This morning was the day that I was to picked up Debbie, drive over to the Waffle Brothers, meet up with Travis the boss and then head to Mt. Evans. Travis got sick and could not make the planned run. After breakfast, I ended up talking to one of the owners of the Waffle Brothers restaurant and he was fascinated with the motorcycle and trip that I was currently on. He was from Australia and he an a friend started this local business from a cart truck, (do not hold me to that terminology), and built it up into 2 restaurants and soon to be three. He was an interesting fellow and I wished him luck to his business and told him one day that I would bring the wife, so she could try some of these yummy waffles. Click here to see their page and click on the menu to look at those waffles. Mmm.
So off we went to climb Mt.Evans and before we could get out of the city I see a van that said, Follow me to paradise! Maybe 
I should have followed. Explain later. Traffic wasn’t to bad on the mega-State and/or 4-lanes, but cars were pushing around me quickly is always a concern. Soon we in the real world of 2-lane zig-zag. With a speed limit of 25, it was a little hard to have fun in that, so I knew I would have to wait till later. Up, up, up, we went and we finally reached the entrance. We had only climbed up to 10,500 feet and still had another 4000 to go.
Ok, if I remember correctly the temperature was 62 when we pulled into the parking lot to put more layers on. I knew for every 1000 feet the temps would fall 3-5 degrees, so I was figuring on 40-45 degrees at the top. I put on jacket liner and Debbie ski pants and I believe a jacket liner. She wanted to stay with the thinner gloves so she could take pictures. When we pulled up to the gate to pay, the reported temperature at the top was, 33 degrees. Damn! What they didn’t tell us was about the wind. Remember that van? Maybe I should have followed!
So as we are climbing the first thing you notice quickly is that the trees disappear. I believe that happens between 10 and 11000 feet. Second is that the road narrows. Third is the snow heaves. Fourth, cars start to slow in your path and the turns get tighter and tighter with 180 degree switch backs. I’m not done yet. Now the wind gust start to pound the side of the bike but not to terrible. Finally while driving the last insult to me, the cars just stop because they want to take pictures of goats. Stopped on an incline, 13,000 foot elevation, wind gusts, standing on my tip toes, (tall bike), passenger on back, “Damn it, move!!” I hate that!! In any other circumstances, Lori will tell you, I’m zinging these cars, goats or no goats. But not today, not enough room in my eyes when they stopped in the middle of a 180 degree switch back. Umm, still not done! So we finally pull into the parking lot and find a place to park. I didn’t even feel like I could get off the bike because the wind was blowing so hard, I thought it might actually blow it off the kickstand. I had no faith, but the kickstand did it’s job and the bike stood tall. At first Debbie and I both walked around with our helmets on because we were being pushed around the parking lot. Finally I took mine off and got the full brunt of the wind. Ranger standing near by reports, wind gusting 32 knots, wind chill just below zero. Damn!
Well we didn’t stay long. Snap a picture here and snap a picture there and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out, we should leave. Then Debbie made this comment, “you’ve driven 15,000 miles, I will climb up to the summit it you want.” Then she said, “I’m just afraid I might just be blown off the top!” I might have that order mixed up, but I told her, I’d already climbed up there once before and I see no need in this wind. So we bailed!
Once we started our decent, the winds disappeared and the temperatures started to climb. Exiting the park is the first time I warned Debbie that I might miss behave just a little bit on this section of road. I told her the signal me to slow me down, but she never gave it. I pushed the BMW as far as I felt comfortable and it was the most fun of the day. Scenery, the climb up and down on Mt. Evans was the winner and Debbie got some great shots. Me? Not so much. There was no way being scared of heights, wind blowing, cars stopping, was I taking my hands off the bars to take a damn picture. No way!
I made a wrong turn when I attempted to make Estes Park today and once Debbie realized I screwed up, I pointed the BMW back to Denver. I hate back tracking and it 
was getting hot. Once we got down to Denver elevations, we were riding in temps between 90-95. So we opted for a lunch/dinner and called it a day.
It was fun seeing an old friend and I hope we stay in touch for years to come. I have already spoken to Lori about flying to Alaska next summer to re-visit some of the places I saw and some that I missed. I will fly and rent a jeep so Lori will actually enjoy it. Not sure she would like some of the rough roads and dirt roads that I want to show her, while riding a motorcycle. Debbie and her husband, Tom, will also be moving to Homer this summer, if all works out for them, and that will also give us someone to visit. To Cool!
Ok, tomorrow my 1500 mile sprint back to the east coast begins and I cannot tell you how much a dread the thought. I’m almost praying that it rains the entire time. Forecast temperatures look nasty and if it rains, at least I will be cool. So by 9am east coast time, I will be sprinting home. Ready or not, here I come Lori!!!!
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