VFR Discussion Group -> Maroon bells & black canyon

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This ride was planned over a month ago, postponed, then canceled due to lack of riders. �Craig always wanted to go but couldn't do the Sunday because of work, so he called me and asked if I wanted to go ahead and ride with him Monday. �He brought along Dan with his Gixxer 1000 a young fellow of 27 who I have ridden with 3 times now. �We all are about the same when it comes to rider skill, Dan has a lot of bike to handle so he is getting accustomed to a 150 hp bike.

We all met up at "Maison de Craig" at 9am gassed up and headed up Fillmore Hill to get the hell out of Dodge. �We are not more than a few miles from Craig's when we run into the first hassle. �Some guy on an ancient goldwing has just got to drag race us at the light, what ever dude?? �Then when we are at the turn off he is there blocking the way. �He says " race you to Alaska" ? � ??? �In any case it wasn't too hard to get past him, onto hwy 20 up Ute Pass. �

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Full Size Here � Streets & Trips File

Hwy 24 all they way to Wilkerson Pass was a drag, three times we had to stop because of construction, slab for about 80 miles. �Craig pulled in to wipe off the bugs and Dan just kept on going, Craig and I cleaned off the shields and then the fun started to catch up with Dan. �We caught him right as he was turning off on 285 which was about 5 miles, but then we got stuck with a parade of RV's and Cages. �So Dan got out way ahead of us again.

High speed sweepers are not my favorite, doing 100 plus on the section near Newet I was getting tense with the speed, passing cars. �So I just said to myself �"ease up with the grip, bend the elbows a bit and let the bike soak up the bumps" �It worked cause I did not feel tense the rest of the ride.

We were making good time cause we were on the top of Independence Pass in no time, �the ride up was great if a bit bumpy, OK a lot bumpy. We just kept going to Aspen, the ride down the mountain was awesome, again bumpy as hell but very fast. �There was a guy on an old BMW in front of us, for a few miles anyway he was rocking but those skinny little tires were pushed to the limit.

We stopped in Aspen and got some sandwiches to go from Johnny McGuire's Deli, OMG that place was packed, but the sandwiches were great, we packed them in our bags and Made for Maroon Creek Road.

Here are a series of shots taken on Maroon Creek Road

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Dan asked me at the gate if I had my camera, here you can see him passing me so he can get into the shot, he felt left out on the McKenzie Junction video cause he was behind me, Not this time!

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Maroon Creek is about 40 feet down on the left

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Turn the big right hand turn and Maroon Bells pops out at you, it really towers over everything, pictures don't give you the scale of the mountain, its so tall!!

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I tried to frame the Bells in a grove of Aspens

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This would have been great if it was not so blurry

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These red mountains were at the foot of the lake

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We sat there and had lunch for about a half an hour and enjoyed the place, there were birds dive bombing the lake to scoop up bugs, Now If only I could ride with such skill.

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While eating lunch somehow our ride just sort of expanded, originally it was supposed to be a there and back again ride, but I started talking about going to Glenwood springs and back through Minturn, I had been on it Saturday but missed out on that fantastic pass with all the slow moving weekend cars in the way. �Craig says lets do the Black Canyon and that was that...you cant say no to the Black Canyon!! Dan said "whats there"? I say "30 miles of the best twisties in Colorado"!

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The speed limit is only 15 mph, somehow we made it down without Ranger Smith taking our pick-a-nick basket.

Jebus the road from Aspen to Carbondale just sucks its like a big city freeway? �Of course NOBODY in Colorado moves over for faster traffic - that would be........Courteous! Carbondale was the last of the traffic nightmare. We stopped for gas and started down toward McClure Pass.

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5 miles south of Carbondale this is Mt Sophris 13K'

There are some easy sweepers near Redstone that are pretty much predictable, maybe 3 turns out of 20 are tighter than the others but nothing too difficult. �The Crystal River was roaring on the side of the road.

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The bluffs above Redstone, you cant see them but on the very left at the top of the cliff is a shower of waterfalls way at the top, it was amazing!! 3 or four of them I have no idea where the water was coming from?

We rode up and down McClure Pass fast as always, but at the top there was a rock cliff on the left side of the road and a stream of bats were flying out of a hole in the side and diving down the side of the cliff then they would pull up and skim the road about 6 inches off the ground. I rode right through them and one hit me in the boot. �Strange little bats?? I asked Craig and Dan if they saw the bats "What bats"?? So I have no witness!

When you come down off McClure Pass there is Lake Paonia State Park, the road flows along the cliff of the side and they are pretty good twisties, I scratched the knee on my stich cause I was hanging off pretty good there. Man that was a blast 5 miles of tight ones!!

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Paonia Lake with West Beckwith Mountain in the background

At the bottom of the park is a steel town called Somerset, right as we made Main Street we were behind a string of 10 cars all driving about 30 mph!! Oh geez what a drag after those great twisties, Somerset sort of sits on a hill and you drive up a hill to get to it then its about 3 blocks long and then down a hill and around a big curve, �At the top I could see the road for about a mile so I just blitzed and passed the lot of them. �Of course this made the cars speed up so Craig got stuck behind a mad bee hive of cage drivers.

In Hotchkiss We stopped for a drink to stretch our legs. �

Dan says "you were right that was a great road" �

Craig looks at him and says "thats not the Black Canyon"

Dan Says "its Not"
�
I say "just wait its coming, 30 miles of tight twisties that don't let up until your pooped! �

Dan says " oh man those turns back there were pretty good, the black canyon is better"?

I say "OHHH yea take those times 6 and deeper turns, plus sheer runoffs into a 600 foot canyon, you aint seen nothing yet!!"

He starts loading up on food and its a good thing too.

