Nice Day To Ride Guanella

September 7th, 2026


Nick fishes out another layer on top of Guanella Pass.

Nick is in town with his bike and we’re doing some riding. On Wednesday we rode Guanella Pass.

The great thing about going somewhere and riding with a local is that the local knows all the good roads, most of which you may have no idea exist. So I kicked around several ideas as to what route to take on this ride.

First thing, as always, is getting across town. I live just four blocks off US 285 so 285 is almost always the best way to start off. We headed out to Morrison and then turned up CO 74, up Bear Creek Canyon. At Kittredge we turned up Kerr Gulch in order to avoid the traffic and the busyness of downtown Evergreen. Plus, Kerr Gulch is really a nice ride.

Reaching Evergreen Parkway up by Bergen Park, we jogged just a couple miles over to take the road leading to either westbound I-70 or the overpass across I-70 to get on old US 40 up Mount Vernon Canyon. No surprise, we chose US 40. US 40 is the highway that I-70 replaced and while it wanders away from the slab most of the time, at other times it is basically an I-70 frontage road.

Cruising up through this area I was reminded of what I have seen repeatedly of late, the huge proliferation of dead pine trees. It has all appeared suddenly but it must have been happening for a while. Presumably these trees were fighting pine beetle infestations but with the drought this year they finally lost the battle. A lot of them. This place is a forest fire waiting to happen.

We ran up Floyd Hill alongside I-70 and then down the other side where, at the bottom, you have a great view of the really large highway project now under way to smooth out the sharp turn at the very bottom that has been a thorn in the side of highway planners for decades. At the bottom we turned left, fed onto old US 6, which fed onto I-70, and got off again at Idaho Springs. Time for a break and an explanation for Nick of what he had just seen.

We stayed off the slab, using US 6 to make our way up the canyon, to Georgetown, and then headed up Guanella Pass.

Guanella Pass is big for “leaf-peeping,” cruising the high country in the fall to see the leaves changing color. It gets pretty spectacular in places and this pass is a close-to-town favorite. It’s too early for any leaf-peeping just yet but I did note that just a few aspen were already turning. They say with the drought, though, that this year’s show is likely to be a bit subdued.

I was a bit chilly coming into Georgetown so I put on a sweatshirt while we were there and told Nick what I was doing and why. This is not my first rodeo. Nick figured he’d be fine. We hadn’t gone far up the pass at all when I was feeling very glad to have the extra layer. We stopped at the top and Nick pulled out an extra layer, too.

We cruised down the other side looking to have a bit of lunch in Grant but the food truck that usually sits where the pass road hits US 285 was not there. What was there was a row of A-frame cabins and another row of rectangular cabins with slanted roofs. None of that was there the last time I came this way. Turning toward Denver I pulled into the parking lot of the Shaggy Sheep cafe but as has happened every time I have thought to eat there it was closed. I just always come by on the wrong day of the week. So we rode on to Bailey and had lunch there.

Then it was on down 285 into town and back across town on 285. Right at the peak of the commute, with lots of stop and go and heavy traffic. This was not the 100-degree weather we had recently but we were still roasting. Nick knew where he was going now so he changed lanes to try to make a little better speed but again, not my first rodeo, and we got home with me right behind him.

So it was a short ride for me, a substantial ride for him, and the first step in getting him prepped for the four-day ride we’re doing right after Labor Day.

Biker Quote for Today

“Be at one with the universe. If you can’t do that, at least be at one with your bike.” ~ Lennard Zinn

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Day Rides | No Comments »

Cardo Update Should Make Connecting Easier

September 3rd, 2026


My Cardo communicator on my helmet.

Cardo, the maker of helmet communications devices, has issued an update that they say will make connecting easier. Lord knows something like that is needed. I’ve used four different helmet communicator systems and the hardest thing about each of them has been getting connected. I haven’t had a chance yet to try this out but I’m looking forward to doing so.

The really interesting thing about it is they now have a “Public” mode where you just automatically connect with anyone in range who also has their Cardo set for Public. You might be riding along and hear some strange voice saying “Hey, you on that V-Strom, watch out for a speed trap two miles ahead.” Or “Hi. Hope you’re having a good ride.”

Plus, the way you set up a private group and connect everyone has gotten easier.

I saw an article on this upgrade on Adventure Rider and clicked through to see what it was about. The article had a video Cardo put out that explains the upgrade so I watched that. It looked simple so I pulled up the app on my phone and grabbed my communicator.

When I opened the app it told me an upgrade was available so I said go ahead and do it. Once I upgraded the app the video said to link the phone and the device, and when I did that the firmware on the device was automatically upgraded. Couldn’t have been simpler.

I was pretty tickled to do all this and know about this because I was getting together with some of the guys in the RMMRC the next day and I would tip them off about this. As it turned out, none of them had heard about it yet so that felt good to be the bearer of good tidings.

