285 to Buena Vista almost ended me and my son

[RickB]

Hey all,

I'm not a happy guy... Worked my tail off to get the bus ready and was nearly involved in a head on collision on 285 from Denver to Buena Vista. First off, I know everybody talks about "slow down, enjoy the scenery, you don't need a more powerful motor in the mountains. HOGWASH!!! Until law enforcement does something about the unbelievable tailgating, passing on double yellow lines and doing 85-90 in a 65 driving a bus in the mountains at all is not worth the effort. Especially trying to coax a non turbocharged motor over the Rockies. Watched a guy in a AutoForce Van pass 30 cars behind me in a line on a double yellow where I was going the speed limit in a 65 mph zone, An 18 wheeler was coming and this joker played chicken with him and just about put me and my 7 year old boy through the windshield. If he would've stopped I would've shot him dead on sight. I transferred the family to the car and had at least 40 cars pass me on a uphill double yellow with blind turns. There's something about this new generation of diesel freaks in their chipped and piped duramax's that spells death wish if you ask me. Seriously considering selling the bus and calling it a day. I don't want/need any lectures about taking my time guys, I'll lend you my bus and you can take the d$#n thing over a pass with these idiots and you'll change your tune. Never again. By the way we left at 5:30 am to avoid the traffic to begin with.

[John316]

Hey Rick. Glad you all made it okay. Sounds bad!

I know that route well. On the way back, you might consider taking HWY 24 to Colorado Springs. You will like that route much better.

Enjoy BV. The Roastary downtown has the best coffee in town. Buy some cheap sunflower seeds (bird seed style) and take a day trip to the ghost town of St. Elmo. Go on a weekday, in the morning, and you will have a blast. Right across from the general store, there is a pile of rail road ties. There are a TON of chipmunks that live in there that love to eat sunflower seeds from tourists. The kids will have a ball.

A really pretty drive is west out of BV on road 306. It is paved all the way to the pass. The pass is the Continental divide. You can take the family and hike the Divide trail as far as you want. Nice walk. If you have a car you don't mind taking on dirt roads, you can keep going on 306 to Tincup. Really neat little old town. 

If you are into climbing 14ers, Mt. Yale is a fun easy day hike. And when I say easy, it is still a tough hike if you are used to 5K elevation gain, and about 10 miles round trip.

Aspen and Crested Butte are really neat places to visit. All depends on what you like to do.

Fishing? Cottonwood Lake is amazing.

I love that area and have been up there a ton. Don't let the drive out cloud it. Just take HWY 24 back, and you won't have an issue. The main portion of mountains is four lane.

Have fun!

John

[Cary and Don]

It's not just with a bus.  We live on a good two lane mountain road.  It has a lot of curves, 8% grades up and down, and roads coming into it on curves.  There are little crosses and memorials all along this road where idiots have hit somebody head on. The speed limit is 55mph and people do 65 and 70 without even slowing for the curves. Soccer moms are the worst. Tail gaiting, flying by every chance they get, and with kids in the back seat. I had some idiot pass me on the right using the shoulder and I was doing the speed limit just last week.

Cary

[Lin]

Did the road have any turnouts?

[luvrbus]

Yep there are idiots out there but then I understand what Rick is saying if he had more power he could blend in with the traffic a little better.

When we go across Texas on I 10 I run the 80 mph speed limit if you don't your are likely to get run over.

Yesterday he was so proud the old 8V71 was breathing nice cool air at about 5000 ft running like a champ making power with a little black smoke Me if all possible I would try and stay under 5000 ft as the 8V71N/A drops like a rock after 5000 ft IMO    

[belfert]

This is why I stay on the interstates crossing the Rockies.  At least interstates have a second lane for the faster vehicles.  I might have more power than Rick, but I still can't keep up with the cars.  It isn't that unusual to drop to 40 MPH on some of the grades while the cars are still whipping by at 20 MPH or more faster.

[Jon]

Except for being able to hold speed going up a hill better, the problem isn't more power. It is the morons who really are out to get you.

My wife long held the opinion the problem with other drivers was because of the bus. So I started pointing out that they drive exactly the same around us even when we are in our cars. If the bus had 1000 horsepower it wouldn't do any good once we got behind a slower truck, and it sure as hell isn't going to get me down the hill on the other side of the mountain any faster.

If other drivers get you upset as much as they apparently do the best recommendation I could make is to sell the bus. Take public transportation and try not to look out the windshield because no matter what vehicle you are in they drive the same way.

