Pikes Peak KLR Ride, July 23, 2006

This report was originated on ADVRider.com, and is imported here with minor editing for structure (due to the import process).  Typos, etc., have mostly been left as they are, fixed only for clarity in some cases.  Some characters have been identified by their user names on that website.  Martin is the report initiator and is identified here as SgtMarty.

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Okay, only the four of us KLR riders showed up today for Pikes Peak. What a gorgeous day it was! I've never been on the Peak when it was so warm. Clear day, mild breeze. Lots of tourist traffic and dusty, though.

We pose for the pre-ascent pic. Don, Kawioops, SgtMarty, Nick.


Since they are slowly widening and paving the road, it's different each time I ride it. Here, they've widened the road enough to make it 3 lanes! The challenging steep zig-zags are gone, and all the turns are now easier.


Stopped for a quick pic of bighorn sheep along side the road above timberline.


The necessary summit-pic-at-the-sign.


It was a very busy day on the Peak. The parking lot was full, as were the cog trains.


A tad hazy over Colorado Springs, but clear on the mountain.


Stopped for more shots on the descent. This is a great pull-out spot for dramatic shots of rocks and distant towns and reservoirs.


Each time I take this shot, the road is different. They actually put guard rails (*gasp*) on some of the turns. Travesty.


That thar is where we was, cuz.


After lunch in Woodland Park, Nick headed home. Kawioops, Don and I went to see the damage to highway 67 from the recent floods. First through the Hayman fire area.


Kawioops had been through here just recently (yesterday?), so he knew we could thumb our noses at the "road closed" signs and motor onward. Others were walking in to see the road damage.


There were so many places where the floods (a couple weeks ago) had washed out the road, that I stopped taking pictures. There were small areas of collapsed road, and large areas. It went on for several miles.


There were some construction detours that we took. The road may be "open" in a month or so, but it won't be repaired for quite a while. No signs they have started the repairs yet.


Still lots of debris on the road, too. Rocks and trees that hadn't been cleared yet. At least one house had been carried away.


We rode dirt back up toward Sedalia, and split up there. I took Rampart Range Road back south to Jackson Creek, then on to road 105 and home. Kawioops and Don headed north.
A nice day for a ride, and a nice ride was had.
Dusty. Very dusty.

madmanxwater wrote:  Nice report and pics! Seeing the four KLR650s reminds me of six years ago when I had my 98 KLR, it was a great bike. I put 30,000Klm on it in just under two years and had no problems at all, amaizing considering I did all my own work on it! I'd like to have another KLR650 some day as a "take more chances" kind of bike, things I don't think I would try on my R1200GS.
Looks like you guys had a nice day.
Mike

CB650 wrote:  Guardrails on the peak?????? GAK! That's just lame. Real drivers don't need no steenkin guardrails.
Is there anyone up there to give you grief for going past the sign on 67? Do the detours around the washouts let you go all the way through? I'm seriously thinking about making a run up there this week to take a look at the damage and within reason I'm notorious at thumbing my nose at idget signs.
P.S. Your Hayman fire picture was taken probably within 100ft of where I took a picture of the burn a couple weeks ago. Cool.

SgtMarty wrote  You can buy patches and pins at the top that say "Real men don't need guardrails." Have them for women, too. They will be irrelevent soon.
Yeah, we rode through the whole flood area and just kept going. No one was around to say otherwise, but I suppose there might be workers there during the week. I suspect they will plow out a roadway bypass to let traffic through during the repairs.

CB650 wrote:  Thanks. I'll have to see if I can sort out enough time to fish the motorcycle out of hiding for a trip to the disaster area.

I was at Glen Cove about a week ago. A friend of mine walked out of the shop and handed me a smooshed penny. I'll have to go back for the patch now...

Roostn wrote:  So, how long did it take you all to get to the top? The last time I was up there a few weeks ago I made it up in 13 minutes and 59 seconds. That included a detour at the top of the W's after stalling my bike and running into the ditch, then I ran out of gas at Cog cut and blew the corner while switching to reserve. It didn't make for a smooth pass but still a respectable time. Anytime you make it to the top in the 13's you are going FAST!!!

I however would not recommend trying a pass that fast during tourist season! The cops have a tendency to frown on that!

SgtMarty wrote:  Yeeks!

No, we rode at a mortal pace. It usually takes about 45 minutes from the entrance gate to the top in tourist traffic. A tad longer coming down, since the photos ops are better on the descent.
Did you do the race, then?

Roostn wrote:  Yea, this was my 5th year of racing the Hill Climb. Man, I really love it. Its not going to be here much longer so I make sure I don't miss it.

Deano955 wrote:  Wow, I had no idea that 67 was damaged that badly.