Jams
03-03-2007, 12:11 AM
In this months AMA magazine there is a great story by Grant Parsons about riding over ten mountain passes in 48 hours. The story is only available online in the AMA members only area so I can only copy a portion of it here.
To the Top
The goal: 10 mountain passes over 10,000 feet in 48 hours. It's go time!
Story by Grant Parsons
Once I got above the treeline, I was thinking the sky couldn’t get any bigger.
Boy, was I wrong.
As I continue to climb on one of the most spectacular motorcycle roads in the country—Trail Ridge Road through Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park—the views just get more impressive.
The ride over Trail Ridge starts at nearly 8,000 feet in the town of Estes Park, located in a high-mountain valley 70 miles northwest of Denver. On the outskirts of town, you enter the park, riding through mountain meadows and pine forests till the vegetation thins out at about 11,000 feet.
From there, you pass a last few gnarled trees clinging to life on the rocky soil. The road, too, withers, until it’s nothing more than a sinuous piece of asphalt carved into the side of a cliff.
And I’m still climbing.
I crest a small rise, and enter the strange world of Alpine tundra, a craggy landscape where the rugged earth is covered by nothing more than grass and lichen.
The winding road straightens out a bit here at the top of the world, and I can finally relax and enjoy the scenery from the seat of a Yamaha V Star 1100.
I take in the view in all directions, noting that I’m looking down on most other mountains. In a valley to my left, a herd of elk is grazing. Overhead, an almost-unnatural dome of deep blue sky stretches from horizon to horizon.
The air is crisp, and noticeably thin, which just encourages me to gulp in more of it with every breath.
It’s impressive, this world up here above 10,000 feet in the Colorado Rockies. And riding through it adds up to exactly the kind of experience I was hoping for on this tour.
My plan was conceived when I realized that my visit to Yamaha’s Star Days rally in Longmont, Colorado, would put me right on the doorstep of the Front Range of the Rockies. And with one full day available, plus parts of a couple others, I decided to see how many times I could ride over 10,000 feet on passes or peak roads in about 48 hours.
Looking over a Colorado map, I eventually set my target at “10 over 10”: Ten passes or peaks over 10,000 feet. Can you think of a better way to experience the high country in the heart of the Rockies?
Trail Ridge Road turns out to be the perfect introduction to this unique environment, offering up everything from first-gear switchbacks to top-of-the-world sweepers, with more spectacular views than you’d find in Ansel Adams’ scrapbook.
Up ahead, I see a small sign pointing to my first destination.
“Scenic Area Ahead, elevation 12,020 feet,” the marker says. It’s actually not the highest point on this road, which peaks out at 12,183 feet. But it’s the closest pullout to that spot. I flip the turn signal and pull in.
I kill the motor, pull up a rock and peel back the cuff of my jacket to look at my watch. It’s been just three hours since I got on the bike.
One down, nine to go. The clock is ticking.
Bagging 10 peaks above 10,000 feet in two days sounds like a pretty serious challenge. But here in the Colorado Rockies, it’s totally doable.
In fact, Colorado is home to 54 peaks over 14,000 feet, and way more than that over 13,000 feet. That means the passes and peaks I’m shooting for aren’t even the really high stuff.
The only trick is finding a road over a pass or peak. And sometimes, that’s made simple by the fact that a single road takes you over more than one.
That’s the case here at the high point of Trail Ridge Road, where a couple of places that could count toward my total are located right near each other.
Behind me about a mile is the highest point on the road, which counts as cresting a peak. Ahead about a mile is a visitor center and overlook at 11,769-foot Fall River Pass. So theoretically, that also counts. I decide to split the difference and consider this overlook, halfway between the two, pass/peak one.
From here, the road aims back toward sea level, at least for a while. But there’s another pass to nail right up ahead.
I coast down through the treeline for a few miles to the border between Larimer and Grand counties, where there’s a pullout marking Milner Pass. At 10,758 feet, it’s a quarter-mile lower than the high point along Trail Ridge Road, but its significance is that it forms a part of the Continental Divide.
Poudre Lake, just to the east of here, drains into rivers that eventually make their way to the Gulf of Mexico. A few small streams west of here, meanwhile, join up with the Colorado River, eventually heading toward the Pacific Ocean.
So, even though I’ve actually descended to get to this pass, it marks my first crossing of the Divide for this trip, and 10,000-foot peak/pass number two.
It’s also the final one for today. With the afternoon getting late, it’s time to head back down to the rally site, which means a long backtrack on one of the greatest motorcycling roads in the country.
