Passes & Canyons Blog

There was a little more color on the south side of Guanella Pass but not a lot.

The RMMRC planned a fall color ride last week so of course I went along. Gathering at the Phillips 66 in Morrison the group was huge. There were at least 14 bikes plus two cars. Wow. Big group, I mentioned to Dave. Yeah, he said, too big.

We headed up Bear Creek Canyon to Evergreen, through town and out the west side on Upper Bear Creek Road to the Witter Gulch Road, which is a really steep climb with super-tight switchbacks near the top. A fun motorcycle road, in other words. At the top you come to CO 103, the Squaw Pass road, which we took left, over the pass, past Echo Lake, and down to Idaho Springs.

It was a really nice day to be riding in the hills, a little cool but I had on full cold weather gear and could not have been more comfortable. But there was not much color to be seen on the way up. That was no surprise to me because Judy and I had just been up to Estes Park, over Trail Ridge Road, and down to Grand Lake the week before and we didn’t see much color then either, and now another week had passed. Mostly the green was just turning brown.

From Idaho Springs we took old US 6 up to Georgetown, where we had a lunch stop planned. Arriving, we found the restaurant closed. Someone had checked with the visitor center and they had pointed us to a brewpub on the east edge of town by the lake. Presumably that was where we were going to go.

Roy asked me to help him push back off this gravel parking area we were on and I did, so I was the very last to leave this first restaurant. I knew where this brew pub was, though, because I had seen it coming into town. As I headed back that way I soon started seeing members of our group coming back toward town, apparently having gone not far enough and thinking they had missed the place. I waved at them to go the way I was headed. Then at the roundabout off I-70 I saw others pulling into a restaurant right there. I waved to them as well but nobody seemed to be following me.

I rode on out to the brew pub and pulled out my phone. Meanwhile, a couple from the group did show up but did not stick around. The only phone number I had was Dave so I called him and told him where I was and that the place was open and there were people inside eating. He told me the place by the roundabout didn’t even open for another 15 minutes and he would tell some of the others but meanwhile he was coming out to join me. A few minutes later he did, no one else did, and we went in to eat. It turned out later that Dave is diabetic and he was nearing a blood sugar crisis so he just needed food, NOW!

So it was kind of pleasant just the two of us. It gave us a chance to talk and get a little better acquainted. I’ve known Dave for about five years now but in a group setting you often don’t have a chance to really get to know people. One on one you do.

After lunch Dave asked if I intended to rejoin the group. I had planned to but he noted that what with finding a place to eat and then getting such a big group served they were not likely to be ready to ride for maybe another hour. He was just going to go on over Guanella Pass without them. Besides, Dave is a go-fast guy and he had not enjoyed the sedate pace you have to take with such a large group.

I went with Dave. At first there was a lot of traffic going up Guanella but apparently a lot of people were planning to hike and every time we passed a trailhead the numbers thinned so soon we were cruising along comfortably. And what a beautiful day! But not much color. Oh well, I’ve seen yellow leaves before.

Over the top and then we pulled out at a view area to get a few photos, such as the one above. Just then in pulled John, another RMMRC member, in his car with his wife, out to see the leaves. Fun. Oh, and there was a bit more color over on the south side of the pass.

So we cruised on down to Grant, picked up US 40 back to town and split up when the time came. It really was a much more pleasant ride just the two of us. I hope the rest of those folks found a good place to eat.

Biker Quote for Today

You are not alone when your bike is with you.

That bench right in the center behind the bikes is where my phone spent the night.

Nick and I were getting ready to head out from the Meeker Hotel on the last day of our three-day trip and I couldn’t find my cell phone. Twice in the six days Nick and I spent riding together he couldn’t find his but in both cases he finally found it in a pants pocket. He had new riding pants and kept putting it there rather than his usual spot, in his jacket pocket. But that was not my situation.

I had Nick try calling me but we didn’t hear a ring. We went out to the bikes and tried again and still didn’t hear anything. I had looked absolutely everywhere. Did I leave it at the restaurant in Hotchkiss the day before? Thinking it through, I remembered that I had–as I always do–texted Judy the night before to let her know we had arrived safely. So I definitely didn’t leave it in Hotchkiss. So if I had it here in Meeker I must have . . . left it . . . and I turned around to look at the bench in front of the Meeker Hotel, where Nick and I had sat for a while the night before . . . and there it was, on the bench. Relief!

So we left Meeker headed north to Craig, turned east on US 40 to Hayden to the 20-Mile Road, down to Oak Creek, to Toponas, over Gore Pass, and US 40 the rest of the way to Empire. We stopped for ice cream and I asked Nick what route he wanted to take, Squaw Pass being the longest and I-70 being the shortest. This whole trip to Colorado Nick had been tiring out easily, seemingly connected to dehydration. I urged him to drink Gatorade but mostly he drank water. A lot of water. He did seem to have gotten acclimated a good bit though, because despite this much longer ride than the first few days, he chose Squaw Pass.

So we went that way. I-70 from Empire to Idaho Springs and then south over Squaw pass on CO 103. I pulled over at a view point up on the pass and Nick said he was really glad I had, he had just gotten stung in the face. I also found a dead bee on my seat. We must have gone through a swarm. But he rides with his visor up and I don’t. I was glad in this case that I don’t.

