Sunrise at the Limekiln Peak BLM area.
Four Ural Sidecar rigs along with 6 Uralisti (four Riders, two monkeys) rode out of the Best Western hotel parking lot near Monte Vista, CO and headed west on US160 towards Del Norte.
After tanking up in Del Norte, it was a short ride to County Road 14 which would take us through some pretty spectacular scenery as we rode what would be over 150 km (90 Miles) of mostly dirt road, up a mountain, near another, and acres upon acres of Aspen trees in the midst of the largest Pine Beetle kill area I'd seen in quite a while.
First we would cruise to near the base of Grayback Mountain where we could see some kind of structure and antenna installed up there.
photo courtesy of Tim L.
Before nearing Grayback Mountain
photo courtesy of Jay and Deana
photo courtesy of Jay and Deana
Though it looked pretty steep going, the road which seemed to lead to the top of Grayback Mountain to be quite Uralable. Very rocky and narrow but quite doable. In a short while, all four rigs were on the top.
Tim L. places a new rock on top of the pile we found at
the top of the mountain.
Uralisti atop Grayback Mountain
photo courtesy of Tim L.
photo courtesy of Tim L.
Deana and Jay
photo courtesy of John and Cookie S.
A view of the top of Grayback Mountain
A view of the rock pile
photo courtesy of Jay and Deana
Jay, doing his signature heroic pose
photo courtesy of John and Cookie S.
Group pics at the top of Grayback Mountain
photo courtesy of Tim L.
photo courtesy of Tim L.
Deana, on the way down the mountain
photo courtesy of Jay and Deana
Just look at that view
photo courtesy of Jay and Deana
Fiona
Deana and Jay coming off the top of Grayback Mtn
photo courtesy of John and Cookie S.
photo courtesy of Tim L.
Our first picture stop to capture the colors of Lookout Mountain
I stopped for one more, while the group motored on ahead.
We later stopped at an overlook named Alamosa Canyon overlook, or something like that. It gave us good views not only of Lookout Mountain but also:
Jay and Deana
photo courtesy of John and Cookie S.
Little and Big Red Mountain
Lookout Mountain
photo courtesy of Jay and Deana
photo courtesy of Jay and Deana
Some more riding, and given that we were making good time and the weather had turned sunny, we took a little detour to check out the Mix Lake Reservoir near the town of Platoro.
photo courtesy of Jay and Deana
photo courtesy of Jay and Deana
photo courtesy of John and Cookie S.
It was while at the reservoir that I decided to tape a rock to the left throttle cable going to the carburetor to keep it from "hanging up" in the throttle control housing and causing the RPMs to not go down when the clutch lever is pulled in for a stop.
The experiment worked, no more hanging high RPMs!
We continued riding along enjoying the scenery and the weather, another stop found us at the edge of a beautiful valley:
Soon it was time to head back towards Monte Vista which at this point was about 40 or so miles away.
But first, a sub-14 minute interlude, during which Uralista Tim L. dealt swiftly with a punctured pusher tire on his rig:
photo courtesy of Jay and Deana
photo courtesy of John and Cookie S.
photo courtesy of John and Cookie S.
photo courtesy of Jay and Deana
This interlude would prove quite providential to us. We felt rain drops soon after the tire incident and everyone geared up with associated rain gear. I had failed to bring mine and looked to have a cold ride back to the camp!
Luckily, the delay, caused us instead to chase the storm which deluged Monte Vita according to the locals instead of being under the heavy rainfall! Lucky huh?
We got back safe and sound, and pretty much dry. We would have dinner at the restaurant next to the hotel where the group was staying and had a great after ride round of drinks and dinner.
I rode home after dinner, in the dark again, and a bit chilly but no problems other than that.
Here’s a link provided by Jay B. Showing the need output of the “relive” app....I’m definitely looking into getting and using this app. Click the pic below, it shows the route we took with Jay’s pics inserted at each stop.
Luckily, the delay, caused us instead to chase the storm which deluged Monte Vita according to the locals instead of being under the heavy rainfall! Lucky huh?
We got back safe and sound, and pretty much dry. We would have dinner at the restaurant next to the hotel where the group was staying and had a great after ride round of drinks and dinner.
I rode home after dinner, in the dark again, and a bit chilly but no problems other than that.
Here’s a link provided by Jay B. Showing the need output of the “relive” app....I’m definitely looking into getting and using this app. Click the pic below, it shows the route we took with Jay’s pics inserted at each stop.
11 comments:
The sunset colours are amazing, did you tweak them a bit?
Looks like so much fun, you all riding together. The camera seems to be able to balance out most of the shaky ride. Love the posing ;-)
Danke SonjaM, re the colors of the sunrise, not so much tweak as eliminating the shadows...the raw file is quite dark....
Failed to bring a rainsuit.... I've heard of that happening. Often it happens to aging riders in a post-retirement fog.
The ride through the aspens and up onto Grayback Mountain with friends looks like a fantastic experience. It was hard to appreciate the roughness and steepness of the road up and down the mountain until I watched the video. Really gives a picture of the jostling about. Seems like a URAL killing road. Fortunate to get away with a single tire puncture.
Glad you're having fun boondocking and riding. Can it get any better?
Hold off winter weather as long as you can.
Yeah, getting sloppy in my old age I guess....Steve.
It was a great day of riding and camaraderie. Winter will bring cold but also snow-capped mountain peaks so it's all good.
Posting has been updated with selected pics from all involved Uralisti...please enjoy
It’s been a while since you’ve posted about a Ural group ride. I like the rock...
Apparently a couple of years since the last group ride RichardM. Scheduling is major culprit I think. I was disappointed that more of the newbie owners of Urals in the Metro Denver area didn't join us but what can you do right?
Great to see a group of friends/sidecarists enjoying the beautiful mountains of your great state.
Very interesting app , Relive.
Indeed, CCjon, it has potential, the free version. You have to remember to pause it when stopped for a while though....you have to pay for the "editable" version it seems so pics you take when it's not paused, get inserted into the trip whether you wanted them or not.
A small but might group, what fun it was. I especially like the video and the ride up Gray Back radio tower road which we almost pasted by. Rio Grande NF is a fanominal place. Myself and the bike aches, rattles, clunks and yaws more than it did before but ready to go again with group anywhere
It was a great group ride....just the right number I thought. Perhaps others will join the next group ride.
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