Gee, twist my arm.
<-snip>
And attached is a map he followed to hit these passes.
To the Top
The goal: 10 mountain passes over 10,000 feet in 48 hours. It's go time!
Story by Grant Parsons
Once I got above the treeline, I was thinking the sky couldn’t get any bigger.
Boy, was I wrong.
As I continue to climb on one of the most spectacular motorcycle roads in the country—Trail Ridge Road through Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park—the views just get more impressive.
The ride over Trail Ridge starts at nearly 8,000 feet in the town of Estes Park, located in a high-mountain valley 70 miles northwest of Denver. On the outskirts of town, you enter the park, riding through mountain meadows and pine forests till the vegetation thins out at about 11,000 feet.
From there, you pass a last few gnarled trees clinging to life on the rocky soil. The road, too, withers, until it’s nothing more than a sinuous piece of asphalt carved into the side of a cliff.
And I’m still climbing.
I crest a small rise, and enter the strange world of Alpine tundra, a craggy landscape where the rugged earth is covered by nothing more than grass and lichen.
The winding road straightens out a bit here at the top of the world, and I can finally relax and enjoy the scenery from the seat of a Yamaha V Star 1100.
I take in the view in all directions, noting that I’m looking down on most other mountains. In a valley to my left, a herd of elk is grazing. Overhead, an almost-unnatural dome of deep blue sky stretches from horizon to horizon.
The air is crisp, and noticeably thin, which just encourages me to gulp in more of it with every breath.
It’s impressive, this world up here above 10,000 feet in the Colorado Rockies. And riding through it adds up to exactly the kind of experience I was hoping for on this tour.
My plan was conceived when I realized that my visit to Yamaha’s Star Days rally in Longmont, Colorado, would put me right on the doorstep of the Front Range of the Rockies. And with one full day available, plus parts of a couple others, I decided to see how many times I could ride over 10,000 feet on passes or peak roads in about 48 hours.
Looking over a Colorado map, I eventually set my target at “10 over 10”: Ten passes or peaks over 10,000 feet. Can you think of a better way to experience the high country in the heart of the Rockies?
Trail Ridge Road turns out to be the perfect introduction to this unique environment, offering up everything from first-gear switchbacks to top-of-the-world sweepers, with more spectacular views than you’d find in Ansel Adams’ scrapbook.
Up ahead, I see a small sign pointing to my first destination.
“Scenic Area Ahead, elevation 12,020 feet,” the marker says. It’s actually not the highest point on this road, which peaks out at 12,183 feet. But it’s the closest pullout to that spot. I flip the turn signal and pull in.
I kill the motor, pull up a rock and peel back the cuff of my jacket to look at my watch. It’s been just three hours since I got on the bike.
One down, nine to go. The clock is ticking.
Bagging 10 peaks above 10,000 feet in two days sounds like a pretty serious challenge. But here in the Colorado Rockies, it’s totally doable.
In fact, Colorado is home to 54 peaks over 14,000 feet, and way more than that over 13,000 feet. That means the passes and peaks I’m shooting for aren’t even the really high stuff.
The only trick is finding a road over a pass or peak. And sometimes, that’s made simple by the fact that a single road takes you over more than one.
That’s the case here at the high point of Trail Ridge Road, where a couple of places that could count toward my total are located right near each other.
Behind me about a mile is the highest point on the road, which counts as cresting a peak. Ahead about a mile is a visitor center and overlook at 11,769-foot Fall River Pass. So theoretically, that also counts. I decide to split the difference and consider this overlook, halfway between the two, pass/peak one.
From here, the road aims back toward sea level, at least for a while. But there’s another pass to nail right up ahead.
I coast down through the treeline for a few miles to the border between Larimer and Grand counties, where there’s a pullout marking Milner Pass. At 10,758 feet, it’s a quarter-mile lower than the high point along Trail Ridge Road, but its significance is that it forms a part of the Continental Divide.
Poudre Lake, just to the east of here, drains into rivers that eventually make their way to the Gulf of Mexico. A few small streams west of here, meanwhile, join up with the Colorado River, eventually heading toward the Pacific Ocean.
So, even though I’ve actually descended to get to this pass, it marks my first crossing of the Divide for this trip, and 10,000-foot peak/pass number two.
It’s also the final one for today. With the afternoon getting late, it’s time to head back down to the rally site, which means a long backtrack on one of the greatest motorcycling roads in the country.
Gee, twist my arm.
<-snip>
And attached is a map he followed to hit these passes.