Colorado Springs April 2019

Colorado Spring or the Springs as they say in Colorado, is 65 miles south of Denver. It is a widespread city with a lot of green belts at the base of the foothills, with a great view of Pikes Peak.

Having been there many times with one of my jobs I had never got to stop. The plan had always been to stay the night even though it is so close I could have ridden back home that night. This also gave me a chance to visit with one of my nephews in the army at Fort Carson.

I worked out the major details except time. Thinking it was going to take a lot longer than it did. Check in at the hotel was at 3 so like an idiot I left for my hour and a half trip at 11. Thankfully I adapted and went to a beautiful tourist place called Garden Of The Gods.

As I left all the planning fell into place. First was to fill up with gas then on to Parker. This small town south east of Denver was familiar to me since it is so close. After that on to Franktown, which is a popular stop for a lot of bikers. I went this way because heading straight down I-25 is boring, also it is a 75mph speed limit and at that speed how can you enjoy the ride.Rhonda the Maxim 650 and she just works better at lower speeds.

This route also takes me very close to the town of Black Forest. In this town I had found a great hole in the wall BBQ place called Fire House on the Run. So guess what, this was lunch. With a full belly on to the Springs, which now was much closer. I found the hotel and realised I was way early for check in so off to Garden of the Gods for a nice slow cruise around the red rocks that make up the attraction. Now to the hotel for clean up.

After a short nap and shower it was time for a night out. There is a restaurant bar there called O’furry’s that used to belong to a chain and which I had worked at one of them that is no longer around. So this was my target for the night. It was a Friday night and I had no clue what to expect and then it was great. Live music, good food and good people. The music was mellow rock and country, alas I cannot remember the bands name.

The next morning was to the army base to see my nephew and his family. This was fun because his boys like bikes. Then back home, this turned out to be a lot longer because the base is on the south end of the city. All in all, thinking back to this first ride I remember good things and keep looking forward to other great rides.

This ended up being only a two tank ride which surprised me, also I am not getting payed or rewarded for mentioning the places. This I do because I really enjoy them.