INCA

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Sep 1, 2003
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2008 Colorado Invitational Charity Dirt Bike Ride

An invitation to this event does not come along the trail of life every day and at first I hesitated on accepting, thinking the already planned MCCCT Anniversaries Ride would be enough to handle. After sleeping on it for a while, the decision was made to go for it or go down trying. What follows is only a small part of the Colorado 500, as I do not believe it is possible to put the entire experience in words. My belief is that you have to be there and go through it yourself.
Sunday, 8-17-08.
This is tech inspection and registration time at Wally Dallenbach’s ranch in Basalt. Your bike and legal papers are checked quite thorough before you get your rider number and medical information fastened to your helmet visor. Registration itself is more than ten stages and you leave with full hands and a picture ID tag around your neck. After lunch there is a mandatory, though no roll call, riders meeting followed by a group picture. You are now basically on your own for the next five days. The definition of days means daylight hours, because a room is reserved for you each night at the different towns and luggage is taken there for you.
Monday, 8-18-08.
As with any rookie, you are given the “business”. You have a red R on your helmet and your ID tag says ROOKIE. Be prepared to handle it or stay home. I have a slight advantage as Bob, my sponsor, is riding his 19th year and I would have been completely lost without him. As such, we leave from Snowmass Village by a back road for Taylor Pass rather than double back to Basalt for the “official” start. With around 325 riders, there is no “key time” or marked route to follow. You ride from here to there by whatever way you decide to go, as long as it doesn’t include closed trails or areas.
It is a nippy 20 miles to the way we will be going up to Taylor Pass. Now the fun starts. The sand grains are much larger than in Michigan and they don’t care to move, a parallel to trees if you will. Two things became evident in a hurry. I had erred in not dropping the suspension compression and you can’t lug the engine and get away with it. My first stall wasn’t bad, but the second one gave me a hard time starting again. It was a matter of getting used to the altitude and different carb settings.
At the top of the pass, 11928-feet, there were perhaps 15 other riders there taking a break, along with one of the chase trucks, which came up a different trail. There were also two ways to go down and it would be the easier one for us, as that was the plan for the whole ride. Things were going OK until you had to follow a stream for maybe 100 feet and it was one at a time and wait until the rider ahead was clear. I was able to see Wade, the second rider ahead get off and walk his bike, while Bob, went down on his left side. There’s no way I can leave my bike, safely, and help. Bob gets under way and goes over on his right. I make it through the first spot OK and then take a bath to the waist on my right. Getting INCA upright meant getting the right glove soaked. With encouragement from Pete on the sidelines and some tire spinning, I made it to dry ground and announced, I’m not coming back this way Friday.
It was a piece of cake into Taylor Park for gas, where it had been prearranged to meet up with 3 other riders. While adjusting the suspension another rider starts asking me about riding the Penton at the ’03 Reunion Ride in Massachusetts. Maybe Wildman 1 can help me escape. Carl, Dan and Chris arrive and off we go winding up through more rocks until we are high above the road out of Taylor Park. A little used track appears on the left and Chris takes off exploring and out of sight. On returning, he tells us there are several other riders at the top and the Stars and Stripes flying there. This turns out to be American Flag Mountain, at the 12713-foot mark. For me, it was the high point of the week. Figure the rest out on your own.
Since this was a follow the leader ride for me, I don’t have any maps to figure exactly where we were. I do have notes to get a rough idea though and following Cement Creek and Rt. 185 got us to Mt. Crested Butte for the night. The procedure now is to check in, find your non-riding luggage bag and get ready for tomorrow. The Kawasaki Team Green is in the parking lot with two trailers, mechanics and many service items ready to help anyone in need. They are also color blind, even though perhaps 75% of the bikes were KTM’s. In lieu of a service charge, you add to the donation jar, which is turned over to the Charity Fund. It is advisable to carry on the bike or yourself everything but gasoline that you might need during the day. Much of the time you are west of nowhere and the pushing will not be easy back to a helpful place. Just because gasoline is readily available, it doesn’t mean other help follows suit. At one place the pump showed the price in cents with a sticker on the glass giving the dollar amount. You went inside with how much you pumped and they then multiplied the cost. Only in the larger towns did they have “modern” pumps set up for credit cards.

Young Ted
 

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Don Marsh

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Jun 5, 2001
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"Steel Man" strikes again.
Ted you are the MAN! :cool:
Sounds like a great time.
 

CR250R@WINTERS

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May 28, 2004
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Wow! Ted you are the man. You can't see, but I am bowing to you ! :) See you in a couple weeks.
 