At this breakfast get-together only Dave and Gene and I had ridden and we decided to go for an impromptu ride afterward, plus they were going to be leaving for a bike tour in the Alps in a few days, so they wanted to be sure they had their Cardos connected. I figured while they were getting connected I would link in, too.

But ignorance triumphed again. We all have had these Cardos for a couple years now and we almost never succeed in getting everyone linked in. Oftentimes we have to reacquaint ourselves with the operation of the devices. In this case I tried to turn mine on and could not. I had just charged it the day before but I concluded I had not properly shut it off and it had run dead overnight.

In fact, as I learned later when I pulled out the manual, I was not properly turning it on. The device has three buttons, one on the left as you look at it and two on the right, one above the other. I was pressing the button at left and the top button. No. You need to press the one at left and the lower button. Duh. Maybe I’ll remember that now.

So we went for that ride and I’m sure they were talking along the way but I was just cruising along in my own world. Not a bad place to be but not what I had intended.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to the next time we ride and seeing if it really is going to be so much easier. I sure hope so.

Biker Quote for Today

I know I ride like a girl, so try and keep up.

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Posted in motorcycle clubs, Motorcycle Gear, motorcycle helmets, Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club | No Comments »

The OFMC Loses One

August 31st, 2026


Friggs shows the impact his helmet saved his head.

Friggs died on Sunday. Five years after a cancer diagnosis it finally did him in. He is the first of the OFMC to go.

The OFMC was started in 1989 and then consisted of John, Bill, and me. The first newcomer to the group was John’s son Johnathon. The second was Friggs, Bill’s brother, in 2000. Friggs started out on a Virago but eventually moved up to a Harley.

After joining us a few times he took a contract job in St. Louis, so he missed a few. He wanted to ride out there, though, so I rode his Virago to St. Louis and he bought me a plane ticket home. That was a win-win.

Back in Denver, he rode with us every year up until 2018. On that trip we were cruising on some winding road in New Mexico, with brand new (within the last week) pavement and suddenly he was not there behind us. But Dennis, in front of him, heard the crash and went back, finding him and his bike lying in the road. Friggs was able to finish the trip but as soon as we got home he sold the bike and never rode again. No one, not even he, ever had any idea why he went down.

The OFMC got ever smaller after that trip and we made our last ride together in 2024. By that time it was down to Dennis, Bill, and me. And Bill told us he was done.

But we were all still here, if not riding together any more. Some not riding at all. But now the circle is broken.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if you have little eagles on all your clothes.

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A Less Than Excellent Product

August 27th, 2026

I’ve ridden with Gene a few times recently and that prompts me to discuss this. Gene is one of two people I know who have a Brake Free helmet brake light. This is a device, sized to be clearly visible, that attaches to the back of your helmet, that activates a red light when you decelerate. A brake light. No wires, just motion activated.


Gene from behind, showing his Brake Free helmet brake light.

I know when I first saw one of these things I thought it was a great idea. I still think it has the potential to be a great idea but it seems to me that it will need some refinement to reach that point.

The problem I’ve seen riding behind Gene (and also Nick, who has one as well) is that they activate too easily. Let’s say you’re on the throttle, adding speed, and then reach your desired speed. You ease off the throttle, or perhaps you cut the throttle abruptly. The light comes on. You’re not braking, you just slowed your momentum. But the light comes on.

Other times you’re just cruising at speed and maybe you ease off on the throttle, not necessarily intentionally, just the normal play on the throttle that is a regular part of riding. The light comes on.

I suppose you could argue that if you’re ceasing to accelerate it’s good for whoever is behind you to know that. Perhaps. Or for that person to know your speed has dropped just a tad. Maybe.

But the overall effect is this: With that light coming on as frequently as it does just during the course of normal riding it creates a boy-who-cried-wolf effect. With it coming on so often, you pretty much just disregard it. It becomes meaningless.

I don’t know if there is some way to calibrate it to only respond under a greater change in velocity; that would be good. And I suppose that if you were hitting your brakes hard and it came on and stayed on, rather than flashing on and off fairly quickly, that might be an important warning.

I’m not saying the things are worthless, I just think they could use some improvement. I had initially considered getting one myself but now before I would do that they would have to get better. That’s just my assessment.

Biker Quote for Today

A woman who rides a motorcycle is in tune with the universe, a candidate for high adventure.

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Posted in Motorcycle Gear, Motorcycle Safety | No Comments »

An Impromptu Ride

August 24th, 2026


Stopped at Daniels Park with the RMMRC on an earlier ride.

A bunch of the guys from the RMMRC were getting together just for breakfast down in Parker the other day so I figured I’d ride. The forecast was calling for another record hot day but in the morning it would be bearable.

Bob was there. It was good to see him. This was the first time I’ve seen him since I heard he had to give up riding entirely due to health issues. Pretty sad. He said, “It happens in the best of families.”

Dave and Gene were both there and they both rode. They’re getting ready to leave very soon for an Edelweiss Tours ride through the Alps. They wanted to make sure they had their communicators synced up and working properly.

