The Rig, The Elf, and the Peak

Cascade, Colorado -- The Rig, as it sits in its home driveway, is a 2006 R1200GS outfitted with 41 litre Touratech panniers, a BMW GS tank bag, a MotoFizz camp bag, a Garmin Zumo, Metzeler Tourance tires, and a Ztechnik windshield. The Rig is headed to Wyoming and the BMWMOA National Rally in Gillette – happily, it’s taking me with it to points north that include not only the rally, but also Pike’s Peak, Devil’s Tower, Deadwood, Mount Rushmore, Cheyenne Frontier Days, and – with luck – the home driveway at journey's end.

After a 330 mile journey on the Interstate, the first order of business upon arrival in the Colorado Springs area is to find a campsite near the Pike’s Peak Highway – and to hastily set up at Lone Duck Campground even as dark skies loom, promising a blasting cold rain but delivering only weak sprinkles. Once the heavy bike baggage is safely ensconced in the tent, it’s time to blast off in search of dirt at high altitude.

There’s a well known stretch of dirt road in Colorado that’s very popular despite the fact that it dead-ends after just 19 miles. Was a time the whole 19 miles were dirt – and home to a famous stock-car race called the Pike’s Peak Hill Climb, a coming-of-age race in the 1960s and 70s for driving legends like Bobby and Al Unser.

But now the road is part paved and part dirt – about 6 miles of it is the loose stuff. This may not seem like enough gravel and mud for the average Adventure Tourer, but rest assured it’s a road that should not be missed.

But first it’s best to pull off the Pike’s Peak Highway and visit that jolly old elf himself. That’s right “The North Pole – Home to Santa’s Workshop” is located on the highway just before you reach the Colorado State Park entrance station, where you fork over $10 to ride to the Peak.

For those of you who thought the North Pole was at the North Pole, oh no. It’s located just outside Colorado Springs and is – as advertised – fun for all ages. It’s also an opportunity to speak to the old elf himself while he’s not overwhelmed by the whole Winter Holiday thing. He seems more relaxed, and appears to be eating right, which is nice.

Anyway. The road to Pike’s Peak is a barrel of monkeys. It’s too bad it’s so popular with slow-mover SUVs and Minivans – but as usual, nimble motorbikes with street knobby tires make easy pickings of behemoth Fords and Chryslers. The trip up to 14,000 feet takes about an hour, or a bit less, the trip down, just about the same amount of time. Signs all along the way warn that “Hot Brakes Fail!” and advise using “Your Lowest Gear” meaning some of the more timid drivers might as well be walking.

But who can blame them, the road above the treeline has no guardrail; one misstep, one errant move and over you go, and where you will stop, nobody knows. The smell of hot brakes is noticeable on the way down, too, so the advice is sound.

The ride both up and back is thrill-a-minute. The air at the top is respectably cold at about 55 degrees and dizzyingly thin. Needless to say there aren’t many roads that go to the summit of 14,000 foot peaks, at least not in the U.S. There might be five or six such roads states-side, and at least three of them are in Colorado. Certainly, the only one with a stop at Santa’s place is the Pike’s Peak Highway – so you better be good, you better not pout, and you better make time to ride to the top, you won’t regret it.