Passes & Canyons Blog

Lunch at Green Mountain Reservoir.

If anyone pays attention to the time of day when these posts generally go up you’ll be aware that this is much later in the day than usual. That’s because I only just got back from an all-day ride with the RMMRC. Roy called last night and told me to be at his place just before 8, so I was. So were Charley and Tim. We headed on out to Morrison to meet up with the rest, and there were a bunch today, about 12 of us.

Essentially this was a fall color ride. This is the time of year when the mountainsides are covered in yellow and gold and it’s always the sort of thing you want to take pictures of. Happily for us, it was also one of these incredibly beautiful October days that Colorado is know for. Let’s ride!

We headed up past Red Rocks to US 40 where it runs alongside I-70 going up Mount Vernon Canyon. Right away we lost Roy, who rides sweep. No one had any idea what happened to him and we hoped he didn’t break down but the plan from the start was that if we got separated just regather at the Subway in Granby.

We took US 40 and then US 6 as much as possible, just getting onto I-70 briefly when we had to, and then followed 40 up over Berthoud Pass. Bob, who I consider one of the fast guys, suggested that the guys like Mike, who Bob considers a fast guy, might want to blast on ahead. Mike said he would stay with the group until we hit the pass but then look out, he’d be gone.

So we were totally splintered by the time we got to Granby, and who should I see first but Roy. Seems as sweep, he saw two bikes behind him so he waved them ahead and then followed them. They were not part of our group. Oops. So he went up Lookout Mountain and caught US 40 that way and ended up ahead of us.

The Subway in Granby was not going to open for another 15 minutes so some elected to stay and wait while the others went on to the Subway in Kremmling, with the others to catch up with us there. The idea was to get lunch to go and then go have a picnic down by Green Mountain Reservoir south of Kremmling.

I took off with the group heading to the Kremmling Subway and what happened then was like much of the day. Everyone else was on newer, powerful bikes. I was on my very old, decidedly less powerful Honda CB750 and I just can’t keep up with these guys. No matter, we all knew where we were headed.

Food in hand, we turned south. CO 9 runs along the east edge of the reservoir but we turned onto the road that runs along the west shore and finally found the only campground still open. Time for lunch.

I wrote last week about differences in the OFMC and the RMMRC and here’s another one. The road down into the campground was gravel and none of us were on dual-sport bikes, but we all went down it anyway. The OFMC–other than me–flat out refuses to do any gravel. They would not have done this.

After lunch we continued south on CO 9 with the plan to get gas at Silverthorne. Some people were more antsy to ride so even while a few were not ready to roll yet, a bunch took off. I was the tail end of that group. We were going to go over Loveland Pass rather than through the tunnel. Once again, they left me in the dust.

I was not unhappy with that. I like to ride at my own pace and blasting over a high mountain pass at excessive speed is not my thing. I figured at this point we were all totally scattered and that was really the end of the group ride but to my surprise, as I got down to I-70 they were waiting. And not just for me. Did I know where the others were? No, I hadn’t seen them since the gas station but in less than a minute there they were and they passed us and we pulled in behind them.

Bob, in the lead, was still following the practice of avoiding the slab so we got off at Bakerville and onto US 6 again, down to Silver Plume. This old road running alongside but away from the interstate is such a nicer ride than the slab. We had to get back on I-70 at Silver Plume, just to get down to Georgetown, and then we were off again, although we lost one rider who didn’t realize we would do this and was stuck in the left lane going past the exit.

So it was US 6 on down to Idaho Springs and two people, I’m not sure who, headed up Squaw Pass. For the rest of us, once we were back on the interstate this time it was all over. I quickly found myself riding just with Roy. But I didn’t figure I wanted to do the slab all the way home so I got off at El Rancho and turned down Kerr Gulch Road, angling down to CO 74 at Kittredge. Much nicer ride.

And there I was, heading east on US 285/Hampden when who pulls up alongside me but Tim. He had been way out in front of me. How the heck did I get ahead of him? Was my shortcut that much faster? Or was Tim one of the ones who took Squaw Pass, and he did it so fast that he barely ended up behind me? I have no idea.

Whatever. Bottom line was, this was a terrific day of riding. The weather was great, the colors were good, most especially down CO 9 from Kremmling to Silverthorne. Of course it totally disrupted everything else I had had in mind to do today but that’s the price you pay when you’re (deep, rumbling voice) a biker.

Extra: In my earlier post comparing the OFMC and the RMMRC I forgot one really big thing, which I have since added into that post. But rather than make you go look for it I’ll paste it in here.
In the OFMC, if we get cold, we’ll stop and put on more gear. If our legs are getting stiff, we’ll stop and take a break. With the RMMRC it seems that once we get rolling we are going to continue rolling. These guys like to ride, not stop. Of course, with a group of any size, stopping requires time. One or two people can stop quickly and get going again, but with eight people it takes about four times as long. And you don’t cover lots of miles in a day if you’re stopping all the time.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if taking your wife on a cruise means a putt down the interstate.

Stopping on top of Wolf Creek Pass. Guess what? It was cold.

If there was one thing that became abundantly clear to me on this recent RMMRC Colorado Cruise was that if you are riding in the high country, summer is over.

