Passes & Canyons Blog

Have you ever discovered to your annoyance, just after putting your gloves on, that you have left the key to your motorcycle in your pants pocket, and now have to remove a glove to fish them out?

Or perhaps the better question is, have any of us never done this? Or, when was the last time you did this? Of course, it’s even worse when that pocket is inside some outer garment such as a one-piece riding suit.

I hate when I do that. But we all do it, so I started wondering about other universal annoyances like this I might think of.

How about this: You go to push your sidestand down and you hook your pants leg on the little prong that sticks out to facilitate using the stand. Then you have a very tense moment trying to get free and get your leg down before you fall over. I presume that only happens on those bikes where the sidestand has that prong, but at least one of my bikes does and I have had exactly this experience. And I know others have, too, with some instances where they did fall over.

Or how about this: You’re going for a ride and the weather is nice. Sure it would be no problem to throw your raingear in the bag but look at that sun and blue sky! No need. Wrong. An hour later the sky opens up and you’re looking for anything to get under to keep from getting wetter than you already are.

Alternatively, there are the times in cooler seasons when you take off certain that you are dressed warmly enough. Only later do you realize it would have been a much better idea to have worn the electric vest, or the heated gloves, the long underwear, the chaps–whatever it is you have that would be really welcome right about now, but which sit uselessly at home.

Have you ever run out of gas? That can always be traced back to some point where you passed a station but figured, nah, I’ve still got plenty in the tank. Unless it’s a matter of getting somewhere and thinking, dang, I thought for sure this place would have a gas station.

Then there are the times when you’re traveling and you could get a place for the night here, but it’s a little early yet, and there’s another town up the road a bit so let’s go on to there. And you get there and there are no motels in this town, or they are all full. And the next town where you might find accommodations is more than just a little ways ahead. Granted this doesn’t happen as much in these days of smart phones where you can actually check and see if the next town has a motel and if there are rooms available. It used to happen a lot more in the old days. I know it has happened to me.

Have you ever parked your bike in what seemed like an iffy spot, where the slope of the ground makes it seem precarious? You maneuver around to get so you feel it “should” be OK and you check it one last time before you walk off, but when you come back it’s on its side on the ground. Or maybe you are not that far away in the first place when you hear the sickening crash as it falls over. Yeah, I can think of at least three times when I’ve had this experience. I’m not stupid but sometimes you have to park and there’s just not a really good place to do so.

And then Judy had one thing to offer: She hates it when she sets her glasses down while putting her helmet on only to discover some miles later that she never put them back on. In the case in point, she had set them down on one of the sidebags on the Concours and they fell off as we pulled out of the driveway. We were relieved to find them undamaged because they were her only pair. Now she has a spare pair.

What can you add to this list? What “I hate it when I do that” moments can you recount? I’d love to hear about them.

Biker Quote for Today

I just want to go riding and ignore all of my adult problems.

Update: Mom died on December 22. I’m back. The Passes & Canyons Blog resumes on Monday, January 1. (If it seemed odd that there was a post after I put this one up it’s because I forgot I had one already queued up.)

Pre-update:
I have been publishing this blog for more than 10 years on a regular schedule without interruption, but that changes as of right now.

I am currently in South Carolina at my mother’s place and she is very ill. I simply can’t handle this task until things resolve themselves here.

I will be back.

OK, this is quite a ways in the future so you’re probably hearing about it here first. My friend, the very industrious and promotion-focused Alisa Clickenger is organizing another history-oriented women’s motorcycle ride, this one for 2020. This one will be the “Suffragette Centennial Ride” timed to coincide with the passage of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving women the right to vote.

You may recall Alisa’s last event, the “Sisters Centennial Motorcycle Ride,” which came through Colorado and went up Pikes Peak. That event commemorated the cross-country ride in 1916 by Augusta and Adeline Van Buren.

So it appears Alisa feels she has found her niche. She loves to ride, and she loves encouraging other women to ride as well. Her events are targeted as much as anything at simply persuading women who have considered riding but never taken the plunge to go ahead and take that plunge. If you can make a living out of organizing and then going on these sorts of rides, wow, good for you.

Unlike the Sisters ride, this Suffragette ride will have 10 starting points, including Denver. They will all head to Washington, D.C., in August 2020 “to celebrate American women’s right to vote in elections and honor the Suffragette movement that led the charge.”

While the routes will mainly follow the pavement, several will offer adventure riding sections as well.

“My passion for the past ten years has been adventure riding,” says Alisa. “Given the stunning beauty and remote areas of the country, and the many new full-size and exciting ‘light ADV’ models being introduced to the market, we know that there will be an interest in these unique touring opportunities with newfound sisters.”

The routes will all have unique stops and historical features relating to the Suffrage Movement, historical women in motorcycling, and of course the 19th amendment.

I’m sure there will be a lot more information available on this event as it draws near. To keep up with matters:
“SCMR2020 was envisioned to inspire women to choose to ride in an epic journey alongside other women and couples who aspire to challenge themselves as well as to respect and honor history. Riders and future riders can sign up for an email list at www.centennialride.com (please enable pop-up windows). Interested organizations, potential sponsors and media can connect via info@centennialride.com.”

