Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Day 14... The Last of the Mountains

We pulled out of Cortez around 9:00 after checking the weather on the computer. It looked like we'd be following behind a rain storm, and riding between more rain on each side. The plan worked good. We saw a number of west bound riders in rain gear, and there were some wet roads, but no rain for us.

Between Pagosa Springs and Del Norte, US-160 crosses the continental divide at Wolf Creek Pass. According to my GPS, the elevation was 10,863'(3311m). Just prior to that, I had an opportunity to met one of Colorado State Patrol's finest. I had fallen behind in a double set of switch backs and was pushing it a bit to catch up to John when Trooper Fenwick turned around to introduce himself to me. We had a nice talk about speed and safety. I left the meeting without having to contribute any money to the state of Colorado. That was a good thing!

A few pictures from today.
How ironic is this.... a shot of the XM radio near the Wolf Creek Pass..

At the top.

Near where I meet Trooper Fenwick.

We put our rain gear on near the La Veta Pass. We should have just waited there for 10 minutes. As soon as we got the gear on, it quit raining. It still looked like it might rain, but it never did.

Once we were near Walsenburg, we were out of the mountains. We decided to head for Limon again. This puts me about 1055 miles, or 2 days, from home.

The sun was getting low on our way to Limon.

In Limon, the KOA camper cabins were all booked and most of the rooms were full, but we found a room.

10 comments:

  1. You must have been very lucky to get out of that with out have a lighter wallet. Looks like great riding, no wonder you got pulled over. Us sportsbikers will know why.

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    1. It helped that I'm a retired LEO. We shared a few stories...

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  2. Glad the Trooper gave you a friendly warning. Doesn't happen very often anymore I don't think so I am sure you appreciated it. Of course it helps to be respectful. I've never understood why people get upset when they get pulled over after knowingly 'wicking it up'.

    Sure looks like beautiful scenery. I like the 'top of the world' picture. how fitting.

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    1. I could tell you lots of stories from my years in a squad car... people are strange!!

      I laughed quite a bit when it started playing. I had to get a picture of the display.

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  3. Fortunate that he only gave you a warning. Most sport bikes look like they're speeding even when parked.

    The unadvertised use for rain gear is repelling the clouds though just having it with you is insufficient. You need to actually put it on...

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    1. For me, rain gear has been like a tire repair kit...... have it.. never need it...forget it and you'll wish you would have brought it!

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  4. Erick:

    You are sooo lucky with Trooper Fenwick. I used to get a speeding ticket a year until I smartened up. The last one was in Hurricane, just west of Zion NP. They hid the 30mph sign behind a tree. And NO, I had to pay it.

    Having rain gear is like carrying an umbrella, you never need to use it

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast
    My Flickr // My YouTube

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    1. I've been pretty lucky with traffic stops, except for 2 years ago. We kind of deserved that one though, but we got a HUGE break on the amount over the limit.

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  5. This is a good reminder that I need to buy a rainsuit. I hate riding when it rains.

    NINJA ZX-14 MotoVlog

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    1. If you have one, you'll maybe never need it...if you forget it at home, it will rain all day!!!

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