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The road to Crawford gateway to the Black Canyon

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This is it, this turn sucks you into a 180 degree turn and you better be ready for it!!

I was out ahead and just reached up and hit the video button whenever I felt comfortable, the road is demanding and I was really feeling good. �Its all pretty much down hill so you don't have to rev it so much since you can pretty much coast at 70mph. �I tried to use the brakes as little as possible its about a 7% grade in a lot of places its like a roller coaster.

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The battery pooped out about half way through I pulled over to change it and held the camera high above my head but did not quite manage to get a shot of the gunnison river at the bottom. �Dan and Craig pulled out ahead here so I got a few clips of them out front before the memory card was full. �I was in the zone and Dan soon was gobbled up. �Poor guy had no idea of the scope of the Black Canyon he said that it just overwhelmed him so he just slowed it down and didn't try to keep up with Craig and I. �For a young guy hes smart enough to know when he is in condition to ride fast and when not too. �He is a good rider but after 300 miles on the Gixxer already it was just too demanding a road for a first time ride through there. �

Here is where the VFR's come to their strength. Sport bikes cant do that mileage and still take roads like that after 300 miles, and 200 more to go. �Going down this canyon can spook the best of them if your not ready for it. �Dan was really impressed with the Black Canyon that for sure. �Craig just waived me by too I guess I got over my tenseness from the section near Buena Vista. I don't think I ever felt so comfortable going that fast in deep turns like that for so long.

The video is half Maroon Bells and half the Black Canyon, the revs are not pegged cause we are pretty much going down hill the whole way.

We still had to ride up Monarch Pass which was fun too, It was a really great ride 9am to 9:30pm 525 miles.
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:media:
Video is 9 minutes 38 mb windows steaming media

Maroon Bells & The Black Canyon

Great ride report as usual. �100 mph sweepers sounds mighty good to me.  :D

Your photography is stunning especially given the fact that you�re riding at the time. �Love the white capped mountain peaks in the background against the vivid blue sky. �I'd have a hard time concentrating on riding with that kind of scenery.

yea I have been getting in a lot of riding time these last few weeks, I am completely over my usuall begining of the season rustyness.  I am not tense at all so taking the pictures is coming easy, I am getting good at putting these writeups togther, I have it down to a routine.  I just wish my camera was a bit more wide angle, it makes it look like am going slower than what I felt riding.

I dont get many comments either maybe the members are bored with them?

It could be jealousy... :D

I�m certainly not bored with them. �I'm living vicariously through you in the ride reports so please don't stop. �Gives me some ideas on how to organize rides in my neck of the woods when I can get the time on my busy weekends. �You must have a very understanding wife. �She's a keeper...

I haven't ridden that hard in awhile but do enjoy doing it. �I'm sure I'd be rusty as hell at first but I know I would be back in the swing of things quickly. �I can't stand the little chicken strips that are still on my tires. �Commuting to work will only get me so far on the tire (at least for me). �One track day or one ride like your last one would cure that right quick.

I agree, Black canyon is the best I've been on. I thought 550 from Montrose to Durango is more scenic but not as twisty. So many roads, so little time. Good job, again.

:twist:  Very sweet, Slammer ! I miss the Rockies Beauty !
You do a great job on your pics and write-ups !  :bow:
Wait till you get to the Gap area,TN,GA,NC ! There are tons of roads like the Black Canyon and many more much, much twister ! :wow:   You'll love it !
The cages in the Ozarks would rather race you down the straight's than let you pass ! People can be so stupid, they should just slow do for a second on the straights to let us pass, But NO ! A$$holes  :goof:
Keep up the great work !
:beer:

Oh they are like that here too, freaking cage disese - be an ass while driving cause being passed is just so embarassing?? what the hell I let folks pass me all the time I just get the hell out of the way, even on the bike.

Kevin P said that the Black Canyon was like Cherohola skyway he said (sp?) Deals gap he said was so twisty you really cant get a rythm cause its so tight.  

I want one of those wide angle cameras like I have seen others use cause they seem to convey more how the road feels than mine, mine shows you the road but doesnt give you the feeling of speed that your feeling while riding it.  Those road MC videos and Grassys vids have that wide angle lens, it looks awsome.  My camera is high up on the mirror too, it looked better though the screen but my screen is all blurry from scratches, too many dead bugs.

Killer ride report Miguel! I was mad that I had to miss this one but unfortunately I had to do some wheeling and dealing with the wife to be able to ride on the 30th of may and that meant that the next weekend was out. These short trips to and from work are ok but I want some serious twisties!

Matt,

hows saturday look for the Bishops castle ride?

Quote (HispanicSlammer @ June 09 2004)

Kevin P said that the Black Canyon was like Cherohola skyway he said (sp?) Deals gap he said was so twisty you really cant get a rythm cause its so tight. � I want one of those wide angle cameras

:twist: �yes it dose look like the Cherohala kind of, the Cherohala is 54 miles long and goes up and down a few thousand feet in elev.! :p
I think your vidio's look great, what lens does it have ? How long of a movie clip will it shot ?
I was hoping to get my new camera for the Revolt trip, but it doesn't look like it will get here in time ! :shake:

Miguel,

Great video- they're always appreciated!!  Thanks!!!

VFRMike.

54 miles all twisty?? now that would be a great road!!  The camera is not a camcorder its really a digital cannon s330.  It can zoom 3x but its not wide angle.  It takes 5 mb clips 6 seconds on high res and 20 on medium 30 on low.  I keep it on medium cause the high res is not that great anyway.  The problem with it is your white balance is set the moment you push the button, so if you ride into a dark area its like a cave.

One of these days I will actually get a digital video recorder with wide angle and put it on the bike.  It would be cool to just let it shoot for a while longer.