Passes & Canyons Blog

I went to the Last Brass Monkey Run Tuesday, December 31. No, I didn’t ride.

I sure as heck wanted to, and some people were actually able to do so; there were about a dozen bikes parked outside the Rock Rest. But for me as well as a bunch of others I spoke to, our streets were iced in and there was no way to get out on two wheels.

The folks who really, really tried to ride were Larry and Kathy Montgomery. Larry is the incoming ABATE state coordinator, taking over for Bruce Downs. Bruce and Carol were there but couldn’t ride because their street was iced in. Larry and Kathy were there but couldn’t ride because . . .

Well, it’s a bit of a story.

Their street was iced in but Larry is nothing if not resourceful. So he loaded up the bike on a trailer and they drove over to the ABATE state office on Chambers. But the bike wouldn’t start because the battery was dead.

Back on the trailer and they drove over to a piece of land near the state office that Larry owns where for years ABATE has stored extra training bikes. Attach that thing to a charge unit and give it awhile.

Later: still won’t start. The battery is not just dead, it is shot. Time to drive to Golden.

So it was a good turn-out. Part of your registration included a poker hand and there were five games to see what cards you got. In one case there were two bags, four balls in one and 13 balls in the other. Take from the four-ball bag to find suit, from the other for card. I started off with a King of Spades. Nice! I like this.

Next was a wheel to spin, like Wheel of Fortune. My spin landed on a King of Spades. Ummm . . . you can’t have two Kings of Spades in one hand. I had to spin again. Got a 7 of Diamonds.

Then a board with eggshell foam where each depression is a card. Drop your ball and see where it lands. I got a 3 of Clubs.

Fourth was a blow dart thing. This is cool so I was glad to have the chance to do this. And I got a 10 of Clubs.

Finally a hoop throw. Whatever you get a hoop around, that’s your card. I got a 2 of Clubs.

That’s a pretty miserable poker hand. No, I did not win.

I did, however, come home with a baseball-themed beer stein as a door prize. Judy said we could give it to ARC but I said no, I think I’ll use it. What the heck, it’s kind of a nice beer stein.

All in all it was a good time. I’m glad I went.

Biker Quote for Today

Anything that gets your blood racing is probably worth doing. — Hunter S. Thompson