[dsn_klr650] headlight modulator

[Peter Dahlheimer, MD]

if i'm not workin when you go, i'm up for #640. looks like a hell of a trip. fantastic ride report, man. this has got to be one of the most beautiful states in the country, even if i'm one of the masses of people immigrating into it. oh well, i try to be a "low-impact" immigrant. 8^) _pete grand junction

> -----Original Message----- > From: Steve Green [mailto:steveg@...] > Sent: Friday, August 31, 2001 12:53 AM > To: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com > Subject: [DSN_klr650] KLR adventures in Colorado > > > Where to begin? What a great trip! Even though company is nice, > riding alone is exciting, dangerous, and makes it all that much more > of an adventure. Here's my story, whether you like it or not! > > Been kind of a drag the last 2 weeks. HOA hassles, Taxes and shitty > business had me reeling. Wife's been sick and got off to a day late > start. Headed out north towards Boulder. On my way to Lyons I was > passing a car legally when the driver flips me off and swerves at me. > Some stupid chick and a Dude. I pull over she goes on. I grab a hand > full of gravel and catch up with her just before Lyons. She starts > going real slow so I pass her. She follows for about a mile and then > rushes straight up behind me and onto the shoulder along side of me > at about 50-60 mph. There was a car in front of me so I pull out of > the way and pass and also throw the gravel up into the air behind me. > (no idea if it hit) Now she is pissed and the chase begins. for the > next 5 miles I have the KLR flatout 90 mph fully loaded. She is > slowly gaining on me. I only manage to stay ahead by manuverability > through the few cars on the road. My adrenaline was flowing, when I > finally made the turn up towards Carter Lake she decided not to > follow, already 5 miles out of her way. Nothing like seeing the grill > of a Chevy Blazer that wants to kill you in your rearview mirror at > 90 mph. CRISTINA! > > Ok ok no more non PC crap for you wimps. > > So I am back on the trail of the infamous "Chuck Preston Day". You > remember... The day that Eric and then TomV split and Chucky knocked > me off my bike before I rammed him with my helmet. Yeah thats the > one. The one that began my reputation as the BADASS DS guy from > Colorado. (Green Hornet to some.) Not true by the way I am actually > well intentioned, polite, compassionate, caring, somewhat > considerate, and will always help people in need. I am just fed up > with most of the people that have come to Colorado as of late. > > Anyway back to riding. So up past Masonville I go, to the beginning > of Old Flowers Road. Five miles of dirt road to the Flying Bull Dude > Ranch where Flowers Rd begins and what do I see?..."NO TRESPASSING- > PRIVATE PROPERTY" Bullsh#t!!! This is a Forest Service road. Another > case of our new Colorado citizens. "I got mine now you get out" > I stop, take off my helmet and gloves, and flag a gal on an ATV over. > She is a ranch "hand" and I ask her about the sign and inform her > that the Forest Service says it is public road . She says "OH sure > you can go thru, the owner just likes to put up that sign." > Yeah Right. > > Old Flowers Road for is fantastic. Hardly used and real back woodsy. > It is an absolute must for all you northern front range DSers out > there. > > Next it was on to the hardest sonofabitch trail 517 and 177 that > start near Rustic in the Poudre valley and come out near the top of > Cameron Pass. This is a 30 mile stretch of lonely deep north Colorado > trail. It is the loneliest area I have seen on the Front Range. The > 517 portion is a stream bed. Rocks so big and steps so large i had to > unload the bike to get up many areas. I often thought it would be a > bad place to get hurt on a Tuesday! Expert only. > > Trail 177 was mud bog after mud bog. Twenty five miles of this. Not > another human to be found. Intermediate-Expert. > > Emerging to the road over Cameron Pass, I nailed it for a 90 mph > blast to Walden where I bought a steak to supplement my existing > provisions. North to Cowdrey I then veered west onto the dirt and > land of huge ranches. About 15 miles in I headed up 2000' from the > floor of North Park and onto the summit of Independence Mountain. > I could see Rocky Mountain national park, Willow Creek Pass, Medicine > Bow Range, Rabbit Ears Pass, Roach Road and the Sierra Madres. It was > a half moon, and I was on top of the world at about 11,000 feet. > Drove down a lonely flank and camped under the stars with the world > spread out below. > > With the break of dawn came bfast of coffee, Pita bread and honey. I > was rolling by 0730. It had got to 36 F that night so the long johns > were in order. It was time to see if I could find the road over and > parallel to Mt. Zirkel Wilderness that drops out near Hahn's Peak > north of Steamboat. This part of Colorado is neglected by the > tourists and hoards of looky lu's that flock to the more central > regions. The few people up here had "purpose", cattle, timber, > dualsporters. > > Thru tall dark forest and rolling hills (2000' higher than the floor > is only a hill in Colorado). Catching glimpses of the Medicine Bow > peaks to the NE as I drove. Crossing into Wyoming just barely, on the > way to Encampment I caught the elusive poorly marked road which took > me over the Sierra Madres. It wasn't too difficult, but don't screw > up, it's Wednesday and nobody will be by til Saturday! > > Hahn's Peak looming up solitary from the valley, I had once competed > in an Enduro here back in 1988. The single track is great in this > area so I decided to take some. I wanted to see the great "blowdown > of 1997" where hundreds of square miles of 3'diameter 80' tall trees > were flattened by a freak gust of 120+ mph winds. We are so small by > comparison to Mother N. Single tracking it where no KLR had gone > before much less fully loaded I arrived to a scene outa Apocolypse > Now. > > whump whunmp whump whump whump whump whump whump whump whump whump > > Heliocopters! My that lumber must be valuable. The state had finally > allowed them to harvest all the downed trees. Hmmmmm, I remember the > controversy a few years back, but never heard much about the > decision. Wonder why? (Sorry it's just my skeptical self showing > again.) Lost my long johns here, but that is another story. > > Once back down into the "beautiful people" of Steamboat, I made > tracks for the stix. Next stop Flat Tops. But the saga continues. > > Onwards towards Oak Creek, Yampa, and Toponas, but not without.... > Road Construction, Yech! Overpaid idiots with "STOP/SLOW" signs had > traffic halted. I, as always pulled to the front of the line. I > thought her arms were going to come unglued. Man was that sign lady > pissed that I, on my mtc, pulled in front of the cars and semis. When > it was time to go, she got her revenge by waving the cars on before > me. Well I'll show her. I passed everybody she let go before me in > that dirt construction zone. Good thing no cops were around, or I'd > be toast. > > Bought more provisions in Yampa and made my way south to Toponas and > back onto the dirt. The back road which emerged into the Colorado > river gorge as it cuts its way down to Dotsero. This is one Awesome > place. The spectacular decent from the higher Aspen groves into the > arid desert of the gorge with its bright red sliced cliffs for which > Colorado is named cannot be described. Take this Road sometime. > Enjoying the scenery without the threat of "road bite" I lolly gagged > along for a change. > > At Sweetwater Canyon I headed up into the Flat Tops. My map indicated > trail 2013 at Sweetwater lake open to motorcycles, but upon arrival > it was a steep narrow never used trail which ran straight up a cliff. > From the looks of it not even dirtbike stuff. The locals said that > they have never seen a bike use it before. Sweetwater Canyon is > private property galore. There are many large ranches and Dude > Ranch/Guest ranches that have completely posted the area with "no > trespassing" signs. My maps indicated numerous routes to the SW into > the Federal lands but everywhere was posted. I checked out road after > road and it was getting late so I decided to camp to the north high > on a ridge over the canyon. Climbing Sheep Creek to the plateaus > above Sweetwater I had a campsite from which your could see Mt. > Sopris above Carbondale, Eagles Nest above Vail, Pyramid & Capitol > Peaks above Aspen, and James Peak way to the east above Denver! WOW I > felt like an ant on a beach ball! Burgers, roasted chiles, cream of > corn, and Milano cookies to come, I got busy with my choirs at hand. > > Morning World. Broke camp and by 0800 my quest continued. Had to find > a way to get from Sweetwater to Deep Lake to the SW up high in the > Flat Tops. Tentatively going where the signs said not to, I stopped > and asked at a house about the road. "Go on up the owner said it ends > a few mile in at a gate." So I did, and the gate was open, I kept > going until I came to another house about 5 miles in. Dogs barking, I > take my helmet off and out comes a lady. Suspicions, greeting and > introductions aside she and her husband Fred allowed me to trailbike > cross their land and go on thru to Fed land ahead. Yippeee! diplomacy > pays off. "just go up the trail thru the 3 gates and you'll be there" > Fred said. Well the last gate 4 miles up was locked. As I was trying > to pick the combo lock a truck drove up. The Dude inside was real > surprised to see me there. He wasn't saying anything but the air was > thick. I took off my RayBan Arnold Schwartzennegger glasses and > walked over to the truck where I fully expected to be met with a 44. > Quickly uttering "Fred said I could" diffused the situation. Man am I > glad I got asked Fred's name. The Dude in the truck opened the gate > for me and wished me well. > > These trails were special. A way into the Flat Tops that is seldom > used. I climbed higher and higher out of Sweetwater Canyon and onto a > flatop that separates it from Deep Creek Canyon. Emerging on the edge > of a 3000' drop off into Deeep Creek so close one false step/missed > gear and adios. Three thousand foot Deep Creek Canyon rivals the > Black Canyon for beauty and spectacular scenery. Along a road carved > out of the north side of DC canyon I climbed higher still to reach > Deep Lake. the terrain was stripped clean and worn smooth by > glaciers. All the rock (limestone) outcrops were rounded smooth. > Something you rarely see here in Colorado. As I drove along the > scenerey was more akin to the Dempster Highway in the NWT with cold > stunted spruce trees, poking up thru the tundra. Very arctic indeed. > > The Flat Tops are and area (mostly "Wilderness") where a very large > flat mass of ground has been pushed up to 12,000 to 13,000 foot > elevation. This entire mass of land is surrounded by cliffs and deep > eroded canyons cutting to the interior. It receives huge snowfalls in > the winter and is always one of the last areas to be open in the > summer. Being flat it is dotted with numerous natural lakes. It has a > brief summer if you can call it that. The Colorado River borders it > to the east and south from which the Flat Tops rise dramatically. > > The weather was getting gray and heavy as I approached the Forest > Road #640 which would take me as deep into the Flat Tops as motorized > vehicles are allowed. This road cuts across to Buford skirting > the "Wilderness Area". I was 5 miles past Bison Lake when the heavens > let loose and the "road" turned to greased glass. Rain and corn snow > mixed turned the landscape a beautiful Christmas white. It was about > 1 PM and raining harder towards Buford. I decided to turn around. > That 5 miles took me 15 minutes in and 1.5 hours out. MUUUDDDDDD > > It was blue sky kinda to the south so I changed plans and decide to > drop down into Glenwood Springs on #602 aka the Transfer Road. Keep > in mind I have only seen 2 cars all day up here, and I have maybe > covered 50 miles of trail/4wd road. After a dramatic solitary decent > off the Flat Tops I was in Glenwood. I might as well have parachuted > in the way the road falls off after Windy Point. Intermediate/Experts > rating for the Transfer Road. > > Gassed up for the fast 170 interstate miles back to Denver. Got 30 > miles and the ole KLR was a mite bit wiggly at freeway speeds. HMMMM. > Wouldn't ya know it got a flat in the rear AM24. Hour later I was > back on the road and home by 8 PM. > > 675 miles, 2 nights, 3 days and I feel a lot better. > > One thing for sure I won't rest til #640 from Bison Lake to Buford is > conquered. Any one wanna go a dry day or 2 this fall with > the "Badass" from Colorado? > > Steve G > > > > > > > Checkout Dual Sport News at > http://www.dualsportnews.com > Be part of the Adventure! > > Visit the KLR650 archives at > http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 > > Post message: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com > Subscribe: DSN_klr650-subscribe@yahoogroups.com > Unsubscribe: DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com > List owner: DSN_klr650-owner@yahoogroups.com > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ >

