Passes & Canyons Blog

Norvin took a spill but was unhurt and there were plenty of folks to help him get back upright.

OK, now, this is the kind of riding that I bought the V-Strom for. And finding people to do this with is a large part of why I joined the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club.

I met up on Saturday with three guys at Performance Cycle and we were joined by three others in Sedalia. This ride was billed as a non-technical dual-sport ride. You bet I clicked the button to say “count me in.”

Leaving Performance we headed south on I-25 to Happy Canyon Road, down to U.S. 85, where we turned north to Sedalia. Our bikes included two 650 V-Stroms, two Africa Twins, one GS 650, a Super Tenere, and a street bike that I guess I didn’t bother to look at to see what it was. Or else I don’t remember.

With everyone gathered, we headed west out of Sedalia on what I see is called Jarre Canyon Road for a ways before it seems to just become CO 67. Once it gets past the Rampart Range dirt-biking area the pavement ends and we were on our first stretch of gravel. It’s good gravel and while I was concerned it might be muddy due to all the rain we have had, it turned out only to be a bit wet. I only slid once going down this really steep grade (19% I’m told) when I downshifted thinking I was in third but was actually in second, so it was a bit of a jolt to hit first.

CO 67 brought us out to the Platte River onto pavement at the Platte and we wound our way on around to Deckers, where we stopped for a break. Then we turned north for a short distance on Douglas County Road 126, to Wigwam Creek Road, which heads over toward Tarryall Reservoir. This was our second stretch of gravel, and by far the longest of the two.

Now, I had had this stretch in mind for some time as a potential ride because a couple years ago Judy and I had driven this road in her Subaru. At the time, though, there were large stretches where it was deeply rutted and largely washed out, and would have been challenging on a bike. It has since been graded and was a good road all the way.

So we headed up the gravel, me in third position, and within less than a half mile I came around a bend to see Norvin, the group leader, on his side at the side of the road. Whoa, what happened?! He said he hit some sand with his front wheel and the whole thing just went right out from under him. Norvin was unhurt and the bike was pretty much undamaged, except the latch for his right side bag, which he reattached. This was a good example of why it’s nice to have friends along. He was back up and ready to go quickly.

But only a very short distance. That bag attachment was more badly damaged than he thought and in very short order the bag was just hanging loose. So we stopped again and someone produced a bungee cord. That did the trick and all was well.

The rest of the ride on this road was beautiful. This whole area got burned in one of the really big fires a few years ago but with all the rain it was deeply green everywhere. And the one very small upside of forest fires is that they open up the view and you can see rock formations and vistas that for decades had been blocked by trees.

We met the pavement again at Park County Road 77, Tarryall Road, and turned south to U.S. 24 at Lake George. Lunch time, at the Bla Bla Blah Cafe. Yes, that is its name. After lunch I believe the plan had been to head back north past Tarryall to U.S. 285 at Jefferson and home via that route, but the sky up that way was black and threatening so the decision was made to head east on U.S. 24. Three members of the group turned north at Woodland Park on CO 67 but I stayed with the others on U.S. 24 down into Colorado Springs.

Cindy, who lives in the Springs, peeled off there and Norvin and Kevin and I got on I-25 up to Monument. We turned east on CO 105 over to CO 83 and then north. Coming along past Castlewood Canyon State Park I could see over in the foothills how black and wet it looked and was very glad I had opted for this route. I came up CO 83 to I-225 and got into some rain going past Kennedy Golf Course but then I was home and dry.

This was a terrific day. I really, really want to do more of this.

Biker Quote for Today

While the big GS is a competent street mount, and great on back roads, don’t even think about riding it fast off road. This would be as absurd as a fat transvestite running in high heels.

Making a stop at the top of Berthoud Pass.

OK, I admit it, I wimped out on the Ice Cream Ride. This annual RMMRC ride makes three stops for ice cream and I couldn’t do it. I did eat ice cream twice that day but at the third stop I just couldn’t.

But it was a really good ride–beautiful day and a good group to ride with. And it turned out to be a good bit longer than initially planned. It seems Sara and Sean went out to pre-ride the route the day before and ran into construction on U.S. 285 that was a major blockage. So the ride was re-routed.

We met up at an ice cream shop (where else?!) in Lakewood for the first treat of the day. I tried to go easy on myself by ordering the frozen yogurt. It was already hot out so it didn’t seem terribly out of place to eat it at 10 a.m.

