We spent a day of prepping the bike for his first road trip. Found the chain on the Triumph Tiger too tight so we put some slack in it and added to his tools. Packing went smoothly but the weather forecast was not looking good. We planned to leave on July 1. Ryan didn’t have rain pants so we needed to make a stop on the way out of town at Cycle Gear for Frogg Toggs.
We were all dressed up with no place to go on Thursday morning and made the decision to give it a try even with the severe storm warning with flooding. If it was bad we would turn around and call it a day. We got the Frogg Toggs then headed out on I-70 which we were going to avoid by going through Rocky Mountain National Park but again it is required to have a reservation and a time slot. I hate this! So I-70 it is and we were going to get off just past Lawson and head up Rt. 40 to Winter Park. Well, the second we left Denver the clouds were gathering and we could see lightning over the Flat Irons. We were south of that but still nervous. Then it started dumping on us for 20 miles with pooling water and cars splashing sheets of water in our direction. We were relieved to reach the exit and get off that road. The rains moderated and we could pay more attention to the scenery.
Stunning road to Winter Park, winding with switch-backs and a significant elevation change. It got colder as we climbed but the view was beautiful. We arrived in Winter Park for lunch and ate at the SmokeHouse BBQ. The Brisket was to die for and we lingered. We then stopped to gas up and noticed a cloud bank approaching.
It was ugly and cars were pulling over in the gas station and sitting there. We sought shelter under the awning and had a cup of coffee. It lasted maybe 30 minutes and was impressive. When we returned to the road leaving town the road was lined with snow not a mile from where we sheltered. The sky was clearing now and it was warming up. Ryan was very glad we stopped at Cycle Gear!
We were heading to Kremmling for the night, not knowing what was there. The Super 8 reached a new low but was clean. We were tired and wandered out for dinner, a short walk. The town had a population of 1800 and they had this really neat Distillery, Brewery, restaurant. Quite an investment for such a small town.
I think the meal helped us sleep well that night. So no complaints.
Ryan slept well! We got up and wandered the town to find coffee and take some pictures. A very neat little town.
We did our 60 mile trip to Steamboat on this beautiful road with big sweepers and incredible vistas. What a beautiful day.
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