YZMAN400

Member
Dec 2, 2003
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Thats awsiome Ted. I can actualy visualise parts of your day 1 route as I rode much of the same stuff out there a few years back. Good stuff. Your a lucky man!
 

70 marlin

Mi. Trail Riders
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Aug 15, 2000
2,963
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you da man Ted! That would of been a ride of a life time for me, your a lucky man.
 

Wolverine423

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Oct 2, 2005
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Awesome YT! American flag mountain brings back a few memories…..It sure is a beautiful drop off behind the flag eh!
 

KTM Mike

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Mi. Trail Riders
Apr 9, 2001
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:cool: :ride:

I wanna be like Ted!
 

INCA

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Sep 1, 2003
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Steel Man, yes I'll accept, just make sure there are two e's. Lucky, also a yes, but I believe what luck one has in life is of their own doing. The flag on the mountain is guarded by a chipmunk that can go over the edge and back up to stand on two legs within 4 feet of you. For the picture, I was asked to step back further. Ride of a lifetime is very factual and the experience very emotional. I had no intentions of even thinking about next years riding before going to Colorado. More at the end of day five.

Tuesday, 8-19-08
Carl, Dan and Chris would be leading today as we head downhill into Crested Butte, the original old town. After a few residential streets we are out in the country again headed for Kebler Pass. Since I’m riding the slowest at my comfortable safe speed, the others get ahead and periodically wait for me to catch up. When the two track went right through a grassy area, so did I, even though it didn’t show a lot of use. A little further all but about 12 inches of trail had been washed away and then it was a downed tree across the trail, with smaller logs to make a ramp over it. Hearing a bike behind me was confidence I was doing OK. Then it’s Chris beside me with – “You missed a turn”. So back we go to where the others are waiting at a higher level, where I made the turn. The story was – “Here comes Ted now” – “There he goes”. One of the ride rules is that a sponsor is in trouble if he looses his rookie. Nothing is said about the rookie trying to get away though and I got caught at it. We had some laughs about it and no answer why it took Chris so long to catch me.
Somehow, by going here and there, we eventually got to Gunnison to refuel both the bikes and ourselves. On the way out of town heading south, Chris split off to ride with others on a different trail. Whatever it was we took I have no recollection of until we got to Rt. 149 and on into Lake City. By now the afternoon is about half gone and the chase guys are telling riders to get going so they can get to Ouray before dark thirty. We haven’t gone far along a rocky, rutted trail when the front wheel jumps out of the rut into the rocks and down I go. I’m not sure, but I believe what happened is that I was looking too far ahead where the trail made an uphill turn to the left. No bruises or bike damage. We are now on a plateau with enough small scrub trees that it does look green. I had heard the word “desert” earlier and it may have referred to this section. There are also unmarked two tracks that go off to the right and left, leading to who knows where. At one of them though there are ribbons indicating a right turn is the correct way. Before long we are in a pasture and the cattle take our passing in stride. I could have patted one on the nose had I taken my hand off the throttle. When we got to the road, there was a wire gate that had to be closed behind us.
Ahead there was the most dirt trail yet. Then there was a long loose dirt uphill that was the closest to “home” of the five days, (picture 2) The climb up to Engineers Pass isn’t difficult but I’ve been told it is one of the longest. I’m guessing that would be over 10 miles. In case anyone is wondering, the only place there are guardrails is on the lower elevation roads that receive the heavier traffic. There are places where it’s just as hard going down as it is climbing. The biggest difference being that going down gives high MPG. After a while we get to US 550, turn right and head for Ouray, the end of riding for day two.

Young Ted
 

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INCA

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Sep 1, 2003
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Alvin and Theodore have filed a complaint that Simon did not receive proper credit for his dedication. So here is Simon in all his glory about 15 feet from Old Glory.

