Favorite roads in Colorado??

[killjoy_1]

I'm trailering my ride from Detroit to Denver (too boring to ride it) to meet up with old friends. I will have five days to ride, starting June 1st. Any suggestions?

[grendl]

Killjoy,
One of my favorite runs is up 119 to Blackhawk (gambling town) then through Blackhawk to Nederland. From there you can decide to return the same route(I never do) or go down to Boulder . Once there head back to Denver on 36.Run is about 3 hours. If you want a longer run leave Nederland and go through Estes Park then back to Denver through Boulder. Adds about an hour or so depending on pace. Go early morning or midday to avoid traffic.
You can also leave Denver go through Boulder through Estes Park and (my favorite for scenery and high mountains) up Trail Ridge road .when you get to the highest point turn around(I never do:-) or keep going through Winter Park and come back to Denver via highway 40 to 70 east.
Once you get here there are many many mountain roads to ride. If you go to Trail Ridge,check weather(it may snow in June) and definitely 'layer up' on sweaters and jackets. Temp difference can easily be 30 degrees or more difference. If you go all the waythrough, you may run into really nice weather and/or rain and/or hail. If you are lucky you get to ride through a cloud..really ! Also gas up. I think there is a fee to enter Trail Ridge about 10-15 bucks per vehicle.
Pikes Peak is another good run but the road gets dicey at the top. As a reward you get to play with mountain goats at the top.
Dont wander too far from your bike ,we do have animals,some that see us a chicken nuggets. For the most part they stay away , but I have seen Mountain Lions,Bob cats and a really pissed off coyote in my travels,oh and bears...don't know if you travel armed or not...
Grab a map or Google a route,you cant miss or get too lost for too long.Folks in the mountain towns you will find are friendly and easy as long as you are. They can tell you almost to the mile where you are in relation to Denver and how to get back . For sure get gas before the entrance to the park, there are no gas stations for a bit . You will love the scenery here. Have a good safe ride and enjoy Colorado !

[grendl]

I re-read my post and saw that I said "play with mountain goats". Dont do that ....all the wildlife is ..wild...
and I would caution about "jammin" Trail Ridge. You'll see why when you get on it. Next stop if you miss can be 500 feet. Enjoy the scenery it is breathtaking...

[killjoy_1]

Thanks for the advice and the suggestions! Probably going to do a lot of one way trips so I'm going to try to connect the ones you mentioned. Any more ideas?

[miramiramira]

Suggestion #1 = point it west and get off the freeway. You can't go wrong.

Suggestion #2 = depends on how far you want to ride and how bad you want to scare yourself. I am most familiar with Southwest CO and there are sooooo many good rides in that part of the state it's hard to say. But if you're interested in getting out as far as Durango, the Million Dollar Highway from Ouray to Durango (or vice versa) with maybe a stop in Silverton is a must. There's also Glenwood Springs to Aspen to Granite and from there you can head back toward the freeway or pull a big loop to Poncha Springs (the laundromat has pretty good food) to Gunnison, to Lake City, to Creed, to Pagosa Springs to Durango, to Ouray and back to Gunnison and from there make several choices to get you back toward Denver. There's other rides I can suggest if you want to get that far from Denver.

Suggestion #3 = I pick up Harley Davidson HOG Touring Handbooks cheap on Ebay and they do a good job of outlining scenic, motorcycle friendly rides. CO is covered in beautiful yellow rides. After our ummmmmmm, "little adventure" on the Rio Grande west of Laredo, my wife says, if it ain't on the HOG map, don't take it (unless you've got a GS or some such).

I'll be headed to Idaho Springs on May 29, riding to the top of Mt. Evans. Then something that probably involves Steamboat Springs, and then wherever the mood and the weather push me.

[killjoy_1]

I think the million dollar road and trail ridge are closed due to landslides......:icon_frown:

[royr]

What are hwys 7 and 72 out of Estes Park to Central City like?

[miramiramira]

I think the million dollar road and trail ridge are closed due to landslides......:icon_frown:

Dang, looks like million dollar is, at least part of the time, and one lane when it is open :icon_frown: the detour roads offered by CODOT, are a pretty fun ride too. Esp if you take 141 north through naturita and gateway. More sweepers than hairpins. The ride alongside the Dolores River is beautiful. Grand junction to montrose sucks.

