Five Ural Rigs challenge and win the 2013 Elephant Ride

Victory for the five Ural Sidecar Rigs which undertook the challenge of the 2013 Elephant Ride!  Since the 2010 iteration of this yearly snow riding event, I've been part of our Uralisti group's efforts to make it to the highest point permissible from Grant, Colorado; along the Guanella Pass Road, to the Forest Service gate that bars access to vehicular traffic to the actual summit of Guanella Pass.

The Uralisti strike a heroic pose prior to departure from Morrison

(Alex, new Uralista on the right, is probably starting to wonder about joining us)

photo courtesy of Deana and Jay

Last year, 2012, was the closest we'd gotten with me as part of the challenge group, we could see the Forest Service gate but a deep patch of snow stopped further progress of our rigs.

At the staging area in Grant, CO

This year, five rigs started off shortly after 9:45 AM from Grant, following in the wake of multiple dirt bike riders.  The first couple of miles had no snow at all!  Eventually, we started seeing signs of snow, and finally hit patches of snow-covered road where the trees shielded the fallen snow from the Colorado Sun.

 On the lower portion of the Guanella Pass Road

photo courtesy of Deana and Jay

 photo courtesy of Deana and Jay

No winter maintenance?  No problem...this year anyways.

photo courtesy of Deana and Jay

photo courtesy of Darrell's friend John who apparently
was also riding this day!

From the Burning Bear Campground's vicinity onwards, it was pretty much snow-covered road with brief stretches of bare pavement somewhat covered in hard ice.  The ice was quite slippery to our rigs, and our two-wheeled brethren were having quite the time with it.

The Ural rigs made good if sometimes slow progress as we made our way uphill in the loose snow.  There were deep ruts in the snow and little maneuvering room as we slowed to safely pass struggling two-wheeled riders.   Pretty soon, I could see the Uralisti ahead of me reaching down to engage their 2WD function and I followed suit.  The two wheels now being powered made a difference but there was still some slipping and sliding done by the rigs as we motored upwards to the parking spot at the hairpin turn before the "big drift".

 Waiting our turn to charge up the big hill leading to the normal location of the "big drift"

 Yours truly trying to stay warm while waiting for our turn up the hill
photo courtesy of John S aka Spat

The Battle Scooter
photo courtesy of Deana and Jay

A look at the battle scooter which seemingly easily enough kept up with the rest of the riders.

video courtesy of Deana and Jay

It was soon time for our rigs to charge up the hill, all five of us in a line, easily negotiating the icy patches that gave the dirt bike riders pause.  There were even spots where we had to disengage our 2WD since you can't run in that mode on dry pavement.  The usual site of the "big drift" was where we expected it but the small amount of snow we've had so far this winter had created a rather small "big drift" that was easily negotiated by most of the rigs.

It looks like Jay headed for the deeper part of the drift
video courtesy of Deana and Jay

Soon after the drift, we were cruising past two stretches of somewhat deep and definitely loose snow and we all made it to the Forest Service Gate!  Quite gratifying, though I know the mild winter we've had here in Colorado helped us with very small snow fall amounts.

 Victory lineup at the Forest Service Gate, several of the dirt bikes were small enough to

go around the gate but they reportedly didn't get much farther up the road due to a pretty big snow drift.

Candidate for Ural Magazine's Centerfold?
photo courtesy of Deana and Jay

 New Colorado Uralista Alex P. uses a conveniently "parked" motorcycle to

position his camera and mini-tripod.

Another heroic pose at the gate....Alex looks like he's definitely wondering about us by now
photo courtesy of John S. aka Spat

 The initial arrival at the gate

 Darrell, Jay and Deana pose with one of the dirt bike riders returning from

beyond the Forest Service Gate.

A photo of the whole group
photo courtesy of Alex P.

