Day #6
June 15, 2011

Back in the saddle – Front Range, Leadville, Vail and the Springs

Jamie and I awoke and were ready to get back on the road. We said our goodbye’s to our very gracious host and headed down the road. We went down 74 through Kittredge into Morrison for breakfast. We enjoyed a great breakfast. We talked about our day’s journey and just enjoyed being back on the bike. CO 74 is a nice little twisty section of road.

We jumped on 285 and rode down the front range, going through the towns of Bailey, Connifer and Jefferson on the way to Fairplay. I had never been on this stretch of road. It is very scenic with the snow capped mountains on the horizon. We rode along the valleys. It was a nice ride. Plenty of room to pass cars and the road was in great shape. We saw a bunch of bikes out on this stretch of road.

Leadville was our destination of choice. It is such a cool place and any town that resides at 10,000+ feet has to be cool. We took CO 24 up to Leadville. The roads were nice and scenic and we enjoyed a hour sightseeing and enjoying a beverage. Leadville is a beautiful little town. We enjoyed a beverage at the Golden Burro Café.

After leaving Leadville the scenery became breath taking, we made our way up to Fremont Pass where the lakes still had some ice on them. It was chilly and beautiful. We enjoyed the cool air.

On the way down the hill I noticed that the range on our C-14 had gone up a great deal. It was nice knowing that we could go another 630+ miles on our tank of fuel. Haha!

Our next stop was Vail Colorado. Jamie had never been there so we decided to do some walking around and pick up a t-shirt or two. I love Vail village. Vail is such a great place to walk around and unwind. The only bad thing about the area is the price of goods. Everything is so damn expensive. We did some window wishing and then decided it was time to head for our final destination for the day.

I usually hate the slabbing thing, but one of my favorite rides is I-70 from Vail to Glenwood Springs. The highway carves its way through the mountains and finishes up in box canyon right before you head into the springs. I could live in Glewnwood Spring, to me it is a good size and close to some great riding. Below are some pictures from the most scenic highway on the planet.

We found our hotel, took a quick shower and then decided it was time for an adult beverage and some dinner. We had a great meal at the Glenwood Canyon Brewery.

As we were walking to dinner this guy rides up on this.. I think it was a motorcycle but sounded really bad. He was riding from New York and was having some issues. Call me a wimp but touring on this bike does not seem like it would be a fun adventure.

This was a great day of riding with my wonderful wife. It was just under 300 miles but we really enjoyed the day. Tomorrow we would head to Ouray via Gunnison and some of the best roads Colorado has to offer. Until then Cheers!