YT1
 

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INCA

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Sep 1, 2003
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Wednesday, 8-20-08.
This is the cool it, relaxing day for some of the riders as we will spend a second night at the same motel. Bob and I head back south on US 550 beyond where we came in the day before and turn left. This trail is called Corkscrew Gulch and is another path of rocks that winds around and becomes California Gulch after a while. As is common in many parts of western Colorado, there are the remains of old mine operation buildings here and there. Jeep rentals and tours are important to the economy and much effort is put in to keep the trails passable. There are even pit type toilets at some places. At Animas Forks we follow the river road towards Silverton and lunch. With the Colorado 500 riders, the narrow gauge train passengers from Durango and other tourists, the town is jumping. I also get a tourists tour of town before we go northwest to pick up the trail over Ophir Pass. By now I’m somewhat used to bouncing over all the rocks but still can’t keep up with Bob on his new 530 with a Revloc clutch. When he gets to Old Ophir and the 15 MPH limit, that I can handle. The town, about half a dozen houses, wanted to have the pass closed in order to stop the traffic of Jeeps and dirt bikes.
At Ophir we have blacktop all the way to Telluride. Let me mention here that there is quite a bit of blacktop and gravel road miles involved. That is simply the way it is in order to get from one trail to another. There is no comparison to what the trail system is like in Michigan.
I wasn’t sure and didn’t ask why, but Bob made a tour of several blocks in Telluride before turning up a narrow residential street that looked like a dead end. Next to the last house on the right we turn on what could be taken for a gravel driveway. Far from it as this is the way out of town via Imogene Pass. We stop at a wide switchback for a short break on the 4400-foot elevation climb and I notice, for the first time, bubbles coming up the gas cap vent hose. I figured it was in some way due to the temperature and elevation change, hit the magic button and soldiered on over more rocks. Not far from the top of the pass at 13114-feet, the trail was rougher and steeper, the engine stalled and coolant poured from the overflow. Between the rocks, loose footing and steepness, I wasn’t able to go forward and had to back down a ways. By now Bob had doubled back as other riders had informed him of my situation. No problem getting under way and over the steep part now. A few minutes cool down time, refill the radiator from a bottle of coolant in the backpack and it’s back to normal again.
After thinking things over, I was able to figure out why the engine boiled over. I had been using 2nd gear in the smoother, flatter sections, thereby lugging the engine. The vent hose bubbles were the result of the extra heat from the engine expanding the gasoline. Had I stayed in first gear and let the RPM’s go higher, things would have been OK. I have charged it to being over confident and a learning experience.
Getting to the top of the pass is uneventful and after some more break time, it’s downhill for a while. These being two way four wheel drive roads, you have to take blind turns slow and leave room for someone coming towards you. There is another pass south of Imogene that is one way and classed as “extremely dangerous”. This means make a mistake and it is “dearly beloved “ time. After crossing a bridged stream, we see a place to also cross it over some rocks and spend a few minutes playing. One would think you wouldn’t want to mess with rocks any more than necessary. On the other hand, what’s wrong with an 80-year-old juvenile playing in the water? The lower we get, the smoother and better the trail gets, until we get to the gravel that takes us back to the blacktop just outside of Ouray. Riding for day three is now finished and the only maintenance INCA gets is some chain lube, a clean filter skin and make sure the radiator level is OK. This is an account of the ride and I’m not about to get into “off duty” time in these out of the way locations.

Young Ted
 

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Loctite

Member
Jun 1, 2001
107
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Hey Ted - Sure have enjoyed reading about your adventure. I too do not believe it is possible to put the entire "Colorado" experience in words. We rode many of the same places you did last Sept. on my first ride in Colorado.

We had any excellent guide/host "Pete" that made the experence the best one could ask for.

As you have noted... many places have NO room for error!

I hope to go back soon...