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[bobcroley@vrdom.com]

snip On my way to Lyons I was

> passing a car legally when the driver flips me off and swerves at

me.

> Some stupid chick and a Dude. I pull over she goes on. I grab a

hand

> full of gravel and catch up with her just before Lyons. She starts > going real slow so I pass her. She follows for about a mile and

then

> rushes straight up behind me and onto the shoulder along side of me > at about 50-60 mph. There was a car in front of me so I pull out of > the way and pass and also throw the gravel up into the air behind

me.

> (no idea if it hit) Now she is pissed and the chase begins. for the > next 5 miles I have the KLR flatout 90 mph fully loaded. She is > slowly gaining on me. I only manage to stay ahead by manuverability > through the few cars on the road. My adrenaline was flowing, when I > finally made the turn up towards Carter Lake she decided not to > follow, already 5 miles out of her way. Nothing like seeing the

grill

> of a Chevy Blazer that wants to kill you in your rearview mirror at > 90 mph. CRISTINA! > > Ok ok no more non PC crap for you wimps. >

snip Steve, In the Navy we had an old saying "People who travel in Harms Way often are harmed" Bob Croley ( NO WHIMP) A15

[Jimmy James]

How's about sending the regulations to us so we can carry a copy with us, too. James in SC

----- Original Message ----- > I do carry a copy of the regulation with me. >