Colorado Springs CO to Parachute CO – Today our goal was to be in either Salt Lake City or Selena UT. The early part of the ride from Colorado Springs to the through the Rockies Mountains had a lot of traffic once we transitioned to I-70. It was bumper to bumper for a few miles.
Once we broke into the open highway it was nothing but awesome views all around us. If you want to see photos of the Rockies you can google it. For Lorraine and I it was one of those “Oh Damnnnnn!” rides. When you ride a motorcycle through the Rockies you’re part of it. Not only do you see and hear the sounds around you, the smell and temperature will also be a big factor to the overall experience.
The twist and turns are tame by biker standards but that allows you to look around and enjoy the ride even more. We have a lot of videos and photos taken during this piece of iRide. One memorable experience was hitting the over 10,000 foot mark and popping out of the Eisenhower tunnel right smack into cold rain and hail. This was totally unexpected since the none of this was happening at the beginning of the tunnel. I’m not sure how long the tunnel is but it’s fairly dang long.
It got to the point where I had to pull over off the roadside and make sure Lorraine was geared up better so I got her into her wet gear then off we went again. Even though we were heading downwards there was still a lot of puddles and standing water on the road I had to take it easy or risk going into a hydroplane.
EDIT: Wikipedia reference info on the Eisenhower Tunnel. I thought it was significant enough to mention.
“The Eisenhower bore (westbound tunnel) is 1.693 mi (2.72 km) long while the Johnson bore (eastbound tunnel) is 1.697 mi (2.73 km) long. The tunnels are sloped with a 1.64% grade, with an elevation of 11,013 feet (3,357 m) at the east portal and 11,158 feet (3,401 m) at the west portal. At the time of dedication, they were the highest vehicular tunnels in the world.[1] The Eisenhower Tunnel remains the highest vehicular tunnel in the United States”
Most of the ride was without rain and just being blown away by each curve passed through. There were several tunnel going through the mountains that added another riding sensation.
The Rocky Mountains was another highlight to the iRide Journey. I would have never in a million years thought I’d be riding my motorcycle through one of our nations most popular routes. I also never thought in 2 million years that I’d be sharing the moment with my gorgeous wife.
A nice young lady offered to take our photo at a gas station West Side of the Rockies a town called Gypsum. The towns we passed were very small communities, I think most of them based their livelihood on the ski and tourist market.
Moving along the canyons, view were spectacular with every turn.
We stopped of one of those rest stop off the highway. This particular rest stop was named “no name” that’s what it actually said on the exit sign. This spot was also a nice location for photo ops.
On our way out of the Rockies I could see storm clouds a few miles ahead and decided to pull over into a gas station at a town called Parachute. When that storm came it was thunder and lightning and a lot of rain being blown sideways due to the high winds. The forecast was showing thundershowers for the rest of the evening so I called it a day. Luckily a Comfort Inn Suite was just around the corner. Lorraine ordered delivery Pizza and when it arrive we just chilled and ate pizza on the bed. Nice to have an early night.
When you’re spending a good amount of time on the road traveling to far locations. There is a good chance you’re going to have to make a decision to ride through weather, pull over and wait or just call it a day. Today, I thought it better to call it a day when the weather became unridable for me. That’s why they have the saying “Live to Ride”.
