Tag: super tenere

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Tour De’Colorado: 2 Up

What do you get when you add 2 weeks time, one beautiful wife, a whole shebang of camping gear, and a big blue motorcycle? The trip of a lifetime is what! And what better setting to place such a trip than gorgeous Colorado!

This trip took place in the first bit of August 2017. “It’ll be boiling hot!” “You’ll get soaked!” “You’ll ruin your backside!” Naysayers aside, we were hot, we were cold, we were wet, and we were tired, and we wouldn’t trade it for the world!

What better start to a Colorado adventure than the quaint little town of Telluride? There is some seriously surreal property in Telly, and as Ferris said, “If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.” Well, we can dream.

As they say, “With a van, you can!”  Never mind who “they” are. You’re looking at 21 feet of American Made glory right there. Fits a Tenere pretty darn well!

Jumping off: Day 1

Layered up, rain gear on, and everything strapped down, we head off into the rainy morning on day 1. Ahead lies Gateway Canyon, John Brown Canyon, a startled black bear, and Moab, Utah. Bonus points if you can find the ‘hanging flume’. Of course, we had to say hi to the horse version of Fabio on our way to seeing some very old footprints.

Turns out, Moab is hot in August. Leaving Castle Valley and heading to City Market to fuel up both the bike and ourselves had us very much looking forward to a dip in the river. All the recent rainfall had the Colorado brown and full. It was still mighty fine!

 

Getting out of Dodge: Day 2

The new morning had us going up to the 70 and into Grand Junction. A word to the wise, avoid the 70. It’s friggin’ boring. Long, straight, flat. But, it gets you access to Colorado National Monument, which is almost cool enough to redeem that abysmal road. Almost.

Up next: Grand Mesa. Everything between Grand Junction and Cedarville is pure bliss. If you’re in the area, don’t miss Grand Mesa. Skiing? Check. Trails? Check. OHV? Check. Fishing? Check. Boating? Check. Freshly repaved roads? Ohhh, buddy. This place has it all. Don’t forget to stop and get your hard cider in Cedarville either!

To finish off the day, we dodged a bugger of a storm cell to scoot through Montrose and down into Black Canyon of the Gunnison. This is one of those places that you’d never see if you were just driving through. You have to make an effort to get here, and go specifically out of your way, but when you do, you are rewarded with a special treat. East portal campground is well worth the harrowing drive to get to. The roads are seriously steep.  

Hot, wet, left and right: Day 3

Twisty roads, hot springs, and the best camp spot of the trip. The 92 heading north from Gunnison is pure bliss. Epic views and unending twisties leaving you ready for more. That said, the 133 is one of my favorite paved roads of the trip; fast, flowy, gorgeous. Them Colorado engineers really know how to put a road in.  Don’t forget to play tourist and see the coke ovens on your way into Redstone.

We enjoyed soaking in the hot springs and seeing the mountaintop amusement park in Glenwood Springs. We then hit up the local grocery where I learned my headlights had both burnt out. At 7:30. As the sun is setting in an unfamiliar town where we don’t have a camp planned. Crud! AutoZone to the rescue, and much thanks to Mother Yamaha for using standard H4 bulbs. Crisis averted. Now where to sleep? KOA’s full, hotels are $$$, and national forest is far enough to be finding camp in the dark. Well, we put our newly minted headlights to task, and found a viable spot up Avalanche Creek Rd. Luckily, no snow this time of year.

Of course, the entry fee is a nighttime water crossing on a 800lb motorcycle! Talk about fun! Hah. Set up camp, cook dinner, everything in the bear bag, hit the sack. We awoke to the best spot of the trip. Towering mountain ridges closed our view on either side, lush alpine streams serenaded us, and morning sun filtered through the trees.  Can’t we stay another night?! The water crossing was much less eventful in the daylight.

Pizza, Crusty Butt, Cheap Cups: Day 4

Next stop, Crested Butte by way of Forest Rd 12.  This one’s a stunner guys. Of course, the camera was charging, so you’ll have to take my word for it.  If you’re in the area, make it a point to drive this road. Then you can try the Elizabeth Anne pizza in Crested Butte.  

Onward and outward. Coming up, Tin Cup. It’s a weird little historic town up in the sticks. Pretty cool place, just don’t count on a great hamburger while you’re there. We ended up camping right next to a ‘fixer upper’ right out of town. I counted four tailing piles, but I didn’t want to push my luck climbing around old mine shafts. We found some appetizers and washed ourselves down in Slaughterhouse Gulch. Nasty name for a picturesque book.

You Take the High Road, I’ll Take the Adventure Bike: Day 5

The next morning we would tackle the only pass road of the trip. I know, I know. I came to Colorado on an adventure bike and didn’t ride the passes?! Well, been there done that, and I’m a firm believer in ‘horses for courses”. In other words, muscling an 800lb pseudo streetbike two up through a scree field-turned-road isn’t my idea of fun. Hey, she’s light on her feet for a fat girl… we’ll come back on the dirtbikes and rip it up right proper.

We would then pass over Monarch pass, where we got our first real opportunity to don our rain gear in earnest! Rain, then hail, then BIG hail! At least it felt big. Had to pull over and wait that one out on order from the spousal unit. That storm would chase us all the way into Colorado Springs, where it decided it liked us and wanted to ruin our views for the next couple days. But not before regaling us with stories of hurricane force winds whilst traversing HWY 24. That’s another one you can skip, especially on a bike. My neck still hurts.

