"Riding in the Rain"

Today as I left work close to 4:00 PM, the storm clouds were gathering and a few drops of rain were starting to fall in the parking lot as I got ready to ride Brigitta, my 1987 R80 Beemer home from Denver International Airport.

Flying debris was everywhere as the winds were picking up and blowing from the North/Northwest. I headed out and straight into some strong gusty winds, hitting me on the right side and causing me to lean Brigitta over or be pushed into the adjoining lane. I hate wind from the right side, left side...not so much.

I got to "enjoy" these windy conditions for several miles until at last my chosen route home had me heading in a southerly direction. Now with the wind at my back, all was quiet and relatively still. I chose a route that avoided much more exposure to southbound winds on my right side and the rest of the ride was great.

The rain continued and grew in strength, there was buckets of the stuff! And yet, it did not bother me. I was dry with my waterproof liner under my riding jacket, my pants were getting wet but I was heading home so no matter there. The rain was falling thickly but gently with almost no wind. It was great!

So great in fact in evoked in my minds eye that scene from that old movie where Gene Kelly is dancing about in a rain-soaked street, singing that well known song: "Singing in the Rain".

I was finding the whole riding in the rain experience, after those wicked wind gusts coupled with rain, so peaceful in comparison that I tried singing the following lyrics. Really, I was having such a good time, rain coming down in buckets, that I was weaving in my lane (safely), as I am prone to do when enjoying some nice tune when on the highway.

So I give you here, the paraphrasing of the first verse of the song, sung to the tune of "Singing in the Rain":

Riding in the Rain

I'm riding in the rain
Just riding in the rain
What a glorious feelin'
I'm happy again
I'm laughing at clouds
So dark up above
The sun's in my heart
And I'm doing what I love
Let the stormy clouds chase
Every cager from the place
Come on with the rain
I've a smile on my face
I ride down the lane
With a happy refrain
Just ridin',
Ridin' in the rain

Georgetown, CO and The Guanella Pass Road

Though the weather forecast called for only 30% chance of precipitation with a high of 70°F today. The skies looked clear enough in the morning for me to try for a "then and now" shot of Georgetown, CO.

Georgetown is located along I-70 a few miles west of Idaho Springs. I made my way to Georgetown using the I-225/25 slabs to get to westbound I-70. Again, I exited at the US40 junction and used this more sedate road to enter the mountains of the Front Range.

Once past Genesee, I elected to stay on I-70 westbound and not take the Floyd Hill turnoff to get back onto US40. Traffic was medium heavy at most and the weather was sunny though temperatures were "brisk".

I arrived at the turnoff for Empire, CO and decided to check out Old Georgetown Road out of Empire. This road starts off as Main Street in Empire. Before I turned onto it though, I stopped to pose Brigitta at the original "Hard Rock Cafe". Apparently the chain of similarly named cafes
owned by movie stars tried to sue them over the use of the name and got laughed out of court. You see, this cafe has been around way before those movie stars were anything but wannabe actors.

The very first Hard Rock Cafe

Picture taken, I turned onto Main Street and headed south out of the town of Empire. This turned out to be a road I had been down before on Maria, my 2004 R1150RT. It was during my passbagging efforts, and I'd ended up before stopped before a rock strewn narrow pass known as Empire Pass where I dropped Maria while trying to turn her around. Here's a link to that sorry day: LINK.

I parked Brigitta on the side of the trail, walked up to the pass and took the following shots:

The view from Empire Pass

I carefully backed Brigitta back down the hill using the engine off, transmission in gear, clutch lever as brake method and successfully got her turned around. I rode off down the rocky trail back towards Empire. From Empire I took the I-70 route to Georgetown, about three miles away. I exited at the second Georgetown exit and followed the signs towards the "Old Town". I saw and followed the signs for the Georgetown Loop Railroad and parked near the historical marker to show you a picture of the trestle bridge which is still in operation.

The Georgetown Loop Circa 1884
go to DPL: Call# CHS.J4060

Georgetown Loop Circa 1884
go to DPL: Call# WHJ-1084

The Georgetown Loop Trestle Bridge

Click to photo to read the plaque

I rode back into town, past the unseeing local yokels who apparently have a habit of just stepping off into the street without looking, and found the road to Guanella Pass by the simple expedient of heading west across the town until I saw the signs.

It's this same dirt/gravel road which takes one above the town of Georgetown and after some searching, I carefully maneuvered Brigitta onto the only really clear spot I could find to take these pictures:

Georgetown Circa 1880
go to DPL: Call #X-1325
Note the lack of trees, all chopped down for building and burning!

