Making a spontaneous trip to Colorado next week

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by MerckxMad

Not to piss on your parade, but traveling during the pandemic requires more planning than usual. While car camping sounds good, you need to plan for interactions with the public while on the road. Simple things like getting provisions at a grocery store can become a stressful experience. Eating at roadside stops now requires reservations. Parking at rest stops at night usually brings the police knocking on your window. Places that you might think will be empty can be really crowded as in-state tourists are packing open spaces now. Just sayin’.

What he said, particularly coming from Texas...bring your mask please...

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by Hakkalugi

It’s shut down for the foreseeable future. Cottonwood Pass from Gypsum is also closed. This fire could turn really ugly. I’m expecting evacuation orders tomorrow, so that may mean some bikes get saved, some get...well, you know. Probably a good time to cross much of the Western Slope off the list for 2020.

Originally Posted by weisan

This is interesting...

I would expect that the Roaring Fork canyon from 70 down towards Aspen is pretty heavily impacted by the Grizzly Creek fire that Hakkalugi is describing above. Best case is the air quality is horrible, worst case is you end up in a really dangerous situation.

This is a bad one - already jumped I-70 and the Colorado River to the south, windy and temps in the high 90s for the rest of this week.

[weisan]

fire, smoke, social distance, limited services all noted and well aware.

Can we talk about something else?

Like the extraordinary beauty and majestic presence of the great state of Colorado?

[barnabyjones]

Is weed legal in Colorado?

[Louis]

Originally Posted by barnabyjones

Is weed legal in Colorado?

Hmmmmm, that explains a lot...

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by weisan

fire, smoke, social distance, limited services all noted and well aware.

Can we talk about something else?

Like the extraordinary beauty and majestic presence of the great state of Colorado?

Pay yer money and take your chances. Best bet is to recognize the situation we are all in right now and plan accordingly..along with the pandemic, and yes, VERY hot and dry=fires..talk about something else?..it's YOUR post and trip...

And yup, weed legal but don't try to bring it home to Texas..very behind the times -weed.

[Mike V]

Originally Posted by MerckxMad

Not to piss on your parade, but traveling during the pandemic requires more planning than usual. While car camping sounds good, you need to plan for interactions with the public while on the road. Simple things like getting provisions at a grocery store can become a stressful experience. Eating at roadside stops now requires reservations. Parking at rest stops at night usually brings the police knocking on your window. Places that you might think will be empty can be really crowded as in-state tourists are packing open spaces now. Just sayin’.

After doing a business trip for 7 days and 5 states I can assure you there is no problem in doing things last minute. I got room or a place to stay last minute daily. Eating no problem. Fresh food and sit down and curbside. Easy no problem. Sleeping or parking to get rest the cops have been more forgiving. One even told me a better place to park and get rest. Be polite, respectful and have patience. No stress if you keep a smile on your face and stay humble.

[Ken Robb]

Originally Posted by Mike V

After doing a business trip for 7 days and 5 states I can assure you there is no problem in doing things last minute. I got room or a place to stay last minute daily. Eating no problem. Fresh food and sit down and curbside. Easy no problem. Sleeping or parking to get rest the cops have been more forgiving. One even told me a better place to park and get rest. Be polite, respectful and have patience. No stress if you keep a smile on your face and stay humble.

Where did you go on this trip?

[Mike V]

Originally Posted by Ken Robb

Where did you go on this trip?

Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, SoCal to Nor Cal.

[weisan]

Originally Posted by Mike V

Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, SoCal to Nor Cal.

Wow!

[barnabyjones]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Pay yer money and take your chances. Best bet is to recognize the situation we are all in right now and plan accordingly..along with the pandemic, and yes, VERY hot and dry=fires..talk about something else?..it's YOUR post and trip...

And yup, weed legal but don't try to bring it home to Texas..very behind the times -weed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UUPY902Ph0

[AngryScientist]

Cool article for inspiration!

https://bikepacking.com/plog/strempk...o-trail-yo-yo/

[gdw]

I know you don't want to read negative news but air quality in a lot of this state is bad and potentially dangerous. A couple pretty hardy friends have cancelled bikelacking trips until things improve. Check out this link for updates: Colorado.gov/airquality/addendum/aspx

[Butch]

Originally Posted by gdw

I know you don't want to read negative news but air quality in a lot of this state is bad and potentially dangerous. A couple pretty hardy friends have cancelled bikelacking trips until things improve. Check out this link for updates: Colorado.gov/airquality/addendum/aspx

To add to that, this was from my ride today just south of town, looking south down on Trout creek and the Flattops. What you see on the upper left is the smoke blowing east from the Grizzly Creek fire, something like 50 miles as the crow flies from where I was standing. This is about as goo as the air has looked around here as the wind shifted more to due west in the last day or so. Still nasty

[tomato coupe]

Originally Posted by Butch

To add to that, this was from my ride today just south of town, looking south down on Trout creek and the Flattops. What you see on the upper left is the smoke blowing east from the Grizzly Creek fire, something like 50 miles as the crow flies from where I was standing. This is about as goo as the air has looked around here as the wind shifted more to due west in the last day or so. Still nasty

It's quite a bit worse in the Boulder area.