We knew this would be the day of high passes, and we
had more or less been gearing up for this day the entire
trip. When I thought of Colorado this is what I had in
mind. Cinnamon Pass, California Pass, Hurricane Pass,
Corkscrew Pass, Red Mountain Pass and Ophir Pass, we
had our hands full. The pasess ranged from casual
switchbacks to challenging rocky sections with lots of
steepness thrown in! It was challenging but lots of fun.
The scenery was spectacular, whether we were looking
at the red mountain peaks or the steep rocky slopes.
It was hard to take in all the scenery and still stay
focused on the technical riding. The roads were filled
with side by sides, we were all competing for the same
amazing roads.
By the time we reached Ophir Pass the weather was
starting to turn. We pulled on our rain suits and made
a break for it hoping that we could eventually outrun
the rain and find somewhere dry to sleep for the night.
While Alberto was stopped at the top of Ophir pass
taking photos he met two riders, from a group of four
riders on middleweight adventure bikes, passing the
opposite direction. The third member of the group was
struggling with the steep rocky terrain on his F800GS,
and to make matters worse he was holding up a line of
jeeps. As we made our way further down the pass we
met the fourth member of the group who had taken a
spill and broken the handlebar on his KLR. He was a
character, not that worried about his bike and starting
to wonder why his friends hadn’t come looking for him
yet. The KLR was beyond help so Alberto offered to let
his friend know of his situation as he fishtailed his way
back up the pass. We were able to flag down a passing
Jeep to give him a ride back to Ouray where him and
his riding friends were staying.