Road Trip #4 Day 1 - Vet Rally Friday

August 17, 2012
Colorado USA

Oh man! What a great day! We love riding to the Salute to America Veterans Rally in Cripple Creek, Colorado every year. So, we rolled out just before 7 am in jackets because after a damp evening the night before it was chilly with the humidity. Most mornings in Colorado are cool and clear - it's one of the things we love best about it. Skies were blue if a bit hazy. We have had smoke haze most of the year because of the wildfires and drought conditions. In northern Colorado we haven't had our typical summer Wyoming-type winds to clear the smoke on out and it has been unusually HOT. My Texas/Oklahoma friends are laughing I know. Even the hot air balloons were hanging lazy and listless in the sky as we traveled our typical route south.

The Ride - Country Road Cafe - Kitteredge CO

Hwy 287 to Interlocken (Rd #128) to Indiana Street to Hwy 58 to Golden and Heritage Rd/Hogback Rd to Morrison. Although there are a couple of cafes that serve a great breakfast in Morrison, we thought we'd look a bit further down the road. We traveled Hwy 74/Bear Creek Road through the canyon rolling to a stop at the Country Road Cafe in Kitteredge. We have ridden by many times - we will not be making that mistake again. The mountain lodge atmosphere was comfy. We chose to dine in this morning but the patio business was booming as well. The place was immaculate and the wait staff friendly and efficient. To call what they served just breakfast is to understate it. The pancakes alone were nothing short of amazing (both in size and taste) and this is the first time I can recall thinking the eggs were the side dish.

This is Tim's new motto...

Needless to say we rolled away somewhat heavier than when we left because we tried our biker best to clean our plates. Traveling through Evergreen on Hwy 74, we veered across on N Turkey Creek Road to always busy Hwy 285. We smelled it first and then saw a thin plume of smoke on the horizon past Bailey and wondered if we were in for another wildfire. The wildfire season has been horrific in Colorado this year. Before long we had turned south on Rd #126 aka Deckers Rd. The day was warming and we started peeling off layers when we pulled off at the Long Scraggy Peak overlook.

The ride was going well and we were making good time. We rolled along Hwy 67 and into Woodland Park about 11:30 am and decided we would ride on up to Cripple Creek. We usually ride up to see what's going on in Cripple Creek on Rally Friday. The plan was to check out the road as it had been closed only a day before due to a sink hole. Last night it was reported the road was open with one lane traffic. What we found would determine whether we participated in the POW-MIA ride this year. So we followed Hwy 24/67 west to the town of Divide then turned south on scenic Hwy 67. This is one of our favorite rides. It is always beautiful and always interesting no matter what season we ride it. Today we ran upon a small herd of goats.

Heads Up! We have goats!

The traffic was indeed down to one lane near the sink hole, but it didn't look to be much of a deterrent for the POW-MIA Ride so that was a GO as far as we were concerned. Everything and everyone is laid back on rally Friday... it was a good crowd today and a great lazy ride. We shopped for our rally shirts, patches and pins, wandered through some of the booths, admired some rides and did a little people watching. We like just strolling the streets of Cripple Creek.

As the shadows began to grow long we decided to mosey down the mountain the same way we rode up. As we rolled along Hwy 24 towards The Springs, we were saddened to see the effects of the Waldo Canyon Wildfire on the landscape. We also noted some areas that appeared to be having trouble with mud slides. If you ride through this area when its wet... keep that in mind. We rode into the Old Colorado City area and found a station where we topped off the tank so we'd be ready to roll first thing in the morning, then we checked into our favorite lodging, The Mecca Motel. After icing down a six pack of beer and freshening up a bit, we strolled about a mile to a favorite eating establishment, Savelli's Pizza. There's always a wait at Savelli's because the dining area is small, and they do a brisk take-out business, but we do not mind. The beer is cold and the eggplant parmesan is worth it!

The best eggplant parmesan on the face of the earth - YUM!

We mostly waddled the mile back to the Mecca and after tucking the ride in about 7:30 pm, we kicked back on the porch of the room and watched a lightning show play across the mountains. We visited with a couple of other tenants and then called it a night. A short while later, a storm rolled off the mountains and we had rain. Hopefully, it will move on through and leave us a fresh and dry start in the morning.

Slide show of today's ride = 127 photos:

Alternate link to this slide show

Today ride = 219.8 miles