Can A Road Be Beautiful,,,,?

I felt a bit down today, but I am not sure why.

Maybe I am getting tired. Maybe I am missing my wife and family. Maybe I am getting a little road-weary. This was day 80 of my tour, so it could be that.

It should have been a great day today as I went to a car show this morning, rode Pikes Peak and then went to see Cripple Creek. But it wasn’t. It was an okay day that just felt odd.

The car show was good, with a few gorgeous cars on display. Riding Pikes Peak was very good and the views spectacular, but I didn’t feel like making a video of the ride and I didn’t take many pictures. On the way back down we had to wait while an ambulance was called for a couple that had an accident on their bike. They simply ran off the road and hit a bank of earth. The rider said he had been going just 25mph and skidded on the yellow centre stripe. No way. He was obviously going faster than his and just lost control. Too bad they had an accident, and I am sure they will be OK. He wasn’t badly hurt, but the lady had lost the feeling in her legs, but it was coming back.

I had heard a lot of good things about Cripple Creek, but there must be two towns near each other with that name as the one I went to was sadly disappointing.

I even realised at one stage I had been riding in the wrong direction for about 10 miles, so convinced I was that I knew the way to Cripple Creek. I was not happy when I eventually turned on my GPS / Sat Nav to be told by she-that-must-be-obeyed to make a U-turn. Hmmph!

With the delay for the accident, I was running a bit later than I would have liked, so I skipped lunch and by the time I got to my hotel for the night I went straight out and ate dinner. All I wanted to do when I got back was to sleep, but I was running low on clean clothes, so I am laundering my clothes in the hotels guest laundry as I type this. I may have said it before, but Holiday Inn Express hotels are not too expensive and every single one has a guest laundry.

My back is still aching a little, but only at the end of a day’s riding. My wife’s sister’s husband suggested a backrest for the bike today and the timing of his suggestion passed onto me by my wife was good. Maybe I will try one. I wonder if there is a H-D dealer in Colorado Springs. I will look in a little while.

Okay, snap out of it France and sort your pictures from today out, go get your clothes out of the dryer, publish this post and get to bed!

A few pictures from the Cruise Above The Clouds car show....

These three similar coloured cars seems to be saying “feed me”.... They reminded me of hungry pelicans....

I have never seen this car before but I loved it.... just look at that retracting roof!....

I was really happy the way this picture came out....

Hmmmn. This looks familiar!....

Yes, please. I would like one of these....

It seems a bit silly to have to pull a trailer just because the restorer chopped the trunk....

Drool....

Terrific paintwork....

For a long time, I have wanted to own a 1957 Chevy Bel Air. Today I changed my mind, because I now want a 1957 Chevy Bel Air Nomad. What a wonderful car!.... but I would want it in red....

On the way to my next destination, I saw this sign. Can you guess which place I went to?..... (hint – the only workshop I like must have a bike or car in it)....

I posted something recently saying taking pictures of mountains is really difficult as they either are washed-out or do not portray the scale of what your eyes actually saw. I think this picture shows the scale....

With the road shown, this picture equally demonstrates the size of what is there....

I love this picture....

One of the Rangers stopped and offered to take my picture. I don’t know why I usually decline when someone offers to do this, but today I said yes....

I chatted to the Ranger for a while and learned that just about every day, somebody gets too scared to continue to drive their car on the road going up/down the mountain. These just freeze and a Ranger has to drive their car down for them. It did make me wonder why they ever started to drive up in the first place!

What curves.... Can a road be beautiful? I think so.....

The road to the top of Pikes Peak is 18 miles long from the pay booth ($12 per person). All but about 3 miles are paved and are some of the best roads you can possibly hope to find. The 3 unpaved miles are easy to ride if you take it slowly. I kept to about 20mph and had no problems at all.

The top is at just over 14,000 feet. You can park quite close to the edge....

To get an idea of scale, click on this next picture to enlarge it and look at the people standing on the peak on the left hand side....

Stunning views....

I had noticed signs at the bottom of the mountain proclaiming “Pikes Peak Challenge”. I had seen people walking up the mountain and when I walked around the summit, I saw that it was an organised event for walkers and runners(!) to reach the top.....wow, I am full of admiration for these people.....

The mountain has a cog railway and I wondered if the train was running today....

I didn’t need to wait long for the answer....

Riding back down, I saw this classic car being driven up. I like it when special cars like this are driven and not locked away only to be bought out to be polished or taken to a show. I waved at the driver in appreciation as he went passed....

I stopped, parked the bike and climbed some rocks to take a picture with my Point and Shoot camera. While I was up there I use it to take a short video....




This is the only picture I took of Cripple Creek.... I just couldn’t sum up enough enthusiasm to take any more.....

The one really bright spot of my day, was bumping into Charlie6 at a gas station. I had stopped to make a phone call and in he rode on Natasha. It is a small world!....