Five Urals and One Strom Rig challenge the Elephant Ride

We woke to temperatures in the low teens this Sunday morning, and it felt quite "brisk" as I rode across the Denver Metro Area to meet with what would turn out to be five Ural Sidecar Rigs at the gas station just outside the town of Morrison, Colorado.

The gathering of the rigs

We left the gas station by 08:30 AM and a bit short of an hour later, we'd ridden along US285 to the town of Grant, Colorado.  The road was nice and dry and strangely, the weather also felt warmer in Grant than it did in Morrison!

The rigs at Grant, Colorado

The strangest vehicle I saw today that would try the Elephant Ride

As folks made pit stops and sorted out their gear/rig.  I fastened three chain links to my pusher tire, double-secured them with some 550 cord (aka parachute cord) to prevent their moving sideways.  It's called, by the way, 550 cord because military specifications call for it to have a breaking strength of 550 pounds.

My rig ready as it ever would be, the six rigs got lined up and off we went up the Guanella Pass Road to see how far we'd get.  I have to say, there really was not much snow on the road when compared to previous years.  We all made good time and really had no issues with what snow we did find except for a couple of spots and even then, no real problem.

We took a break at the last hairpin turn and girded our loins for the upcoming last portion of road before the dreaded "snow drift" that had stopped us on my first Elephant Ride.

Craig H and his 2007 Ural Gear-Up

The last stretch of snow-covered road before the "snow drift"

Here's a picture from the 2010 Elephant Ride which gives you an idea of the snow drift that stopped the Ural rigs that time.  I am happy to report that this year, not only did all the Ural Rigs make it across, but so did Yoshie, my V-Strom Sidecar Rig!  Sure, there was some assistance required for the rigs to make it across as you can see in the videos but it's progress!

Craig H and his Gear-UP would be the first Ural to make the attempt

Nick, one of the new Uralisti I met today, had a bit of a mishap as he attempted the snow drift above.  We believe his sidecar wheel hit some hard bump buried in the drift and it caught air, causing the tug to fall over onto it's left side.  Nick adroitly came off the tug, did a couple of rolls, stood up and helped right his rig.

Nick's rig goes onto its side

Above video courtesy of Deana and Jay



Above and below videos courtesy of Deana and Jay






Above video courtesy of Deana and Jay

Once we had all the rigs past the drift, we had to stop to give Nick some time to troubleshoot his Ural.  Its engine was having a lot of trouble staying running.  After a bit of fiddling and trial and error, he got it running but very weakly.  He decided to turn around and we got him across the snow drift and he headed on down the mountain.

The remaining five rigs continued onwards, but not even 200 yards further down the road, there was this large field of snow.  John aka Spat and Cookie, on their white Ural, sped up and came to a dead stop in the midst of this snow mass, stuck.  They would mark the furthest point of progress for our rigs.  Still, we'd finally conquered the snow drift and we could see the gate!  You see, the Forest Service closes the road to the pass for the Winter, and the the gate is the point our rigs had tried to reach each of the previous years.

 Dead Stop....we ended up hooking a tow strap to Spat's rig 

and we pulled it out of the snow trap.

 You can see how close we were to the Forest Service Gate!

 A closer view of  the Forest Service Gate, closing the way

to Guanella Pass during the Winter.

Deana entertained us while we rested for a bit
video courtesy of Deana and Jay

The rest of the rigs, resting as we caught our collective breath

after pulling Spat's Rig out of the deep snow.  It was also quite warm up there, 

several of us doffed layers as it was almost 49°F up on the mountain!

Above video courtesy of Deana and Jay

It was hard to breath at altitude, and each time we helped each other with a stuck rig, we'd spend some minutes just gasping for breath.  Soon enough, it was time to turn our rigs around, and travel the 200 yards back to the snow drift.  Perhaps it was because now we were headed downhill but all the rigs managed to traverse the drift with no issues and more important, no assistance needed!

Coming back across the snow drift

photo courtesy of Spat and Cookie

above video courtesy of Deana and Jay

Our rigs, back across the snow drift.

We all rode back down the hill towards the hairpin turn where we'd paused beforehand, to take a group picture and to chat with some fellow riders who'd gathered there to watch the festivities.

 As you can see, Deana had the guys eating out of her hand!

photo courtesy Deana and Jay

The Uralisti and one Stromtrooper 

We made our way down the mountain with no issues, passing a couple of the dirt bikes that had preceded us since they had to go slower than what our rigs could do.  Before long, we were all gathered back at Grant, Colorado but no sign of Nick whom we thought would be waiting for us in town.  We would later hear from him via email saying he'd gotten home safely.

