Day Two - Sunday - 74 miles
We ate at the campground, and found it to be very good quality and good value. We were going to ride over to Telluride via Ophir Pass, and return over Imogene Pass. This was one of our favorite routes from years past. In Telluride we would stop for lunch at one of favorite spots for some eats and a brew. If nothing else, it was for tradition. We rode down US 550, and over Red Mountain Pass on the pavement before reaching the Trailhead to Ophir. Again, it was challenging to keep everyone in sight as we rode single-file down the highway. Zach and Shane were still getting used to riding on the street, and allowing cars and truck to pass while riding on the white line. We reached the trailhead and off we went. Ophir Pass is exceptionally easy, but after Saturday’s events it was a nice little relaxer. We stopped at the summit for some pictures and a look around. We reached CO 145 and headed north towards Telluride, but first we sidetracked into the Alta Lakes area for a quick loop. Nothing really challenging here, but the scenery was good, and we stopped at the Lake to look around. We backtracked the entire way out and reconnected on CO 145 and headed into Telluride. We stopped at Smugglers Inn for lunch a couple of cold ones. Everyone was riding well as we headed up Tomboy and toward Imogene Pass.
This is probably my favorite pass, so I was hitting it hard and having a great time. Getting to the top would prove not so easy. John’s bike had not been running well day, and the high altitude caught up with him as we neared the top. Since Mike was the XT225 expert he rode the bike as we watched and as he neared the peak a huge cloud of blue smoke erupted from the bike. I thought the worst, but come to find out the oil plug on the transfer case blew out and hot oil hit the muffler causing the smoke. A perfectly sized rock and band-aid was all that was needed to mend things and we were good to go. We reached the top, and at least the Yamaha would have an easier time going down. We stopped once or twice on the down side, and before long we were back in camp ready to cook some dinner and spend a little time on bike repairs (on the Yamahas).
