Colemanfu's Colorado Dirt Bike & Brew Tour 2019

Quick update - DEF pressure line leak. Waiting to see if they have parts. I told em I have Gorilla tap in the back if they need it!

Stupid exhaust fluid ‍♂️

That whole DEF system has to be the biggest ever. Hope that it can be fixed quickly.

Van fixed by noon and I’m currently in BV, I’ll go over the pass camp in Sargents and then on to Taylor Park in the morning.

It was a pressurized hose for the DEF. part in stock and covered under warranty.

Beer tastes better with a properly working van.

On a side note the MB dealer in Colorado Springs doesn’t work on Sprinters but the one in Littleton does.

Don’t ask how I know!!!!!!!

How long will you be out there?

I want a Taylor Park Snow report!

American Flag Mountain first summit 2019

Marmot porn music FTW!

Been there , it’s quite the view.

As always love your ride threads !

Pardon the delayed update it’s been a whirlwind of a last few days. I’m back safe in the humidity and had an incident free effort home.



Above is the response from the vans nav when I was leaving Taylor Park!

It was a grey foggy morning when I pulled out.



Due to the distance from the interior I decided to make it a “moving day”. The list of life stuff I order to leave was so long that I milked CO for one extra day. I drove to Gunnison cause the 36 mile pass was still closed till mid August making it about a 90 mile detour, yea. Washed the van, re provisioned a bit, ran by the beer store, stopped in Salida and Soalcraft Brewing before heading the rest of the way to the Buena Vista library to post the American Flag vid.

I clearly was not ready to call it quits! I went by Eddyline one last time then it was up the pass to camp. I was treated to an amazing goodby sunrise!

Final stats......


Note the elevation!

Before bike cleaning.



After.



Washed the rig and even pulled the pool noodles and put in the FL tubes.

Here’s the stash of suds that made it back!



Aside from the Eddyline grapefruit I really liked the Tommy Knockers Blood Orange IPA.

And the cool can of the trip goes to Sticky Pils!



Random moto related fluids during the unpack.
This felt like the most organized and efficient ADV to date.

Looks like you had a stellar trip!

After my run to Littleton to fix the van I drove back and camped in Sargents for the night. That put me in position for an easy drive to Gunnison and in to Taylor Park the following morning. I like camping by the creek here and the owners are major trail advocates. Only my 4th paid site in 5 weeks!



Just around sunset, the campground started to fill up with travelers. This couple was biking to Mexico! I shared fresh cut tomatoes as appetizers as they set up their tent! I was guessing that fresh veggies would be hard to manage on a bicycle and a good form of hydration. I also gave em bananas in the morning to start their ride right nutritionally. They were very nice people and I appreciated them sharing stories of their ADV.



Then I met some hard core dirt bikers doing the TAT. I helped one with a GoPro project - he needed a new mounting clip which I had multiple and glad to assist his vid game! They were fun and we partied in the van till a whopping 10:00 pm!




Love those Teletubby hills around Sargents. Everything was extra lush still!

On the way to Sargents I detoured into Poncha Springs to Elevation Brewing to decompress after the van bullshit!



With a 35 min drive over Monarch Pass and solid camping sorted along the creek at the trading post in Sargents it was a easy to chill and hang with the locals. There was some riders in there and they quizzed me some and I noted the envy in their questions. At those moments I try hard to inspire and motivate with honest reflections of life as a premium dirtbag! Pretty much lay it on thick ha!



Good vibe and suds. Really felt back in the game. From the high of killing it at camp to the low of van taking a poo, I was ready to finish this CO Tour strong!

I passed on the shandy ha!

The next morning I got moving early and was rolling by like 8:30? Felt earlier than the average get ready and go time? The plan was to get to TP early so I could ride all day. And by ride all day I mean make it up American Flag Mountain! I camped at my usual spot on the bluff above the river about a mile before Dinner Station.



There’s a big encampments below and a spot for 2-3 haulers above. The spot I dig is much smaller thus not appealing to giant rigs or groups of campers.



The sunsets beyond the river at the back of the van and rises fairly early off the bow heating up the front about the time I got moving in the morning.



Again this combo of free camping and riding is my happiest of happy places. I know it’s a real flex move but in the evening I light it up like those high rollers in the super C’s! If you a go camp in Taylor Park bring your A-Game cause Fu ain’t playin!

Welcome home, if you go out next year we'll probably kick up some of the same dirt, albeit at different times.

Thanks for the inspiration

Thanks Kelly, funny you mention next year. It was only about an hour or so into the trip back that I started thinking about the next big ADV. I’d really like to re visit Alaska but to be honest I need to work more next summer. Not necessarily for the coin but more to sharpen the saw.

The first day in Taylor Park was great. Got there early, set up camp and was off and exploring by 10:00.



I ran up Italian Creek to see how far I could get up. I’ve been here 5-6 times and based on past experience I was expecting snow much earlier?



When I got as far as I did it gave me genuine hope to make the flag. I tried to bash through then walk/clutch the bike through with minimal success.



Here’s to top of Star connector trail - no dropping in here.



I headed down the mountain and decided to try the other side.

On the way it started to rain a little so I dipped in the woods and ran 3.3 miles of Star till I hit snow and downfall at 9,750 feet.



Fairly rocky 2nd gear trail with a few chunky climbs.



Then it was over to Flag Creek in effort to make it up to the other side if Italian Creek. Night and day diff from Star. This one is 3rd gear flow flow!



You cam loop it with Bear Creek another flowing bit of CO single track.
When I started IC I noticed fresh tracks and soon enough ran into a side by side shit sandwich! In effort to avoid a nasty rut they wound up sliding into it and onto its shiny side!



Fools, I had to show en how to do it and immediately got stuck in bike eating middle earth goop!

You can see the rut that ate their machine!

Didn’t make it much further till I ran into drift after drift! A fun 70 miles of exploration. On the way back I formulated a plan to The Flag that included a fresh rear tire and a mini shovel.



So I set up shop and went to town wrestling on the fattest rear I’ve ever ran. 505 Cheater tire chosen cause my existing mousse would be a perfect fit!



The most difficult part was bead breaking and removal of the old tire. At this point I was really missing the Rabiconda!



2 beer job! I used a bit of soap to get the spoons under the lip and started slowly working it off using some extra spoons to get the opposite side to get it to drop in and provide just a more room on the apposing side.