Back in the town of Grant

photo courtesy Deana and Jay

We rode on, five rigs strong, to the town of Bailey where we had a late lunch at the Cutthroat Cafe.  A nice meal and a chance to thaw out a bit, can't beat that.  And now, a "then and now" shot of the building next to where we had lunch today:

Bailey between 1950-1960 x-7156

Photo courtesy of Denver Public Library

Bailey, 2012

Uralisti gearing up for the ride back to Denver

We would encounter quite the snow storm between Conifer, Colorado and the town of Morrison as we rode along US285.  No big deal but there was need for constant clearing of one's visor as the snow and ice formed  on it.

Once past Morrison, the snow stopped and it was a cool 29°F in the Denver Metro Area as we waved goodbye to each other as folks took different exits from US285.  I would stay on US285, crossing the metro area and soon arriving at my home neighborhoods by way of Parker Road.

A great day of riding, got to meet two new Uralisti, rode again with almost the entire Denver Area Uralisti contingent and all rigs made it home safe.  Here's a compilation video of the road conditions on the way up, through the drift, and back down the mountain:

Hope you got some riding in today.

Update: 14FEB12: Yesterday, there were 1590 views of the examiner.com article.....best ever showing for one of my postings!  Thanks for those of you who visited the link to it.

Snowy Deer Creek Canyon

A bright sunny day here in Colorado, with temperatures in the low 20s as I left the house shortly before 9:00AM enroute to the Denver Tech Center (DTC) where I had some work to do.

Today's view of part of my cul-de-sac, to give you

an idea of the amount of snow we had to deal with.

Work done by Noon, I wandered about the usual spots in the DTC, posing Yoshie here and there as the light and snow accumulations suggested:

 The entrance to Westlands Park in the DTC was well thought out, don't you think?

Snowy Parking Lot in the DTC

I rode south till I got to County Line Road and then I headed West along it until I stopped by the Harley Davidson dealership near Santa Fe Road.  I was riding about, looking for a good spot to capture the foothills of the Front Range and saw this metal sculpture:

At the Harley Dealership

I found a good spot near where the above sculpture is located to show you a view of the "Foothills".

 The Foothills of the Front Range

Zooming in on a portion of the Foothills.

Turning South on Santa Fe Drive, I was soon going fast on the C-470 Super Slab but only for a short while, exiting at the Wadsworth Blvd exit and cutting south to Deer Creek Canyon Road.

Deer Creek Canyon is a lovely two lane road which twists and turns along Deer Creek and is bordered on both sides by tall rocky canyon walls of brown and red rock.  The road was surprisingly clear of snow and ice, with only one spot that a two-wheeled motorcycle would only have to traverse slowly.

My first stop was Deer Creek Canyon Park where houses dwell amongst some lovely rock formations, partially covered after the recent storm with snow, appearing as if coated in white frosting.

 Panographic view within Deer Creek Canyon Park

The hills of Deer Creek Canyon, you can see the 

Lockheed Martin Office Building in the distance.

I exited the park and continued heading into Deer Creek Canyon, enjoying the almost non-existent traffic as I slowly rode the twists and turns, enjoying the view of snow-covered pine trees and snow-covered rock formations:

 Some of the curves on Deer Creek Canyon Road

I turned north at the junction of Deer Creek Canyon Road and South Valley Road, now heading North towards the South Valley Park.  You can see interesting red rock formations to the East of the road as you make your way to the park.  There's plenty of hiking trails and even today, one could see trails cutting through the deep snow made by hikers.

South Valley Park

It was in the low 30s by this point but it was time for me to head home.  Once home, I washed Yoshie down to get rid of all the magnesium chloride which had gotten on her due to road spray.  The brilliant sun you see, was melting the snow we'd gotten over the last two days and the roads were wet with water.

Pretty good day for riding, I hope you got a ride in.

Post-Snow Storm Riding

Starting Thursday evening, the Denver Metro area was treated to a pretty strong snow storm with what would end up about being very large amounts of snow being deposited.

I figure we got about 12 inches of snow at least with drifts topping almost 20 inches in portions of my neighborhood cul-de-sac.  I spent part of Friday, while working from home, watching the seemingly endless snow fall and soon filling in where I had been clearing snow with my snow blower.  As night fell, it almost looked like I'd not done anything, the cul-de-sac was covered in white once again.

I did got out briefly during lunch and found myself losing ground clearance almost immediately.  Yoshie struggled, even with her snow tire, to ride up the slight incline leading to my house!  It was deep, wet, heavy snow and the conditions were what I am expecting at the upcoming Elephant Ride.  Tried all my snow-riding techniques, really didn't get very far.

This morning, I spent the morning working to clear a path out of the cul-de-sac and helping out the neighbors who didn't have a snow blower.  I got a little carried away with the snow-blowing but by noon, the way was clear for everyone.