Craig
 

INCA

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Sep 1, 2003
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Thursday, 8-21-08
It is head back north time and Wade tells me he will be my wingman for the day, but will not pull up along side at any time. Bob leads out towards Ridgeway and east on the gravel road up over Owl Creek Pass. To stay out of the dust, I drop back some and soon there are other riders flying by in a hurry to nowhere. As they go by the dust is so heavy I can’t see the road surface and slow down more yet. Road is the proper term here as a two wheel drive car could make it without concern. Approaching a wide curve, parked in the shade are about 10 riders watching as two others head downhill on a single track. This would be the only tight points taking single track that I saw, which doesn’t mean there weren’t others. This pass was nothing compared to the previous ones and I didn’t realize we had passed the apex until there were no more uphills. It was a matter of enjoying the morning cruise until the back wheel acted like the tire was going flat. When I’d had enough of the uncertainty, I stopped to check the situation. Wade informs me that it is the round stones on the hard surface, not the tire, as he has been through here before. After the road gets down to the valley it becomes blacktop and after x miles it meets US 50. There is a restaurant/general store/gas station close by that the riders call the Pie Stop. They have home made pies with first class recommendations.
Now we have the longest stretch of plain highway ahead. It is about 40 miles to Gunnison on US 50. Not exactly boring, as there is traffic to keep track of with curves and hills, plus scenery to gawk at. After lunch we go north out of town to find the road to Ohio Pass at 10033-feet, then down to pick up the way we left Crested Butte on Tuesday. The afternoon is yet young and on the way to the motel the bikes make a left turn on a side road and it’s exploring time. Where a two track drops down and crosses the creek, we do likewise and are soon climbing up the other side of the valley. It isn’t long before we are stopped where the trail has been washed out to a 10-foot deep, 20-foot wide gully. Bob mentions with a laugh, rookies are to get the bikes across. Just getting yourself across would be more than enough. It is 180 time to go and check out another two track we had passed. After getting through what for me was a rather tough section, Bob stopped at the top of a sharp rise, and then went out of sight. I informed Wade this was it for me, I’m not taking any chances on getting into a pickle. Keep in mind these trail are about 8 foot of a rocky “horizontal”, with a “wall” on one side and a drop-off on the other. Mistakes are not forgiven. I got INCA turned around and waited for the explorers to return after they got to another dead end. So it was back across the creek to the road we were on to start with and up towards Schofield Pass. Before getting there we picked up the road east to Mt. Crested Butte. With about 10-miles to go, Wade’s rear tire gets a slow leak and he has to add some air from a cylinder. Since the tube has sealer in it, we make it to the motel without having to do a trailside fix.
At the motel here and in Ouray, they set up 3 pressure washers to clean your bike after the days riding. Bob did his every day and I never touched the pressure hose for INCA. It was actually just a little dusty from following the leader all the time. A little dirt and dust gives character anyway. There are also two coolers by the pressure washers with beer, soda and tea to quench some of the days thirst. It is safe to say that the Colorado 500 is a well-organized ride and why it is known as the premier trail ride in the world.

Young Ted
 

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INCA

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Sep 1, 2003
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Friday, 8-22-08
Our last riding day starts out peaceful enough, as Bob and I will be alone and staying away from the Taylor Pass way back to Snowmass Village. As such we head for Gothic, another 15 MPH town of six buildings on each side of the road. To have speed bumps on a gravel road they simply dig a round-bottomed groove. The town is alive and well, as a rig was in the process of drilling a new well at one of the buildings. We start the climb to Schofield Pass; the road gets rougher and then we meet the grader making it a little smoother. Again, there is no definite apex or sign and we have not gone above tree line. The road soon becomes a two-track rock Jeep path and we see the proof as we meet a Jeep moving slowly and a dog casually following behind. After a tough downhill it is break time where a bridge spans the creek below a double waterfall. Further on we come to Crystal Mill that claims to be the most photographed place in Colorado. Other riders are also there, coming from both directions, and also taking pictures. It is obvious not very many get there the way we did. A short section of somewhat rough rock road puts us in Marble.
The towns name comes from the marble quarry higher up the mountain. After being shut down for a while, the quarry is now in partial operation and the evidence is in a staging area where blocks of marble await being picked up for truck shipment. It is possible to drive up to the quarry entrance road and hike the rest of the way to see the actual quarrying operation. I wasn’t that interested with riding boots and a backpack, so we headed down the blacktop to Redstone. It wasn’t quite noon yet but there isn’t a better place in the area to have lunch under an umbrella by the pool. It is warm enough that for the first time all week, I take off my jacket during the day. After a slow cruise down the main street, it’s back out to Highway 133 heading for Carbondale. All we have ahead of us now is 4 lane divided highway and the road to Snowmass Village. The riding part of the Colorado 500 is finished for me after 616 miles.
What we have left now is a closing banquet. There are a variety of items auctioned off and the donations from the services turned in. The most touching was $20 from two couples from Holland touring the US. They were at one of the gas stops and had asked what was going on. The funniest was after a perseverance award to a rider with one leg; Malcolm Smith came on stage and said he could not keep up with him. The reason being, only one leg could break in a crash.
The Penton factor. I had asked the day before about putting up the Penton banner somehow somewhere, and was told to bring it to the banquet. Early in the program Stan asked I come up with a helper and display the banner. He then made the announcement that next year John Penton and sons Jack and Tom would be in attendance. Being involved in the early Penton days, Stan was very knowledgeable up to current times. From getting back to the table to checking out in the morning, next year was mentioned to me several times. One of the support crewmembers asked if I would be riding my Penton next year. Denny might be the Mayor, but must also know telepathy. Adding to this expectation, I also have open invitations to ride in New Hampshire and Missouri. Things are going to be boring propped on the couch with Bon Bons and suds.

With a full and happy heart,
Young Ted
 

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fatcat216

"Don't Worry Sister"
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Dec 16, 2007
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:worship: :worship: :worship:

Most awesome.

Thanks so much for sharing. :)
 
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