HOG Million Mile Monday High Country Ride

June 28, 2010
Colorado, USA

WOW – We Rode 4.3 Million Miles

Fort Collins, CO -- Today is HOG Million Mile Monday. Harley riders worldwide rode and reported their mileage to HOG. The goal was five million. The tally fell just short of that at 4.3 million miles. We contributed 207 miles to that effort. Dad rode 133 miles in stormy Texas.

About mid-morning, we rolled out in short sleeves thinking it was time to ride in the high country and hoping there would be no need for jackets up there. Highway 34 west out of Loveland, CO winds 32 scenic miles through Big Thompson Canyon to Estes Park, CO. Towering walls of granite line the road of the canyon which follows the Big Thompson River. The Big Thompson, a favorite with fly fisherman was running hard and high. Just a few days ago it was near flood stage.

We arrived in Estes Park, still in short sleeves and loving that. When you top out in Estes Park along this route, the pay off is instant. The town is nestled into a high mountain valley with the Rockies towering over the town. We made our usual stop at the visitor center on the east side of town to stretch. On the way up we noticed the odometer clicked over to 5200 miles. The Ride is two months old today.

We by-passed downtown, which was bustling with tourist activity. It is fun to stroll busy main street which is lined with a huge variety of shops and eateries, but today was about the ride.

Soon we were rolling down Hwy 36 out of Estes Park which took us to the small town of Lyons, CO. We decided we were not done for the day, so we continued rolling through Lyons and up Hwy 7 through scenic South Saint Vrain Canyon. We then rode Hwy 72, known as the Peak to Peak Highway to Nederland. I can't say enough about this ride... except ride it every chance you get. We do.

Once again, we made our usual stop at the New Moon Bakery in Nederland. This is a favorite stop and has been since we discovered it about 12 years ago. Sadly, they were out of Jackpot cookies (it was a busy weekend they said) so we made do with Heavenly Cake (me) and Carrot Loaf (Tim) and a couple of cups of coffee. We lounged around on the tiny patio and did some people-watching. Of course, we shared the patio with the token hippy-wannabe creature adorned with messy dredlocks, busily scribbling in a journal - you know the kind that hasn't washed in a year or so - the kind that makes Tim curl his lips in disgust. He simply cannot help himself and has been known to offer to buy such a person a bar of soap. I noticed hippy-guy was reading The Book of Thoth. I couldn't help but smile... For those of you who don't know, in the world of books... it is a legendary Egyptian work, said to have been found in a prince's tomb in the City of the Dead. It is allegedly the guide to untold powers in the metaphysical realm and over the natural world. Better yet - it carries a curse - read it and you are doomed!

But, I digress...

We followed a striping truck into town and decided rather than follow him back out the same road we would continue on Hwy 119. Continuing on found us sitting a couple of times where the road was down to one lane while repaving was in progress. This added a bit more time to our ride than we planned on so it was non-stop down Hwy 119 through the gambling towns of Black Hawk/Central City, through scenic Clear Creek Canyon (Hwy 6) and the three tunnels to Hwy 93 in Golden, across Hwy 128 (the Interlocken Loop) to Hwy 287 and north toward home. Whew!

We arrived home just in time to throw some corny dogs in Tim's lunch and get him off to work. We agreed. Next year - we take Million Mile Monday off because this was a repeat of last year's experience. Ha! Rush-rush-rush at the end. We had more riding to do than we had time. For a weekday, the traffic was unusually heavy along the entire route. We don't know what to make of that except "tourism". Perhaps more people are out on the roads in their vehicles this year.

Anyway, it was a great 203 Million Mile Monday ride. Tim added 4 more miles on by riding to and from work today. It is rare to be able to ride the whole day in the high country without jackets or without getting damp or buffeted by high winds. We escaped all that and count ourselves lucky.

Slide show follows (65 pics):