Georgetown circa 1930
go to DPL: Call# x-1012

Georgetown, 2009

Turns out, had I just gone on through the next hairpin turn, there was a nice open spot for the same pictures! So if you're going to try the shot above, just go to the first hairpin.

I kept going up towards Guanella Pass. The road is rock strewn, full of potholes, loose gravel, some big dips and runoff-created channels as well. Brigitta did fine though there were moments I briefly hesitated. There was road construction as well which resulted in my waiting along with a line of cagers for our turn to go down two sections of "one lane roads". So, if you don't fancy dirt riding, and trust me I was wishing for a GS on some of the spots, wait till they finish construction in the Fall of 2010. The construction they're doing seemed more like destruction to me but what do I know. I noted that some of the more "lower slung" cars were having more
difficulty than I at negotiating the road conditions.

Really, besides the few moments were I could not avoid muddy looking gravelly areas, it was fine on Brigitta. I even did some standing on the pegs to traverse some of the more "gnarly" areas.

So, once I cleared the construction zone, the road got much better, go figure! Now it was just packed dirt with small loose gravel and some washboarded spots. I made good time all the way to the top of Guanella Pass. It's summit is at 11,669 ft and the road itself is 24 miles long,
with Georgetown at the north end and Grant at the south end.

The view when I first arrived, heavily overcast, I hung around for perhaps 30 minutes hoping for a break in the cloud to let in some sunlight. The sharp edged ridge is Sawtooth Ridge.

While I waited, it snowed, no stick but still....

This was the best of several pano shots I took while I had some sunlight, that's Mt Bierstadt on the right, Sawtooth Ridge in the middle and I think Mt Evans further back.

The requisite photo at the Pass Marker

Weather conditions I faced on the way down

I rode down towards Grant, CO. Road conditions were about the same as the top of the pass. Packed dirt, washboard sections and loose gravel with the occasional exposed boulder one avoided easily. Though I was keeping speeds up to about 25mph on the road, I had to move over and let cagers careen on by at faster speeds. So beware of the cagers on this road.

I got down to lower elevations where the road is briefly paved for a few miles, this was when it started snowing on me again though it still did not stick to the road surface. Temperatures were in the 40s so I was not worried.

The last few miles before you intersect with the US285 highway at Grant are packed dirt again but no big deal. If you're wanting to go up to Guanella Pass, and you've only a street bike, I recommend you start from Grant and make your way up, much better road conditions! Of course, you'd then have to return by way of Grant if your bike is not up to the conditions near
Georgetown.

I cruised on US285 northbound now, watching the skies get more and more cloudy and overcast. Traffic was not bad on US285 and Brigitta ate up the distance to the Denver Metro area with no issues.

US285 by the way, is a very nice motorcycling road. It's four lanes but with sweeping turns that incorporate changing elevations. It's an enjoyable road to ride so long as the traffic is not too heavy. Mind your speed in the construction zones, the Colorado state patrol is always out there it seems.

I briefly stopped at Windy Point to try and capture a sense of the dark clouds I saw hanging over the Denver area:

The rock retaining wall at Windy Point, makes it a memorable curve on US285

"Active and dark looking" cloud formations to my front

I kept going, watching the storm clouds blanketing the horizon to the front of me. I briefly debated donning my rain pants but it never started rained on me, seems I was chasing the storm instead. I got into town, staying on US285 which is also known as Hampden Avenue
within the metro area. The roads were wet as if a recent rain had just gone through. The roads were starting to dry in fact all the way to the junction with I-25.

I took the I-25 slab south towards I-225 and its Parker Road exit. The roads got steadily wetter but still no rain, just road spray. Things got really dark once I was on Parker Road and turned onto Smoky Hill Road. It was as dark as twilight and traffic was heavy with lots of road spray.

I got home and saw the results of what I thought had been the passage of a strong wind storm. Lots of leaves and small branches all over the roads and lawns. I pulled into my cul-de-sac and saw some piles of ice/hale remaining as well. I parked Brigitta and said to my loving wife as I took off my helmet that I must have "just missed a big storm". She informed me that 30
minutes or so prior, there had been a tornado in the Southlands Mall area!

Photo of tornado funnel cloud taken by a neighbor two blocks up from my house!

The mall area is less than five miles away as the crow flies so it was a near miss of sorts for my neighborhood. There were a total of five tornadoes during this same time period here in the state. Very unusual. I lucked out and came back after they were gone.

