More Riding for Fall Foliage Pics

Another beautifully sunny day here in Colorado, with temperatures from the mid 40s in the mountains to mid 70s in the plains/front range.

I started off after a late breakfast and headed West towards Morrison and the mountains to see if I could find snow. In other words, see how far I could get. Turns out, you can get pretty far along the major roads!

There was a sheriff vehicle blocking the way west out of Morrison and Bear Canyon Rd so I turned around at his direction. I went into the Red Rocks Amphitheater Park through the #3 entrance and enjoyed once again the beautiful rock formations that exist there.

The Red Rocks Amphitheater

I made my way through the rest of the park and headed North on CO93 towards Golden and looked for signs for the Lariat Loop Scenic Byway and Lookout Mountain. It's been a while since I've ridden up this nearby mountain and its still as full of switchbacks and curves as ever. Traffic was light so my riding skills were the only limiting factor on my speed as I motored up and down Lookout Mountain.

Once down from the mountain, I went West on US40 till it merged with I-70 Westbound. The original intent had been to get on CO103 from it's eastern start point and ride that particular road all the way to Mount Evans Road (which is already closed for the snow season). I messed up though and realized this soon enough to exit where CO6 and I-70 junction.

I got off there, headed back East on US40 which is a nice and curvy two lane road. Since the idea was to find more changing foliage pictures, here you go:

On Eastbound US-40

Using this road, I made my way back to US74 which lead me South to Bergen Park and finally CO103. The signs confirmed two things, Mount Evans Road was closed for the season and that "Motorcyclists should exercise Extreme Caution". Hmmm, last time I saw that sign was 2006 when I ended up on the same road, on packed snow, and managed to go down with no real damage to Maria or myself.

The warning sign proved overcautious, the road was dry all the way up to Mt Evans Road and back down to Idaho Springs. On the bonus side, I saw the first snow of the Fall riding season. First it was a few spots here and there in the shady areas on the North side of the road. As I climbed higher, more snow would appear until I was seeing this:

On the way up on CO103

On the way down to Idaho Springs, shortly after Echo Lake

I had myself a late lunch, made for me by my loving wife, once I got to the outskirts of Idaho Springs. Soon, after heading briefly East on I-70, I got off at the CO6 exit and used this marvelously twisty road that traverses rocky canyons and five tunnels back towards the Denver Metro area.

On US6, heading East

Once I got to Golden, I headed East on US58 until it got me on Eastbound I-70 which I rode to the I-25 superslab junction. I cruised southward on I-25 until I neared the I-225 junction which I used to get to Parker road and eventually home.

About 167 miles ridden today, a bit more than I had planned but it was quite enjoyable in terms of riding, traffic, weather and sights.

Hope you got a chance to ride today....