Finally, it was time to go back down the mountain road.  Downhill riding on snow is much easier than uphill riding on snow since Mr Gravity is now your friend.  We got back to the bare dirt portions of the Guanella Pass road with no issues and continued on US285 back towards Bailey, CO.

 While at a rest stop along Guanella Pass Road, a picture of 

part of Darrell's rig.

The last stop on Guanella Pass Road

The ride up AND down the southern half of Guanella Pass Road

Arriving at Bailey, we gassed up and proceeded to our usual "apres-elephant ride" cafe for a late lunch.  The Cutthroat Cafe is a small diner with a friendly staff and owner and good food.  Worth a stop if you find yourself hungry while riding near Bailey.

Digging into the "apres-elephant ride" meal

The couple at the table next to us remarked that they'd just passed through a pretty good snow storm on the way to Bailey from the Denver Metro Area.  I thought it ironic that we'd see more fresh snow on the way home than we did going up Guanella Pass!  Near the end of our meal, snow started coming down but not really sticking to the pavement yet.

Getting geared up again to ride homeward.

We left Bailey under snowy skies, the roads wet but not icy.  As we got past Crow Hill though, we saw a line of red brake lights ahead.  Uh oh.  There was an accident further up the hill from where we were and traffic started to stack up in front and behind us.  We pulled the rigs over to a small pullout spot to assess the situation:

On US285, somewhere between Crow Hill and Pine Junction

Yes, it is still snowing lightly.

photo courtesy of Deana and Jay

Emergency response vehicles came and went, finally after about 30 minutes, two large tow trucks drove past us.  After about 50 minutes of delay in the cold and snow, we finally got moving again.

 Lined up and waiting.

Jay expresses his displeasure at the delay

Pretty soon, we were past the accident site and traffic flow picked up in speed.  Alex P. turned south at Pine Junction to motor home to Colorado Springs, he had the longest to go to get home today.  He rides a 2011 Ural Gobi and I think he'll fit in just fine with the CZAR.  Alex would later report it snowed on him all the way home.

The remaining four rigs used US285 all the way back to the Denver Metro Area and we soon split up headed our separate ways once we got to the C-470 interchange.  It snowed on us all the way till shortly after Conifer and I for one was glad to see dry roads once again given all the cagers around us.

I got home shortly after 4:00 PM, washed off the road grime and magnesium chloride from Valencia before walking into the house.  Great day of riding, no mechanical issues, we made it to the gate and met a new Uralista!

Previous Elephant Ride Reports: LINK

Previous post: GoPro Camera working again?

Go-Pro Video Camera back online?

Some of my steady readers will recall that my GoPro video camera had fallen off my rig a while back and gotten damaged.  The video output was blurry and unusable and I'd written off the camera.  Calls to GoPro tech support said they didn't repair this camera, instead they offered a 20% discount coupon for a new unit.

I had held off on buying a new unit as I didn't feel like dropping several hundred dollars for a unit that I'd probably drop or damage or lose.  I have that habit you see.  :(

Last night, I figured with nothing to lose, I took the unit apart and tried moving the screw-in lens to see if I could improve the focus.  I had hooked it up to the TV via a special included cable, and was able to observe in realtime what my actions did.

I leave it to you, my readers, to tell me if the repairs/adjustments I made are enough to warrant further usage of this GoPro Camera.

First, is a video of me riding Natasha, my '96 Ural Sportsman ( I do miss her ) on New Years Eve back in 2010:

New Years Eve, 2010.

Here's a video I shot today, with the unit mounted on the side of the gas tank on Brigitta, my '87 BMW R80 airhead.  Please let me know if you think the video output is comparable?  The unit came off the tank near the end of the short ride, but fortunately, I'd dummy-corded it to the frame.  See, I do learn from my mistakes!

February 2012

Here's a different reference video, of Yoshie and I on Skyline Road, which has similar lighting to the test video above:

Skyline Drive
September 2011

I was a bit surprised at how much movement my front wheel has while riding on smooth pavement, maybe its time to service the front shocks again.

