June 12, 1997 Denver, CO


Day 5 & 6 "In the Groove"

We knew it would happen. After 4 days of ups and downs while riding the flats, we had a great day while riding the ups and downs. Just look at the pictures! This is awesome country! The day started with a bath for the GTS as the rising sun shined brightly in the eastern sky. For the first time in five days, the sky was perfectly clear, Carolina blue thank you. Our plan for the day was to check in at Fay Meyers Motorsports to pick up Dave's ST1100 which was in for new steering head bearings. They promised to have it ready by 12 noon so we showed up at 11am. Why not? Everything else was going our way since "The Pothole Incident". Lady luck was shining upon us and we were going to cash in a few more chips. Alright, so the bike wasn't ready until 12, but as we queried the service department on ride recommendations, one of the service writers went to the showroom and brought back "The Roads of Colorado Motorcycle Tour Guide". We went over several ride plans outlined in the book and he simply said "Take it. It's on us!" I thought to myself "He thinks I'm Nick Ianatch or David Edwards doesn't he? Mark Tuttle Jr. maybe?" Why are they doing these things for us? I never found any ulterier motive, so I'll just say that Fay Meyers is clearly the nicest shop I've ever done business with! A data point! That's all it is.

As promised, we were on the road by 12 noon and heading west toward Golden. We were attempting to complete the "Central City / Mt. Evans Ride" in just under 6 hours. Nothing special really about the time other than Mrs. Guzman's incredible lasagna was expected to be out of the oven about then! This particular ride starts by going up Golden Gate Canyon Rd. A beautiful sweeping piece of smooth macadam that loops around to the town of Black Hawk. I'd never seen this town before today, but it's being converted into a gambling town. It's ugly! I'm sorry folks, but it's an abomination in the middle of paradise. I couldn't leave fast enough. We followed Rt. 119 to I70 then 103. All fabulous, relatively unoccupied roads that lead to Rt. 5. This is the road to Mt. Evans! It is the highest paved road in the United States. At 14,264 feet, it's breath taking. No really! The oxygen levels at that elevation are somewhat reduced so you have to be careful. We stopped several times along the way to take pictures and stare at the mountain goats. Why not? They stared at us! These animals are very friendly and will walk right up to the road to inspect your ride. They didn't care about the cars, they wanted to see our machinery. After earning their acceptance and getting lots of pictures, we retreated to more oxygen rich environs. We took Rt. 74 back to I-70 and into the Denver area. Mrs. Guzman's lasagna was waiting.

On Thursday morning I awoke abruptly at 7am. Uh-oh......LEG CRAMP!!!!!!! Ouch, eech, ouch, eech, Marci hold me!! I limped upstairs to shower knowing we had a full day of mountain riding ahead of us. We were going to do the loop all the way around Rocky Mountain National Park. Trail Ridge road is what it's called I believe. We started with breakfast at Nederland. A quaint litle place with a town marshall. For some reason as we headed up Rt. 7 toward Estes Park, my mind wondered back to the origins of this trip. I had always wanted to ride cross country with my father. He and I have a special bond that goes unspoken. Life being what it is, you take what you can get and when Dave mentioned doing the trip I jumped on the chance. Kevin and Dave's Great Adventure is simply a modified realization of that dream.

The last two days have been incredible and all of my senses are heightened. Mother nature rains her beauty down upon us as my soul reaches up to meet her offerings. I can't remember ever feeling this way. The day to day grind at the office has dulled my senses and placed blinders on the eyes of life. This whole trip has been a refreshing revelation that I hope will change the way I see things in the future.

With Gooz leading the way, we rode a nice pace along the ridge. Ever seen snow in June? We did! In just four hours we rode through rain, sleet, slush and snow. It never got bad out there, just interesting. Elk and Mule Deer were seen near every ridge and every valley. This is their territory, not ours! We are simply visitors in their kingdom.

Arriving back at Ye 'ole Guzman homestead we are once again greeted by Dusty. If you come to visit the Guzman's, prepare to have fun because Dusty demands it!!! You see Dusty is the Guzman's Weimaraner and she demands your love and attention CONSTANTLY!! And so it with great sadness that we depart Denver tomorrow. We're on our way to Jackson, Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park. From there it's north to Montana and Glacier National Park. Check out the picures, they're incredible!!