I (Vaughan) was invited by old racing buddies to ride the Colorado 500 which is an annual event started over 35 years ago by Wally Dallenbach (race car driver) and Sherm Cooper (whom I used to race for).
This is a charity event (not a race) over some of the most beautiful Colorado passes mainly on dirt roads and trails. It is limited to around 100 riders and is by invitation only.
Over the years racing notables such as Al & Bobby Unser, and Hollywood stars including Julie's favorite actor, Kurt Russell, have ridden in this event. It starts in Aspen Colorado and winds through Gunnison, Crested Butte, Lake City, Ouray, and then back. It was over 500 miles in 5 days.
Below are a few pictures of the daily events. Because I didn't have a helmet cam, I've included various "youtube" links to videos that show what portions of these trails are really like in case you would like to join me as my "rookie" next year. Some of these videos are quite long, so feel free to fast forward thru them.
This is the new bike I just had to have and was purchased days before leaving
(with only 62 miles of break-in time).
It's a KTM 500EXC and looked really nice before I left.
That soon changed.
Luckily some other guys from KTM World in Ga were also invited and there was room on the trailer for my bike.
That allowed me to fly out, thankfully.
Here we are on the first day somewhere outside of Aspen prior to the official start of the ride - just breaking things in.
The kid on the left, Jason Cooper is the grandson of the ride founder Sherm Cooper.
To his right is Sumner McKnight, Kevin Pollard (another old racing buddy) and me. Our other buddy JB is taking the picture.
Shortly after this picture I had my first spill climbing a rocky jeep trail.
The riding here can be very treacherous! I soon learned that there is no way to ride around all of the rocks and boulders. You just have to ride over most of them and let the bike's suspension do its work and hope for the best.
This is me and my old racing pal Johnny Benko ("JB") on top of Taylor Pass.
This will be the first of many photos with bad helmet hair.
Day 1: Aspen to Crested Butte via Taylor Pass and American Flag Mountain via Italian Creek.
We ran thru this stream, as it is part of the trail, for about 1/4 mile.
Yes, there was water in this stream varying from 6 inches to over a foot in places.
Riding on rocks is even more difficult when they are submerged.
In general pictures really don't show the steepness of the trails or the real size of the rocks we encountered.
Here is a link to a "youtube" video showing some riders from an earlier Colorado 500 attempting this portion of the trail.
Lunch break was on American Flag Mt - the bike isn't so pretty anymore.
There was a mixture of sun and rain making the dirt portions of the trail muddy and the rocks very slippery.
Another video showing this ride:
Day2 - Crested Butte to Ouray passing thru Gunnison. A stream along Powder Horn Trail.
We rode the trail you can barely see cutting across the face of this mountain - ascending Engineer Pass.
Not much room for error here - this is near the top of Engineer Pass.
This is the summit - little harder to breathe up here.
Here is a must see short video of portion of the trail on the way down. Usually the down hill is much scarier because you are trying to go slow but momentum is working against your efforts to do so.
Here we are - Kevin, Sumner, me, and JB - old farts acting like kids.
We finally reached the bottom of Engineer Pass near Ouray - beautiful country.
This is the town of Ouray where we spent the next 2 nights.
Very cool setting - nestled between 2 mountains.
A view over the rooftops in Ouray.
A dirt bike invasion - over 100 bikes and riders.
Main street Ouray - quaint!
Day 3: Local riding around Ouray.
The main challenges today are Corkscrew, Black Bear and Imogene Passes. This picture and the next two were taken along the Million Dollar Highway that runs between Ouray and Silverton.
I'm not a fan of cliffs - note there are no guard rails along any of these roads (except on bridges).
See - one of the few guard rails.
This is the summit of Corkscrew Pass - lots of switchbacks on both sides.
I was too busy dodging rocks and trying to stay on the trail to take any other pictures.
We rode with a larger crew this time. Some folks from Reno Nevada joined us today.
Black Bear Pass - one of the most difficult trails. Some of our group opted out on this one.
This picture was taken shortly before my biggest fall
(had a few small incidents over the last few days but so did many others).
This area on Black Bear Pass is known as "The Steps". They are a series of narrow ledges tilting towards the stream which forms the waterfall. The steps begin around the corner shown at the top of the picture.
On one of these steps I lost control and fell. Luckily the bike stayed on the trail but I tumbled down the bank into the stream. Had I fallen 50 feet later I would have rolled down this waterfall.
Several people in Jeeps have been killed over the years in this spot.
I found this picture below on the net. It shows the exact spot where I crashed. The jeep is going around the corner shown in the previous picture. Here is a video to give you some idea what "the steps" on Black Bear pass are really like. I rode (not walked) the bike right up to the point where I crashed.
This is the top of the switchbacks just below the waterfall leading down to the town of Telluride. The turns are so tight that jeeps cannot make the corners without backing up. Again - no room for mistakes!
Just another view of the switchbacks from the top of Black Bear Pass.
You can see the switchbacks on the left side of the picture and Telluride in the distance.
These pictures make the switchbacks look pretty easy. Take a moment to watch a few minutes of this video. You might just change your mind.
From Telluride we went to the summit of Imogene Pass - way above the tree line here.
Imogene Pass is the 2nd highest accessible by off-road vehicles in North America.
On the way up we passed lots of interesting old mining ruins but didn't stop to take pictures.
Maintaining momentum on these trails is very important.
The following link shows Imogene Pass:
Day 4: Ouray back to Crested Butte.
Easy ride on nice dirt roads including Owl Pass but over 120 miles in total.
There were lots of Hummingbirds at our lunch stop.
I've never seen them stand so still and remain so close.
Scenes along the Ohio Pass.
Almost back to Crested Butte - my butt is starting to get sore from all the miles.
Day 5 (Last Day): Crested Butte to Aspen via Schofield Pass and the town of Marble.
Lots of water crossings along this route and a scary decent from the top of Schofield Pass to an area know as the Devil's Punchbowl.
Checkout these videos - not very good quality, but gives you a real sense to what it was like.
This is the Devil's Punchbowl - the waterfall ends in a large pool forming the punch bowl (it can't be seen from this angle). The trail runs along the edge of a cliff and was very rocky, narrow, and treacherous.
Recently a jeep went off the edge killing 4 people. I didn't stop to take pictures.
Even the bridge at the bottom took some concentration.
Coming out of the Punchbowl - more rocks.
I had another spill around the corner from here but didn't fall off any cliffs this time.
Falling on these rocks hurts even with all the gear I was wearing - I have the bruises to prove it.
This is one of the most photographed spots in Colorado - Crystal Mill near the town of Marble.
The only way to see it is via dirt bike, ATV, Jeep, or a 5 mile hike one way.
And that is that!
Will I do it again? If my body holds out and Julie lets me go again.
There is lots more to see and more trails to ride.
