Rifle Run (ID UT WY CO)

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Spud

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Location
Southeast Idaho
After a little planning and working out schedules, RPrice showed up to my house in Idaho Falls from Salmon Idaho on a Thursday night. I took a day off work (FR), and we took one hell of a three day ride through the west.

Loaded up and ready to go, we hit the road early.

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The weather when we left could be described in one word: shitty. We slogged through some heavy rain and temps in the 40's-50's getting down I-15 to Logan UT. From Logan it started to improve, we went up Logan Canyon. At the top, talked briefly to some couples from Australia on rented HD's, they'd been on the road for a month in the US. They took our pic--overlook to Bear Lake (straddles the ID/UT border)

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From there it was south to Evanston, WY, then up over HWY 150 through the Uintas. Rain hit us off and on--heated gear was turned on. But the sky was amazing.

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We passed over Bald Mountain Pass at 10,715 feet. The road dropping back down from the top:

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From there it was west to the Park City area, then back east on HWY 35 in Utah, back through the Uintas again.

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Heading toward Vernal (RPrice)

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Through Vernal, UT then Dinosaur, crossing into CO

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We rode down into our destination, Rifle, CO. Highway 64 through Rangely and Meeker is a really excellent road, beautiful country out there (no pics). We rolled into Rifle pretty damn beat after around 640 miles of mostly mountain riding.

We got up early on Saturday to do our loop of Colorado for the day. The weather again could be described with the same word as the day before: shitty. The reasonable thing to do would have been to go back to bed, wake up later, find a bar somewhere and call it a mystery, but we jumped on the bikes and took off for our ride, a 420 mile loop down to Gunnison and back around to Rifle.

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At least we were dry for a minute under the canopy while gassing up

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Standing in the mud, one of my favorite things to do on a Saturday
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South from Carbondale on HWY 133 it looked like we actually might start seeing some sun

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We headed on up the road, into this....

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Took a wrong turn, pavement ended...

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Through Paonia then south on the 92, the weather finally broke. I don't know everything about Colorado, but 92 from Paonia to Gunnison is IMHO the funnest road to ride in the state.

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Looking down to Morrow Point Reservoir, some heavy showers sweeping over the mountains behind.

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Some "14'ers"....

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The Dam

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Then up over Monarch Pass. On top:

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Over Independence Pass, the highest part of the ride at 12,095 feet. Very chilly up there for August at 41 degrees.

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After making the loop, that nigh we went to dinner and just randomly wandered into a restaurant in Rifle called "Shooters Grill". The waitresses all wear sidearms--it's the required "dress code" for the restaurant.

Not my pic....but you get the idea.

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The food was good--I'd recommend it if your in town. I guarantee no one will try to rob the place up while you're there...

The next day it was back to Idaho Falls, on a more direct route of about 540 miles. We left early.

Somewhere in Wyoming....

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I went into Idaho Falls, RPrice continued onto his house in Salmon--I think he did almost 700 miles that day.

All in all, a fantastic fall-like summer trip!

 
Thanks Spud it was nice to view some of the areas I rode last year and the year before. I agree that the highway along Black Canyon is a hoot, but I would like to ride it sometime when the pavement is dry. There was a light rain when we went through there last year and I was trying to keep up with Hot Rod Zilla.

 
We slogged through some heavy rain and temps in the 40's-50's getting down I-15 to Logan UT.
Good grief. I went out to get on the bike yesterday and the seat was so hot it was a challenge to sit on it. Got home a half hour later and as usual, I was covered with sweat. And I gotta look at this ride report with everybody dressed from head to toe in winter gear. This time of year, I'd love to be ANYWHERE but this place.

Great ride report. Thanks for posting.

Gary

darksider #44

 
Gary: in 2 months or so riding will be over, and in 4 months it will be miserably dark and bitterly cold here, if that makes you feel any better
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We, indeed, had way too much fun!!! Tires are pretty scrubbed off, on the sides!

 
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+1 Gary, I was reading "heated gear on" thinking - is this some kind of sick joke?

It would be hard to hold the big girl back in those open mountain twisties, but I'd be concerned about gravel. Is that a big problem and does the road surface lend itself to seeing the gravel easily (contrast)?

 
It would be hard to hold the big girl back in those open mountain twisties, but I'd be concerned about gravel. Is that a big problem and does the road surface lend itself to seeing the gravel easily (contrast)?
hppants,

As far as gravel goes, yes one needs be on the lookout for places where the rain washes dirt/gravel onto the road!! However, another concern is where vehicles enter the highway off dirt roads and track a bunch of mud onto the pavement. I think Spud would agree that this was actually more of an issue on this ride!

 
It would be hard to hold the big girl back in those open mountain twisties, but I'd be concerned about gravel. Is that a big problem and does the road surface lend itself to seeing the gravel easily (contrast)?
hppants,

As far as gravel goes, yes one needs be on the lookout for places where the rain washes dirt/gravel onto the road!! However, another concern is where vehicles enter the highway off dirt roads and track a bunch of mud onto the pavement. I think Spud would agree that this was actually more of an issue on this ride!
After rain in the mountains, you get mud, dirt, gravel, little streams, and some rocks as big as basketballs occasionally on the road. So yeah, it's not the time to be trying to scrape pegs even when the road dries out. Just dial it back a notch and enjoy the scenery. Springtime here is really bad as there is often a layer of sand or grit in the center of the tire-lane's and on either side from snow melt/removal. Then you really learn to hold a line!

 
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