Estes Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Trail Ridge Road

Estes Park is one of my most favorite places in Colorado!

Here are our bikes warming up for the ride! Hubby's is a green CX500, mine is the silver Rebel 450. We packed lunch, beverages and rain gear.


So, the plan was to meet up with my sister-in-law and her husband (on their Beemers) at the Beaver Meadows visitor's center at 10:30 where we would then head up Trail Ridge Road.

We, hubby and our friend on her Ninja250, got there amazingly enough right at 10:30. Here are the bikes at the visitor's center...

and with Long's Peak in the background...


The Beemers were a little late, running on dog time and also into some traffic on the way. For some reason, maybe because it is so dang hot in the big city, the place was really crowded. Took us a while just to get through the entrance gate. But, it was nice and sunny and not even close to the 100 degree temps we'd left behind. So, no worries! We were off!

I was the leader of our pack since it was my personal riding goal to go over a mountain pass that put us on this path in the first place. We start heading up the road - so beautiful in the park - and I start seeing cars with their wipers on. Then the drops start. I find a nice wide pull out and we all put our rain jackets on. We pass a sign that says be prepared for rapidly changing weather, and I swear as soon as we pass that sign it starts to hail. Holy smokes! Not really big hail but big enough that I can see it landing on my tank bag. The speed limit in the park is 35mph and we are probably going between 25 - 30 depending on the road conditions and surrounding traffic. So, it isn't painful enough that any of us want to stop.

We then come to a larger scenic pull out where I pull over again. I had my mesh pants on and needed to put on my liners. Our Ninja friend did the same. This area was pretty crowded with lots of cars, vans, campers, motorcycles and people walking through the lot to get to the restrooms. While I was changing I heard this honking and some people talking but by the time I came out I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Later hubby told me a guy on a Harley was moving slowly through the parking lot and a car backed right into him and knocked him over. I guess he and the bike were ok and they made their peace with each other about it.

So, we head up the road again, riding through rain, hail and sunshine all the way. Fortunately it wasn't windy. That would have probably been the end of it for me. I was warm enough even though I'd forgotten my warmer gloves. We were traveling slowly enough that I could rest my left hand out of the wind and keep it warm.

Up above treeline it got a bit clearer so that was good. But it also got more crowded. People seem to think it is ok to drive on the tundra to take pictures of the animals. There was a traffic jam because of a few elk near the road. Cars stopped just anywhere blocking the road, causing dangerous situations for everyone else. But, we did ok and got through it.

And then beyond the bend was the Alpine Visitor's Center. Yay! We could finally stop and warm up and eat our lunch. But wait, where in the heck are we going to park? It was a crazy mad house in the parking lot! Unbelievable. And yet, there is was and there we were in the midst of it. People were about to throw down over parking spaces it was so crowded. Brother-in-law grabbed a spot at the end of the row with the stripped lines for no parking. We all clambered into that same area but it wasn't flat enough for all of us to fit and lean the bikes on the side stands. So, sister-in-law and I, being at the head of the bunch, were planning to scoot up to the end of the row ahead when we saw that the truck in the end parking space was leaving. We managed to scoot between the traffic and pull right in behind him as he pulled out. That was much better and much safer for all of us.

So, with the sun shining we put our helmets and jackets on the bikes, grabbed our lunch and walked to the visitor's center.


While we were sitting outside we felt a few drops and decided to head it. The sun had gone behind the clouds too so it was getting chilly. At some point, while we were eating inside, someone looked out the window at the sunshine and said, "Is it raining?" And it was. It was pouring. That good old southern kind of rain that comes straight down and drenches you, except it was much colder. We sat around a bit pondering how wet our gear might be, how wet we'd get walking over to the bikes, and how long it might go on.

Sister-in-law then says, "We still have to go further down the road to meet your goal." We hadn't crossed the divide yet. But, we eventually decided that the weather was bad enough and the park close enough that we could try again another day. Really it was my call. I didn't think going on only to have to come back was worth it. And I was getting cold. And then we saw the lightning. That sealed it. Time to head back down.

The entire way down we rode in this down pour. Ugh. Hubby led us down. He has more discipline to go slowly than I do. We queued up and took our place in the line of traffic heading down the road. But wait! Another traffic jam! Grrr. This time we are stopped in a line of cars, in the rain and lightning, trying to keep our bikes from shutting off. We were all thinking (or trying not to think) about the same thing - who knows CPR when one of us gets struck by lightning? But, what can you do. Eventually, we saw the reason for the traffic jam, elk, on the side of the road, and cars strewn about trying to get photos. Grrr.

It rained the entire way down, all the way back to the visitor’s center where we started at the entrance to the park. We were all completely drenched all the way down to our toes. Squishy boots and all. Sigh. Should have sealed them a long time ago. Oh well. We then drove into Estes for some hot beverages and of course by the time we parked the bikes it had stopped raining. And by the time we crossed the street, the sun was out. Sigh.


The Givi bags on sister-in-law's bike were vacuum sealed from being nearly 12,000 feet up and they had a heck of a time getting them open. And here is a shot of the Rebel and the CX.


A good time was had by all in spite of the traffic, the weather, and the unmet goal of going over the pass. We all had smiles on our faces for sure. This was the longest ride yet for our Ninja friend who told us the longest ride she’d done so far was 30 miles.

We traveled about 184 miles or so. Our highest point was the Alpine Visitor’s center or perhaps somewhere along the road to the center. First time riding in a group for me and hubby. First time riding in a down pour for us. First time riding in hail. It is also the highest we’ve ever been on the bikes. It was tons of fun!!

I drove to work today though. I was so tired this morning and my boots weren’t dry yet. We have already begun discussing our next attempt at the pass. Maybe Saturday since our passes will still be good and we won't have to pay the entrance fee. And the next time we think we'll go all the way over so we don't get stuck on the top again. If we do that we'll have to cross another pass to get back home! That'll be fun!



The Rebel did just fine at altitude. I think the slow going was hard, traveling at 20mph at 11,000 feet as opposed to going at higher speeds and higher RPMs. It did die once but fired right up as I was rolling along. Well, it died twice if you count the time I accidentally hit the kill switch.

The Willie and Max bags are NOT waterproof in a down pour. Neither are the rain jackets and liners of my mesh pants. I was soaked through.

We hadn't ever waterproofed our shoes either. In Colorado we use waterproofing stuff for snow. It just doesn't rain enough to worry about it in the summer. So, getting soaked yesterday certainly wasn't very fun. Our feet were dyed blue from the leather.

We did well riding together through the park even though we'd never done that before. Our friend's Ninja was having a little trouble staying running. She's had problems with it dying when she pulls the clutch in but she seemed to manage it ok. It is under warranty so I hope she can get it taken care of soon and wants to ride with us again. Yay!

I was too tired and cold, and too busy concentrating on riding safely in the weather, to notice if my butt got tired. My back was tired from leaning over so much in the weather.

There were tons of motorcycles on the road and they all waved. Well, except in the really bad rain, nobody was taking their hands off the handlebars at that point.