188 miles and about 5 hours of saddle time, so not a very long ride, but I fortunately missed a quite exciting storm ending!

End of May 2009 on Mount Evans

Though it took me a while more than I had planned on, I managed to ride up to the top of Mount Evans today. The US Forest Service claims its the highest Auto road in North American at 14,130 ft in elevation. I'll tell you one thing for sure, weather can be radically different up there than on the Front Range at this time of year!

I rode the superslabs out of the Denver Metro area in order to make up some time since I had slept in this morning. By 10:45 AM I was at Idaho Springs and I-70, fueled up, and heading up on CO103 which is part of the Lariat Loop Scenic Byway towards Mount Evans Road or CO5.

The US Forest Service Ranger told me it was "hailing quite well" at the top as I queued up to pay the $3 charges to motorcyclists. I told her I'd stop if things got bad, while my mind was saying " oh, oh".

Still the initial five miles up Mount Evans Road were just fine. Roads were mostly dry, not much snow at all and not too cold.

Pretty tame looking conditions right?

Yeah, the road was wet, but not slippery at all

Things would get a little more iffy after the above set of pictures!

I went past the Mount Goliath overlook and went past Mile Marker #5. The way ahead was very foggy as this stretch of the Mount Evans Road was in the clouds. Not just any clouds of course, but thick dark ones with occasional bolts of lightning and sounds of thunder seemingly not too far off! Of course, it also started to lightly snow.

My Caberg helmet was having its usual hard time staying unfogged, and I rode all the way to just past Mile Marker 7 before stopping since I basically could not see very far ahead. It was a combination of fog, clouds, ice crystals on the visor and on my eyeglass lenses. It was around 11:45 when I stopped, and I just took the below pictures while trying to "wait the storm out" and continue riding.

Waiting out the light snow fall

As you can see, the snow was not "sticking" to the road

Around 12:05pm, three bicyclists slowly made their way down the mountain road. They stopped near me to adjust their gear and put on some rain gear. I talked to one of them and he said they'd turned back at Mile Marker 12 due to slushy snow accumulating on the road. Not good.

Soon after they left, the mountain top became even more thickly covered in clouds and fog. I figured then that even if I got up there, I would not be able to see much or take pictures. I headed up a bit, but turned back shortly before Mile Marker 8. I road back to the Mount Goliath Overlook at Mile Marker Five after a slow ride down the mountain in a medium snowfall. Lucky for me, the road was too warm and the snow melted immediately on contact with the road surface.

Self portrait, unfortunately taken AFTER I'd brushed off most of the snow

Lunch Site, the Mount Goliath Overlook's Parking Lot

I spent perhaps 45 minutes or so at this overlook, eating the lunch my loving wife had made for me. I wandered about the overlook, took the pictures above and just gazed at the scenery around me while the snow storm blew away. It was a balmy 35°F while I was there, much warmer than the low 30's I'd seen reported by Brigitta's thermometer just two miles up the road!

Finally, close to 1:00pm, I saw a break in the clouds overhead and glorious blue sky with sunshine peeking through! I got Brigitta turned around and started heading back up the road since it was no longer snowing and the road, while wet, remained ice-free. It would in fact, be ice free the whole time I was on the mountain.

So with just a few clumps of slushy ice in the center of the lane, which I easily avoided, I went back past Mile Marker 8 and road all the way to the top of Mount Evans. In fact, once you got high enough you just basically came out into less cloudy conditions, some sunshine and best of all, dry road! It was all cake once I got past Mile Marker 12.

This is just past mile marker 10 I think

Even though I "locked" the exposure setting, the pano shots didn't come out as well as usual

The buildings at the top, that's the observatory on the right. There used to be a small snack bar up here but it burned down I think.

Brigitta at the top

It's perhaps another 1/4 mile of hiking up the rocks to get to the very top of Mount Evans, seen here behind Brigitta. Both she and I passed on this hike.

After I took the above pictures, I slowly made my way back down the mountain. The clouds were rolling back in as I rode down which made for very few scenic shots. That and the fact that there's not too many "safe" spots to park one's motorcycle in order to take pictures!

Still plenty of snow around when you're above mile marker 12

Summit Lake on Mount Evans

One last look the Mount Evans Road as it hugs the mountainside

So I made it safely back down the mountain, things were in fact quite dry once past Mile Marker 5. I stopped by the entrance to Mount Evans Road and tried to phone home to check in, no signal. As I was getting ready to go, a trio of beemer riders rode up from CO103. One of them walked up to me and asked about conditions up on top. I told him what I'd seen, and said if they were going to try it, they had to hurry. I left them with that and proceeded eastwards on CO103 towards Squaw Pass.

