In Search of the Easter Bunny Ride

April 4, 2010
Fort Collins, CO

We had a surprise Easter morning and it wasn't jelly beans in our Easter basket.

About the time we finished off the first pot of coffee and pronounced it might be warm enough to ride to breakfast, clouds covered the sun. Before we could get our leathers on and ride out, a snow squall came across the foothills and we had snow! !!&%$#!! So, we made another pot of coffee and had a cup while we used Mother Nature's name in vain a time or two. As soon as we saw a break in the clouds, we rolled out of here headed south toward breakfast (now brunch) and the only patch of blue sky on the horizon. The temp was about 39 degrees as long as we were in the sun. It dropped to about 36 degrees every time a cloud covered the sun. We could see the snow storm in the high country all but obliterating view of the peaks and the wind blowing off those clouds made for cold riding.

Widow McCoy's in Loveland is about ten miles from home. By the time we rode those ten miles, we were ready to stop and let the day hopefully warm a little more. The Widow serves breakfast all day, is reasonably priced and the service is fast and friendly. The Widow came under new ownership last summer. The man who owns it now is a motorcycle rider although I don't know when he has time to ride. We ordered our breakfast and sipped our coffee. We were happy to sit where we could see The Ride and even happier to see the sun become more than a passing presence in the sky.

Fortified against the cold, we rode out of Loveland just after noon in a southerly direction. The winds had kicked up and in typical vacillating Colorado Spring moodiness, would not commit to a direction. Before the day would end, we would be buffeted from all directions. Our ride took us along the western edge of Denver suburbs to the south end where we abandoned roads with too much traffic and found ourselves riding through Deer Creek Canyon just south of Hwy 285. We haven't been on those roads since we moved from Denver several years ago.

We happened by Tiny Town, a small park nestled in the foothills. Historic Tiny Town was created by George Turner for his young daughter at the site of the Denver-Leadville stagecoach stop in 1915. Tiny Town has over 100 buildings built in one sixth scale. In 1920 the town was opened to the public. In 1939, the "World Famous" Tiny Town Railway went into operation. Tiny Town is a fun stop and admission is reasonably priced.

The rest of our ride took us down part of Hwy 285 and eventually into the bustling town of Morrison where the streets were lined with motorcycles, most of them parked in front of the popular Holiday Bar. On the way out of Morrison, we ran upon a herd of scruffy deer.

We took a few minutes on the trip home to roam through downtown Golden, past Coors and a statue of Buffalo Bill. Buffalo Bill is buried on Lookout Mountain which towers over the town. Riding up to his gravesight and visiting the museum is on our agenda for later in the year. You'll always find motorcycles in and around Golden, especially in old town. Today they were parked in front of The Watering Hole (Woody's Wood-Fired Pizza).

We stopped at a convenience store on the far end of Golden to finish off the coffee in the thermos and for a stretch. While there, we chatted with a group of friendly bikers who rode in after us and blocked us in our parking spot. I took a group photo for them. They invited us to ride Golden Gate State Park with them (steep dirt and gravel roads - basically off-road vehicle byways). We passed. We are familiar with the park. In addition to the usual rough condition of the roads, we are certain they ran into snow.



The day was growing colder by the minute as we ambled north, taking a haphazard route down country lanes instead of traveling the highway. The wind was howling. It was still snowing in the high country. The peaks glistened solid white under a weak sun. We rolled into our neighborhood about 6 pm, just in time to make Easter dinner with our friends and neighbors, the Browns. YUM!

We had a cold start and just about as cold a finish to the day but we are not complaining. We got to ride. We enjoyed every minute of that 187 miles.

Here are a few more photos...