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Finally Hit The Mountains


HispanicSlammer

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Long Scraggy Overlook

Mrdude - or Millertm as he is named here at vfrd - Mark by everyone else said hey lets go riding! I says "where" he tells me that he was up on Horsepower hill 2 weeks ago that it was clear. Then he told me a story of how he smoked some guy on a CBR or some such thing liter bike going up HPH. On his 1250 Bandit that he has piped, sliponed, big sprocketed, and fuel thingy adjusted to give him more torque and HP. Big Horsepower for Horsepower Hill. Anyways we head up the interstate to Hwy 24 and make our way up the Canyon into Cascade. Mark is hanging back presumably at the speed limit cause hes unemployed at the moment (layed off like half of America is right now) and he has to keep his driving record clean to get a truck driving gig. Me I take off for a few turns and wait for him on the straits. Its a short set of double lane twisties that is way overcrowded anyway and sometimes patroled but not often going up. More cops on the down side than the upside but either way its not worth a ticket, then it opens up near Cascade and you just have to Cruise to Woodland Park. Its not a freeway but it might as well be, split like a freeway with 2 lanes going up and down.

It starts to become clear there is a lot of snow near Woodland park, its melting all over the road with cars spraying up the wet muddy water thats streaking across the road. So I try to stay far enough behind the cars that I dont smudge up my visor with overspray. Its always a chore from Cascade till your out of Woodland Park. I dont know maybe 6,500 live up there? Mostly White guys who drive SUV's, wear baseball caps and chew tobbacco. The girls are cute but not too friendly - in other words I dont fit in there! Well maybe thats not true but I avoid the place if I can, but its difficult since I have a couple of friends who live there.(both white guys who wear baseball caps, drive sub's and chew tobbacco HEH) REDDOG YOU KNOW YOU DO!

THE MAP

Full Size

A) Colorado Springs

B) Woodland Park

C) Deckers

D) Horsepower Hill (I dont know we just call it that)

E) Pine

F) Pine Junction

G) Bailey

We finally get past the the last remnant of Woodland Park the golf course (which looked like it would be fun on a snowmoble today) and are following a few cars north on 67 for about 10 miles till the road turns into the hills, so far your just on the high mountain plains till you get to Rainbow Falls where it gets curvy. We are weary of the gravel on the road so we follow a few cars down the hill into the creek bed - Westcreek its called - where the road is fun. It follows along side the creek for a good 5 miles again afraid of gravel I followed a truck for a mile till I finally said "F THIS" and went around him only to find that there was a whole chain of cars basically spaced 1/4 mile apart, I get them all one by one. Mark follows cautiously behind and soon we are passing Deckers - no more cars! I hate the part from Deckers to Horsepower hill it always has gravel in the turns, no matter what time of year, no matter if it is in the sweetest part of summer it always has had gravel in the turns. I baby it and Mark is right on my tail.

I was expecting him to take off at the base of Horspower hill since he was talking about his CBR encounter just that morning, I see its rather clean and so I hit it - seeing triple digits for a good couple of minutes and Mark is about a 1000 yards back basiclly mirroring my speed, I slow down toward the top cause its not so clean I am thinking but its is clean! Its clean all the way to Pine! Matter of fact the climb from Pine to Pine junction is super clean! I enjoyed that alot, Mark was nowhere to be found cause well he is more into sweepers that the tight turns. Any way I stopped at the top of Horsepower hill at the Long Scraggy Overlook

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Millertm Mark and his Bandit

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Me New knee pucks - nope not even close this ride

I sent my suit into Aerostich to have it repaired and had them sew on some knee puck velcro, not sure I will ever get a knee down or not? I ride fast enough but I just dont toss my knees out far enough to do it? I am hopeing to get in a trackday and learn - I do ride fast but my form can use some improvement. In more ways than I can count starting off with the wieght!

I stopped at the light and waited for Mark at the top of Pine Junction, he pulls in about 30 seconds later and I say lets go to Bailey and get a burger at the Cut Throat Cafe! Hes good with that and so we head west for about 7 miles to Bailey - going slow cause the road is busy and there are construction crews out, the hwy 285 cooridoor is rather congested in the mountains all the way to Grants where it opens up, thats bascially where most of the mountain communities end, the commute to Denver is too far from that point to be reasonable, which its not reasonable anway, some 20,000 people must live along that route? I dont know its all strung out along the highway. Its beautiful up there in anycase, but cold in the winter.

We pull into the Cut Throat Cafe and find its closed, a fire it says forced a shutdown - shoot! I love that little joint too. So we go across the road to the bar and it is closed as well! OH hell back to Pine Junction and we finnaly find some food at the Junction Resturant. Good food there! We hang out for an hour, seems like a good place just to hang out and talk! Alas we are 70 miles from home, Mark says he needs gas? I am like HUH? Gas after 70 miles? OK he says he can wait till we get back to Woodland park. My bike has at 3/4 tank and he was at 1/3rd? Jebus man that thing is thirsty!

On the way back I am not so scared anymore and know where the worst parts are and proceed to basically run it at 80% pace of my normal summer speed. Its much more fun for me the way back, going down HP hill I get a good view of the snow on Pikes Peak and enjoy the twisties much much more, I just run it my speed and check to see if Mark is still back there every once in a while, he is! Its all good, it is great to be in the mountains once again!

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  • Member Contributer

I rode to Bailey yesterday for lunch, left here around 3pm. Coming back home and after Deckers in the 50mph zone I see a black vehicle in the far distance hauling ass to catch me. No idea where he came from (was not parked at Deckers?) and he closed on me where the speed limit drops down to 35. He got close enough to pace me in the 35 zone. I suspected it was a LEO when I spotted it way back in the distance so I was not speeding when he caught up. He never used his radar.

So I was stuck with the LEO right behind me the whole way back. Riding through there at 35 is like getting a root canal. He finally broke off at West Creek. I figure he was running at least 100mph as he caught up and tried to bust me where the speed dropped to 35. Funny thing though is that I was not even speeding 50 zone before I saw something back there.

He was after bikes. No way he would have closed like that if he just saw some SUV way in the distance.

Good to get out though!

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  • Member Contributer

Noticed on a Texas Bandit forum Mr. Dude was commenting that he had blown away some VFR's after his mods and I wondered if you were one of them. :ohmy: :laugh:

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Noticed on a Texas Bandit forum Mr. Dude was commenting that he had blown away some VFR's after his mods and I wondered if you were one of them. :ohmy: :laugh:

Straight line only with Slammer, no way I can match his corner speed yet. I need another 80K or so miles on my bike to learn to lean like him. I was talking about how the stock Bandit 1250 is slower then a modded VFR. Once I added 30hp or so the B1250 is a beast (still not sportbike fast). Unfortunaly, it will not lean over like a VFR and it is a bet heavy in the corners. But it does have a strong motor and you are over 80lbs of torque at 2.2K rpms. Not a top end bike like the VFR but I could not afford a new VFR. Slammer is a good guy to ride with even though he hammers you in his blog.

Mark

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  • Member Contributer
Slammer is a good guy to ride with even though he hammers you in his blog.

:laugh:

Yeah, he's entertaining for sure. Keep riding with him and you're cornering will definitely improve.....mine did. :fing02:

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