Gateway, Colorado to Delta, Colorado, crossing the Uncompahgre Plateau, mostly off pavement. 100 miles, 85 contiguous miles unpaved, no towns, no houses—on this weekday, just two bicyclists, 1 van, two cattle-drivers on horseback, nothing else until near Delta. Don't try this during hunting season.

The roads vary from sandwash to rocky-steep to soft-dirt, to multiple tight switchbacks to good graded gravel. Could I do it again? not likely on the same route. Would I do it again? Maybe not. The last switchbacks were a little knarley.

I saw the idea on an Internet forum and printed the instructions. "Divide Road from Gateway: go NE about four miles to 6.30 RD or 7.40 RD. That will take you to FR 405, then 404, to FR 402 which is Divide Road."

Sparse instructions, subject to variable interpretation. I intended to buy a map at Gateway Canyons Outfitter but when I located the correct map I realized I already owned it. My map was at home, of course. I didn't want to buy another so I chose to travel mapless, as I often do. No matter. Now that I'm home and have examined my map, I'm still not sure where I was for part of the ride. There were many roads not marked and it was not always obvious which way one should go but I kept going. For an hour or two I had no idea which road I was on or where I might end up if the road didn't dead-end. I've yet to determine exactly where I was.

Road 6.30 was marked as such and easy enough to find, 4 miles northeast of Gateway as the instructions said, just before the tight S-turn entering the narrow canyon on CO141. I had seen the road before but paid no attention, thinking it was a farm road or something. Right off, the road becomes a sand wash in the bottom of a canyon. Not much deep sand but soft enough to make me cautious. After a mile or so of crooked canyon, the road climbs. This ends the sand and introduces loose rocks and tight switchbacks. One switchback is especially abrupt, steep and rough where 4WD vehicles have stalled, then tore up the road getting underway again. Soon I'm looking down on Gateway far below.

Still the road climbs. After 9 miles I come to a 4-way intersection. One road is marked FR 405. It's here I first realize the instructions, interpreted literally, don't tell me to take FR 405 but only to notice that it's there and continue on 6.30 RD to FR 404. I choose the road ahead I believe to be a continuation of 6.30 RD although it's not marked as such. From this point on, for the next hour or two, I'm never certain what road I'm on or where I'm going. I continue on the belief that all roads must go somewhere or dead-end. It the road dead-ends, I'll know what to do. At intersections, I guess.

I cross several canyons, dropping down from one side and climbing out the other, usually gaining elevation between each canyon. Finally my road seems to end at a more significant road. No markings, but after looking at my map at home I now believe this was 404 FR. I turn right but feel I should have turned left. After a mile or so I make a U-turn and go the other way (my map indicates this second choice was the correct one). Not more than a mile past the intersection, this new road becomes a poor road. I don't know where I am or where I'm going. I continue on. More climbing. Eventually, I can see the rugged edge of a high plateau far ahead and assume that's the Uncompahgre Plateau and where I want to be. When I think I'm near, I top a rise and see a fairly big valley I still have to cross. On the other side on the valley I see what's likely my road climbing sharply up the wall of the plateau. Looks challenging.

It is challenging. Here I have the sharpest and steepest switchbacks of all and there are many of them, sometimes back to back. Some are so tight bigger vehicles can't make the turn and a space has been provided for getting turned around and aimed in the reverse direction. The 690SM surprises me. I have said it doesn't pull under 4,000 RPM and it's true, it won't pull hard under 4,000 RPM when I'm riding it like a sport bike. I've also said it's geared very tall in low. How do I climb sharp, rough, loose-rock switchbacks with no low end and a tall low gear. Actually, at slow speeds, the engine does pull from 2000 RPM with a delicate throttle touch. Apparently it's so powerful that only a small percentage of available power is still enough to keep it climbing. With a deft touch on the throttle and brief clutch-slipping on occasion, I make it with no real difficulty. This bike is very forgiving in loose rocks. Once on top, relieved, I stop to take a picture or two.

I'm on top of the world and the road must go somewhere. A mile or so later I come to a Forest Service map, mounted on posts. I stop to check it out. Locating the You-are-here pin I see my road disappears from the map in a few hundred yards. What? This road dead ends? How can I go back down those steep switchbacks with a 40MPH low gear and an oversensitive rear brake. I think about it and decide a road doesn't dead end until I see the dead end. On I go. The road becomes two primitive tracks twisting through the Aspen trees, sometimes deeply rutted, sometimes deep soft powder. I 'm 40 miles into this off-pavement adventure, don't know where I am or where I'm going but I keep going (now that I've examined my map I still don't know where I was). I see a peak ahead, topped with antennas. I'm afraid this is where my road will really end but it doesn't. I come to a junction and turn away from the peak. I haven't seen anybody for an hour or two but now I meet a small cattle drive and a couple cowboys on horseback. Not long after that I come to a graded gravel road, only about 1 1/2 lanes wide but well groomed. A road this good has to go somewhere; it won't dead-end. I head south. The gravel is loose but not deep and the 690SM is frisky, free, wanting to run and I let it.

I come to another of the Forest Service maps but this one doesn't tell me where I am and I find it confusing. I can't even find the road I just came over. Is this the Twilight Zone? Turning back towards my motorcycle, I see a sign I missed before. I'm on Divide Road. I had been over the length of Divide road several times but hadn't recognized it this time. I was both relieved and a little disappointed. I wouldn't have minded wandering around for another hour before knowing where I was and where I was going. My adventure over, I settled for fun, fast, smooth sailing for 30 miles or so to the Delta-Nucla road which took me down off the Plateau towards home.

The KTM 690SM actually performed quite well on this ride, my only real complaint being the over-sensitive rear brake. It seems to handle loose rocks well, the front tire has pretty good flotation on loose sand and powder dirt, the tall low gear is not as big a problem as I thought it would be. Mostly, though, I love this bike on the smooth gravel roads. Despite the two large stock mufflers, it thunders or so it seems to the rider and it's these sensual perceptions that matter, not real noise. It has serious power. It feels unusually stable. It may be my favorite engine yet, displacing the DL650 V-twin for that honor, and it may be my favorite gravel road bike yet, displacing the TR6 of 40 years ago for that honor. So it's not a real dirt bike. I'm not a real dirt rider. But for an old guy like me who still wants to ride off pavement on relatively good roads, at his own pace, on a motorcycle that doesn't compromise corner speed on pavement, the street supermoto bikes are nearly perfect. And, as far as I know, the new KTM LC4 is still the most powerful production 650 single in the world. It sure is fun.

How would I rate these roads? Not difficult enough for serious dirt bike riders. About right for good riders on big dual sports such as the KLR650 or DR650. Doable for confident or determined riders on big Adventure bikes such as the GS or V-Strom. Off-limits for Harleys or Gold wings although I'm not fool enough to say it can't be done. The interesting thing is, these roads, along with John Brown Canyon and Sand Flats Road to the west and Divide Road and Last Dollar Road to the south make it possible to connect Moab and Telluride, 150 to 200 miles apart, with unpaved roads and only a few miles of pavement. Toss in a couple return possibilities from Divide road to Nucla, the road along the Dolores River to Bedrock, Buckeye Reservoir, Carpenter Flats to the Gateway-Moab road and one has a beautiful two-day loop, mostly off pavement and, except for Moab and Telluride, with minimal civilization, a loop encompassing everything from serious Utah desert and sand to great canyons to one of the world's most awesome plateaus to some of the best of Colorado Rocky Mountains.