After we ate, and after they got the communicators working, someone said, “So you want to go for a ride?” We were all game.

Gene suggested doing Guanella Pass, which would have gotten us out of the oncoming heat, but Dave didn’t have the time. Other things on his agenda for the afternoon. No, let’s just do a loop down through Salida, to Palmer Lake, and back over to CO 83 and up through Franktown. A ride we’ve all done all or part of a hundred times but what the heck.

I didn’t think about it until we were moving but it would have been a courtesy for me to have texted Judy two words: impromptu ride. But we have our phones set up to track each other so I knew when I didn’t get home when she expected me she would look and see that I was obviously out on a ride. She did.

We headed down to Hess Road and took Hess around the Rueter-Hess Reservoir, across I-25, and onto Castle Pines Parkway. Oh my gosh what a lot of work they’re doing on that road. They appear to be putting in a median the entire way and completely reconstructing the westbound lanes. Slow going.

At Daniels Park we headed south to pick up US 85, then a jog to the right to Salida. Then through Salida to pick up CO 105. This road runs along the face of the foothills and is a favorite for bikers. On summer weekends there’s a constant stream of motorcycles in both directions. On this Friday we had it mostly to ourselves.

The heat was building but as long as we kept moving it didn’t get bad. Other than occasional traffic lights we did not stop.

At Palmer Lake we turned east on Palmer Divide Road. That’s an arrow-straight road that crosses back over I-25 to hit CO 83 coming up from Colorado Springs. To my surprise, Gene turned onto northbound I-25, but I stayed with Dave. I didn’t want to get on the slab. What’s with Gene?

Dave and I cruised on up past Castlewood Canyon State Park, to Franktown, and on to his turn-off at Bayou Gulch Road. Then it was just me cruising on home. A nice ride but by the time I got home I was very pleased to feel the coolness of the swamp cooler at work. And we did set another record high.

Biker Quote for Today

Nothing matters at 90 miles an hour, nothing matters at all.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Day Rides, Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club | 1 Comment »

The Heat Breaks

August 20th, 2026


Once completed I-70 at the foot of Floyd Hill will take a flyover through what used to be a hillside in order to smooth out a sharp turn. You can see where the pillars will be built for the westbound lanes. The pillars for the eastbound lanes are already in place.

It has been so blazing hot for so long that I just haven’t been interested in getting out on the bike. Sure, it’s cooler once you get up in the hills but that long slog across town coming home has just been killer. Guess what? It finally cooled off. I went riding.

Heading west across town in the morning was cool and comfortable. I got to Morrison and headed on up Bear Creek Canyon and immediately found myself behind someone in a U-Haul truck. A professional trucker might have pushed that thing around the tight turns at a good clip but this guy was no pro. And there’s almost no place to pass.

This was the slowest trip up the canyon ever. But that wasn’t all bad because the reason things have cooled off is that we have had torrential rains–and we have really needed rain. But with rain comes sand and gravel washing down onto the road. Back in June there were torrential rains up here and this whole road got washed out in several places. This time, however, while there was some sand and gravel, the worst was where unpaved driveways come down to the road. Some were pretty bad but you could see it coming and adjust.

Fortunately I was only going as far as Kittredge. At Kittredge I turned off onto the road up Kerr Gulch. Kerr Gulch Road was much cleaner and there’s never more than minimal traffic so that was great. I got up to Evergreen Parkway and headed north the short distance to where I turned onto old US 40 running up Mount Vernon Canyon and then down the steep decline over Floyd Hill to where US 40 meets US 6.

This is a real point of interest these days. I-70 is right alongside US 40 coming down Floyd Hill and, uncharacteristic of most interstates, at the bottom of the hill you need to slow way down for a sharp left-hand turn into Clear Creek Canyon. Well, it is uncharacteristic of interstates to have such a turn and after all these years they are doing something about it. They have cut off the hilltop and are erecting tall pillars to carry the interstate on a more gently curving arc high above the existing roadbed. It’s a pretty impressive sight. I stopped and shot a couple pictures.

Then I headed down into Clear Creek Canyon to pick up the Peak-to-Peak Highway over toward Black Hawk. So far the sky had been clear and blue but now storm clouds were starting to form. At Black Hawk it looked like it could rain at any time but just a few miles further and the sky was clear again. Weather in Colorado is very localized.

The Peak-to-Peak was clean and clear and up high like this things were very nicely cool. I was planning to head down through Golden Gate Canyon, however, and the last time I was on that road it was lousy with sand and gravel. Odd, because none of the other roads were–just Golden Gate. What would it be like this time?

Clean and clear. Nice. But now the clouds were forming again and looking threatening. It could be a race down the canyon to see if I could get ahead of them. I won the race.

Now south toward Morrison again and then east across town. Yeah, it was a good bit warmer–a bit too warm, I’d say–but nothing like the furnace it has been. Nice to finally get out for a ride.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if you think that’s actually a *suntan* that makes real bikers so dark-skinned.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Day Rides | No Comments »

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