A pretty warm day forecast today for us here in the Denver Metro Area with a fair chance for thunderstorms in the afternoon. This weather guess had me rolling out of my neighborhood just before 9:00AM on Vikki, my Suzuki V-Strom Sidecar Rig enroute to the top of the nation's highest paved road: CO2 or the Mount Evans Road.
I took the super slabs all the way there as I wanted to make some time and I had a tug that could handle 70+ mph all day with no seeming effort. I am also "oncall" for work so I could not take too much time in areas where I had no phone coverage. A fellow worker was "covering for me" but I didn't want to take too long regardless.
Right at two hours, I was pulling up to the entrance toll booth for the Mount Evans Road. I was told that it was a "free day" where all vehicles could go up with no charge and two, there were high winds past Summit Lake and that I shouldn't go past that on a motorcycle. I assured the ranger that I heard him and motored on up.
It was very hazy even in the mountains today so the pictures are not as far ranging at times as I'd like but it was still a beautiful day to be on the mountain, on one's motorcycle.
The only things to be wary of were not getting too close to the unguarded edge of the road hugging the mountainside; and the seemingly scared cagers who in their fear of the edge would hug and sometimes stray over the centerline of the narrow road.
It was a good day to be in the mountains, not too cold on top, perhaps in the 30s with mild to medium winds at best. I was glad the ranger's warnings about high winds turned out to be off. Not so much about the sidecar rig being able to deal with it, but more about being pushed around by the wind while trying to take pictures!
Some previous rides of mine to Mount Evans
End of May, 2009 ride on Mount Evans
On Mount Evans with the Leading Ladies
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