ride report: crested butte to marble via schofield pass.

[Rex Hefferan]

Well, we're back from our little trip to Crested Butte. I trailered the KLR650 and rode it over Schofield pass 2-up from Crested Butte. Easy ride until a couple of miles down the other side where they have a sign reading something like: "Warning: Only very experienced drivers with high clearance small 4WD vehicles should proceed beyond this point." It wasn't too bad from there on for about a mile, a couple of creek crossings, one 2+ feet deep and 20 yards of river rocks. Then the full meaning of the warning sign became apparent. Karla (wife) had to hike parts totaling about .5 mile. It became a VERY steep and narrow road with piles hand-sized loose rocks piled on top of more hand- sized loose rocks that comprised the hand maintained sections. These sections were among drop-offs and "steps" that had to be negotiated at a very slow speed, else you risked loosing control and falling off the 100 foot drop to the creek. Crashing ON the road onto big rocks didn't look like much fun either. The slow speed and tricky loose sections at one point required that I shut off the bike walk it down about 200 yards. I needed both brakes to manage walking that part, but couldn't reach the ground while on the bike to maintain ballance in many places. It's very hard or impossible to stop a heavy bike like a KLR650 from falling over in those conditions once it's off ballance too far. Hell, it's hard to stop it on level ground once it goes too far. I controlled the decent by leaving it in 1st gear, using the clutch to lock-up the rear wheel and using the front brake while walking it down very slowly. Karla even fell once while hiking down this section. I elected not to attempt a return to Crested Butte on this "road". We made it down to the Crystal Mill and took several photos. Then on to the town of Marble where some of the purest white stone in the world is quarried for Monuments, sculptures and government buildings. The Marble for the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" and Lincoln Memorial came from there. The return trip was on easy roads that 2WD cages use. My previous trip to Marble was on these roads and the State has treated most of the gravel based county roads with a spray on substance which resulted in an almost paved surface and nearly eliminates dust. I'll scan in some pics next week and provide a link to view them. Rex A7

[Toby Lampson]

Rex, Sounds like a treat.......btw, so was ridin' with ya in Moab. Its always nice to have those around you who are skilled, yet keepin' an eye out for the herds well bein'. Slide Rex Hefferan wrote:

> Well, we're back from our little trip to Crested Butte. I trailered > the KLR650 and rode it over Schofield pass 2-up from Crested Butte. > Easy ride until a couple of miles down the other side where they have > a sign reading something like: "Warning: Only very experienced > drivers with high clearance small 4WD vehicles should proceed beyond > this point." > It wasn't too bad from there on for about a mile, a couple of creek > crossings, one 2+ feet deep and 20 yards of river rocks. Then the > full meaning of the warning sign became apparent. Karla (wife) had to > hike parts totaling about .5 mile. It became a VERY steep and narrow > road with piles hand-sized loose rocks piled on top of more hand- > sized loose rocks that comprised the hand maintained sections. These > sections were among drop-offs and "steps" that had to be negotiated > at a very slow speed, else you risked loosing control and falling off > the 100 foot drop to the creek. Crashing ON the road onto big rocks > didn't look like much fun either. The slow speed and tricky loose > sections at one point required that I shut off the bike walk it down > about 200 yards. I needed both brakes to manage walking that part, > but couldn't reach the ground while on the bike to maintain ballance > in many places. It's very hard or impossible to stop a heavy bike > like a KLR650 from falling over in those conditions once it's off > ballance too far. Hell, it's hard to stop it on level ground once it > goes too far. I controlled the decent by leaving it in 1st gear, > using the clutch to lock-up the rear wheel and using the front brake > while walking it down very slowly. Karla even fell once while hiking > down this section. I elected not to attempt a return to Crested Butte > on this "road". > We made it down to the Crystal Mill and took several photos. Then > on to the town of Marble where some of the purest white stone in the > world is quarried for Monuments, sculptures and government > buildings. The Marble for the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" and > Lincoln Memorial came from there. > The return trip was on easy roads that 2WD cages use. My previous > trip to Marble was on these roads and the State has treated most of > the gravel based county roads with a spray on substance which > resulted in an almost paved surface and nearly eliminates dust. > I'll scan in some pics next week and provide a link to view them. > > Rex > A7