1/28/05 - Rick's note: I was googling for trail rides in Colorado, when I discovered a curious site. A group (VFTR) had ridden about a week in central CO, right in my back yard, and documented the ride with pictures, maps, and GPS info. The only problem was, the pictures didn't display, the maps were not there, and the GPS info was gone. A note to the author and his reply explained all: he ran out of room on his server and dropped some of the motorcycle web pages, keeping the rest. The ride info looked too good for me to just let it disappear, so I offered to host the info on my web site. The author, Jim Moore, agreed, and soon I was browsing pictures, maps, and GPS info organizing it to fit within my web site design.
Here are the results of my efforts to date. It bears some resemblance to the original, and I think you'll enjoy these pages. Any errors or omissions are my fault; contact me if you find anything that needs fixin.
After a successful odyssey to Colorado in 1998, our intrepid guide Richard Colahan had a vision. That is, he looked at lots of maps, read, and web surfed for the better part of a year. As a result of this research, he came up with a master plan that would guarantee much more single track and fun two-track riding without all the road work. The unique thing about this trip was that our guide had NEVER ridden about 80% of the planned itinerary!
To spread the blame for any unexpected departures from the vision, Richard appointed an assistant guide, Jamie Wright to lead the A Team, which included brother Pete, Mickey Pollock, and son Brian. The B team consisted of the senior Wright, Gordon Fluke, Steve Hunter, and Craig Bear (B&B entrepreneur). This team was ably led by Richard and son Michael. Well, actually, Michael followed Dad except for one incident were he led the charge to Napoleon pass on Day 3. This route was wisely aborted due to rain making a challenging run somewhat less than fun. We all had a lesson in communications that day!
The B team eventually split into Father and Son (RC and Michael) and the "Two Trackers". The later team was ably led by your web master, Jim Moore (aka Mud). So well that someone on the team stole his GPS receiver!
The pictures are organized by day with trip details in the table below (note that "ride time" is time actually moving based on the Garmin III+ trip log, not elapsed time).
Click on the day to get that page of pictures. Click on the pictures to see large versions.
|
Day |
Ride |
Miles |
Ride time/Avg. speed |
| Sun | Salida/Buena Vista loop. | 116 | 4:24 / 26.4 mph |
| Mon | Rainbow Trail to Villa Grove and return to Salida. | 68 | 3:21 / 20.3 mph |
| Tues | Sargents/Pitkin/Tin Cup and return via Monarch to Salida. | 168 | 5:15 / 31.9 mph |
| Wed | Buena Vista to Aspen for lunch, then to Crested Butte via Pearl Pass. | 79 | 3:18 / 23.7 mph |
| Thur | Crystal Canyon/Marble via Schofield Pass and return to CB. | ~67 | ? |
| Fri | CB to BV via Cement Creek/Taylor/Tin Cup Pass. | 100+ | ? |
Here are some links to maps with route tracks and other GPS nerd stuff:
Overview map with track details
MapSource data and Track Profiles (MS Excel 2000)
Check out our CO DualSport Ride page.
Great trip, Richard Colahan! Thanks for putting it together for us.
Comments / questions / suggestions, contact: Jim Moore