Breckenridge (and KTM) is for the rich

Sometimes trips aren’t as exciting as you had hoped for. That doesn’t mean the trip was a waste….gotta have less exciting ones to be able to recognize the awesome ones…I guess.

I rode out to Breckenridge CO for the KTM Adventure Rider Rally. Unfortunately I recently had a surgery and was too scared to damage myself to do any off-road riding so the rally was all pavement and vendors for me.

It was much too cold for camping so I wanted to find a room for the weekend. I ended up using Airbnb for the first time and reserved a room for a good price considering the area but my goodness it was not cheap. When I arrived I found out why it was so cheap……it was comically tiny.

Aside from the size, it was a nice place and had underground parking so I’m not complaining too much.

My first night in town was interesting…..I arrived just a couple minutes too late to get in on early registration for the rally and the free dinner so I had to fend for myself. I headed back to my room to figure out where to eat. While trying to figure out the Wifi I found out that the last people to stay in the room had taken the remote batteries and there were none to be found. The tv, being a smart tv, required the remote to do anything so I had to get batteries while out too. I gave up trying to find a restaurant with my phone and just went outside and asked for a recommendation from the first person I saw. Ended up in a nice Thai place and ate very well. Then I went in search of a grocery store I was told would have the batteries I needed……one hour and 3 wrong turns later I found the store and was the proud new owner of some weird organic microwave popcorn and, more importantly, my precious energy cylinders ready to guide me on a popcorn fueled Netflix binge. Then I realized it was terribly dark and I had quite a way to walk home so I figured “why not try another first?” So I ordered my first Uber. Holy crap that’s expensive! I don’t know how you drinkers afford that crap. After recovering from the shock of how much I just payed for a 2 minute car ride I went inside and watched Stranger Things……the popcorn was terrible by the way.

The Rally itself was nothing amazing because I didn’t do any off-road riding and I spent most of the time hanging around the vendor tents and talking to people. I did manage to check out some new products and bought a few cool things.

By far the coolest products I came across was the new line of soft luggage from Tusk. They have a range of dry duffle bags, 2 flavors of soft panniers, 2 strap on tank bags, and a rackless luggage system that will all be coming out around thanksgiving this year. TJ from Rocky Mountain ATV was kind enough to do a quick interview about the luggage.

I’m glad I had the free time to spend down in the vendor area because I never would have gotten to do this otherwise. I also spent a lot of time meeting people and having really interesting conversations. But also…..Because I was stuck in the vendor area I bought quite a few things and I only really needed some (none) of them. I imagine I would have spent a lot less money if I had been out riding trails. Among all the crap I bought was a set of tires……I didn’t need tires and have no idea when I will but RMATVMC had a crazy good deal on some Bridgestone batlax tires that I couldn’t resist. Only one problem……how to get them home. They sat in my (tiny) room all weekend and then got strapped onto the bike (creatively) to get home.

When I wasn’t at the rally itself I was walking around the cool little downtown part of Breckinridge and riding the paved mountain roads in the area. As you would expect any quaint ski town to be, Breckenridge was crazy expensive…I don’t even want to think about how much I spent on food, gifts, and souvenirs for me that weekend.

I’m just gonna put up some pictures from the weekend here since there wasn’t much structure to the trip there isn’t a story to follow or build.

I had planned to ride to Pikes Peak and Mt Evans while out here and it would have been the perfect replacement for the trail riding I couldn’t do. BUUUUT! Mt Evans was already closed for the winter and the lodge at the top of Pikes Peak is being rebuilt so you have to take a shuttle and that wasn’t what I wanted to do. Without that big part of the trip plan I was pretty bummed out and felt like the whole thing was a waste of time and money. I was really pumped for this to be a “high altitude” adventure and instead all I got was “Hoosier pass”.

Last thing to mention……the toilet seat broke in my room! I have no idea what I did wrong but the stupid hinge fell apart and I knew, being an Airbnb, I would probably get a crazy inflated bill for it so I was determined to fix it myself. I had to ride out to the next town and hunted down a suitable toilet seat and would pull off the ultimate ninja-edit…….the unseen toilet seat swap. Only problem was I had to get the stupid thing back to the room…….

Like I said, this trip felt a little like a bust to me….I didn’t do anything too amazing and got hosed on my main plan. But while eating dinner on my last night there I got to thinking about all the little things I did and how going off-plan led me into some experiences I would not have had otherwise. Sometimes plans fail and getting upset is what really will wreck a trip or waste time…..if you embrace the unknown and welcome the unexpected, you cannot waste a trip.