CO has about 150% of average snowpack. It'll probably be wise to check road conditions last minute wherever you go.

[royr]

+1 on Dolores River, hwy 145. I will be riding 141 next month.

[killjoy_1]

Killjoy,
One of my favorite runs is up 119 to Blackhawk (gambling town) then through Blackhawk to Nederland. From there you can decide to return the same route(I never do) or go down to Boulder . Once there head back to Denver on 36.Run is about 3 hours. If you want a longer run leave Nederland and go through Estes Park then back to Denver through Boulder. Adds about an hour or so depending on pace. Go early morning or midday to avoid traffic.
You can also leave Denver go through Boulder through Estes Park and (my favorite for scenery and high mountains) up Trail Ridge road .when you get to the highest point turn around(I never do:-) or keep going through Winter Park and come back to Denver via highway 40 to 70 east.
Once you get here there are many many mountain roads to ride. If you go to Trail Ridge,check weather(it may snow in June) and definitely 'layer up' on sweaters and jackets. Temp difference can easily be 30 degrees or more difference. If you go all the waythrough, you may run into really nice weather and/or rain and/or hail. If you are lucky you get to ride through a cloud..really ! Also gas up. I think there is a fee to enter Trail Ridge about 10-15 bucks per vehicle.
Pikes Peak is another good run but the road gets dicey at the top. As a reward you get to play with mountain goats at the top.
Dont wander too far from your bike ,we do have animals,some that see us a chicken nuggets. For the most part they stay away , but I have seen Mountain Lions,Bob cats and a really pissed off coyote in my travels,oh and bears...don't know if you travel armed or not...
Grab a map or Google a route,you cant miss or get too lost for too long.Folks in the mountain towns you will find are friendly and easy as long as you are. They can tell you almost to the mile where you are in relation to Denver and how to get back . For sure get gas before the entrance to the park, there are no gas stations for a bit . You will love the scenery here. Have a good safe ride and enjoy Colorado !

I ended up ditching the trailer near Ft Wayne, Indiana after saying to myself "why did I buy a F6B if I wasn't going to ride it long distance?" I'm glad I made that choice but do regret all the Interstate riding on the way there. More about that later...

Met my friends in Salida and rode through Independence Pass the first day with them; Amazing how much snow was still up there! then rode through Aspen to the I-70...heading east on the interstate was a great ride. Got off to jump on 131 (good road) and took it to 134 (not so good...lots of tar snakes). Took that to 40 and then to 9 back to interstate. Rode on that to get back to 40 and rode it to Winter Park for the night. We then got back on 40 to 34 to follow your suggestion about trail ridge...excellent suggestion by the way! It was 20.00 to get in but I skated by showing my ID. Rode through Estes Park and took 7...somehow we missed 72 and ended up in a traffic jam headed to Lyons. Re-routed and took 36 through Boulder (do all they do there is smoke dope?? could smell it throughout the entire town!) and finally got to 119 so we could go through Nederland and Blackhawk. We parted company once we hit the interstate because one guy was sick and wanted to get back to Vegas before he got worse. I headed south and discovered some neat side roads dominated by a view of Pikes Peak. Ended up making it to Pueblo and then headed back east on side roads through most of my way back to my trailer. Only bad thing was a 400 mile day on the way back entirely soaked in rain and riding through tornado warnings! Learned to trust my tires in the wet though....80mph is nothing to be feared on a F6B...great traction and handling.

[grendl]

Killjoy, glad you enjoyed our beautiful state. I haven't been in the forum really busy these days. About to slow down though and heading up to Madison for the Wing ding. I hear ya on the "reason I bought the F6B". I'm going for a ride !!
Boulder is a college town and it's legal in Colorado over 21 so yeah...
We've been dealing with the rain and tornadoes a lot here. I was out last week and rode about 50 miles in it at the end of the day.. AND they had torn the road out coming out of Lyons down to the dirt. A little apprehensive ride,but like you ,I learned to trust my bike. Slowed way down but the bike was solid. Then came home to wash the grime off it. Not much of a task, I have been waxing it.....
Sorry to hear about your buddy, hope he is ok...