Reflections on travel

Near the beginning of my trip, somewhere in south-eastern Washington. The land was flat, and it was at least 1000 degrees in the shade. I thought "what the hell am I doing here... on a 250... trail bike!". But, as the days passed, and I let the bike pick the pace, I really started to see why people love this form of travel. It was no longer just lines on map, and places that I had read about. Photos are great, and so are maps, but if you really want to know a country, travel it on two wheels. Whether it be on a 50cc scoot, or a 1200gs. It enables you to see where people live, work, and raise their families. Speaking to those you meet as you travel, not only passes the time, but adds color and depth to the land you are traveling through.

"As time went by, I stopped thinking about where I was headed, and just enjoyed where I was."
O.L.

Hide you keys F800GS

I had just returned home from a trip
down to the four corners area of the US

I was speaking to my brother, who had ordered
the new F800GS
It had just arrived, but he had to head off to work
He would be gone for a week, and his new bike
would just be sitting in his garage
What a shame
I still had two weeks left of my holidays
and, the best thing was
I knew were he hid his keys
Hmmm I thought to myself
this might be fun

I loaded my car with what I thought I would need for a week
and at four in the morning
headed south

I arrived in Durango CO early evening the next day
I checked my mesages
and found out that my brother was
on "casing break"
He was not at work, but at Steamworks pub
enjoying a pint
Dam!

I went straight to his house to check out the bike
Opened the garage
nothing
it was empty
I knew that he would not ride to the pub
so, I called him to inquire about how he was liking his new ride
I found out that he was having some TKC-80s put on
as the stockers were not that great offroad
I said bring beer when you come home
(He brought pizza as well)
Sometimes its great to have family

The next day we went to pick up his bike
He was having the tires mounted at
Basin Motor Works
they also checked the bike over top to bottom
We talked to the owner(Harry)
for a while
Great guy, with a ton of bike knowledge

My brother let Harry take it for a rip
he liked the power

Meanwhile, with my helmet in hand
I waited

Once on the bike, it took a bit to get use to the throttle response
It is very sharp
Out on the road, I came to loath the stock windshield
At my height 5.11 it focuses the wind right at my head
With the new shoes on the bike
I went to find some dirt, to get rid of the slickness
Once I hit the gravel
I fell in love with this bike
I spent hours playing around on trails
and in a closed construction site
Coming down a steep trail I did find it to be
kind of tall in the gearing for first

The next day I decided to do a trip that I did not have time for
when I had been in the area before

I would start in Durango head north on the 550
turn at the ski hill on to Hermosa park rd
and then head cross country over to hwy 145
From there up to Telluride, over to Ridgway
then down through Ouray and Silverton and back to Darango
on the million dollar hwy

What a day I picked to ride

Once on the dirt I started to have fun
the road took me up past the ski lifts
to a valley at the back side of the hill

It does not show in this photo, but there are lifts going up
the left side of this shot

One of the small fords that I had to cross
There was a much larger one later
(no photo)
that I would not like to do in the spring

For the most part I was riding on these smooth
red dirt roads

When wet, these roads would be hell
There were still a few ruts from the last storm travelers

There was nothing very steep, but it was a steady climb



Great views once I was up a short way



Still in the red dirt

It is hard to take a bad photo if this bike

I was over 11,000 feet at this point



It had snowed a number of days before
most of the snow had melted
but, in the shaded areas there was ice

This is a shot just after the bike went out from under me
I was moving slow
I put my foot out to catch the fall
there was noting to grip, so bike and me go down



A lot more ice after this, but no crashes

Once I lost some altitude no snow or ice
Woo Hoo
Back on the throttle





Yellow and red





Almost out to hwy 145



This is where I met the hwy



Once on the hwy I settled in for some fast cruising



Heading up to a pass
before the decent to Telluride







Just out side of Ridgway looking south
Where I stop for a burrito
Yum



I was having so much fun
I forgot to take photos
till Ouray





Downtown Ouray





From a view point, just south of town



Now up to the pass







Along this stretch
no guardrails
Just a HUGE drop off



The painted line IS the edge of the road



Looking back towards Ouray

This stream runs through some mineral beds
picking up this lovely color



I am loving the power of this bike







Nearing the top of the pass







It was quite cold at the top of pass
Thank god for heated grips

This is just above Silverton





The view Jesus gets of Silverton



Downtown Silverton



The light was fading so I made some quik miles
till just outside Durango

This mound has been formed by mineral waters



What a great ride, I really like the F800GS
Off road it feels like a big enduro
On road it has lot of power, and handles the corners well
Once one adapts it to your style of riding
It will be a great bike
(I did not do any hard off road stuff, but I believe that the platform for that is there)

Now all I have to do, is give the keys back :(

Beer

While in Durango my brother told me that a new brewery had opened, and that there was free beer. Woo Hoo free beer.
It was not free, and I had to pay. It was a beer fest.
With our entrance fee we received small glasses that we could
take to all the vendors and sample their wares. The first sample was quite good. The next was some brew that they had aged in bourbon barrels. That one ended up in some bushes. A few more nice ones, then A fish beer (I cross myself as I write this) Ug But that was not the worst. I was quite enjoying myself sampling this and that, when my brother spies a vendor off by himself. We hurry over as we see that there is no line just yet.
He tells us about his beer. He says that it cannot be sold because they cannot measure the alcohol content. I took a drink and started to retch. It was an unholy mix. I wanted to lick the pavement just to get ride of the taste, but opted for a few Pinstripe ales from Ska brewery instead. _________________________