Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

; • • ~· p l~~ ' cut snow l;a~'·~~ m y right, noth ing o n m y left, and it co mes t o me - I' m o ut of co n trol! Nothing to do , ~ E t.O I"'- O"l ,....., t.O C C':$ ;:l ~ .. ,. H" ~ ", . ';"a f/,lf' H. It", O'~, !'y ,........ -. I now bu t gas it, and hope for a run out. Th ere 's no such th in g as a frie ndly trail \ ride. T he neat par t abo ut this corner of Col orad o , and the Ro ckies fo r t hat matter, is that here the motorized recreatio n ist is not only welcomed, but ca tered t o ! Summertime brings a rel ative flo od of jeepers from elsewhere in Colorado , and the surrounding states. Locals run U'- Ren t jeep agencies, and co n duc t driv en tours. J eep clubs host rides and provide maps and information on jeep abl e rou tes. And there 's lots of trails . Miners punched a myriad of roads through here in the ' SOs and they 're still open for you and me to drive. In ad d itio n to this are miles and miles of pack trails that the prospectors and sheep herders established yean ago that are also open. The back-packers h ave recently d iscovere d the area, but we were first, and so far , th e Forest Service and BLM have left most of it open fo r bi kers. In terest ed ? Thought you would be . Here's how you do it . First, when? Summers are awfully short up there. Most year s the snow leaves the high country by June or July . Sometimes it n ever leaves. Towards the end of July the summer rains start, and co n tin ue throughout August. Everyday it rains, not alway s on you, but it keeps the trails wet, th e meadows muddy and the creeks running. The rain can be co un ted on., the snow vari es year to year. Picking th e'time t o go thus depends on the late spring snow fall . If y ou're into maximizing y our p leasure, you'll want to fit in between the snow and the rain. Late July no rmally is tr ick. Snow reports available from the Soil Conservation Service in Colorado help adju st yo ur sched ule. This yea r they in dicate that this is the heaviest snow p ack in man y a y ear , worse than 1973, wh ich was th e worst in 20 years. The first of J une t here was 80 inc h es of snow at Red Mountain Pass on the hi ghway be t ween Ou ra y an d Silverton. Th at's four ti me s the average dep th. But it's meltin g; May I , th ere was 12 5 in ch es th er e, and 31 in ches in Silverton! • SPECIAL FEATURES STATE PARKS W,tn ~m:: ~ ,!n '" W'thoul CMT'P'!'.ln 0 SCHEDULED AI R LiNE STOPS )0';: RECREATIO N A REAS 'lI llIll'l c""o,-'ft A W.ttloul c....,~~ MA J O R MT N ROAOS ~ MILI TAR Y A IRPORTS .... 6 OTHER AI RPORTS JI. SKI AREAS :t. SELECTED REST AREAS .,. TIME ZONE BOUNDAR Y ••• SCALE OF MILES o • 50 and we we re still lost on th e loggi ng road s. coasti ng a lo t to save gas. b u t it w as easv, T hat was m y first exposure to heavy du ty tr ail ridi ng in Col o rado , and certainly no t the last. Bu t it was an object lesson in ho w not to do it. Those mountains are big, lo nely, hard , and leave little m argin for error. A man on a bike can get so far in that he can't get ou t. and the reward for a bad line on a trail can be a long fall, and a ha rd bounce. A fasci nat ing environ ment to push yo ur skills if you desire a challenge but yo u better be prepared . Do n 't get me wro ng, it's not all kill or be killed. There's plenty of scat-on -the -seat, j eep road with mind-expanding sce nery fo r those with less voracious rats . Bu t fo r me, and a hard core cadre from Arizo na, Texas, an d Colorado , the th rill is the killer rides - Columbine , Rico, Ice La ke, Blitz Ro ad, Coal bank. Blac k Bear , th e j eeper's jeep ro ad . We left camp near Silverton, dressed incognito - levi 's, chambries, waffle '0 20 30 st om p.ers - fo r the first ann ua l Les Id en Mem ori al Foo Fo o T ra il