Colorado

[Hockey Dad]

Looking to plan a trip to Colorado to dirt bike.

Looking for a good place for single track, hill climbs, ect.. Went online and there is to many choices. Anyone have any experience out there? Where to go and not to go. Good time of year, bad time of year.

I've heard a place called Lake City is pretty good. Anyone else want to head west?

Doug in Lees Summit

[troy]

Get ready to be overwhelmed with information if the right people see your post!

Time of year is easy -- July & August are the best bets to not get blocked by snow at high elevation. The mountain temps are great and it's the time of year the temps suck here at home...so you aren't missing much great riding at home during July & August.

My personal experiences in CO are:

• Gunnison / Taylor Park
• Ouray/Telluride
• Westcliffe / Wet Mountains (Sangre de Cristo range)

For MILES AND MILES of amazing, easy to access singletrack, I can heartily recommend you stay somewhere close to Taylor Reservoir, get a trail map, and go ride. The singletrack is clearly marked on the maps and there is enough to keep you busy all week.

Ouray area is the Jeep 4x4 mecca, but there are some amazing singletrack trails there, too. However, they are harder to find and not so clearly marked.

We rode the Westcliffe/Wet Mountains area multiple times. There are some wonderful, scenic, little-traveled singletrack trails in the Wet Mountains. You don't hear folks talking about them...which is cool--a hidden gem. These can be hard to find and require 20+ miles of road riding from most anywhere you might lodge. It's a very remote area.

IF you run GPS, I can help by providing some tracks, but if you go to the Taylor Park area, you don't need it--just get the map, find a trail head, and enjoy. Great places to eat in both Gunnison and Crested Butte as well as the tiny towns in the area.

This probably goes without saying, but DO have at least one buddy with you. Do not ride out there alone.

[allkidd]

Trading Post at Taylor lake is probably the number one small bike destination in Colorado. Like Troy said, lots of every time type riding....single track, atv, jeep, forest roads etc. One of the nice things about this area is that they welcome motorcycles...even annoying two strokes! Most everybody that travels to this area has either a motorcycle or ATV.

Very short season from mid July through August. This creates a problem in that the cabins at Trading Post are typically full a year or more in advance.

http://www.taylorparktradingpost.com/

Another place in the same area that we have stayed at is 3 rivers in Almont. Much nicer cabins but not quite as convenient. There is still riding right out of the 3 rivers cabins as you can ride from there to Taylor.

http://www.3riversresort.com/

Two years ago we went to Sargents Colorado. By road, about an hour from the Taylor area. Again, we were able to ride right from our cabin. Most reasonable priced cabins and a lot of single track. I'm not sure that I would go there two years in a row but plenty of riding for a week stay.

http://www.tomichicreektradingpost.com/

I've never been there but have heard the new area to ride in CO is Rand Colorado.

If you can make the next TARKC meeting we can provide additional information and try to answer any questions.

June 3, 2014

Where: Captains Bar and Grill
27909 County Highway 8-S
Lees Summit, MO 64086

Time: 6:45

What: My daughter's boyfriend just purchased this bar/grill and he has guaranteed us the best wings! They have a great patio area . There is some really good riding in the area so we will plan a dual sport ride for those who can make it earlier.

[safiri]

Lake City area would be good from ATV's and excellent for 4x4's and DS riding.

Taylor Park area is great for MC's. If you are camping (tent or trailer) there are a lot of options. There are USFS campgrounds and also open camping. The one (possible) downside to staying in the Taylor Park area is you are far from restaurants and stores. The TP Trading Post is about it.

As Troy said, get a map or two. The USFS maps is good for the big overview, but much more useful to me are these:
http://www.latitude40maps.com/
http://www.natgeomaps.com/ti_colorado

[katbeanz]

http://rickramsey.net/ I've had the pleasure of riding with Rick a couple times, though not on anything gnarly. Give yourself a day or two to acclimate and your trip will be much more enjoyable.

[david h]

With your criteria I would say Taylor park. Try the timber line trail it's a hoot. At several points on the trail it is so narrow and steep you can't turn around or stop cause on your left to put your foot down its waist high and on the right its 3 foot down. Needless to say I got a little spooked. I stalled once and just thanked the motorcycle gods that I had that magic start button, cause a kick start would have been nearly impossible.

