Sunday morning ride over Loveland Pass, and Mt. Evans

[Firehawk068]

I joined a small Sunday morning ride, posted by one of the meetup groups I belong to.......
We met early to get a head start on the traffic so we could better enjoy the twisty roads.
Started out on the west side of Denver, and headed west on I-70.............We took some small detours on some of the twisty roads that parallel the interstate, and headed up Loveland Pass...............The leader of the group (Danny) rode at a nice spirited pace. It was a fun ride the whole way...........






We headed down the other side to the little resort town of Keystone..........




The group turned around here, and headed back up the pass, where one of the members set up in a corner to get some shots of us rounding the bend...........


I didn't realize how close the mid-pipe on my Kerker system comes to scraping the pavement........

We headed back down the pass to I-70, where one of the members had to head back to Denver in a hurry................So the other guy, and I decided to take a little side trip up to the top of Mt. Evans.................



At 14,130 feet above sea level.............It's the highest paved road in all of North America............




The road has spectacular views, and the mountains just stretch on as far as you can see.......................




Some Bighorn Sheep at the top......................


And a herd of mountain Goats..........



A view of Pikes Peak in the distance.................


Some science at the top................



And some rain moving around the mountain..............


The road itself isn't in the greatest shape, and there are no guard-rails, so care must be taken........especially in the bumpy sections..........





It turned out to be an awesome day of riding.....................We returned to Denver via Clear Creek Canyon. By that time the traffic had picked up, so it was an easy ride back  through Golden, and then back home to the city..........
The weather couldn't have been better...........I put about 250 miles on her

[CatTomb]

  Great ride and report with some fantastic pics! The cloudburst photos are awesome.

Thanks for sharing!

Jeff

[FJmonkey]

Very nice...

[Dan Filetti]

Thanks for a great ride report.  Looks like you had a great time.

regarding the picture, when I lived out there, we used to ski from that exact spot (in the winter).   We had a driver (usually the idiot that hurt himself recently and could not ski) pick us up at the bottom and run us back up for another run.  Sometimes, we'd do it under a full moon.  Brings back gooood memories!

Thanks,

Dan 

[craigo]

Beautiful ride in beautiful country. I went over that back in 1982 on a Seca 550. Poor old thing gasped for breath up there. How did your bikes handle the altitude?

CraigO

[yamaha fj rider]

Alan, once again a great ride report and pictures. Looks like a great time. Tanks again.

Keep the wheels turning.
Kurt

[Firehawk068]

Craig, the FJ does just just fine at altitude. I notice the power decrease the higher I go, but she runs good still.


Next report from this past Sunday coming soon!

[markmartin]

Great pictures! I spent a summer in Denver between school semesters.  Unfortunately I didn't have a street bike at the time.  Looking at your photos now, if I had owned one then, I may never have left!!

[Capn Ron]

Beautiful ride in beautiful country. I went over that back in 1982 on a Seca 550. Poor old thing gasped for breath up there. How did your bikes handle the altitude?

CraigO

Hey...my first bike was a red '82 Seca 550...Great bike!

I normally ride near sea-level on my '92 FJ...but have ridden well over 10,000 feet on a number of occasions.  She runs smooth, but the power is WAY down.  I also notice she idles lower the higher the altitude (of course).

Cap'n Ron

[paulfj03]

Wow!  Really Cool!

Nice report Alan!! 

Thanks for Posting!

[fj1289]

Awesome trip report!  Hope to join in some of these rides in a few weeks