This page will provide links to websites that you may find useful or interesting for this trip:
Much of the information included in this website was garnered from the book "The Complete Guide to Motorcycling Colorado" by Steve Farson. This comprehensive guidebook to Colorado contains colorful in-depth descriptions of 172 different rides that can be combined in a variety of ways to create the best trips for all riding styles and interests. Each ride is mapped individually, and the individual rides each have their own more detailed maps, along with route descriptions, photos, local points of interest, and historical background information. In addition, onboard videos of each ride are available on his YouTube channel. Regional maps show how the rides can be combined to form journeys from half a day to several days in length, on paved roads or into the back country, or both. Color photos for each ride introduce the incredible variety of terrain, and historical photos placed next to present day shots show how much (or how little) has changed in the intervening years.
Motorcyclecolorado was also an informative guide for the many passes and canyons which we will encounter on our trip.
Likewise, Motorcycleroads.com offered a comprehensive description of roads throughout Colorado and other locations in the United States. (This website includes some videos that I made from our 2012 Colorado trip!)
bestbikingroads.com had a lot of roads listed for Colorado! We can't possibly hit them all but we sure can try!
Here is yet another list of some Incredible Colorado Rides!
You don't have to be a Sunday driver to enjoy the Colorado Motorcycle Routes!
We will be traveling on 10 of the 25 designated Scenic and Historic Byways in Colorado!
The Colorado Department of Transportation website offers insight on the difficulty of the roads we will be riding on their website. We will also be keeping an eye out for any upcoming road closures on our routes with their road condition website page
Besides road conditions we must also be very aware of weather conditions in Colorado. Even in July we may find weather conditions can change dramatically as we traverse the many mountain passes we encounter. Temperatures can often be much cooler at the top of mountain passes or extremely hot in the arid regions of the state. As such, it is strongly advised to dress in multiple layers to help insure that you may adapt to these changing weather conditions. It is not improbable that snow could be falling at the higher elevations in July! Here is a link listing weather stations throughout Colorado that not only gives you current conditions but historical readings as well. If you take a look back at a random date in July from years back I think you'll see that often the maximum temps in many of the high passes may be in the mid 60's while the lows may be in the mid 40's. However in the lower areas, especially the arid desert regions temperatures can easily hover around 90+ degrees during the day.
If you have questions concerning motorcycle laws in Colorado you can check them here.
Hopefully no one will need repairs done on their motorcycle during the trip. However if you do need some repairs here is a list of motorcycle repairs shops throughout Colorado.
When traveling in Colorado you must also be aware of is the possibility for altitude sickness. Some reports say as many as 25% of visitors to Colorado suffer some degree of altitude sickness. Symptoms include fatigue, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, headache, and trouble sleeping. Symptoms rarely last longer than three days. If you feel these flu-like symptoms you should do the following:
If symptoms persist, move to an altitude lower than 6,000 feet.
GPS files (compatible with newer Garmin GPS units) for all routes are available (which include waypoints for interesting places and lookouts we may wish to stop at). Download files below: