Riding Mt. Evans

[Tommy T.]

Has anybody out there ridden their Monster to the top of Mt. Evans?  I've driven the road (and hiked via Bierstadt), the question is whether a 695 has the legs to top out someplace above 14,000'.

Any experience or opinions?

Thanks.

Tommy T.

[Manny]

My 620 did great up to the restaurant. Road was closed past that, but I will tell you that you won't have any problems. I've taken mine up to about 12k with no problems at all.

These new-fangled fuel injected motors automagically adjust for altitude. You'll notice a slight decline in power due to a lack of O2, but that is inevitable and won't be a problem. 

[Fresh Pants]

Aaaaand, it's a fun ride up there (I didn't go all the way to the top though, just Squaw Pass).
Just watch out for deer.
I saw a couple on my way up last week.

They seemed to know the drill, look both ways before crossing, or at they least did in my case (lucky).

[Tommy T.]

Thanks, guys.

I'm making my Fall ride this year from Deep East Texas to Colorado.  Probably put in around 2500 miles total.  I've climbed 21 of the 14'ers, tele'd and boarded 8 of the ski areas (plus a bunch of back country) but I've never been there on a bike.  I've got several favorite roads in mind (those places where I'm driving through to winter at Big Sky in an overloaded van and say "Man, I ought to do this on my bike!) and a couple of favorite Cont. Div. crossings plus a canyon or two, and if the weather is suitable I'll try the Evans road.

As far as I know, I'm the only person ever use a 695 Monster to ford a creek on a dirt road in Alabama.  Taking the same bike to highest paved road on the continent would be a nice compliment.

I've climbed to 22,000 feet.  I know what you mean about running out of O2.

Tommy T.

[Manny]

Sounds like a fun trip. You should think about running the Trail Ridge road from Estes Park to Steamboat Springs. Pretty ride, with some decent corners. Just watch for elk, deer, and tourists (friggin' Texafornians). 

[T-byrd]

Food for thought about Mt. Evans road...it's awful.  Lot's of pot holes and loose road/gravel, it get's quite bumpy.  To the point where you have to take odd lines just to miss the bad conditions.  It's not like it's not passable, it's just passable at a slower speed. 

Let us know when you plan on passing through, we've been known to welcome strangers into this part of America with a beer or two. 

T

[Tommy T.]

Food for thought about Mt. Evans road...it's awful.  Lot's of pot holes and loose road/gravel, it get's quite bumpy.  To the point where you have to take odd lines just to miss the bad conditions.  It's not like it's not passable, it's just passable at a slower speed. 

Let us know when you plan on passing through, we've been known to welcome strangers into this part of America with a beer or two. 

T

Thanks.  I drove a lot of it in 2006.  I drove up to the point that I could hike down into the ravine between Bierstadt and Evans.  I went down to the little tarns, scrambled up the other side to Bierstadt, took the knife-edge ridge over to Evans and then back down to my van.

My initial thinking turns around the South-West quarter of the state.  That's the area I know best from hiking and climbing.  My tentative plan would be some variation of entering the state from Chamas, NM, up to Pagosa Spring, then east over Wolf Creek Pass, and then up to the Gunnison area via Monarch Pass.  I have a friend who is a ranger at Black Canyon and I would like to spend a night or two with her, maybe make the out and back trip from Gunnison up to Crested Butte.  Then through Aspen, do the mandatory ride through Independence Pass and out the Arkansas River valley back toward Texas by way of the Washita Mts in OK.

The second possible line would enter the state from Raton, NM, get over to Leadville, U.S. 6 through Loveland Pass, Evans then up those canyons past the casinos, finding a loop over to Grand Juction and by Black Canyon on the way home, leaving back down toward Taos, NM.

My time and my schedule is my own, so all this can be varied, day by day.

Tommy T.

[Randimus Maximus]

Me & Stella may do this ride on Saturday.

[smokin pipes]

Did the ride to the top about 3 weeks ago on my 1098 your bike should have no problems but t-byrd is right don't go 2 hard and when you see the lake slow down road is heaved from frost very bad i hit the first one and bottomed out my forks other wise the road is OK . We had 2 bikes go down on the road from evergreen a couple weeks ago lots of blind right hand turns that get tighter in the middle and road is not so good . let us know when your going and i might join u later

[Manny]

I wish I had a bike. I go with you. You know, as a "local tour guide." 

[Randimus Maximus]

I wish I had a bike. I go with you. You know, as a "local tour guide." 

you could ride "cupcake" with Stella.

 

[Motomojo]

Is that the ride where the tank popping crash happened and the bike off the side and down 60ft? That was quite a story !!

Did the ride to the top about 3 weeks ago on my 1098 your bike should have no problems but t-byrd is right don't go 2 hard and when you see the lake slow down road is heaved from frost very bad i hit the first one and bottomed out my forks other wise the road is OK . We had 2 bikes go down on the road from evergreen a couple weeks ago lots of blind right hand turns that get tighter in the middle and road is not so good . let us know when your going and i might join u later

[Stella]

I'm making my Fall ride this year from Deep East Texas to Colorado. 

"Colorado Highway 5 to the top of Mount Evans is closed for the season.  The state transportation
department said Thursday that the U.S. Forest Service has requested that the upper portion of the
road remain closed from after Labor Day until Memorial Day every year."

(fyi)

[Manny]

"Colorado Highway 5 to the top of Mount Evans is closed for the season.  The state transportation
department said Thursday that the U.S. Forest Service has requested that the upper portion of the
road remain closed from after Labor Day until Memorial Day every year."

(fyi)

Effin' pansies. It's still dry and warm up there.