Devil's Gulch to Estes Park Ride

July 26, 2009
Fort Collins, CO

After proving Tim was good-to-ride yesterday with a 330 mile somewhat soggy ride, we rolled out of the drive this morning for a mountain ride, duration to be determined by Mother Nature. The forecast for our area was rain again, but we rode anyway.

Mountain is a fairly general term in our neck of the woods so eventually we had to define what that meant. Tim uttered two words. Estes Park. I responded. Devil's Gulch. So, our route and destination was more-or-less set.

Devil's Gulch is an indirect route up to Estes Park via a road that branches off of Hwy 34 out of Drake, CO which winds its way through a scenic gulch. Glenhaven is a tiny town on the route which is home to a popular B&B. The road is an easy, scenic ride except for a couple of harsh switchbacks with severe grades coming one right after the other near the end closest to Estes Park. They are marked 15 mph although I don't think we've done them at that speed yet.

The day was fine starting out. We were riding in hoodies although we had light jackets in the bags. The clouds were gathering over the mountains early. As we climbed out of that last switchback and topped out where you can see Estes Park and the Rocky Mountains beyond, we knew this trip would be strictly a ride-on-through.

We negotiated our way through heavy traffic to the Visitor Center on the east side of town, but we did not linger. When you see blue clouds hanging low over the Rockies, it means get the heck out of there, especially if you're on two wheels. We headed down to Lyons PDQ. Lyons was having a festival of some sort that was about to get wet and the traffic was getting nasty, so we didn't make our customary stop in the park. Oskar's (a restaurant) was doing a booming biker business. So was Wild Bill's Saloon. We weren't the only ones calling it an early day in the mountains.

On the road home, I glanced over my shoulder and noticed the clouds roll over and consume Boulder in a matter of minutes. We didn't hurry, but we didn't stay out much longer either.

On the way, we saw a lone biker on a Harley wearing a patch that said "No Rules Riders". I looked it up. NO RULES RIDERS is NOT a Motorcycle Club. It is people who like to ride for the freedom of riding. That's it, plain and simple. THE NAME SAYS IT ALL. I'm not sure I entirely buy that concept. I think most of us ride for the freedom of riding. I think we all ride with rules, even if they are our own rules. I suspect the trick here is to ride without others inflicting their rules upon you. Hmmmm... good luck with that.