The ride down CO103 with its many twists and turns, coupled with sometimes "interesting" changes in elevation, was completed with no problems and minimal use of the brakes. When going downhill on mountain roads, Mr Gravity is NOT your friend but engine braking is!

I got back down to where CO103 junctions with CO74. I took CO74 towards Evergreen, transited through this quaint mountain town, and rode on towards Bear Creek Canyon and the towns of Kittredge, Idledale and Morrison. One final stop just shy of Morrison to take off my warm layers now that I was back int he mid-60s in terms of temperatures.

The following shot is for Jack Riepe, who always says shots of snow and ice make him feel like eating his gun. So Jack, here's some greenery as you've requested before, this is the river which flows along CO74.


The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. I transited through Morrison, past the herds of cruisers parked outside the town's bars, and continued on Morrison Blvd into the Denver Metro area. Using this blvd, then US285 or Hampden Road I made my way to the I-25/225 slabs which I took to my home neighborhoods using the Parker Road exit.

Though it was in the high 60s back home, the clouds were dark towards the south and east. I saw a couple of lightning bolts and got home before any rain. In fact, it's two hours later as I type this, and still no rain! Just ugly storm clouds to the south. Perhaps 6 hrs in the saddle today, 191 miles covered. I got rained on, hailed on, snowed on, rode through thick fog, heard thunder and saw far off lightning. Ya gotta love Colorado spring weather in the mountains!

Three Years and a bit over 64,000 miles ago....

Three years ago, I was part of a group of students going through the MSF's Basic Rider Course at the local Honda Motorcycle dealer on Arapahoe Road and Clinton Street.

I stopped by there mid-morning once I realized the weather was not going to allow for a safe ride to the top of Mount Evans today. By coincidence or good luck, there was a Basic Rider class going through their own training as I rode up and parked.

The students probably wondered who was this guy who just sat there on his beemer with a bemused look on his face. One of the instructors walked by and said hello and I told him I'd taken the course three years ago and he said he knew the instructor who had trained me. He got busy again helping the main instructor and I was left alone to observe.

The students were doing pretty good, they looked a bit unsure of course, a few kept letting out the clutch to fast without raising the engine from idle and killing the bike, their turns were slow and they kept looking at the ground instead of keeping their eyes up and scanning. In other words, they were learning and I am sure having a ball; I am sure they also were wondering what the heck they were doing on a motorcycle when things proved not as easy as the instructor made it look!

A lot of the mistakes that I made while a student came to mind and I found myself nodding in agreement as I overheard the instructor coach her students.

I left as a light rain started to fall on us. I felt I was "cramping the student's style" by my observing and left them to discover the joys of motorcycling with the bare minimum of skills one needs.

I headed on home, stopping briefly at a couple of spots with good views of the horizon to capture shots of the storm clouds that were rolling in from the west.

Usually, you'd be able to see Mount Evans off in the horizon, directly behind where Brigitta sits

No riding into the mountains today for me

As you can see, the mountains are pretty much obscured directly to the west of the Denver Metro Area. I could see part of the Rockies to the southwest but way too far for riding today.

Three years, time flies when you're having fun!

Post Blizzard Rides, albeit short ones.....

As you've probably seen in the news, we in the Denver metro area got lots of snow dumped on us. My neighborhood got about nine inches or so, tops. I spent most of yesterday and today working the hell out of my snow blower to get paths cleared in the cul-de-sac for our cars. It was deep enough that without the work, no car was getting out, much less my motorcycle!

Finally, around 1:ooPM or so, the snow finally stopped falling and it became a gentle rain for the most part. The snow accumulations started melting and I spent my time ensuring drainage channels out of the cul-de-sac and down the street to the storm sewers. That was painful spade word as my snow blower just could not handle the wet, soggy snow at that point!

After resting a bit and drying out, I went out one more time to see how Berry Street looked. It was clear of snow and just wet! I geared up quickly and after getting what she called my "final kiss" from my loving wife, I headed out for a quick look at Himalaya Road.

Nice wide path out of the cul-de-sac

Lining myself up with the channels created by cagers going up and down the street

I got to South Ireland Street, the main road one uses to exit the neighborhood, made sure no oncoming cars and turned right to the exit to Berry Street. No sweat, the hard part was over!

