How’s Your Aspen??

Great! Sunday opened to a gorgeous but cool day. My Mountain Shadow Rider Sister Sandy and I decided to do this poker run and headed out in the early morning. The ride went up to Victor and back down—we are going up to 10,000 plus feet. This ride was put on by the Harley Owners Group—and I haven’t ridden with them in a number of months and thought it sounded like fun.

I was right.

When I pull in, I see a number of my friends and we start chit-chatting. I talk to the lead group—the folks that do the ride for the last minute road conditions and the folks that run the stops—and Sandy and I decided to ride in with them.

Brrrrrrrrr…it was sooooooo cold!! Of course, if you know anything about our region—the snow is definitely up on Pike’s Peak. That is an indication of the weather that is in store for us. “Up there” is where we are headed. At 10:00 in the morning I know it is going to be cold!!!

The ride up is quite beautiful. While I’m not particularly crazy about the colder temps, the changing of the foliage is spectacular!! The reds, oranges and yellows of the trees in contrast to the green of the pines is gorgeous. I sit back in the saddle, ignore my cold fingertips and enjoy the ride.

Just when I think it can’t get any prettier, it does. The ride up to Cripple Creek is always fun with the twisties. My enthusiasm was tempered by the amount of sand on the ground from the snow. It was, however, far worth the ride. Up at the higher elevations, not only did I get to see the marvelous fall foliage, there was the added dimension of color with the snow on the ground and in the trees. Sigh…it was absolutely beautiful.

Our first stop is Victor. It is a little mining town in the mountains and, yes, it is very COLD! We stop in and the two riders set up to for the stop. I grab a cup of coffee, warm up a bit and we head out. It seems that we need to keep ahead of the riders doing the run.

As we come out of Victor, one of my favorite roads is ahead—a cool twisty road that I love to ride. We head out, and I’m stoked that I get to see this section of pavement once again. As we ride, there is a pair of motorcyclists coming towards us. One of the riders takes the curve with too much speed and steps on the brake much too hard. She doesn’t lock it up, but does manage to lay the bike down the amount of sand on the road. It was unnerving to watch unfold. Her riding partner picked up her bike, she waved us on when we stopped to ask if there was anything we could do. No harm done, thank goodness. She waved us on.

We continue on our way. As we do the various stops, we continue to lose two riders—the ones who volunteer to work the stops. Finally, down to three riders—we are headed down to the end point. By this time, the temps have warmed up and I am very much enjoying the ride. I’m no longer cold! Whoooooohooooooo!!

We get down to the end point of the ride and Sandy and I set up to work the last stop. I enjoyed working the stop—I got to talk to a good many members that I have never had the opportunity to visit with—and we had a really great time doing it!!

I’m glad I did!

All the riders are in; it is time for me to head out. One of my friends is coming back from vacation and I need to head up to the airport to pick her up. I say my goodbyes and ride out.

I’m glad Jeanne is back—it’s been a number of weeks since we have ridden together. We’ll ride the Toy Run next weekend and then do the Breast Cancer Awareness ride. Let’s hope for spectacular weather!!

Keep the Shiny Side Up~

~The Rainbow Wahine