48 - Leadville, Frisco and Denver Done Right
I left Kim's place on cloud nine. I'd had such a good morning and knew there were a few hundred miles of mountain riding in front of me.
When I met Liz in Haines, Alaska, she'd told me about her college experience in Leadville Colorado and told me that I should check out Leadville. So, atlas in hand, I planned my route.
Aspen was nice. Frisco was really cool.
I found myself above 12,000 feet again and crossing the Continental Divide a few more times.
I rode several mountain passes that day. There were few motorcycles on these remote roads.
Because of the recommendation of some guys at the Dinosaur Haus in Vernal, I broke my usual rule of ruling out interstates and rode a really cool stretch of I-70.
Then, I pulled over to try and get in touch with someone in Denver. One of my B-School friends who had also been a co-chair for the Elevator Competition lives in Denver.
We had played phone tag, but it was late afternoon and I didn't have a place to stay. Last night was so cold. I didn't want to spend another night at elevation. I had the phone number of a friend's sister and called her to see if I could sleep on her couch. She gave me directions and off I went to downtown Denver. When I pulled into Washington Park, I had no idea how great my weekend was about to be.
As I pulled into Colorado Mounatain College in Leadville, I saw a red fox. The fist I'd seen on my trip.
Very cool.
While enjoying the shade in the Silver Dollar Saloon, I took advantage of the digital phone service and sent a text to Liz.
Thanks Liz - for great conversation in Haines and on the ferry and for the tip about Leadville. The roads leading into town and out of town were among the coolest I'd ridden.
See the Aspen's are starting to change color.
Jocelyn rolled out the red carpet for me. Not only did she have a couch, but the world's most comfortable guest bedroom. She was in the middle of a big project with a deadline looming large. Since she couldn't go out, she walked with me down to the Candlelight Tavern and introduced me to all of her friends.
Her introductions were epic. It reminded me of my night at The Down East Saloon in Homer, Alaska when I hung out with Red. Red had introduced me to everyone. "This guy's ridden a Goldwing over 20,000 miles" he'd say.
Jocelyn did the same. Before long, I'd met so many nice people.
Matt and his wife Stacy were among those I met. Matt had lived in Alaska and he rode motorcycle. His latest, a vintage KZ1000. Remember Charlie from Sunshine? The guy that's climbed Denali and won the shooting contest, he also had a KZ collection. He has a 72, 73, & 74. Matt's is a 79.
He e-mailed this to me a few days later. These were the first sport bikes. They are fast.
I don't have many pictures from Denver, but here is me relaxing comfortably with Olive and Morty.
Remember Keith from Oregon with the marble collection? When I saw that Jocelyn also had a collection, I got excited. Her collection is of modern day marbles, all hand crafted by gifted artisans. Very different than Keith's collection from the 1930's. Nonetheless, I knew that I had to get a marble as a gift for her. After Keith gave me my own marble collection, I'd committed to collect them. I wasn't buying anything for myself anytime soon, but Jocelyn had been so nice and hospitable that I decided to find one for her to add to her collection.
To date, everyone I've stayed with has been a dog owner. Except one, and they had cats. ...Cool cats.
After a very late Saturday night, Joss offered for me to stay another day. I spent the day on the couch.
In the last ten days, Id ridden over 2,600 miles. Since getting back to the Lower 48, over 3,700. I could have ridden home and back to Denver in the same number of miles. My chest, neck and arms were espeically sore and a day on the couch was perfect. Almost perfect. Watching Easy Rider while drinking cup after cup of delicious coffee really made for a fantastic day!
Given my lack of gear, I'd decided to change my route across the country to include warmer states. Given my remaining timeframe, riding the Gulf Coast was out. I'd wanted to go to Del Rio and New Orleans. There wasn't time.
I decided right then that I'd go to Wichita to buy a marble for Joss.
In the morning, I set off to ride the route Matt had mapped out for me.
Laundry was clean, as was I. I hadn't been this well-rested in days. So nice.
No pictures of Jocelyn, so sad.
Just as I pulled out of Denver, it started to pour.
Ahhhh, how nice it would be to have my gear. Oh well.
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