The great roads carried on until I was dropped into Salida on it's old main street. I found a nice little place called the Son Rise Diner for lunch. It was getting kind of late so I was considering taking the highway to Gunnison. I decided to carry on with the trail and I was glad I did. It took me right in to San Isabel national forest. Wonderful. I got a bit lost but I got to see some more cool stuff before climbing up the roughest road I've riden yet.
Now, everyone who's gotten lazy about reading you maps the night before the ride, raise you hand. Just me? I knew there was a bypass for heavier dual sport bikes in Colorado. I also haven't looked at my maps for the last few days because the GPS waypoints work so well. Today was the day for the bypass. There was no way of getting over the sea of rock waiting for me.
I tried for about 10 feet. This was not going to work. And, I didn't have enough time for the proper TAT bypass. So, highways back to Salida then on to Gunnison. The ride through the mountains was fun. Even fully loaded with knobbies, Envy took the curves well. But it was freezing cold. I almost switch to my rain gloves to get feeling back in my fingers. I was hoping to camp tonight but rolling in to town at 8:30 and the dark clouds over Gunnison changed my mind quickly.
While looking for a hotel I met a guy that's riden almost all of the TAT and chatted a bit. He recommended doing Utah some other time with a lighter loaded bike. According to him most of Utah is very technical. It's not really a concern since tomorrow is going to be my last day on the trail. I'll ride it for a while, then I'm going to hit highways down towards Flagstaff and start heading for home.
Also, I'm staying at the Seasons Inn. When was the last time you stayed in a hotel room with a proper key instead of a card?
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