Anyways, please leave a comment as to the video quality when compared with pre-crash of the camera's video.

Previous post: Lunch Ride with Yoshie

Lunch Ride with Yoshie

Just a short post, had a lunch ride with Yoshie, my 2006 Suzuki V-Strom/Dauntless Sidecar Rig.  It was her day for her weekly "exercise" and the weather was nice and sunny if a bit cool.

We had a small amount of snow overnight, nothing to speak of really, the roads were nice and clear.

 At the Blackstone Country Club

 A view of Mount Evans from County Line Road

Previous post: Groundhog Day Uraling

Groundhog Day Uraling

This morning, I watched on the weather channel as Punxsutawney Phil, famed groundhog with an 86% accuracy prediction record of a winter's duration, failed to see his shadow, thereby predicting an early Spring.  I was slightly bummed as that was six weeks less time for there to be more snow here in the Rockies.

But then, they talked about Chuckles, another weather predicting groundhog in Connecticut, and this one saw his shadow, thereby predicting six more weeks of Winter!

Slightly amused at the amount of coverage devoted to rodents and their shadows, I headed out for a ride into the mountains instead.  We'd had some snow recently and I was hoping for some good views of snow-capped peaks you see.

I crossed the Denver Metro Area, in slightly heavy traffic for a Saturday morning, and used US6 off of the I-25 Super Slab to get to the city of Golden.  From there it was once again riding north on CO93 until its junction with Coal Creek Canyon Road or CO72.

The objective again today, was to achieve that photo of the view of Gross Dam that I'd seen while motoring on Gross Dam Road over a couple of weekends ago in the company of stalwart and only slight frozen Uralisti.  LINK  There had been no chance for a photo that day you see, and a recent attempt on Brigitta, my '87 R80 Airhead Beemer had resulted in failure.

As I was on Valencia, my 2011 Ural Patrol, there was little concern on my mind about the loose gravel, snow and ice that I'd found the last time.  Again I turned onto Crescent Parkway which eventually reaches a T Junction, the right turn off of which is Gross Dam Road.

Up and down the dirt road we went, snow and ice of no concern and only slowing for the hair pin turns where the dirt road had become heavily washboarded.  At these spots, the rig bounced and fought me, but eventually we'd be past the bad stretch of road and back on relatively smooth dirt.  Pretty soon I was at the now familiar railroad crossing, and this time I went further along the train tracks to a spot where I could get a nice shot of a distant peak:

You can get a nice vista of Gross Dam from here 

Motoring onwards, I went with ease past the snow-covered curve which had stopped me when on two wheels this past weekend.  It was just a short distance from that point (how close I was the last time) that I got to the spot with the view of Gross Dam:

Gross Dam

Continuing onwards, it was a short distance to where the road once again forms a T.  The sign to my front said I'd get to the "North Shore" if I turned left and to the "South Shore" and Boulder if I turned right.  I turned left and discovered an open gate, with signs saying that boat ramps and picnic sites were ahead!  Here I'd been thinking the way would be locked.  These post-911 day being what they are, most dams I've seen are secured and difficult to access.  I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the smooth dirt road up towards Windy Point.

Turns out, you can get pretty close to the actual dam, though still, you cannot not ride upon it as the way is barred by fencing and a pretty sturdy gate.

Here's a view of the reservoir's waters, portions of which are frozen over.

Here's Valencia at another point on the North Shore, where the boat ramp is located although it is closed to boats until Memorial Day Weekend.

Look in the distance, see those two dark specks on the ice?  It's ice fishermen!

A closeup view, at max magnification of these hardy ice fishermen.  I didn't think the ice was strong enough for people, it sure didn't look like it from the shore.

One last view of the reservoir from the area of the boat ramp at Osprey Point.