There was a good-sized group, about 15. Of course, with this group, there were some BMWs, my V-Strom, Alan and Cheryl in their Honda sidecar rig, one Spyder, a Boulevard, one Harley, and a few others. An eclectic group.

We took Jewell west to C-470 to I-70, heading for U.S. 40 west of Idaho Springs. And soon ran into a huge traffic jam leading to Floyd Hill due to what the sign said was “a fiery crash at exit 244.” So much for avoiding delays.

Eventually it was up and over Berthoud Pass and on to Granby, where we stopped for lunch. Then on to Kremmling for the second ice cream stop. Here I followed another guy’s suggestion and ordered an “Electric Fence.” This was a milk shake with a shot of espresso. It was definitely good.

By the way, along the way we shed probably half of the group, all with their own ideas as to where they wanted to go, so when we left Kremmling we were down to about nine.

We headed south on CO 9 to Dillon, continued on as though we were going over Loveland Pass but then turned and took Swan Lake Road around the reservoir and reached Frisco–our actual destination–that way. And here we stopped for ice cream again.

So I was just sitting in the shade outside the shop, chatting with folks, when suddenly there was this huge crash and the sound of shattering glass and the thunk of a window screen falling down. Right behind me about a foot. Turns out it was a double-hung window that gave way and when it hit the sill one pane shattered and hit the screen so hard it knocked the screen out. Thankfully, the screen protected me and the two people beside me from the glass. As the shopkeepers rushed out asking if we were hurt we were able to say no, not at all. If not for that screen I think we might have had to give a different answer.

From here the group pretty much dispersed, each taking off on their own way home. It was late enough in the day that I-70 was clear sailing, which was a real blessing. A good ride, about 265 miles for me.

Biker Quote for Today

I’d rather ride my hog then sit around drinking beer. — Nsmith82990

I rode one of these and loved it but Jungle says he would never own one.

My friend Jungle was for many years a big fan of the Kawasaki Concours. He owned several and put many miles on them. Of course, I ride a Concours, too, so that may have contributed to our bonding.

A few years ago I had the chance to test ride a then new Concours 14. I didn’t like that it had a smaller gas tank or that it was heavier than the old one but the ride was wonderful. I loved it.

So of course I had to tell Jungle about it the next time I saw him.

He surprised me telling me that he would never own one. His issue: they use a key fob, which, as a security measure, makes it impossible to start the bike unless the fob is nearby. I know a number of bikes have these now but Jungle is dead set against them.

His complaint is that it is electronic, and anything electronic at some time or another will not work. As he said, at some point you will try to start your motorcycle, everything will be in perfect working order on the bike itself, but the fob will fail to work and you will be stranded. Inevitably, in his estimation. It will happen, sooner or later.

That conversation comes to mind because in the latest issue of Rider magazine that showed up in my mailbox the other day there is a letter about fobs. The letter writer encountered a fellow walking along the road with a helmet in his hand and figured something was definitely amiss.

Long story short, this guy was one of two who had rented bikes for a few days and at one point they decided to swap and ride the other bike. This guy left his running and got off. His friend turned his bike off. The friend jumped on the running bike and took off. When the first guy tried to start the other bike it wouldn’t.

They had not traded fobs. Once the buddy realized his friend was not behind him he stopped to wait. Turned off the bike. When his friend did not show up he decided to head back to see what the matter was, but the bike would not start.

The letter writer was the savior in this misadventure.

Not exactly Jungle’s postulated difficulty but one to keep in mind.

I remember when I bought a new car many years ago and was considering whether to pay the extra for a car with extras, such as power windows. I was convinced that sooner or later those windows would fail to work–it was just a matter of time.

I bought that car anyway and I drove it for 207,000 miles. The windows always worked perfectly. Then I got another car, and this time thought nothing of the power windows. Well, I have about 71,000 miles on this newer car and . . . drumroll . . . one of the power windows no longer works.

Bottom line: you never know. At least with user error you can think ahead and avoid it (swap your fobs!).

Biker Quote for Today

Anybody who could ride a 500cc GP motorcycle well enough to qualify on Grand Prix grid is a hero, Anybody! because these things are the most evil devices if your treat them wrong they will bite. — Julian Ryder