Earache

Shit, that thing isn't even road legal ! It's an off road side by side. In many of the smaller towns here, the cops ignore no reg, no lights etc of the tourist vehicles as they bring in all of the cash that the town needs to survive. Guy drove that into town from the trails to eat, get fuel, etc. Not unusual to see full blown motocross bike being ridden down the high street and cops ignore it. If the rider doesn't do anything stupid (wheelies, etc.) the cops don't care.

It does kinda suck. But my bike would have a million miles on it if I could ride all year - I need the break!

Yup - it'll be here all year, never melts completely. Hell, it just snowed about 3 weeks ago.

Aspen,. being lower, was very warm. And it was getting dark. So I gassed up, said bye to my friends and hauled non-stop all the way back home, arriving after dark. Didn't take a single pic on the way back - sorry. But still, another successful ride.

Descending into Aspen...

My wife's nieces are named Emma and Gabby - they're gonna love this pic....

Tibetan monk guy at the top along with a lot of other tourists...

Wish I could day that I was a fan of these bikes, but alas....

Cooler but very windy at the Pass....

Up and over Independence Pass on our way to Aspen for fuel.....

Town was hoppin' though - lots of tourists in the area. The major roads were also crowded as people are getting out now that Covid seems to be over with

Stopped off at the Silver Dollar Saloon in Leadville for lunch (see: https://legendarysilverdollarsaloon.com/history ) . It sucked beyond all that has sucked before. I haven't eaten there in 10 years and it'll be at least another 10 before I go back....

Stopped by one of the many alpine lakes in our area - a bit cooler near the water....

Weather was kinda warm - even at elevation - but still almost perfect for riding. I would have liked to do a bit of off roading but their bikes didn't really fit that plan of action so we stuck to the pavement...

I can't imagine riding without a helmet and they can't imagine riding with one. Different strokes, I guess...

Had a couple of friends in from Chicago. They were on a cross country trip and stayed ay our house for a night. I rode with them for about 350 miles yesterday as they were making their way back east. They were riding a HD of some sort and a Honda Gold Wing - both slower than the second coming of Christ on the roads so I often sped up and shot pics of them as they caught up...

We were close to that area 2 weeks ago - that's where they had all of the alien crap in the stores. etc. Not shit to see down there and the riding sucks.

July 15th = Montana. Wyoming areas. Hope it cools down before then! Then gonna do Tennessee, North Carolina in August. Try to work in another one in September before it gets cold - no destination on that one yet.

37C in Denver this weekend - went from snow to hot as shit in a week. So I guess that was Spring then. It's a good deal cooler up here in the mountains, so it'll be crowded as shit with city people trying to beat the heat. A good weekend to stay home!

They even had cones set up between lanes to keep you from splitting. Taking things a little too seriously. But we didn't care.

That'll get you a ticket here. Not saying you can't try it, but if a cop sees you, you're done. This was in Cali and they had people out making sure no one split - we asked. And they had cops there to back it up along with "double fines in construction zones". Hardly worth trying it just to try to save 3 minutes.

I didn't take my bike out on the salt, stayed on the paved section at the edge of the salt. Todd took his out there at a very slow speed. That will eat the aluminum right off of your bike if ya leave it on there very long.

Very cool spot. A few more piccies from there...

No.

Todd was beyond hot at this point and attempted some roadside body heat control. Stayed overnight in Grand Junction, Colorado before getting up at 0500 Saturday to hit the interstate for home. Made to the house and put another trip in to the books. Sure was fun.