I went to the light on Berry and turned left onto Himalaya Rd. Wet roads and a foggy visor were the only hazards as traffic was pretty light. I went to the parking lot of the nearby grocery store and turned around. I got home and no wife in sight to take pictures! Turns out she thought I'd be out longer! Doh!

So I went out again, this time turning right on Himalaya and almost making it all the way to Quincy road. I turned around just before Quincy and retraced my route. Road conditions remained just wet with a few spots where there was slushy snow remnants.

As I neared my home, I spotted my loving wife, catering to my whims as usual. It's either that or she's planning on that big life insurance policy I took out....hmmm.

The stop sign is South Ireland Street

Lining myself up with the cleared of snow path into the cul-de-sac

Home Safe

As you can see though, made it home from the two short rides with no issues. Even the remaining snow in spots was really just wet slush. Tomorrow its supposed to be warmer and sunny so the snow will really melt away then. Weather guessers are saying the temperatures are going to be in the high 60s-70s all week! Joy.

Snow Day Filler: Riding in Hot Weather

A bit of spring snow falling on us today, I missed a two hour window when things were just rainy with mostly clear roads. Now, it's about two inches in the last hour and falling thickly....oh well.

So, on to the filler:

Here's some of things I consider, have learned, use or do when riding in hot weather.

Now, what's hot weather? Anytime, when ATGATT of course, that you're feeling hot enough to start sweating. That's my definition anyways.

Courtesy of: Motorbyte.com

First off, ATGATT is not an optional thing for me. Sweating beats bleeding I've read, and I can confirm this is true through actual experience.

Vented gear is a must in hot weather, you have to let that heat your body's putting out escape somehow right? My riding jacket and pants are made of air mesh Kevlar, by Motorport, and they vent pretty good. If I choose to ride with just a t-shirt and shorts under my riding gear, it feels (while moving) like I'm just wearing the inner garments (mostly).

Now, for the longer rides, it's best to wear something that covers your skin so that you don't lose too much water through evaporation as you sweat. Your vented gear allows the wind to cool you through drying of the sweat you are producing, however this means faster water loss too.

I wear, a long sleeved, tight fitting, exercise shirt. It's made of a special material that wicks moisture off your body and keeps you dry; I know it seems counter-intuitive to wear long sleeves under your gear but it does work! Especially if you wet down said long sleeve shirt before you put it on wet, it's rather nice and cooling on those really hot days that we get here in Colorado. For short rides, like commutes, I don't do this though I have been known to wet down my regular cotton t-shirt before riding home in temperatures in the high 90s with the sun beating down on me.

Get one of those neck bandannas that have water absorbing crystals in them, they swell up with water as you soak them before the ride. Wrap it around your neck, you've got major blood vessels going to/from your brain at your neck, it helps cool things down.

Get and carry a camelback-type water bag to wear on your back. I usually half-fill mine with ice and water before the longer rides, and those cooling sips I take while at stops or even while riding do make a difference! If you're doing it right, you'll run out of water in the camelback before your next gas stop, so I carry a gallon jug of water in my side case as well on the longer days of riding. Note: much cheaper to buy a gallon jug of drinking water at gas stations than the pricey "fancy" water bottles.

That same water jug is used to wet down the long sleeved shirt under my riding gear when it has become dry from the air passing through your vented gear.

When you go to the bathroom, if your piss comes out a deep yellow, you're not drinking enough. You should really have to go often if you're hydrating correctly. Dehydration is not something you can tough out, it will kill you if you try to gut it out. Headaches are an early sign, if you stop sweating in the heat, heat stroke is not far behind. Drink water, often!

Drink water, not beer or coffee, alcoholic drinks and caffeine are diuretics....meaning that they make you pee and thereby lose more water. I don't drink beer at all if I am riding so that's not an issue though I confess being addicted to my morning cups of coffee. Sodas don't count, water!

I've read somewhere where folks pour water into their helmets to soak into their helmet liner material. I've not tried it but it seems to make sense, just make sure you dry out your helmet at the end of the day, no sense getting mildew and such growing in your helmet!

Keep your skin covered, exposed skin will sunburn and lead to your sweat evaporating that much faster, causing faster water loss. Don't forget the back of your neck when applying suntan lotion.

Hot weather usually means lots of sun exposure, get some good sunglasses or a darkened visor for your helmet. It helps prevent headaches from your eyes being in the permanent squinting mode due to the brightness of your surroundings.