[TomC]

This is one of the many reasons I'm making my truck with my car inside with me. I will drive on interstates as much as possible. Then when I want to explore on 2 lane, drive the car. With my bus, I've been on some incredibly narrow mountain roads (no center line so narrow). Pure white knuckle driving-and this from a truck driver that drove 1.3 million miles. Drive a big vehicle where a big vehicle should be driven. Good Luck, TomC

[RickB]

Hey all,

Well apparently yesterday was a "one in a million" traffic day here. Talked to people who have lived here their whole lives and they couldn't explain it. By mid afternoon the town was a normal tourist town and the 25-25 year old crazies had moved on to other areas.

John, we had already found the roasting place downtown great coffee but ai was amazed at the hundred or so young folks that were sitting on the floor, standing outside everywhere, the connection? They were all using the wifi to get online so they could connect on Facebook. It was so representative of the overall problem. Let's drive like we are on the set of Mad Max and then when we get to where we're going let's all isolate and snap chat, tweet and email one another.
 
Lin, I slowed and almost stopped letting people go by me when the right hand lane opened up but they would try to force me off the road rather than let me back in when the extra lane ended so, there was no escaping this.

Jon, i agree the problem is a cultural one not a horsepower one and yes I tend to take people who threaten my seven year old's life seriously and I do have a problem with them. But thankfully, not half as big a problem as it could've been if that dude in the van had pulled over. That would not have ended well for him I assure you.

I have two beefs with this scenario. One is the folks who have been telling me for years here on the blog that I need to slow down, enjoy the scenery etc. I think that thinking is well intentioned but doesn't apply to largely two lane roads in the mountains unless you want every entitled, crazy sob putting you and your family at risk. The last time it happened I started to think I was imagining all the craziness that comes out of folks when they can't go 85-90 mph to go "relax and chill" on their vacations. The other is that this is just another example of what is wrong with our country. The "me" generation drive, spend, legislate and bully like no other generation before them. I feel bad for my kids because it's only getting worse.

Moral of the story? Brian is right, if you're gonna drive in the mountains during a holiday in a bus, regardless of horsepower you should consider driving on interstates that have extra lanes for slow traffic and even then it may not be worth the white knuckle experience. Lea and I have decided to only drive our bus in mountains during the off season. The traffic here in downtown Buena Vista yesterday was right up there with State Fair traffic, today a car every 3 minutes or so... I just don't get it

Tom C you got it dead right.

Clifford you were right as usual. She's sluggish but she never got over 170 degrees. The blue smoke is getting worse so I'm hoping she makes it home to get the blower seals checked.

RB

[luvrbus]

Could have been worse RB if you were up at that altitude with a 6V71 N/A and a automatic then you could check out the different rock colors on the shoulder of the road 

[eagle19952]

When we are in that situation....I usually tell the wife to get out and push... 

Really it does happen to just about everyone        

[Jon]

I live on a two lane road that is so narrow the bus wheels are on the edge line and the double yellow line at the same time. There are multiple curves so sharp that the tail of the coach tracks about 2 feet onto the other lane, or I have to poke the nose about 2 feet into the other lane just to keep the drive tires on the road because of the curves.

There are no shoulders and in most spots if I drop off the edge I am likely to roll the coach.

So cars that are coming at me are a real threat. And a lot of them never slow down. Ironically the school bus drivers are more than willing to come at me without slowing and I know for sure our mirrors will not pass unless we each jog to the right slightly so I intentionally stay into the oncoming lane until the school bus, or dump truck slows sufficiently so we can pass safely. Even a big Prevost is not intimidating enough to drivers that should know better.

Everyone is in a big hurry, or doesn't want to be behind someone, or is busy texting and not driving. So I am an interstate driver and I will only rarely drive on smaller roads because even if I could go fast, it still wouldn't be fast enough for some of the morons.

[B_K]

A while back I was on US 70 between home (Huntingdon, TN) and Jackson, TN in a bus on a lovely lonely afternoon with NO TRAFFIC at all. As I dropped off one particular hill that has a long straight section before starting up the next hill and around the next bend I let the bus ROLL since I could easily see for over a mile that there was no other traffic on the road but me. All the sudden I get passed by a pick up truck that had come from NOWHERE, as I check my mirrors regularly!
I looked down at the speedometer and I was doing 75 mph!
This guy came out of nowhere and passed me like I was sitting still and just kept going at who knows how fast on a hilly twisty two lane road.
I know I was doing 20 over the limit (but only on that down hill stretch), but this guy had to be doing over 100 the way he passed me and disappeared in notime!

People just don't care about safety these days!
  BK 

[Jon]

He would have been going faster but he was answering his texts.

[georgemci102a2]

Georgia overdrive