Day Five

Sometimes my planning is efficient.  Sometimes  it is not.  Sometimes the Colorado Department of Transportation screws with my plan.

I am on vacation so time and efficiency is not really a priority.  However, it still kind of bugs me that I did not plan a better route.  Today I must backtrack.  My goal is to ride through Rocky Mountain National Park.  I am on the western end of the state.  RMNP is in the northeastern corner.    I have been to Grand Junction, it was boring and then I would have to go on the freeway which is also boring.  Although mountain freeways are much more interesting than those in the plain states.  So I elect to backtrack.  I am sure I am missing some good roads somewhere but the mountains and limited roads interfere with efficiency.  As a bonus, the ride through Monarch Pass was beautiful and I would get to do it again.

After sufficient contemplation, I decide that I would like to go check out Breckenridge.  I have never been there.  I will see how close I get to RMNP. 

I ride out of Montrose in the morning, through the Black Canyon and into Gunnison.  A little different perspective traveling west to east.  It is still strange seeing this reservoir in what appears to be a desert.  It occurs to me that I like trees and greenery. 

I get to the Monarch Pass and there are three slow moving vehicles slowing me down.  It is painful to go slow on a great road.  I am patient.  I see a straightaway before a curve in the road and no traffic coming towards me.  I kick it down two gears and pass the three offending vehicles.  While perhaps not an entirely legal passing area, I feel like Mario Andretti, who just made an incredible pass.

Because the offending vehicles had been going so slow, there was no one in front of me.  I blasted up the mountain using both lanes with a huge smile on my face.  Nice, fast, sweeping turns unlike those I rode on last night.

At the top of the mountain, they had road construction and stopped all traffic going down the mountain.  I made small talk with some other motorcyclists.  One was from Los Angeles, another from Arizona. 

We all were on great adventures.