I very foolishly wore my mesh jacket and I intended to find the liner but forgot it, and that was quite a mistake. Every time we got up high–which was frequently–I was cold because that cold air just cut through that mesh. That’s what they’re for, to give you nice ventilation on hot days. But these were not hot days. So why was I wearing mesh? Idiot.

I did finally think to use my rain jacket as a wind breaker and should have done so a lot sooner. Sometimes your brain works better than other times.

At the same time, it’s not cold yet down here on the prairie. Shortly after getting home I took the Honda out for a ride and, having gotten plenty chilled again and again on the last trip, I pulled on leather AND a sweatshirt, and for good measure, my winter gloves. Out I went and gosh, who coulda thunk it, I was way too hot. I mean, heck, it was all of 80 degrees or more. But my brain was still back on top of Cottonwood Pass and Red Mountain Pass and you know, you can never be too cautious.

Yes you can.

So here’s a little simple, very obvious advice. At this time of year, if you’re going up high, dress for cold. If you’re staying down low, and the temperature is above 75, expect warmth. How difficult is that? I don’t know, apparently for some of us (me) it’s not as simple as you might think. Maybe some day I’ll figure it out.

Biker Quote for Today

Why motorcycles are better than women: The rashes you get from motorcycles go away without those painful penicillin shots.

The RMMRC heads down Independence Pass.

After five years riding with the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club (RMMRC) I recently went on my first extended ride. All the others have just been day rides. Meanwhile, I’ve been going on week-long rides with the OFMC for more than 30 years. I figure a comparison of the two groups might be in order.

Some sharp contrasts come readily to mind. For one, the OFMC has gotten to be just one long ride and at best two day rides each year. Meanwhile, I can’t even count the number of rides I’ve been on with the RMMRC just this year. A lot. That’s why I joined the RMMRC.

Concern about safety is another sharp difference. To come on an RMMRC ride you must wear a helmet, and we always ride in staggered formation. In the OFMC no one is going to tell you you have to wear a helmet, although in later years none of us would even consider riding without one. The early years were a very different story.

As for staggered formation, the OFMC response to that would be “What’s that?” This had been a bit of an issue for awhile, with some of us lobbying for it while others responded with “don’t tell me how to ride.” I resolved the issue for myself by primarily riding sweep. Otherwise, I would try to make sure not to have Randy riding right behind me. Randy seemed to get target fixated on the rear tire of whoever was in front of him, and you’d check your mirror and there he was barely 25 feet right behind you. I was not grief-stricken when Randy chose to stop riding with us.

I have to say, though, that for awhile there was a guy like Randy in the RMMRC. And he was actually worse than Randy, a lot worse. It was suggested to me that maybe he had poor vision and that made sense. And maybe he had Lasik or cataract surgery because he no longer does that. What a relief.

Going on longer rides with the two groups has one very big difference. With the OFMC we know for sure how many will be coming and we divide motel reservations so each of us only needs to make one or two. Then we reserve rooms for the whole group. In the RMMRC it’s every man for himself. So if you’re going to be out for four nights, that’s four reservations each person has to make (unless you’re doubling up with someone else, which only a few people do). The difference here is probably that with the OFMC we’re friends outside of riding and I know that Bill or Dennis is not going to stiff me. With the RMMRC, these are people I see only for rides and with many of them I don’t even know their last names, much less where they live. Not that I would expect to get stiffed if someone decided at the last minute not to come, but it’s the difference between friends and folks you are friendly with.

One thing that seems to be true for both groups is that we mostly avoid talk of politics. There are people of differing opinions in both groups and there is no better way these days to tear a group apart than to get into pointless political arguments.

When it comes to hard riding, the RMMRC is definitely the high-miler club. There are members who are Iron Butt riders and it’s pretty much the norm to blast out 500 miles on the first day of a long ride in order to keep the days within the needs of people who have jobs. All OFMC riders are now retired and nobody is much into long days. A couple years ago I told the guys I could come up with a really nice route if they were willing to do a few long days. They said OK, and we had a nice ride, but afterward they told me they really don’t want to do long (350 miles in this case) days any more. Heck, with the RMMRC just recently we covered 400 miles going from Denver to Grand Junction via a wandering — and extremely scenic — route.

Inserted later: Now that points out one other important difference in the two groups. In the OFMC, if we get cold, we’ll stop and put on more gear. If our legs are getting stiff, we’ll stop and take a break. With the RMMRC it seems that once we get rolling we are going to continue rolling. These guys like to ride, not stop. Of course, with a group of any size, stopping requires time. One or two people can stop quickly and get going again, but with eight people it takes about four times as long. And you don’t cover lots of miles in a day if you’re stopping all the time.

Also, in later years the OFMC has decided we like to take it easy and have at least one non-riding day in the middle of the week. That has become our golf day. So we get to stay two nights in one spot and not have to pack up and head out every single day. I don’t think the RMMRC does anything like that. Maybe I’m wrong; I’ve only been on one long ride and that was just a four-day ride.

And then there’s this difference between the groups: the OFMC is and always has been just guys, while the RMMRC has women members. Not that it makes any noticeable difference.

Of course, the RMMRC has meetings and officers and all that. The OFMC is just a bunch of guys with motorcycles.

What else? That’s all I can think of right now. I enjoy riding with both and I’m glad I have both to ride with.

Biker Quote for Today

Sons of Alzheimer’s: Where’s my bike?