If your ride an air-cooled motorcycle, beware of your engine temperatures getting too high in prolonged stop and go traffic. Even oil-cooled motorcycles will overheat, specially the ones with fairings that tend to trap air in slow moving traffic. Brigitta, my 1987 R80 is air-cooled and gets pretty hot in heavy traffic. Maria, my 2004 R1150RT, though oil-cooled has gotten pretty close to overheating as well. Be prepared to pull over and let things cool down if you have to.

Hot weather on asphalt, causes said asphalt to become soft. If your motorcycle's parking spot is black asphalt or similar, make sure you've a wide footprint side stand base or you'll find your motorcycle on its side when the side stand digs into the asphalt in the heat and your poor motorcycle topples over! I carry a small plastic disk, about three inches in diameter, that I place under the base of the side stand. Worse comes to worse, find an old soda can, crush it down vertically and use that!

Courtesy of: Motorbyte.com

Beware "tar snakes", many states use asphalt-like material to fill in cracks on the pavement, these become quite slippery sometimes when its hot!

Courtesy of: Motorbyte.com

Carry drops for your eyes, they're going to dry out, specially in the drier climes.

That's all that comes to mind for now, please leave a comment if you've tips I've not mentioned.

Harry Martin's Site: LINK

Too windy to ride for long

The weather guessers were wrong with the forecast for today. We were supposed to get from 6-11 inches of snow depending on which guesser you listened to.

We awoke to wet looking streets and a dusting of snow on the grassy areas. Not that I minded of course, as I hoped to ride later in the afternoon.

I left the house around 3:30PM, the sun was shining though it was a mostly cloudy sky. The roads were dry and it was a bit windy in my neighborhood.

As I road out of the neighborhood, northbound on Himalaya Road, the sun went away and it got windier. It was a wind that gusted strongly from the North but it didn't feel too bad.

I headed over to the Plains Conservation Center to see if some interesting cloud formations might be had, nothing. Nothing but stronger winds!

I then foolishly turned East onto Hampden Road and really got slammed as I rode along towards Gun Club road. I was having to steer slightly to the left just to maintain a straight line as the wind tried to push me to the right. Yeah, death grip time.

I made it to the junction with Gun Club Road and thankfully turned South to have the winds at my back. It got real quiet as I rode then, as it usually does when one has the wind at one's back.

The winds were not too bad by the time I turned back West onto Quincy Road and from there to my home neighborhood roads. There were moments when frozen ice particles blew about the pavement like little wind dervishes.....of course by the time I stopped and got the camera, they were gone.


The above shows the stats for the nearest weather station for the stretch of Hampden road from the Plains Conservation center to the junction with Gun Club Road.

Only a max of 45 mph in terms of wind as you can see, felt much stronger though when it was hitting me broadside!

A Quick Ride after Work

Today's forecast was for snow, starting to fall on the Denver Metro area by late morning with 1-6 inches of accumulation. I type this at 6PM and there's just now starting to snow, very little accumulation so far but that should change as the evening turns to night and the temperatures plummet.

So, with the above forecast in mind, I wussed out and took the 560SL cage to Denver International Airport where I was to spend the day in meetings and walk-throughs for a project.

Around 4pm, I was done with the work, it was snowing lightly at DIA but not sticking to the pavement yet. I was congratulating myself for having taken the cage as it would have been an "interesting" ride home in that stuff. Mind you, it was doable, just nerve-wracking.

Wouldn't you know though, a few miles outside the airport, the roads were dry and just an occasional snowflake was seen as I drove home! You know where this is going right?

I got home at around 430PM, dashed in to let my loving wife know I was going to get a quick ride in. She looked out the window and said: "you better hurry or you're going to be mad at yourself". What a great wife eh?

Got geared up, took Maria out as the temperatures were in the low to mid 30s with heavily overcast skies. I headed towards Picadilly and Hampden where the Plains Conservation Center is located. Here I posed Maria just inside the facility's main gate:

The skies were ominous looking eh?

I rode out heading east on Hampden Rd, the winds were blowing pretty strongly by now from the North but I had enough time to take this shot of the front range:

Looking west towards the Front Range Mountains

As you can see, the inbound snowstorm completely obscured one's view of the mountains visible from Denver.

I turned south on Gun Club Road which I took back to Quincy Road and my home neighborhoods. As long as I was out, I went to fill up Maria's gas tank so I can add some fuel injector cleaner to her. Got home, still no real snow and still on dry pavement.