Brochure Pictures

My wife calls them "shiny papers", those spiffy glossy brochures one finds at the motorcycle dealer which try to convince you that you need to buy their wares.

While perusing the site www.r1150rt.org which I stumbled upon recently, I found a softcopy of BMW's 2003 Brochure for my motorcycle.

The below picture is so well done, portrays my motorcycle and the rider in such a great way, that I probably would have had serious thoughts of buying a motorcycle had I been at the dealers back in 2003! : )

Coincidentally, I ride with a light gray/silver jacket/black overpants in the summer and I'd like to believe I look at least half as studly as the rider depicted below! Yeah, I know, dream on.....

Overfarkled perhaps?

I saw this post today on the "Bikes in the Fast Lane" website.

I must confess to a penchant for electronic farkles and on again/off again search/lust for gadgets to mount on my BMR shelf on my R1150RT.

The bikes show at the link though, would put my wildest ambitions to shame.

Here's the one I liked best from all the ones at the post, check them all out if you wish.

I am really loving these ATV grip covers!

Temperatures from 20-22 F° during the morning commute into work.
I rode away from home wearing just my winter lined leather gloves thinking for some reason that it was in the 30s. The forecast called for highs in the mid to upper 30s so I guess that's why it stuck in my mind.

It was actually in the very low 20s as I cruised out of the neighborhood, picking my way through the ice patches and snow dustings. The snow dusting was just the result of the high winds we continue to "enjoy" here in the Front Range. The SW portion of Colorado is getting big winds and big snow, blizzard warnings all over that area. Beautiful area but glad I don't live there right now.

So anyways, I realized I'd made a mistake about a third of the way into my commute. The heated grips, on high, were not keeping my fingers warm! Tried to tough it out but about halfway through the commute I pulled off into this parking lot and put the ATV grip covers on along with my summer gloves.

Aaaaahhhh, much better! My fingers started thawing out soon after I started moving again and it no longer felt so cold overall. Nice. Had I been thinking, I would have followed the rule of thumb that if the temperature is below 30, its time for the grip covers.

I got to work feeling nice and toasty except of course for a bit of cold in the toes and face. Oh well. LINK to posting re these grip covers.

Here's the temperatures in the Denver Metro area as I type this:

Estes Park - Loveland Loop

Temperatures from high 30s to low 60s F°. Sunny and occasionally fierce wind gusts.

Today was to be a long ride day since the weather was so great and the roads were dry. I decided to head up US36 through Boulder and up to Estes Park to check out conditions at the Rocky Mountain Park and then head back towards Denver on CO34 through Loveland.

I left at 0935hrs after breakfast and used the route you see below. I arrived at the city limits of Estes Park just after 1100AM. CO36 is not a bad little motorcycling road once you clear the Denver/Boulder Metro areas. In fact, once it junctions with CO66, its got some nice curves to it as you make your way to Estes Park. I'd forgotten how enjoyable this road can be.


Everyone was out enjoying the nice weather, from the multiple squad cars on US36 giving out performance awards, to pelotons of cyclists really crowding the border of the road and making cagers slow down nervously. No performance awards for me though, cagers had the state trooper's full attention as I went by several speed traps.

The wind gusts in the Estes Park area were quite fierce and strong most of the time I was there. You had to pay attention when doing slow turns!

Once I got to the entrance to the Rocky Mountain National Park, I decided to forego spending the $20 entrance fee after talking with the ranger manning the gate. He reported lots of icy spots on the roads off the main park road.

On the way back from the park entrance, I stopped near the Historic Stanley Hotel and took these pictures:

This is the view guests of the Stanley Hotel enjoy

Historic Stanley Hotel

After tanking up back in Estes Park, I headed out on CO34 or Big Thompson Avenue....named apparently after the Big Thompson river which carves its way through this also wonderfully twisty road with high canyon walls on both sides. This time of year, there's a thick layer of ice over the still flowing river.

On CO34 heading East, Big Thompson River frozen over

Pretty thick ice

Cool Rock Formations on CO34

Ice Fishermen on some frozen lake in Loveland

I twisted my way to the town of Loveland and cruised through the town to pick up the I-25 Super Slab. I headed South on the slab towards Denver making pretty good speed, it was along this stretch of highway that I saw most of the motorcycles I was to see today. Mostly Harleys from what I could tell, the fact there's a big dealer in this area probably contributed to the numbers of Hogs I saw.

I pretty much reversed the route I took outbound on the way back home. By the time I neared Denver, the weather was in the high 50s low 60s and I was starting to feel a bit warm with all the riding gear I had on. Not uncomfortably warm, mind you, and definitely not warm enough to stop and shed layers.

I got home after about 215 miles of riding and perhaps 5 hours in the saddle. I was a bit tired from battling the windy conditions most of the day but it was an enjoyable ride nonetheless.