[dsn_klr650] ride report: crested butte to marble via schofield

[Richard Ohnstad]

Rex, First did this pass (back & forth) in 1973, with a 1971 Yamaha CT-1 - not much travel in the suspension, and thought I was going to bounce right over the edge while "walking" up the steps. Next did it on a 1977 Yamaha IT250, a lot better, but still limited on the suspension travel. Last time I did it was on a 1980 Yamaha IT425, getting pretty easy now what with the power and the suspension travel. Glad to hear its still challenging - I hate it when they smooth out these fun, but doable sections. Richard in Tucson 94 KLR650 86 VFR750 Subject: [DSN_klr650] Ride report: Crested Butte to Marble via Schofield Pass.

> 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 > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Life's too short to send boring email. Let SuperSig come to the rescue. > http://click.egroups.com/1/6137/6/_/911801/_/963018335/ > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Visit the KLR650 archives at > http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 > Support Dual Sport News... dsneditor@... > Let's keep this list SPAM free! > > Visit our site at http://www.egroups.com/group/DSN_klr650 > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@egroups.com > > >