Passes & Canyons Blog

I love having three bikes, partly because they’re so different and each has its own strength.

I maintain the iron rule that I ride each of my motorcycles at least once every single month. (I did finally miss two months following heart surgery two years ago.) As such, when we get to this time of year it pays to be preemptive. You never know when the weather will turn and your plans to ride next week get shot to pieces.

The weather so far in November has been spectacular. Plenty of time to get in at least three rides. So on Monday I was planning to ride one bike, then a second on Tuesday, and the third on Wednesday going on an RMMRC ride. Then life stepped in.

Judy and I had been hoping to squeeze in one last camping trip this year and on Monday she said let’s go camping–today. There was no way I could say no to that, nor would I want to, so Pawnee Buttes here we came. I can ride later.

Of course, that shot Tuesday as a day to ride as well but I could still go with the RMMRC on Wednesday.

Then I woke up on Wednesday feeling decidedly under the weather. Of course probably the first thing most people think of at this moment when they feel sick is, is this Covid? I didn’t figure it was but even if it was just a cold I saw no reason to share it with others so I did not ride with the RMMRC. Besides, I felt like crap.

Now the situation was turning. The weather forecast said the nice days were going to end soon. Snow was projected for Monday. Fortunately, on Thursday, I was feeling quite a bit better. Is that all this cold has to throw at me? Hah! That’s nothing. So I went out on the CB750. Then on Friday I rode the Concours.

On Saturday the cold–which is what I had deemed it to be by this point–came back to bite me and I was not feeling good. But I had that V-Strom to ride and snow was still being forecast for Monday. Sure the likelihood is that after a brief cold spell things will get nice again, but I’ve learned not to trust that assumption. So on Saturday I rode the V-Strom. I made it serve double duty as I stopped off at Walgreen’s to pick up some throat lozenges and Tylenol. And then Sunday I was still feeling like crap, spending most of the day on the couch trying to breathe through all the sinus congestion.

But I got the bikes ridden. I sure hope that’s not the last riding I do in November, but if it is, I did get each one out.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker when you make your bike payment before any other bills are paid.

Ripple Creek Pass is beautiful but not the kind of road you want to take a highway bike on, unless you’re very adventurous.

In the early days of the OFMC we were still exploring the roads around Colorado. Nowadays we’ve been pretty much everywhere so it’s rare to find ourselves on new roads, although it does still happen on occasion.

One early experience we had, that turned out to be something we did not expect, was Ripple Creek Pass.

John and Bill and I were headed to Utah on our bikes. Having been that way so often before, John, our master of maps, was looking for a route we hadn’t been on. He found it in Ripple Creek Pass.

Colorado 131 comes down from Steamboat Springs to hit I-70 at Wolcott. About midway on that route, at the small town of Yampa, the Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway heads west, crossing over Dunckley Pass and Ripple Creek Pass as it skirts the Flat Tops Wilderness. At its western terminus, 65 miles away, the road comes out to Meeker, along CO 13.

“Let’s take this road,” John said. “There’s about 10 miles of gravel but it shouldn’t be too bad, and the country we’ll be going through should be spectacular.”

Bill and I were game, so off we went.

Heading out of Yampa the road was good, smooth gravel, the kind you can ride a street bike on all day with no problem. We wound over some hills and through some ranching valleys, enjoying the high plains beauty of western Colorado.

Then the road started climbing, and it also started getting rougher. Washboard became the norm, not the exception. This was the kind of surface that dual-sport motorcycles are made for, but not street bikes. No big deal; we can handle 10 miles. Except, hadn’t we already gone almost 10 miles? That pavement was going to look good.

The further we rode, the more civilization gave way to nature. Pine forest and mountainsides replaced grassy valleys, and we continued to climb. The washboard continued, the miles passed by, and the fillings in our teeth were in danger of being shaken loose. We were well past any 10 miles by now.

Up over Dunckley Pass we rode and down the other side. The origin of the name Flat Tops Wilderness was evident in those un-pointy mountains to the south of us. Heading up Ripple Creek Pass, this was nature at its grandest but by now our minds were not so much on the scenery as on the seemingly endless miles of rough gravel. Our master of maps had read this one wrong.

Along the way John went down on his brand new Honda Shadow. He was leading and decided to pull over and ran into deep sand. That’s why it’s good to have buddies along when you’re riding this sort of road.

Over Ripple Creek Pass we fared and down to Buford, where the long-awaited pavement finally showed its face. We had ridden fully 50 miles on gravel that was now smooth, now wretched. Our faith in John’s map-reading skills was tested sorely. But for now, let’s just burn up some miles.
And don’t go proposing any unpaved roads again anytime soon.

Biker Quote for Today

We know you’re a poser if you don’t own a rain suit.

Sadly, someone obviously did not ride this poor Harley safely.

“Have a safe ride.”

That’s an admonishment we’ve all heard countless times and my standard weak-joke response is along the lines of, “Oh darn, I wasn’t planning to, but I will if you insist.”

It’s not that we ever plan to have an unsafe ride, but then, that’s why they’re called “accidents.”

At least many people use that word, but among those serious about motorcycle safety, the preferred word is “crash.” The point being that a crash does not happen by accident, it is allowed to happen by riders who fail to remain alert and to engage in basic crash-avoidance practices.

Don’t get me wrong. Anyone who rides knows that the primary scenario for motorcycle crashes is when someone in a car pulls out in front of you or turns left in front of you. It’s their fault.

Or is it? Is it entirely their fault if you could have done something to prevent the crash? (Within reason: You could stay home and never go anywhere and that would prevent a crash, but that’s not reasonable.)

More importantly, does it matter that it’s primarily their fault if you’re the one with the concussion and broken bones? I have a friend, Jungle Fuhrman, who argues that without exception, if you are involved in a crash, you screwed up. I tend to agree with him.

When I was preparing to take RiderCoach training several years ago, the program put together by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) for training the people who train new riders, I rereading the Basic Rider Course (BRC) Rider Handbook, which is the study manual given to all the beginning rider students. (Which is to say, I had taken the BRC myself some time before that.)

The BRC focuses on both riding skills and the rider’s mindset. One key point they make is that crashes seldom have one specific cause; in fact, they usually have several. They call this the Crash Chain, and use an illustration of a motorcycle chain looping around two sprockets, connecting one sprocket (you) to the other (the crash). Each link is a factor that contributes to the crash. Break any one of those links and the crash is avoided.

So now that idiot talking on his cell phone is turning left in front of you. Is it foreordained that you will T-bone him? Are you traveling at an excessive speed? Were you day-dreaming as you approached the intersection? Were you not thinking about the fact that the setting sun is directly behind you, making it difficult for him to see? If you answer yes to all those questions then yes, you may indeed be irretrievably headed for a crash.

But you had it in your power to break that crash chain, and didn’t. He’ll get the ticket but you’re the one who will pay in pain.

Some highway safety agency used a catch-phrase years ago that has stuck with me and I think it bears repeating here: Safe driving is no accident. For motorcycling I’d go with that times 10. Have a safe ride.

Biker Quote for Today

Why motorcycles are better than women: You don’t have to deal with priests or blood-tests to register your motorcycle.