Every summer I get out dual-sport riding as much as I can, which, considering that I don't own a dual-sport bike of my own, means not nearly often enough.
Most recently I headed to Gunnison, CO, where my friend Kevin runs a business renting Suzuki V-Stroms.
I don't have to pay for the rental, Kevin puts me up at his house, and there's no end to the great mountain roads around Gunnison.
This does qualify as heaven, doesn't it? I tend to forget between rides just how much I like the V-Strom.
It's a lot lighter than either of my street bikes and I've finally come to the conclusion that that is a big part of what makes it so much fun.
When you're dealing with a lot of weight you devote too much of your attention to handling the bike.
Then you get on a light bike and you find yourself free to just go! Go we did.
We headed east out of town and turned south on the road that runs up over North Cochetopa Pass.
There are some nice canyons on the way up the pass but the road is paved so it was really just our avenue to get to where we really wanted to be.
Over the pass and down the other side, and we turned off on a gravel county road that leads over Carnero Pass.
I had never even heard of Carnero Pass, much less been over it, so now the fun really began.
We worked our way up a canyon and then into the forest, where the aspen trees were just in the process of turning their leaves to the gold of fall.
It was a gorgeous, warm but not hot autumn day, blue sky and puffy clouds, and we were out in the midst of it all.
This truly is heaven.
The road was pretty good for a gravel road, though it did have its share of rough spots and washboard.
Unlike with my street bikes, the V-Strom's deep suspension ate up the bumps and I felt just as confident on this surface on this bike as I typically do on the street on the other bikes.
We climbed a bit, though there was nothing overly steep as can often be the case on roads like this, and before long there we were at the pass.
At 10,166 feet I would have thought we'd have more climbing to do but I guess we had not really descended that far off North Cochetopa Pass so it wasn't that much of a climb up Carnero.
Over the hump and down then and the country started to change.
We got out of the forest and into another canyon, with all the varied rock formations that I've come to realize are present all over this region.
Other Colorado passes, such as Rabbit Ears Pass or Lizard Head Pass, are named for their distinguishing rock formations but there are plenty of equally or more striking formations elsewhere, they're just tucked away where most people never see them.
As so many canyons do, this one ended with the rock walls coming together as if to form a gate and we slipped through the gate and out onto the high plains beyond.
From here, another country road, still gravel, would take us close to Del Norte, where we met a paved state road and then U.
S.
160.
We turned west to South Fork, veered north on another state highway up over Slumgullion Pass and down into Lake City.
Then on north and back to Gunnison.
This stretch from Del Norte was all paved but I didn't hold that against Kevin.
Besides, it gave the V-Strom the chance to show once again that it is an extremely competent highway bike as well as a dual-sport.
One of these days I'm going to buy one of these bikes for my own.
I swear I am.
I just need a little more money.
But in the meantime you can't beat having friends like Kevin.