Webster Pass CO, Ride Report 8/7

[detours]

We had an epic time riding up Webster Pass on Sunday. Great people, great scenery, great weather (mostly) and great bikes.

The total round trip was about 150 miles, with about 15-20 miles of that offroad. We started at the Morrison Conoco and then headed up US 285. It was a beautiful ride into the mountains.

Gentle twisties and rolling foothills gave way to the beginning of the Rockies, with the Continental Divide in the distance. That's where we were heading.

[detours]

We turned off the highway a little west of Grant and found ourselves on dirt. Pulling over, we took a few quick pics next to the Webster Pass sign.

• Myself on my RX3
• Rojo_grande on his TT250
• My buddy Taras on his DR650
• Azhule on his Bashan 200

[detours]

We headed up the road. It started as an improved, graded dirt road, but within a few miles became rutted, rocky and steep.

But the scenery became more and more pristine and we made several stops for pictures and rest. Here are some pics of Red Cone to the north and the Continental Divide to the south.

Red Cone



Continental Divide

[detours]

Along the way, we lost some bolts on the Bashan 200, leaving the tail hanging by wires. But Rojo came to the rescue. A few bungies later and we were back on the trail.

At one stop a Porsche Cayenne club caught up with us. They really are 4x4, but we were still shocked to see them up there. One of the drivers was just as surprised to see my RX3 up there. I just smiled. I know what I've got and my RX3 was doing just fine

[detours]

Before long we reached our first water crossing. The creek flowed down the trail covered with scree and tailings. It made for a nice splash and a slippery ride up the trail. The Porsche club caught up with us here.

Of course we had to get video

I went first ...

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Then Mark, showing us how it's done ...

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Then Alex ...

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Then Taras, bringing up the rear in style ...

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[detours]

A little further ahead, we stopped and took a rest with our first view of the top of Webster Pass.

[detours]

On our way, we caught up with the Porsche club at the first switchback. They were waiting for some Jeeps to come down and get by.

Nice shot of Taras looking up at the Red Cone ridge trail. It follows that ridge from Red Cone on the right all the way down to Webster Pass.




Here's Alex, looking badass in his trail armor ...




And a shot of the trail behind us ...

[detours]

A few more switchbacks and we were way above treeline at the top of Webster Pass at 12,103 feet.

Here's my RX3 in front of the Webster Pass sign ...




And a shot of Taras's DR650, Alex's Bashan, and my RX3 ...




And a shot of the whole group with Mark's TT250 ...

[detours]

And some more pics of the incredible view. By the way ... we were standing on the Continental Divide here. All the water to the west flows to the Pacific. All the water to east flows to the Atlantic. Pretty cool!


The trail behind us to the east ...




The one-way trail down from Red Cone to the north ...




The view to the southeast ... Yep, the Porsches made it

[detours]

We debated a few of the alternate trails, but decided to continue to the town of Montezuma and on to Keystone. But first ... we had a few more miles of trail to cover.

The switchbacks down the east side of Webster pass were sharp and full of moguls. I jumped a few, catching a few inches of air, but mostly soaked up the bumps standing. Wish I had a GoPro ... that was fun!

Then we came to our second major water crossing. It was wide and about a foot deep. Cold too.

I went first. I had no idea how deep it was, so I was prepared to put my foot down and get wet. But it was easy.

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Mark went next, showing us how it's done ...

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Then Taras, crossing in style. Don't get your feet wet

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Then Alex, taking it easy. He had an open air filter and didn't want to drown it.

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I had so much fun crossing, I did it again. Love that wake

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[detours]

A few more trailside adjustments to Alex's tail section and we were on our way again ...

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And ... one last water crossing. I wanted to get video of everyone but didn't get my camera out in time.

At least I caught Taras before he crossed. Too much wake and he soaked his feet and pants

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[Azhule]

After that insane ride off road I found I need at least 4 things to make the Bashan better off road...

Bigger pieces of metal for my feet to rest on... then I can actually stand and do some better off road riding

Bar risers, the few times I had enough grip with my feet and tried to ride proper on the rough trail (standing), the bars are too low and it was cramping my neck, shoulder, and upper back.

Better Tires! I was lucky I only dropped the bike once when it didn't really matter (no hills to drop off, no water to drown in, etc).

A "Kill Switch" would be nice for water crossing too.

maybe a 5th thing too... not being lazy and actually dropping the PSI in the tires (29 psi front, 29.5 psi rear )

All those reasons above made a 27+ year off road rider look like a noob just sitting down, bouncing around the entire ride no matter the terrain

[detours]

And finally ... too soon ... we arrived in Montezuma and found ourselves back on pavement. Time to gas up in Keystone and hit the highway ...

Except, I couldn't find the gas station. Google said it was only a half mile down the road, but we couldn't find it.

We ended up in Dillon, filled up (Thanks to Alex for buying my gas!) and then hit the Dam Brewery for some lunch (and thanks for lunch Alex!). It was about 2:30 and we were all starving. Maybe it was the hunger talking, but that was the best dam burger I've had in a long time

[detours]

Now we had to get home. I suggested Hwy 6 over Loveland Pass, which took us right by the A-Basin ski resort ... the highest elevation ski resort in the US.

That was a sweet ride ... smooth switchbacks, steep climbs ... I got some good lean in those curves and found myself forgetting to keep the group together.

Here we are at the top of Loveland pass for some money shots.



A nice shot of Alex ...



And here's Taras ...