Biker Quote for Today

I know I ride like a girl . . . so try to keep up!!

With this terrific December weather–and portents of cold to come–I’ve been getting in a lot of riding. And lately that has meant exploring. I love exploring. Generally I just follow my nose and go.

On Saturday I headed out on the Honda with kind of an idea that I might ride up Deer Creek Canyon, cut over by Tiny Town, and then come on back down on US 285. But my plans got thrown off.

First I headed west on Belleview but I had forgotten that a little west of Federal you run into Bow Mar and can’t continue. I jogged north to Quincy and continued west as far as Wadsworth and then turned south on Wadsworth. That got me to thinking, “Where does Wadsworth go, way far south?” I kind of had the idea it came out at C-470 near Chatfield Reservoir but couldn’t remember it all exactly. So I went south.

Sure enough, I crossed under C-470 and there was Chatfield on my left and I was running on south along its western boundary. My (perhaps incorrect) recollection was that this road ran down to Martin-Marietta and to Waterton Canyon, where you had no choice but to go up the canyon, and I was pretty sure that was closed to vehicles. Which is to say, that the road ended. We’ll see. Can you go all the way around Chatfield?

There’s a point where the road bends to the right if you’re going to Martin or you can turn left onto Waterton Road. It looked like it might go through. Sure enough, it goes around the south end of the reservoir/park and hits a T-intersection with Rampart Range Road. Really? I’ve only ever gotten to the Rampart Range via Sedalia. I’m going to have to check this out someday, but for now I was interested in getting around Chatfield Reservoir so I turned left.

Rampart Range Road goes north until it bends right, now heading east. This was now Titan Road, which hits South Santa Fe/US 85 at that fairly new interchange (marked “Titan Road” oddly enough!). So I’d done it. I never knew you could go around Chatfield ever before.

Heading north then on US 85 I was going to just hit C-470 but I came up on Highlands Ranch Parkway and decided to explore some more. I had been on this particular road before but only parts of it. I had no idea where it came out on the other end. Time to find out.

This parkway winds its way through this whole, large development, now passing houses, now passing through massive, sprawling shopping districts with their all-enveloping smell of fried chicken. I passed Lucent Boulevard, then Broadway, then University Boulevard. Where the heck does this thing go?

Well, right after University I found out. It bent sharply north and I suspected I was on a different street. I looked at the first sign I could see and–holy smokes!–I was now on Colorado Boulevard. Really?

OK, so the rest of the way home was pretty standard: Colorado to Orchard, to DTC Boulevard, and home. But that was a fun ride. I went places I’d never been before. Did I ever tell you I love exploring?

Biker Quote for Today

I might look like I’m listening to you but in my head I’m riding my motorcycle.

I had to take advantage of the great weather we’ve been having in early December so I headed out Friday to put some miles on my Honda CB750 Custom. Not sure where to go but following my nose I decided to follow Smoky Hill Road out as far as it goes–and find out where that is.

Smoky Hill goes a long way. I know I’d been out that way before but at one point I got to where I was pretty sure I had gone east on some other road and so staying on Smoky Hill meant something new. Well, a short while later it ended at the entrance to some big country club housing development. So I wandered on through and found my way out the other side, onto County Line Road. What do you know.

I turned east on County Line and it was just a short distance to the eastern edge of the development, and that was also the eastern edge of development in this area. On east it is all prairie. See the photo above.

That eastern boundary is Delbert Road. I was interested in going south but was just a bit more interested to take it north and see where it went. So I turned north. But it didn’t go far before it became a dirt road and I stopped. I was on the Honda, and the Honda can go just about anywhere as long as it’s not too extreme but this road looked dicey.

Plus, this all looked familiar. I was convinced I had been here before, though having arrived from a different direction. Doing a search on this blog I found this post from January 2016 that confirmed it.

But here’s the thing: when I wrote that post nearly two years ago, I was coming north and ended up going west. That means I’ve never been further east on County Line Road than right there. That’s some place new to go sometime soon.

This time, however, I headed south on Delbert Road, unknowingly reversing my path from last January. I was looking for a paved road headed west so I turned onto Buckboard Road but that soon turned to dirt. No matter, the Honda can take this. I then wound around and found myself right back where I had been, having just navigated a large circle. The area is full of ranch-style homes with lots of acreage–horse properties, I presumed.

Having looped back I ended up going back out the way I’d come in and continued south on Delbert. This brought me to East Parker Road and I headed west to CO 83 and from there on home.

So yeah, technically I was revisiting ground I had been over before but you know what they say about a road looking totally different when you go the other direction. Plus, there has been a lot of development out there in just two years. And who knows, maybe the next time I try following Smoky Hill Road to its end it will keep on going. Heck, five years from now I’d bet on it.

Biker Quote for Today

Whether you are sad, lost, lonely, or broken, there is always a fix . . . motorcycle.