"The Rattler" A good road near Maggie Valley

[Jeff Klarich]

I've done the Rockies a couple/three times. Truly spectacular. A few years back I took a trip from east Kansas through Yellowstone, on to Boise to visit relatives, then south through Salt Lake City to I-70/Green River UT and on home via Denver. That was my first time riding in the desert and I fell in love with it. The road from SLC to Green River UT (HW 6) was fantastic. I discovered the spot where they filmed a lot of the Road Runner/Coyote cartoons. Found a cliff that still had an anvil shaped hole at the bottom.

Spent a couple weeks on another trip and meandered from Sacramento CA via HW6 to the Moab UT area. My first time in that area on the bike or in a cage. Breathtaking scenery. I especially enjoyed HW 128 that goes northeast out of Moab up to I-70.

I think I like the desert over the mountains because of what I call "Scenery Overload." In the mountains the scenery changes so fast that I find myself unable to absorb it all. Mountain view...water fall...tall trees...another mountain view...all in a few seconds sometimes. In the desert I get to see the various geographical features for 10-15 minutes or longer as they get closer and closer. But that's just me...

There are a few of my favorites photos from the trips I mentioned in my photo albums.

What a lot of people don't know (including me until I moved here ) Colorado is considered high desert. Once you get out of the asphalt jungle along the front range on a windy day your dodging tumble weed. I have the best of both worlds, mountains and high desert.

 

[Frank the Real Biker]

What a lot of people don't know (including me until I moved here ) Colorado is considered high desert. Once you get out of the asphalt jungle along the front range on a windy day your dodging tumble weed. I have the best of both worlds, mountains and high desert.

Yup. My brother lives in Castle Rock so I spend some time there once in a while. From the KS/CO border to the base of the mountains is kinda boring, but once you get on HW 86 halfway between I-70 and Castle Rock it starts becoming quite scenic. The farther west you go the more scenic it becomes.

Rode over the mountains from Denver towards Grand Junction one September day. It was rather brisk <read: COLD!> in Denver at 8:00 AM when we left, but by the time we got to the peaks the temps had plummeted and I had donned about every stitch of clothes I brought with me. Still about froze to death. By the time we reached the bottom on the west side and got to the flatlands it was real warm...80 degrees or so as I recall. There were about 10 bikes in the group. We stopped along the side of the interstate and took turns stripping off our warm clothing. Some of us created a line behind which the others would hide as they dropped their drawers and removed things like their thermal underwear. Nothing like hopping around on one foot while trying to pull a pair of long-johns over your boots with cars whizzing by.

I've had to do that kind of thing when riding by myself out in western KS. It's so flat that in order to maintain your modesty while you strip down you have to walk away from the road until you are hidden my the curvature of the earth.

 

[Jeff Klarich]

Next time you pay your brother a visit give me a shout, I'm just down the road from Castle Rock. It does start off cool here but warms up quickly. Being a mile high at 5400 feet it does make a difference.