow that looked like fire.

Soon, it turned into quite the light show, with Mount Evans being the main attraction.  

 Longs Peak was looking good as well

As the above light show developed, cars were stopping near me to take pictures; one idiot nearly got himself run over  by standing in the middle of the damn road taking pictures, in the deepening darkness, with cars coming at him.

I yelled at him, which apparently gave him a clue to his stupidity, he saw the cars headed his way, and he hurried back to his car.  Idiot.

Moron aside, it was a great ending to a nice day of riding.  A bit windy but apparently Monday is going to be even worse with Wind Warnings in effect for our area.  

Here's a video featuring the above pictures, hope you like it.