It’s hard to believe 2024 is coming to an end! Despite the lack of updates to the website, we have had several great rides in 2024. Here’s a short recap…
February
January was cold and snowy, but in February we got in a little bit of riding out near Grand Junction. There are some fantastic roads and trails north of town.
April
March didn’t have any quality time in the saddle, but the riding highlight of the year came in April with an amazing 2 week ride in Northern Vietnam. We definitely took the road less traveled through small towns and villages with some great rides on the tarmac and off. The weather was hot and humid, especially riding through some of the rice paddies, but there was amazing scenery everywhere. It was a great group of riders from the US, Australia, England, Northern Ireland and Andorra. The Vietnamese people were gracious hosts, and I would highly recommend this ride to anyone who is considering it.
If you missed the trip video, be sure to check it out here:
May
May found me back in Colorado and gearing up for the annual Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride in Salida. The group has continued to grow, and this was the best year yet! Kudos to Jeff the organizer. We had some nice vintage bikes and everyone had a great time.
In late May/early June I headed southwest for the north rim of the Grand Canyon for a week of camping and riding. I had never been to the north rim before, and it was nothing short of spectacular! We camped in the campground right on the rim. The north side is never as crowded as the south side, and that was especially true at this time of year.
On the way out, we camped at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park to tackle the dunes.
July
July featured some great Colorado riding.
August
August was a busy riding month with several great rides. One of the first was a long one day ride east to Phantom Canyon Rd and Shelf Rd. Lots of scenery with a lunch stop in Canon City.
Mike from the Vietnam trip swung through Colorado with a buddy, and we rode for a few days in Colorado, including a rainy, but scenic day on Divide Road.
I also got to reconnect with an old friend and hang out with several of the Colorado 500 riders in Crested Butte before their ride.
There are some really nice rides over by Crested Butte. However, we hit some pretty big rain and less than ideal conditions on one of our adventure rides.
September
Peak fall colors come to the mountains in September, and we had some great colorful riding right here at home.
October
In October, I decided to chase the fall colors east, so I loaded the Tenere 700 in the trailer and camped my way through Missouri, Kentucky and Ohio. I had almost forgotten how many incredible motorcycle roads you can find in the Midwest! I was able to ride through Missouri wine country with some old riding buddies…
And meet some new riding buddies for some of the amazing twisty roads in Southern Missouri…
You could spend a lifetime discovering roads like this one in Kentucky…
Driving through Bourbon Country, I found several new roads that are definitely on my radar for a return trip!
November
Earlier this month, Team Colorado from the Vietnam ride got together and road in the Utah desert for 4 days. Thanks to Gene for putting this ride together and letting us use his trailer. Utah is an amazing place to ride!
I put together a little slide show from this ride here:
It’s not quite December yet, but the ground is covered with snow and ice and another 12-18″ on the way as I write this, so riding season around Leadville is pretty much done for the year. I changed oil and stabilized fuel tanks this past weekend. Now it’s time to start planning for 2025! Looking forward to more great adventures in the year to come!