Pikes Peak in Winter

As I had to work this past Saturday, my boss agreed to let me have half a day as comp time. So I spent this time riding over to nearby Pikes Peak and checking out how it looks during Winter time with snow just about everywhere and clear skies overhead. Perfect.

At Crystal Reservoir, with a view of the top of Pikes Peak

On a clear day....

Just have to be careful not to get too close to the edge!

The requisite sign picture at the summit

Man, it was cold up there, windy and 21°F (-6 °C) 

The strong winds up top made the cold feel like knives cutting through....

A distant view of the peaks forming the Continental Divide

Closer views of the nearby peaks, while sitting next to the

US Army Weather Lab Building

Looking back towards the visitor center at the summit

The view one sees as one exits the summit parking lot area

I believe the above is near the last hairpin turn before the summit

Approaching Devil's Playground

Approaching the Bottomless Pit Overlook

At the Bottomless Pit Overlook.

I started having battery issues around this point.  I had to use the emergency battery start to jump start Fiona.  She seemed OK after that, I could see the voltmeter reporting 13+ volts when the RPMs were at least 2000.  So I took the remaining shots while leaving the rig running.

A view of the road's curves

At the Rock Pile

Rock Pile

Last shot before battery completely died on Fiona

As I was taking the above shot, I didn't hear Fiona's engine cut out due to the battery level now being too low to sustain ignition.  At least that's my theory since voltages were below 6V per the volt meter!  Arrgghh.

I drained the emergency battery startup unit and it wasn't enough to bring voltage up to about 11V which is apparently minimum required to sustain ignition.

What to do, what to do?

Leaving the emergency battery hooked up (mostly for luck I think), I held in the clutch and turn off the ignition so no lights on the rig.  I coasted down the mountain, watching the voltmeter slowly, ever so slowly, rise to 11.0 volts.  Not being able to use engine braking, the brakes got pretty warm on Fiona!

As the battery got to that voltage, I reached a point in the road where it was no longer sloping down.  I engaged the choke and the engine started and stayed on after the second attempt with the starter!  Yay.

I kept the revs high as I cruised on down the remainder of the mountain road, and while the engine was running, felt some misses on acceleration.  It would take me several minutes and clearing the Pikes Peak fee station before I realized I'd left the choke on!  Doh.  The misses went away after I turned off the choke, go figure.

I made it back to the RV site at Cheyenne Mountain State Park with no further issues and Fiona is now on the CTEK battery charger getting replenished.

My theory is that the cold up at the summit, coupled with my many stops for pictures, zapped the battery.  More testing to be done of course but I'd hate to think this particular battery has gone bad, it's not even a year old!  More to follow on this.

Cañon City near Sunset

Left the house at 11:35AM Sunday, driving Umarang the URRV and towing Fiona, the '99 Bural on the trailer.

The day's destination wasn't far, an RV site in the Cheyenne Mountain State Park near Colorado Springs.  Sites were allocated as first come, first serve and I managed to snag one easily enough, a pull through with full hookups.  $56 for two nights, pretty cheap considering the location near Pikes Peak and Cañon City's Skyline Drive.

Got myself settled in and by 3:30 PM or so, I was headed towards Cañon City via CO Hwy 115, about 35 miles away.  Got there in plenty of time to get some shots of Fiona along Skyline Drive while the sun made ready to set behind the mountain range to the west of the road we were on.

 Looking south

It was right about this time that I discovered one of the hand grip covers lying by the guard near the final drive!  Damn.  It then dawned on me why this woman in a car had gestured urgently back behind me while I was approaching Cañon City!  My waterproof jacket liner had disappeared from Fiona's tub!

It's going to be a cold ride back in the dark back to the RV site I thought to myself then.

Looking north, that's US50 down there.

I didn't stick around for the sunset, and headed out of Cañon City along US50, hoping against hope to spot my lost jacket.  Damned if I didn't do something right recently, for there it was, crumpled up against one of the highway guard rails near the junction with US67!  Hah!

Jacket recovered, I proceeded to a gas station in nearby Penrose where I donned the jacket as things were starting to cool down a bit!  I filled up Fiona's tank and off we went for the remaining 25 miles or so back to Colorado Springs.

I kept watching my rear view mirrors, seeing how the disappearing sun was really starting to paint the western sky in some nice colors.

Once the setting sun's rays finally didn't reach above the western horizon though, it got pretty dark pretty fast.  Still, Fiona and I made it back to the Springs with no issues and no close encounters with deer.

Got myself dinner at Subways and checked in with Martha, Fiona did great by the way.

A portion of the lights of Colorado Springs, from the RV site.

A Sunset for Keith

L. Keith Raske, motoblogger and all weather rider, passed away, January 27, 2017.

He was a man who rode in all types of weather and conditions, and many including myself followed his postings detailing his commutes and rides.

His blogs were "Did He Ride Today?" and "Twists and Leanings".  First time I saw a picture of him, it was of this maniac who'd just gotten home from riding on two wheels in the snow....I knew then he was someone to get to know!

This was during the early days of my present fascination with snowy weather riding and along with other moto bloggers like ScooterintheSticks and RichardM, he is partly to blame for my riding predilections!

We lost him to cancer, which he'd been fighting for quite some time, and there'd even been hope of remission but it was not to be.

You will be missed, Keith.

Here's a set of sunset pictures from today, here in Colorado, in Keith's memory.

Mountain View Serenity...

A little bit of mountain scenery for us here in the US, after a long week of watching too much political crap and angst on TV and social media.

Didn't follow my own rule about avoiding the news.....I'll do better.