Tag: Colorado

Summer 2016 – Day 13, Colorado to Oklahoma

Matthew Dragiff Leave a comment

I began the day by backtracking a few miles in US 50. No sooner was I out of town than traffic came to a complete stop in both directions. There were cattle in the road. I don’t know if this cattle drive was intentional not. Regardless, there were cowboys on horses trying to keep the cattle together. These bulls looked like they had been fed a steady diet of steroids. Several passed me on the shoulder and one looked like he was giving me the evil eye. “Just move along” I thought to myself, “there’s nothing to see here”.
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Summer 2016 – Day 12, Utah to Colorado

Matthew Dragiff Leave a comment

Today was the start of the final third of my trip. It was time to head home. I decided to return to Colorado for two more days of mountain riding and cooler temperatures. I headed north on I-15, then East on I-70 to Grand Junction Colorado. I saw signs for the Colorado National Monument and decided that I would bag another Passport stamp and pin. So at Fruita, I headed south on 340 to the park and rode Rimrock Drive through the park to the Visitor Center.
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Summer 2016 – Day 4, Million Dollar Highway, Four Corners, Moki Dugway

Matthew Dragiff Leave a comment

The day started with fantastic mountain riding in cool temperatures and ended in the hot, dry desert of southeast Utah.

Bear Creek Falls Overlook is only about 10 minutes south of Ouray, so no sooner had I started then I stopped for photos. Absolutely breathtaking. Somewhere between Ouray and Durango (I don’t remember exactly where) traffic was stopped in both directions as road crews cleared rock that had been blasted earlier that morning.
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Summer 2016 – Day 3, Pikes Peak to Ouray, Colorado

Matthew Dragiff Leave a comment

I’ll admit it. I am a sea-level flatlander. I live in a single-story house. No stairs. No hills in Jacksonville other than the bridges over the St. Johns River. I had just completed 1800 miles of riding across the flattest part of our nation. And this morning I headed to the top of Pikes Peak. “Make sure you drink a lot of water” I was advised, “it’ll help prevent headaches caused by the altitude”. The first half of the road to the top is not challenging, but the switchbacks and sheer drop-offs further up require concentration. And the bike just felt odd. I realized that I was experiencing the famous Goldwing wobble. I hadn’t noticed it with the original Bridgestone tires, but the new Avons seemed to accentuate it. It was unnerving. For me, the ride up was worse than the ride down. Heading up, you only see the curve in the road and sky. Heading down, you can see the vista.
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