Rather than take CO 103 down to Evergreen Parkway I led us down the Witter Gulch Road to the west side of Evergreen. This is a really steep road with super tight switchbacks that I thought he might enjoy, but when I asked him later what he thought of Witter Gulch he was only concerned with doing something for his sting and never commented on the road. Oh well. I can see how pain can distract you from enjoying a road you would otherwise be thrilled to be riding. Too bad.

And then again, as had been the case on two of our previous rides, the last slog across Hampden during rush hour was the worst, congested and really hot. That’s really the worst thing about living on the east side of town. Bill’s place, on the other hand, backs up onto CO 93 and he looks out his back window on the foothills. I have to ride 20 minutes to get to his starting point. But we bore up to the heat–again. I’m so glad that hot spell is finally gone. And Nick’s gone, too, headed back to Chicago.

Biker Quote for Today

You only have one life to ride.

Adding air in Fairplay.

Nick got back from visiting my brother in Grand Junction on Saturday and on Monday we took off on a three-day Colorado ride. Good thing I have three motorcycles because my Concours was in the shop and my CB750 needed a new clutch cable. Obviously, I rode the V-Strom. Nick was on his BMW R1250RS.

A note about that Beemer. As big as it is, and as much taller than me that Nick is, the seat height on this thing is amazingly low, way lower than my Connie or V. I sure didn’t expect that.

So we took off for Gunnison our first day and for a change of pace I led us up Deer Creek Canyon to pick up US 285 just outside of Conifer. And it was cold! After all this heat we’d been having it was cold! I knew it was cool and I considered wearing my riding pants but didn’t. And then wished I had. We took a break at the King Soopers in Conifer and I put on a flannel shirt but then we only made it to Pine Junction before I pulled over again and put the liner in my jacket. That helped a lot but at Fairplay we stopped again and now I put on my electric vest. Finally I was warm.

Meanwhile, Nick was having tire issues. He had noticed this on the way back from Junction and that morning when he checked his rear only showed 18 pounds. He put air in and brought along a pump and an extension cord. He added air when we stopped in Fairplay and again at the top of Monarch Pass, and called a shop in Gunnison to get the bike in the next morning to address the issue.

Addressing the issue ended up being just putting in some Fix-a-Flat type stuff to seal it from the inside and the guy told him it should be fine for a couple days but don’t push his luck. A couple days was all he needed, though, and that settled the tire issue for the rest of this ride.

So we got away the next morning about 9:30, past the Blue Mesa, and north on CO 92 along the north rim of the Black Canyon. Beautiful weather, beautiful day. I was all layered up and glad to be.

We stopped at Hotchkiss for lunch, finally finding a Thai place that was one of the few places open. We were figuring to go over the Grand Mesa and looking at Google Maps Nick saw an alternative route on some back roads up to Cedar Edge and we took it. We went past apple orchards all swathed in netting to protect the ripe fruit from birds. A very nice alternate route. We did encounter some recent chip-seal with a good bit of loose gravel.

Got to Cedar Edge and headed up the mesa and ran into about 15 more miles of chip-seal. Not pleasant. At one point we passed a sweeper truck collecting the excess loose gravel and had no choice but to go past him. We were showered in the chip-seal pellets. When we stopped up on top we had gravel chips on our seats and I had a bunch on top of my tank bag. That was a new experience.

I had shed most of my layers in Hotchkiss so going over the mesa was chilly but that was OK. Coming down on the north side of the Grand Mesa a bear cub ran across the road in front of me. It came out and paused and looked at me and decided to scurry on across. I was looking everywhere for the mama but didn’t see her and the cub scuttled into the underbrush and was gone. Very cool. First time ever for me to see one of those guys like that.

We got down on the other side and I took out the jacket liner. Now, after all the coolness, it got hot. In my experience, Rifle is about the hottest place in Colorado. First we got on the interstate but got off at Parachute and took old US 6 the rest of the way to Rifle. Heading north to Meeker I was seeing surges of oncoming traffic and knew that road work we had encountered on the OFMC trip in July could not have been completed so I hoped we wouldn’t get stopped too terribly long. But just as it had on the OFMC ride, we came to the end of the northbound traffic just as they started to move and we didn’t even have to stop. My luck holds. There was only one guy behind Nick.

They’ve made a lot of progress on this project—laid a lot of asphalt, though we didn’t get on any of it. If they’re going to get this work finished before the snow flies they’re going to have to bust their butts.

So we got back to the pavement and reached this passing zone area. I got into the right lane and Nick pulled nearly alongside me in the left lane—blocking this guy behind him from passing us which he clearly wanted to do. He would have gained little anyway because of all the people in front of us, but still. Nick, what the heck are you doing? So we got to Meeker and the road widens to two lanes just as we get to the gas station, where I planned to stop. I intended to turn left to get to it but I just knew. And I was right. Right when I would have pulled into the left lane this guy jammed his foot to the floor and blasted past us. I totally read the situation and am I glad I did. I made my turn after he blasted passed us.

That night we stayed at the old Meeker Hotel, which is under renovation and is perhaps perpetually understaffed. Renovation of our room was already completed and it was a nice place–the lobby is what’s really getting the work at this point. And the room rate was really low, so it was a good place.

Biker Quote for Today

A bad attitude is like a flat tire, you can’t go anywhere until you change it.