We’re both starting to get pretty ripe. That means it’s laundry day. We’ll be in Colorado Springs for a couple nights, so might as well hit the coin-op. I packed just enough, which means I bum one of wife’s extras. Hey, I know what I’m about. Over the next 36 hours, we enjoy some excellent food, burn up some amazing roads, and laugh at some incredibly cold mountain bike tourists. It was 28 degrees and wet at the top of Pike’s Peak, but at least the fog broke and awarded us the epic view we were suffering for. I tell ya, Pike’s Peak is a helluva thing with 30ft visibility.  

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SIDI Adventure 2 Gore-Tex

Wet feet are one of those things that can really impact your enjoyment of a ride.  In the best case scenario, you’re looking at a minor annoyance when you can dry your feet and all your gear when you get home from a day’s ride.  Yet, ADV rides are typically multiday if not multi-week outings, and when you’re shoving your feet into the same wet gear day after day it can really wear on even the hardiest of riders.  Throw in some cold temperatures, and things can quickly go from ‘adventure’ to suffer fest.  Yet, with the right boots, all of the wet in the world can’t keep you from enjoying an awesome ride.

For the last eight months I’ve been wearing Sidi’s Adventure 2 Gore-Tex boot in desert heat, on frosty fall mornings, through flood inducing summer monsoons, and on plenty of bluebird days.  I’ve worn them on dual sport rides, off road rides, adventure rides, and even spent a little bit of time on a trials bike while wearing these boots.  If this sounds like a lot, that was exactly the point – my objective was to throw as many different conditions and types of riding at these boots to see how they would hold up.

The Adventure 2 is an update of SIDI’s well-loved Adventure Gore-Tex boot, and just as you would expect, SIDI has improved on the original Adventure Gore-Tex boot for this second revision.  One of the most notable changes is that the Gore-Tex gaiter has been extended further up the boot, making it even harder for water to find it’s way to your feet.  Out in the world, that translates into riding in wet conditions without concern for getting wet feet.  You can overcook water crossings for ‘gram-worthy (that’s how the kids refer to a photo for social media) photos, ride in microbursts that turn roads into rivers and just about anything else you can think of.  About the only way you’re going to get wet in the Adventure 2 is if you have to put a foot down in knee-deep water or if your pants aren’t waterproof.

In summer heat that feels like you’re riding in a hair-dryer, the Adventure 2s are still quite comfortable.  Considering that water vapor in the microclimate inside your boot has to go through a Gore-Tex laminate and all of the other materials that make up the Adventure 2, breathability is still quite good, and I’d go as far as to say they’re more comfortable in the heat than other brand’s non-Gore-Tex moto boots I’ve worn in the past.  Make no mistake – your feet are going to be warm, but if you’re worried about feeling like you’re wearing plastic bags on your feet – you won’t get that feeling in the Adventure 2.

In the cold, the Adventure 2 does a good job of keeping your toes warm, even though the boots aren’t insulated.  Toe warmth is obviously helped by having a core body temperature that’s in the right range, and a good sock on your foot, so as long as you have these first two things in place you should be good to go for a ride in the cold with cozy feet.

Extending the Gore-Tex cuff up the boot wasn’t the only revision that Sidi made to the Adventure 2 – the ankle flex system, Achillies protector, TPU placement, and other features have all been updated for this second revision.  You’ll feel these refinements the first time you slip a pair on and notice that the boots already feel (nearly) broken-in.  About the only gripe I can find with the Adventure 2, is that it isn’t a great boot for hiking for miles in.  On several occasions, I’ve found myself going for multi-mile hikes while out riding and on a few occasions this resulted in hot spots on my feet.  But I don’t fault the Adventure 2 for that – after all they’re motorcycle boots and not hiking boots, and there is no way that two buckles and a Velcro closure can embrace your foot the way a proper lace-up boot can.  Therefore, my wishlist for Adventure 3 would be better hiking performance.

In the course of normal amounts of walking around and all day riding, I didn’t have any uncomfortable fit issues.  I could spend nearly all of my time on a long ride standing and my feet would feel great at the end of the day.   With the Adventure 2 as part of my gear system, I stopped bringing extra footwear on my rides (unless I knew I was going to be hiking) as I was quite comfortable living in these boots 24/7.

On the bike, the Adventure 2 Gore-Tex works great transmitting input from your feet to the bike, and at no point on any bike ranging from a trials bike to a big ADV bike did I feel like the boots were impacting my ability to ride.  After a few minutes of riding in these boots, and you’ll feel like you’ve been wearing them for months so there is no learning curve associated with incorporating a new piece of gear into your system.

The SIDI Adventure 2 Gore-Tex boots have been a great addition to my riding gear system.  Even when I’m using the boots for types of riding other than what they’re intended for, they’ve handled everything I’ve done with ease.  Wearing the Adventure 2’s on not-adventure rides started out as a test for the sake of this review, but quickly became a standard practice because I just enjoyed wearing these boots so much – and the whole dry feet thing is pretty nice too.  The Adventure 2 is a well-made boot that has held up great to countless miles of riding, and I only expect continued comfort and worry free performance from them.  SIDI makes some of the best boots out there, and it shows in Adventure 2 Gore-Tex.  They’ve taken the well-loved original boot and only made it better in it’s second revision to create one of the best adventure / dual-sport / keep your feet dry when you’re riding boots money can buy.

Full Disclosure: SIDI generously contributed a pair of Adventure 2 Gore-Tex boots for review at no cost to Chad de Alva or American Adventurist.