sfarson
New member
It has been five+ years since bringing this sweet thing home. Other bikes have come and gone, but this special ride remains. It has never let me down. It has always been more willing than me to go farther, harder, and do so more often. There's an edge to this bike, a certain kind of rawness I'm smitten with. But as with many big ticket things, as the newness fades over time, the pics become fewer and the relationship becomes more routine.
So yesterday I'm planning on a ride over nearby Kenosha Pass for a lunchtime fling with my K12S date, and I'm thinking it has been awhile since I brought the cams to record a memory with the mighty K. So, here's some pics of the ride, with an onboard video link at the end.
Here's the obligatory pause on the southside of 10,001ft. Kenosha Pass, with the meadows of South Park down below...
Now, this is only an eight mile ride report. Ha! How about that. That's right, I'm only gonna cover the eight miles of County 77, or what locals call the Tarryall Road, leading SE out of small Jefferson, Colorado. Oh but what a divine eight miles it is. Besides, Jefferson is where I'm gonna grab a BBQ sandwich!
See what an epic and long ride tale this is
...
Shapely Mt. Silverheels at 13,822ft. is the backdrop here. The peak was named after a dance hall lady who nursed miners when a smallpox epidemic swept through the camps. She eventually contracted the disfiguring disease herself, retreating to her cabin. The miners took up a collection for her, but found the cabin vacated, and she was never seen again. Well, at least physically. It is said her ghostly apparition has been observed at the nearby Buckskin Joe Cemetery tending the graves of miners. As a dance hall lady, she was known for wearing "silver heels"...
BTW, I think this '05 bike is still a striking thing to behold. Two token pics...
Now, it is tough to eek out a living here. The soil is frozen. The moisture scant. The wind constant. The winters long. But the Utes thrived here, hunting bison in the massive fields, and fighting anyone else who would try to do the same. The last wild bison in Colorado was shot in one of the nearby drainages in the early 1900's. Hardy and adventurous settlers in the latter half of the 1800's tried to make a go of it agriculturally, but soon learned the environment wasn't accomodating. Whispers of their efforts can be found where they lived and toiled. These were the more "erect" of what can be found in these eight miles...
Now, I'm here to solemnly tell you the riding here is a destination as well. The whole 48 mile length of the Tarryall Road is magical, but hey, I have lunch on the brain and I'm only gonna cover the first eight miles!
I can be artsy fartsy with what's ahead, and what is in the mirror...
So lunch is at my kinda place. Casual, outdoors, talk with others. There's big wilderness all around, and a mountain lion has been taking some horses. Here's Jefferson looking north. That's the general store. They are known for their fudge. Y'all ought to make plans to ride to Jefferson given this
...
I turned to the left/west and aimed the cam. That's a spur of the Mosquito Range with the 13,000ft. sentinels of Bald Mountain and Mt. Guyot...
BBQ it is!
See that old building with "Jefferson" on the side? That's the old train depot. Until 1937 the only motorized access into the Park was via narrow gauge train. Here's how it looked then...
And today...
Anyway, it was good to bring the cams on this lunch ride, taking pics of the past and present, and of the sweet K bike. If you want to come along and ride the eight miles, passing by the images above, here's the video...
The Tarryall Road to Jefferson - Streaming Video
So yesterday I'm planning on a ride over nearby Kenosha Pass for a lunchtime fling with my K12S date, and I'm thinking it has been awhile since I brought the cams to record a memory with the mighty K. So, here's some pics of the ride, with an onboard video link at the end.
Here's the obligatory pause on the southside of 10,001ft. Kenosha Pass, with the meadows of South Park down below...
Now, this is only an eight mile ride report. Ha! How about that. That's right, I'm only gonna cover the eight miles of County 77, or what locals call the Tarryall Road, leading SE out of small Jefferson, Colorado. Oh but what a divine eight miles it is. Besides, Jefferson is where I'm gonna grab a BBQ sandwich!
See what an epic and long ride tale this is
Shapely Mt. Silverheels at 13,822ft. is the backdrop here. The peak was named after a dance hall lady who nursed miners when a smallpox epidemic swept through the camps. She eventually contracted the disfiguring disease herself, retreating to her cabin. The miners took up a collection for her, but found the cabin vacated, and she was never seen again. Well, at least physically. It is said her ghostly apparition has been observed at the nearby Buckskin Joe Cemetery tending the graves of miners. As a dance hall lady, she was known for wearing "silver heels"...
BTW, I think this '05 bike is still a striking thing to behold. Two token pics...
Now, it is tough to eek out a living here. The soil is frozen. The moisture scant. The wind constant. The winters long. But the Utes thrived here, hunting bison in the massive fields, and fighting anyone else who would try to do the same. The last wild bison in Colorado was shot in one of the nearby drainages in the early 1900's. Hardy and adventurous settlers in the latter half of the 1800's tried to make a go of it agriculturally, but soon learned the environment wasn't accomodating. Whispers of their efforts can be found where they lived and toiled. These were the more "erect" of what can be found in these eight miles...
Now, I'm here to solemnly tell you the riding here is a destination as well. The whole 48 mile length of the Tarryall Road is magical, but hey, I have lunch on the brain and I'm only gonna cover the first eight miles!
I can be artsy fartsy with what's ahead, and what is in the mirror...
So lunch is at my kinda place. Casual, outdoors, talk with others. There's big wilderness all around, and a mountain lion has been taking some horses. Here's Jefferson looking north. That's the general store. They are known for their fudge. Y'all ought to make plans to ride to Jefferson given this
I turned to the left/west and aimed the cam. That's a spur of the Mosquito Range with the 13,000ft. sentinels of Bald Mountain and Mt. Guyot...
BBQ it is!
See that old building with "Jefferson" on the side? That's the old train depot. Until 1937 the only motorized access into the Park was via narrow gauge train. Here's how it looked then...
And today...
Anyway, it was good to bring the cams on this lunch ride, taking pics of the past and present, and of the sweet K bike. If you want to come along and ride the eight miles, passing by the images above, here's the video...
The Tarryall Road to Jefferson - Streaming Video