Ride. Telluride via Black Bear - a bee r - Ouray via Imo gen e - a hamburger - Silvert on via highway . Les led o ff. TI,e ro ad t o Black Bear has bee n semi-graded, bu t th e slo pe is enough that Bob and Les o n the o pe n class bikes leave m e to row my Ma tado r uph ill in the lo wer two gears. So me killer jeep road - it 's a piece of cake particularly in lo w gear. Finally, I arrive at the su m mit. Snow here and th ere, and the tiniest littl e wild flowers bloo ming in th e tundra. T he sky is so blue an d bright, it h urts to lo o k o ut at th e su rrou ndi ng pe a ks. I sn ap a few ph ot os of Les do in g sky shots agai ns t th e jagge d sky line , and th en we se t off again. Just over the cres t th e grader st opped , a nd the road reverts to a t wo track , wi th gra ss and flower s in the middl e. A lit tle farther there 's Telluride , 1,00 0 feet below us - damn near straight down. The ro ad p lunges o ff th e cliff in a dizzy series of switchbacks. Still not too bad. Huh, killer jeep ro ad. Aro u nd a co u ple of switchb ack s and dam n! , the roa d is n ow just a narrow shel f on th e cliff, very steep , a cascade of foot tall steps. broadcast wit h lo ose ro ck ; th ere 's a so lid ro c k wall at m y right elbo w, and a couple hundr ed foot free-fall six o r seve n feet away o n m y left. Up o n the pegs , a little gas on, an d drag the rear brake. Bob passes m e on the left . Sitting o n the o ut door dec k of one of t he re novated saloons in Te lluride , sipping a su ds, we b len d in we ll with most o f the clientele. See ms th e t own ' s been ta ken over by freaks - eve n th e m ay or is a longhair. Re-t elling th e ride, Les defl ates me with, " T he firs t time I rode Black Bear it was raining. T he st eps in th e trail were w aterfalls !" 'Tha t 's Col orado. Over Imogen e now, heading down t o Ouray. Like horses he ading for the bam the Foo Fo o ride has degenerated in t o a race . Plunging down t he roa d wh ere it cuts across the loose rock of the t alus slope I'm t ry ing to catch up ; gas on , brake on, I'm in third - a he ad high Where? Well, yo u 've fallen on your he ad too many times if you think I' ll tell you where I go . But not to worry. The Telluride Jeep Club map whi ch is available in lo cal sh ops is a good starting point. Each forest has maps available th at sho w roads and tr ails . and where not to ride - which yo u'd better respec t unl ess y ou want t o queer the deal for all of u s. These maps are availab le in the lo cal Ran ger Distric t offices in the towns in the area. Just keep yo ur eye peel ed for a carved wooden sign . T opographic maps p repared by the U. S. Ge o lo gical Survey are also available for th e area. You ca n order them from the Survey in Denver if yo u know the nam es of t he maps for the area you are interested in. The foot sloggers favor th ese , so you ca n find what you ne ed in back-pa cker sho ps in the area, su ch as th e one in Silverton. These maps are pe rhaps harder t o read for the un ini tiate d , but are trick o nce you break the code. What ever you do, don't start ou t in to un known coun try w ith out at least the Fo rest Servic e m ap . You may never rea d ano ther Cycl e News. How to get sta rte d? Well , d o as I've done. Load up yo ur bike, wife, baby, do g, cat , tw o stroke mix, and strike o ut for th e San Juans. Follow the front of your tru ck . When yo u get to Cortez, look for some maps, p ick a campground and /or a friendly patch of woods and start ridi ng. Re ad the maps. Explore. Move yo ur cam p aro und . You'll have some rides th at are better th an others, but t o coin a phrase - it's all good. And if yo u see a 400 WR with a yellow skinn y-fat , whose rider is wearing an ear to ear grin - wave. •

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