I retraced my path back towards the T junction and pointed Valencia back the way we'd come, heading back towards CO72.  I was enjoying the surefootedness provided by Valencia's three wheels, negotiating the gravel filled hairpins with ease and soon I was stopped by this view:

A view of the front range from Gross Dam Road

Soon enough we were once again back on CO72, twisting our way through the canyon walls carved out eons ago by Coal Creek.  The weather continued to be a bit cool, with temperatures in the 40s but with the bright sun warming things up nicely.  We reached the aptly named town of Wondervu before much time had passed and I spent some time posing Valencia alongside the steeply twisting and turning roads to the west of the town.

 Nice peak views near the town of Wondervu

One plunges down twisting pavement down into a valley after Wondervu, the next town is Pinecliffe where the railroad bisects the road.  Before one gets to Pinecliffe however, there's another set of steeply climbing and falling turns to keep one amused.

A view of the peaks between Wondervu and Pinecliffe

A few miles past Pinecliffe, we arrived at the junction with the Peak to Peak Highway portion that is CO119 and turning southhward along this two lane highway, we sought the small town of Rollinsville, two miles away.

At the border of Boulder and Gilpin Counties, there's a lake I tend to stop at for a picture:

Small lake between Rollinsville and Coal Creek Canyon Rd on CO72

Rollinsville is the eastern end of the Tolland Road, a.k.a. Rollins Pass Road.  It leads one to to the eastern end of Rollins Pass Road and also the eastern portal of the Moffat Railroad Tunnel.  It would be cool to someday ride a train that traverses this tunnel that crosses under the Continental Divide.

Tolland Road was mostly clear of snow though there were a couple of stretches where there was enough snow on the road to make things interesting.  No issues for Valencia of course and I didn't even have to engage her 2WD capabilities.  As I got closer to the settlement of Tolland and the Moffat tunnel entrance, the views of the Continental Divide's peaks got quite nice:

 View of the Divide, before the settlement of Tolland

 Past Tolland and the turn for Mammoth Gulch Road, a closer

view of the Continental Divide

The usual shot of the Moffat Tunnel's East Portal.

Links to youtube videos showing trains entering and exiting the Moffat Portals:
Amtrak Trains and the Moffat Tunnel
What does it look like as you exit the tunnel?  Fast forward to 1:40.

Sometime soon, I must gather some Uralisti together to try and ride the western side of the Rollins Pass Road.  You can reach the summit sign from the west sign you see, the way is barred from the east side as the Needle Eye Tunnel has been closed for many years due to dangerous conditions and cave-ins.

This time, I walked along the hiking trail to the right of the tunnel entrance, which borders the railroad's property.  From the viewpoint of the picture above, it seems like there's no tunnel into the mountains doesn't it?  It appears the trains must start descending down into the earth shortly after entering the tunnel entrance!  I could see concrete structures with large fans venting air out, leading the eye into the earth.  It surely must be some ride, that tunnel.

I got back on Valencia after waiting for, hoping for, a train to exit the tunnel.  No train appeared, I must find a schedule of their transit of the tunnel for future rides.  Valencia and I retraced our riding back towards Rollinsville, enjoying once again the two stretches of snow-covered road.

I proceeded on CO72, heading now towards the gambling towns of Black Hawk and Central City.  Transiting both, I soon was on the Central City Parkway making my way down towards its junction with the I-70 Super Slab.

The rest of the ride was boring slab riding all the way back to the US6 exit off of I-70.  I-25 southbound led me to the University Boulevard exit which I used to get to Evans Road and the local motorcycle accessories shop I like.  I picked up a tire valve stem fishing tool and then headed on home via city streets.

A good day's riding, with temperatures never dipping much below freezing.  Heck it was almost 60°F by the time I was near home!

I hope you liked the pictures, hopefully you were able to get out on your motorcycle of choice and get some riding in!  Such a mild winter we're having so far, I think Punxsutawney Phil might be right, but I am hoping that Chuckles proves us both wrong.

Previous post: Carrying Spare Fuel on Valencia