Noon, Saturday

Given Friday's dismal performance by Yoshie in the really deep snow, I made a few modifications.  First I removed her "skid plate" which gave got me about an inch or more of clearance.  I figured the plate had caused Yoshie to start "floating" or "high-centering" easy with the deep stuff.  

The next thing I did was to remove the BestemUSA top case from Yoshie's cargo rack and instead strapped the Deep Cycle Marine Battery for it's 57 pounds of weight.  I also added and old jack and carrying case to the pillion seat, so perhaps 70 pounds total.

The idea here was to put more weight over the rear axle so the pusher tire get more bite.

I'm also working on an idea to rig up small bike-type panniers for the front wheel, put some weight over the front axle so it gets some bite but we'll see.

After lunch I went riding, snow levels were much lower as traffic had packed down the loose stuff.  Still, there were "moments" when Yoshie lost a bit of traction but she quickly grabbed more and we continued onwards. I cruised through the neighborhoods and made my way out to the eastern prairies along County Line Road.

The main roads were nice and clear, with only sporadic patches of slushy/melting ice and snow which would begin building up on Yoshie's lower structures.  I learned after a while to avoid the slushy stuff which although fun to splash through, would build up and FREEZE on the front of my boots and lower leg.  Usually, this is not an issue except when enough ice builds up and you can't flex enough to actuate the rear brake pedal!

The sun was out, the skies were mostly clear and the prairies were covered in snow.  The temperatures were in the low to mid 20's but it felt much warmer.

Eastern Prairie

I wandered east and south for a bit along county roads but alas, not much in the way of picture opportunities. I made my way back home and shot these pictures before I washed all the ice and frozen slush off of Yoshie.

 A bit of ice accumulation, wouldn't you agree?

I liked the ice crystal spikes that formed from 

centrifugal force forcing melted slush away from the hub 

before the air froze them solid.

I hope to get some more riding in tomorrow, got an errand to run but it shouldn't take too long.  I hope you got a ride in today!

Some tips for riding in deep snow with a Sidecar Rig

I found this information on the sidecar.com books link:  "The Manual for Enthusiasts of Riding with a Sidecar".
The book is in PDF format and is free.  It is a wealth of information on the theory and practice of owning, maintaining, setting up and riding a sidecar rig!  If you ride a sidecar, it's worth your time to read this and the acknowledge "bible" for Sidecar Operations:  Hall Kendall's "Sidecar Operators Manual"

But I digress, here's the applicable portion from the manual which caught my eye and may help you out when you're out riding on your sidecar rig in deep snow.  As always, be prepared and take things slow when riding on snow.

from 2010 Elephant Ride, the furthest point reachable 

by the Uralisti

Excerpt: (bolded text is my own commentary)

If the rear wheel does not grip on snow or a loose surface, stand on the rear footrests or kneel back as far as possible on the seat. A greater load is put on the rear wheel and the outfit will move again. The rider must then lean forward over the handlebars. Now it is important not to have too much power on the rear wheel, but a suitable gearing for a motorcycle with sidecar instead.  - From prior experience, this is quite accurate, I'll be strapping on a 60lb sand bag onto Yoshie's pillion seat for the upcoming Elephant Ride.

You can often find a track for the motorcycle in deep snow, but not for the sidecar. In such a case the rolling resistance of the wheel of the sidecar can become so great that the sidecar comes to a halt. The motorcycle tries to move around it, describes a quarter circle and then you are definitely stopped. - Also very true, the weight or drag of the sidecar pretty much sucks your rig into the snowbank on the side of the road if you're not careful.

After you have sweated a bit and have righted the motorcycle and sidecar again, put both feet on the left footrest and lean far enough to the left that the sidecar comes up.  With an empty sidecar and halfway normal track width this will always work. The cycle wheels are put under a heavier load, the wheel of the sidecar is up in the air and in most cases you can move again. - You definitely work up a sweat at times while extricating yourself and others from the spot in the snow where the rig has become stuck!  I'll be riding with an empty sidecar during the Elephant Ride to allow for the "lifting" of the sidecar.  From experience though, its more "lightening the load" on the sidecar wheel rather than actually being able to lift the sidecar into the air and out of the snow.  I guess I need to gain more weight huh?

If you get stuck, the passenger should push at the outermost edge of the sidecar. In most cases it is his fault anyway; if he had leaned over the rear wheel early enough, you would not have got stuck. If you are alone, clear the area in front of the sidecar wheel as far as possible, then either stand on the left footrest or help to get going by pushing. - One great thing I've see about the Elephant Ride is the willingness of fellow riders to help each other when stuck, I'll be in the company of Uralisti as well this year so while I may not get very far with Yoshie, I am sure I'll be able to make it back to pavement at the end of the day.

My previous reports on the Elephant Ride:

Four Uralisti Challenge the Elephant Ride

The Uralisti at the 2011 Elephant Ride