My wife is really great. She cares about everyone and she cares about me. That’s one of the reasons I married her.

She was looking for ideas for my anniversary gift and thought she’d go check out my web site. And when I asked her why she was sending me away by myself for our anniversary she said, “Because I was looking through your travel pictures. And I noticed they stopped after we got married, and it made me sad.”

It’s true I don’t have the time to ride I used to. Work is, well, work. The kiddo takes up a good bit of time and now that we’re three, any family travel requires a car. So for the first time since I bought my bike, I’ve gone one year doing only one major service on the bike and I didn’t need to buy new tires either.

This report is short, just a couple of days on the road and true to myself not a lot of pictures. I really do like to ride, and stopping isn’t riding, so for a couple of days in August it was me, the bike, and no schedule.

It was a gray day when I left Denver. The route was simple: 285 south. The general plan was to ride towards Durango, find a place to stop for the night and then head home the next day. Not epic by any means, but that will have to wait till the kiddo is older (and who knows, maybe she’ll want to ride with her old man).

Even though it was August I packed my electrics, and I wasn’t sorry I did. I love the weather in Colorado but you have to be prepared for anything, any time of the year. I stopped in Gunnison for lunch and then wound my way through Lake City on highway 149. This is really a nice ride and coupled with the fact that the weather was getting grayer and rain was threatening to fall I had the road mostly to myself.

I was heading up Slumgullion pass when the clouds opened up and I spent the rest of the afternoon in the rain. Honestly, I kind of enjoy riding in the rain. Probably because it keep most of the rest of the world inside.

About halfway to Creed I hooked up with some Goldwingers. Even through the rain they were maintaining a decent pace and not objectionable to me so I tagged along. They turned the same direction I did in South Fork and I followed them a bit longer till I came round a corner and saw one of them on it’s side in a gravel pull off. I pulled over and hoped off the bike to help them get it back up, but they motioned they were okay and indeed had the bike up by the time I got off. So I hoped back on and wound my way through the weather.

It rained off and on the rest of the afternoon. I hit Pagosa Springs for gas and took off for Durango. The ride was quick for the most part. I fell in behind another couple of riders for most of the trip.

The only real motorcycle joke I know ends something like this: BWM riders ride alone, because no one else is stupid enough to go that far, that fast.

In my case that seems to be true. The two I followed weren’t bad, but I think one of them may have been a new rider. They were extra cautious when passing slower traffic. So much so that I had a hard time getting around them. The road between Pagosa Springs and Durango has a fair amount of traffic, and when you get a chance to pass you need to take it.

I prefer not to split up a group if I can help it. I consider it rude, and it’s dangerous to zip around a new rider in my opinion. So I stuck it out till we were almost to Durango, but then I had enough. There was a chance to pass, but the newbie was taking so much time I would have been stuck behind them and another truck. So if you’re reading this and you remember a yellow BMW who passed you a little closer than you would have liked, I appologize.

I had intended to find somplace to stay near Durango but again, true to my nature, I didn’t want to stop. I wound my way north, through the rain (again) and through Silverton and eventually found myself in Montrose with the sun already gone.

I had packed my camping gear, but with the light gone and the fact that I didn’t want to pitch camp in the dark, I wimped out and got a hotel for the night.

The next day saw much better weather. The sun was shining and white fluffy cloads floated across a deep blue sky. I crossed Grand Mesa, twice. The first time on 85 then back across on forest access road. I wound my way towards Aspen thinking I’d stop for something to eat. However, there’s something about Aspen that makes me want to just go through it.

That and the fact that across Independance Pass there is a little cafe at Twin Lakes with some pretty good food.

That left me with the downhill stretch, through Leadville and back home to Denver.

Not an epic journey by any means but if you enjoy travel because of the journey, it’s just as good as any other.