When is it too late to ride in Colorado?

[gwood]

The company I work for was bought out by Germans early this year, and one of the more un-friendly changes was to vacation policy. Long story short, I have several weeks of vacation that I must take before the end of the year or loose it. I've ridden in Colorado many times, but never later than the second week in September. I sold my R1100RS to my boss last year and bought an R1200RT. He's in the same boat, so we've been talking about where we can ride to to burn up all the vacation time. I've ridden the Blueridge Parkway in late October, so that's on the calendar now foe second week of October. What's the latest you can ride CO and not get snowed in?:dunno

[Vagabird]

I think late October would be pretty iffy. :dunno I stopped near the summit of Rabbit Ears Pass yesterday (near Steamboat). It was cloudless and in the mid-sixties, but I saw bits of snow in the shady places in the woods.

[KGT1200]

If you watched the nightly news last night, they had a shot of A basin with about 8inches of new stuff on the ground; I would say in many places in the southern mountains, central high country the riding season is getting pretty well icy and cold feet!

HOWEVER

I have golfed on green grass in late November in the am, then skied in the afternoon at Eldora..

Colorado foothills weather allowed me to ride to work from 20 miles west of Fort Collins many years late into October/November, then a inch or two would blow in from the west, then promtly melt off the next day, so it was back in the saddle again..

When "no" meant "no" was when you had the big blows arriving from the upslope to the east; it was then time to hang up the keys...


The lower elevations can be ridden well into November.. Try Cache La Poudre Canyon to the manhatten road towards refeather lakes loop...

Try the Buckhorn Canyon to Rist Cayon loop; try the peak to peak from Estes Park to Black Hawk and I-70, try the Masonville loop from Fort Fun to Loveland, many many good twisties that can be ridden way late into the year..

Colorado Springs areas with many in Southern Colorado loops I don't even know their names; West of Denver by Redrocks, Boulder canyon, Gold Hill loop, the list goes on and on...

BTW, Hows the weather out there in the homeland, my Colorado brothers and sisters? Anybody out there?

Red

[KGT1200]

Used studded tires.

Not when the snow is higher than the tires, Stat!

[KGT1200]

When I lived there I would ride till I was stopped by the locked gates preventing me to get over the passes. The roads were cleaned well in the valley's which allowed motorcycle travel but too dangerous for studded tires.


Wow. Having lived there 46 yrs, rode bikes there 32 years, I knew LOTS of tough hombres there all my life, and NONE claimed to of rode the high mountian passes on a regular basis, on a motorcycle bombing though the snow of passes up to the time the gates came down! I'm not worthy.

My hats off to you, and may we always come down on the same side of an argument, cause you sound like one bad dude! WOW:bow :bow :bow

Where did you live, Telluride? Arapahoe Basin?

[Kutcher]

Did not get the chance to ski it but, I was told that A Basin always gets the snow first...?

I can remember coming back from Crested Butte to the springs in a huge RV driven by a friends father.

The view was incredible....

The imprints I left in the arms of the passenger seat as we made our way (in my opinion, very close to the edges of those sheer cliffs) are probably still there 20 years later...!


I was there for only three weeks sight seeing and skiing and all I have to say is, - Colorado was just plain awesome.

[KGT1200]

Red

I lived in Durango area in the early 1980's. Friends of mine and I would try and go as far as we could on the less monitored roads. The forest and back roads that ended in snow pack or our bike crash were tops. We never could make it in the real high named passes due to access but if they were borderline we would chance it till we failed. I even rode to Purgatory on a bike to go skiing once on a money bet. I made it but it was very dumb, almost as bad as the time I almost froze skiing in shorts. Hey it was a different time, things were simple, and less people as you should remember. Today an ATV would hit us and we would have too many people around.

You meet the nicest people on a Honda Enduro bike, they were cheap and fun far from the big expensive GS I am riding today but I am getting crazy on that now and should wreck any day.

All us boys in the foothills managed to do was put home made chains on our tires (Honda 90s), and chase coyotes with 22 rifles strapped to our backs. Later in life with bigger bikes, winter time fun included hockey, South Platte motorcycle style. The cold and the remoteness of the high mountains scared me too much to get too far off the beaten track; still does I guess. We stuck with the cars and skis in the high country snow..

[glennhendricks]

Here in Silverthorne. :wave :wave

I bought my RT in October last year, put it in storage in mid-November. I would say as long as there isn't ice on the road and you're dressed you should be good.

That being said, we can get really serious snow anytime now. Two years ago I70 was closed in early October.

Check the long range forecast and if you do decide to come up you could spin down to the southern part of the state. Very nice down there, less traffic at that time of the year and you can always bail out to New Mexico.

[shire2000]

Going back when I was much younger and even more foolish than I am now. Back in early 70's I was living in Vancouver, B.C. and used to ride my Yamaha 350 all year round, with big knobby tires on it and totally shot exhaust. Rain, Shine, Snow, Ice. They were all just minor inconveniences. Wore a snowmobile suit when it got real cold and we headed up to Whistler to do some skiing. A few of us were stupid enough to ride our bikes up on Boxing day, in as much as 2 feet of snow on the roads, with our skis strapped to the back of the bikes, pointing straight up. We would stay up in Whistler for a good 2 weeks, celebrating New Years and pretty much partying and skiing constantly. If the snow got too deep or icy on the way up, we would strap our skis on our feet and use them like pontoons for stablizing. We couldn't go all that fast anyway. Our slightly smarter friends would take their 4x4s up with all the rest of our gear and packed to the gunnels with beer and cheap wine. Even got to watch a VW bug pass us then miss the next corner. It went over the cliff and got stuck in a huge Fir tree, about 40 feet off the ground. We had a great time watching and coaxing those buggers out of the VW and down the tree.

Boy, those were the days. I am surprised that most of us are still alive to tell the stories.

:ca

[BubbaZanetti]

rode in CO in mid to late october a few years back, there's riding to be had, it just might not be at 12000 feet.

if there's snow on the road, turn back, find another road!

[sfarson]

Yeah I think late October is when one starts to push their luck. While riding fortunes can be diminished earlier, the chances really increase in November. But as others have noted, it can be a roll of the dice.

Ride year round here at 8800ft. Sometimes have to wait for the roads to clear of the slippery stuff, then it's the reach for the Munich keys.

[podsobinski]

The Colorado mountains have a bad rap. It is like any place else, when the worst weather occurs then it gets national coverage. When people die in avalanches, or get stuck in cars during a blizzard then it gets coverage. But 99% of the time it is okay. The passes can get icy and snow packed then you got to watch out. Many a time I get stuck and wait for a snow plow to follow. lThat seems to do the trick. In the late 60's I made it year around on a 350 Ducati Scrambler over Monarch pass. When it was below zero in Gunnison, driving to Colorado Springs a40's would feel nice. It is all what you get use to. Now I have heated hand grips and all the right cloths and I don't venture out if it is below 20. Now until the end of October will have beautiful veiwing of aspen, don't miss it.

gpodzo