Triumphrat

jefftarlton · 07-08-2004

I'm back! The weather delayed me a day. I left on Sunday and the sprint started eating a clutch cable in TX, 600 miles from home. I had to make a few alterations to my intended path to avoid storms and ended up in Clayton, NM. 770 miles that day.
Monday I looked at the dinosaur tracks in Clayton and then headed to Raton on the rumor that there was a Triumph dealer there. False. I ate breakfast at a gas station/restaurant on the South side of 64 in between Clayton and Capulin. It was the best place I ate the whole trip. Try the western omelet. I noticed the walls were 12" thick. The Honda shop was open, and friendly, but no help on the cable. They do have a used BRG Trophy 12 for sale. Headed West on NM 64 to Farmington. Cimarron Canyon is awesome. Taos sucks on a bike with a fragging clutch cable blowing heat on you. West of Taos the crossing of the Rio Grande is breathtaking. A half hour of desrt and then you need to buy gas at the intersection of 64/285, it's a long ways from here to the next station.Next are some really nice long sweepers through evergreens and mountains with little traffic and no cops. I planned to get a motel and wait on the Triumph dealer to open on Tues. but saw the HD/Yam/Suz dealer open. The parts man there is one of the best I have ever talked to. Turns out a Yamaha ATV cable fit my sprint. On to Mesa Verde and the cliff dwellings. Nice place to camp. It gets cold at night, the stars come out, and they have hot showers and coin laundry. That was Monday. Tuesday I looked at the cliff dwellings and headed West on CO 160. Wolf Creek Pass is just further proof that there is a God. The road is being repaired so there was a lot of time lost for oncoming traffic. Ate lunch in South Fork at the Hungry Logger. Worst place I ate on the whole trip. Went over the Cumbres Pass and back. Headed East and through the La Veta Pass. Co 12 is almost as good as the best roads here in AR. There are many signs of development and this road won't be the same in 5 years. Like the Eagles said "call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye". It rained on me, the pavement isn't the best, and my hard tires slipped on me, but I just was smiling the whole way. Camped at Trinidad Lake . They have showers. Not much privacy to their campsites. Wednesday I had decided to do a thousand mile day. Hit I25 to Albuquerque, I40 to Russellville, AR and AR #7 to the house. Nearly hit a black bear about 40 miles North of here. 1151 miles on the odo that day. I'm still sore. 2843 miles total for the 4 days. When the weather and minor mechanical malfunctions happen, I can still have fun on my sprint. Leaned over in the canyons or stretched out in the desert, this is the bike for me. Pics will follow next week.

jellero · 07-08-2004

you pretty much skipped colorado. wolf creek is nice but always closed or under repair it seems and south fork has become a tourist trap imo. lizard head pass, red mountain pass, independence pass- all required! the telluride/ouray area is the heart of the rockies and gorgeous. may not be showers but there aren't people either so jump in the river. j

jefftarlton · 07-08-2004

I asked for info ahead of time and got none.

dolson · 07-09-2004

I was stuck in Grand Junction for ever in Jan. and Feb. this year and had a chance to do some driving.
I want to go back with the bike and do some touring there and around Moab.

Grand Mesa and around Gunnison, Montrose areas. Since I have some motorcycle friends in G.J. I'd have an easy central point to locate. There is a Triumph dealer in G.J. too. Don't know how good he is seem nice though.

Don

j98sprint · 07-09-2004

Hey Jeff,

Sounds like a great trip! And the 1151 miles in one day, you are my hero! My wife's family is from NE New Mexico. My father-in-law was chief of police in Raton in the '60s. Did you stop at the gas station off I-64 through Springer? Nice piece of civilization in the middle of nowhere.

Glad to have you back.

j98

j98sprint · 07-09-2004

Sorry, I meant I-25.

j98

jefftarlton · 07-09-2004

I didn't stop in Springer. I had filled up in Trinidad. It was actually cold there Wed morning. I had the liner in my jacket and was still a little cool.
A thousand mile day isn't that hard. Out West the speed limits are 75mph and everyone speeds. Just go with the flow of traffic and only stop every 200-250 miles for gas and a bottle of water. The next day is when the pain sets in. Don't do this on the first day of a trip, do it on the last.
I wish I could have stayed another week.

jellero · 07-09-2004

if anyone is travelling around here, i can recommend some great tours, just ask. i've lived and ridden all over. there are several nice circles, like from gunnison to crested butte, camp up kebler pass, then on to paonia, on around back to gunnison or over to aspen, up independence pass to leadville, down to salida...
and riding a sprint around town is like water skiing behind a 47' chris craft constellation ( i bought a 49 cc scoot for that). j

[ This message was edited by: jellero on 2004-07-09 14:48 ]

jefftarlton · 07-25-2004

I've got a few pictures up on my album. I've been moved to page 10 now. Pictures don't do justice to the Rockies, especially mine.

sidreilley · 08-01-2004

Jeff - Sounds like you had a great trip! I believe that I had breakfast at the same restrant as you outside of Raton. I spent the night in a rest stop near there and that omlett was really good on a chilly, rainy morning in Neuvo Mexico. There is a LOT more Colorado to see the next time though. If you're going the same route next time (into the San Juans) try the loop from Durango north to Ridgeway, west to Placerville, east to Telluride (pause for lunch) then south to Rico (if you have some time, there is a natural hot springs a short ways west of the road at a place called Dunton) and on to Cortez. East back to Durango or stop on the way at Mesa Verde if you're into Indian cliff stuff. If you were to go up I-25 to Ft. Collins you could try heading east over Cameron Pass (I remember riding over that before it was paved on my 67 T120) to Walden. From there you could continue on across North Park and over Rabbit Ears Pass to Steamboat Springs or east and south to Granby, Grand Lake and over trail ridge road to Estes Park. Actually coming down from Estes to Loveland is a nice ride if it's not a weekend or turkey season! Of course there's more, so you ought to plan on spending at least a week there to try and see it. Might I suggest the last week in Sept, when you could view the aspen too? cheers!