I'm sitting out here in Colorado as I post. Just got a second home/rental in Frisco. been here a week and am finally able to breath and exercise good. It's sort of like NW arkansas out here in that there is good riding all over the place. I look forward to doing a lot tamer stuff than what you want. A polaris RZR is in the stable and the passes around here are calling my name.

If any of you want to ride this area I would hop on the dr 650 and be happy to show you around, but as stated earlier it will be dual sport riding only. My hard core riding days are behind me.

David H

[Hockey Dad]

Awesome, that was easy. Thanks for the great imput.. We like some bad ass hill climbs as well. Can I asume Taylor has some of these?

Doug

[allkidd]

Hill climbs in Colorado? Any trail...especially single track, is going to have all the hill climbs you will ever want.

[Creekside]

There is also a RMARhttp://www.rmariders.org/2014-rendezvou ... er-co.html (Rocky Mountain Adventure Riders) thing in Silverton July 24-25-26 (pre-Jeep) and Meyers July 30-Aug2 (NW area, Dino park stuff?). Jeep Jamboree is in Silverton/Ouray last week of July so it was moved from Silverton to Meyers that week to avoid the madhouse. But so many wanted Silverton now there's two long weekends of RMAR back to back. But I don't really know a thing about them ymmv. I am sure they can find you a hill climb.

I hope/probably going to Estes the 3rd week (Family reunion) and late 4th week @ Meyers with those guys if I find a group of them that are my speed, big bikes, not nuts, probably be riding out and for sure back, so the bike must work when done and me too.

Dave if you up for a day or two of riding I can head down to Frisco or meet up in Roosevelt when the "kinfolk" all drive me crazy somewhere in July20-28, after that at Meyers, then begging in Bolder in dirty clothes on the mall for beers till I can sit again, then ride home.

[Hockey Dad]

Is there any fact to the elevation change and the effects on bikes, carborated and FI?

[troy]

Is there any fact to the elevation change and the effects on bikes, carborated and FI?

Absolutely! Combustion, and thus HP, relies on oxygen and fuel. The higher the elevation, the less oxygen. A modern, fuel-injected machine should account for this via sensors and decrease the fuel going into the mix. This is why folks sometimes report getting crazy good MPG riding at elevation. I know I did in my 2012 KTM 350 EXC (fuel injected).

While my 350 EXC seemed to adjust well to keep the motor running smoothly even at 12K, what was very obvious--even frustrating--was the loss of power. There are scientific charts explaining this (and I'm sure safiri or someone else will post about it), but the number I hear is you lose roughly 1/3rd of your HP going from KC to 10,000 feet. In fact, I sold that 350 precisely because of the lack of power at elevation. For KS/MO riding, I loved it, but I do enjoy riding in CO, too. I decided I prefer my old carb 450 EXC. A new 500 EXC would also do very nicely!

If your bike is not fuel-injected, the solution to make the bike run well usually means swapping out your main jet and moving the needle position (usually a clip you can move up or down). On most bikes, this is an easy 10 minute job, but may require seat and tank removal depending on how accessible your carb is.

Now you can probably get by with doing nothing, but expect the bike to run crappy...and maybe not well enough to get you to the summit.

[Hockey Dad]

Thanks Troy

I have a FI bike, even though I love my 2 stroke (CR250). The four stroke seems like the best opportunity for good performance. I don't want to feel like selling my 2 stroke.

Doug

[safiri]

Is there any fact to the elevation change and the effects on bikes, carborated and FI?

(and I'm sure safiri or someone else will post about it), but the number I hear is you lose roughly 1/3rd of your HP going from KC to 10,000 feet.

3% per 1000' is pretty close ... assumes linearity, which isn't bad unless you are flying, or riding the Himalayas.

So going from KC@1000' to Taylor Park@9000' ... 8k' change => 8x3=24% loss. And then you ride higher. I've been to 13800 on my 453 RFS. Obvious loss of power but it did well.

Also, as air warms up a given volume contains less oxygen. Thus you lose power as the temperature rises, but the effect is much less than that of altitude. Pilots (I am not one) use density altitude, which takes into account both altitude and temperature.

As Troy stated, the problem is thinner air, not your bike or its fuel system type. Just like you trying to breathe at 12k'.

Typically the larger the bike motor the less you need to fiddle with the carburetor. Dropping the needle a clip or two is easy and requires no new jets. Adjusting the idle mix screw helps, too. Last summer in Summit County CO, all the way to 13800', I don't remember messing with jetting. I did adjust the idle mix screw.