Last Thursday marked 14 days at the free campground, which meant it was time for us to move on. Christina, who was there before we arrived, had already moved on and invited us to join her at her new spot in the general area. Her one request was that we not broadcast this location to the world so it wouldn’t get overrun. That’s the simultaneous blessing and curse of places you find on apps like iOverlander. They’re easy to find, but they’re also usually quite populated as well. So I’m respecting her wishes to keep this one on the down low.
I can say that we’re still on public land (there’s a lot of that around here) and that they allow ranchers (there’s a lot of them around here, too) to let their cows roam freely and graze here. Since we’re both allowed to be here, there’s bound to be some intermingling at times, which is exactly what happened yesterday. You might say we’re all outstanding in our field.
Jenn had two very bald tires on her trailer. She bought two replacements but had never received any training in the art of changing your own tire. I fixed that. I demonstrated how to swap one, then “supervised” her doing the other side. She’s got this down now. While you don’t have to be an expert DIY mechanic who can replace an engine on the side of the road, I do believe that everyone who lives on the road should have at least some basic mechanical knowledge. We like to camp out in the middle of nowhere, which means there may not be anyone to help if you get a flat tire. Jenn won’t have to worry about this anymore.
Honey Badger told me I had to go ride a route she found between our camp and the nearby town of Fraser. The trip out was some fun forest service roads in generally good condition. The scenery was beautiful, and the riding was exactly the kind I like. One thing I’ve learned over the past couple of months is to trust Honey Badger’s route suggestions.
I stopped for gas and saw a trailer for Shreddy’s Tacos within sight. It was parked right in front of Fraser River Beer Company. Stopping for lunch was a no-brainer. I had a walking taco and a Byers Peak Brown Ale. I don’t usually drink at all while I’m riding, but one low-alcohol beer along with food wouldn’t mess me up at all.
I’ll let this sign speak for itself.
I took generally the same route back but detoured to check out a bridge that was closed. I never found the bridge but I did accidentally find a somewhat gnarly “road” that was toward the higher end of my riding abilities. I got through it just fine, but I don’t feel a need to repeat that experience. I have no pictures from that, but I did get video.
On Sunday, Honey Badger and I had planned to drive/ride Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park. We had reservations but ended up not going because the weather was looking bad, especially on top of the 12,000-foot mountains. That can become legitimately dangerous, not just uncomfortable, especially on a bike. We were hoping to get pictures and video of me looking cool riding my motorcycle up there, but it looks like that won’t be happening this time. We did take a drive up there in her van last Friday, though, so we’ll have to settle for those pictures for now.
At this point, I’m just biding my time until Overland Expo this weekend. Between the day job, ADVRider, and my presentations for Overland Expo, I’m going to be pretty busy all the way until Thursday, when we relocate to Loveland for the show. My first class is at 9:00 Friday morning, so I need to get there and settled in on the early side Thursday so I can be ready. It’ll all work out.
Smokey Da Van 