Passes & Canyons Blog

When you have a group of bikers out on a road trip you end up with some group shots.

Do you ever just really want to get away from the guys you’re hanging out with? Like your riding buddies? Like you’ve been on a trip and while you love the trip you’re really looking forward to getting home so you won’t have to be with these guys for awhile?

I keep a journal and I’ve been reading back through it and there have been a number of times when I have remarked that I was really sick of being with the guys. Now, these are my best and closest friends–excluding my very closest friend, my wife–here in town. (I do have really close friends in other towns.) These are the guys I go camping with, play poker with, meet out for coffee. And after a week on the road with them I’m really sick of them.

Here are some remarks from my journal, circa 1992:

So I got really tired of being with XXXX but it wasn’t like last year when I came home with an active dislike for him. Our relationship really is shallow, to the point where we ran out of things to talk about and sat around bars at night not saying a word. This was a good trip but clearly I would rather have been on one bike with a lady friend.

Wow. Yeah, I guess just because you hang out with someone for a lot of years that doesn’t necessarily mean you are close to them. Doesn’t mean they’re not your friends. They are.

My good friend Jungle told me emphatically a few years ago that I need to get some new friends. But that’s the thing. When it’s these guys who you discovered the wonderfulness of motorcycles with, and they like to ride, you kind of go with the guys who like to ride.

Anyway, I know just from memory–I haven’t gotten that far reading my journal–that on most OFMC trips by the time I got home I was really glad to get away from the others. I always presumed they were equally glad to get away from me. It’s a test of any relationship to be together that much. In the early days we always, the three of us, shared one motel room. We were together all day, and all night.

So it was the desire to find some new riding buddies, people interested in riding more often, that led me to join the RMMRC. I do feel like I’m making friends in this group and like I’m a core member of the group. It’s good to have riding buddies. And maybe in 20 years I won’t personally be any closer to any of these new friends than to my old ones, but I will have been on a whole bunch of really good rides. With people I enjoy being with.

Biker Quote for Today

It’s a dangerous game we’re playing here. Walking the tightrope between nirvana and disaster, with no margin for error. But that’s when things really start to get interesting.

At another needed stop in Glenwood Canyon on my way home.

Riding with friends has a lot going for it, not the least being that if you have a problem you have someone to help you out. And I’ve done plenty of riding with friends. But I’ve got to tell you, I really love riding alone. I just love the ability to ride at your own pace, stop when you want, where you want, and change your plans on a whim. (I wonder where this road goes . . . )

This recent RMMRC California trip was a case in point. I started out with five other guys but then got sick. I peeled off from the group on day three, spent that day being sick in my motel room, and then started home alone the next day.

The two days with the group were fine but there were all sorts of compromises to be made. For instance, I’m more of a sedate rider. I like to take it easy. If I’m on the interstate–which we were that first day–I don’t need to go 80. But we did, and I did. No big deal; just not my preference.

So after my sick day I was alone. The first stretch of road I would cover was Utah 72, just 35 miles to I-70. What a sweet road! It started out meandering up through a valley filled with farms and ranches. Everything was green with spring and it was just so pleasant. I was in no hurry, and there was no other traffic so I could go at whatever speed suited me.

The road climbed out of the valley and followed the ridge line northeast into another higher valley, this time only open range and no farms. Then up a good bit more. This area is known as the San Rafael Swell region and it’s beautiful. Why would I want to hurry through this? I didn’t.

Now I was really climbing and it was getting cold. I found myself at the top of Hogan Pass, at just a hair under 9,000 feet, and the view was spectacular. But how many times have I been with a group and rather than stop and enjoy the view we have just blasted on through? Many, many times I can assure you. Not when I’m riding alone though.

After the pass it was all downhill, through more hills and ridges. And then the interstate. Cruising along it wasn’t particularly pleasant. The wind was whipping and I was starting to not feel so great. I knew about a rest area up ahead, however, that I figured would be a nice stop. Once again, with a group you don’t want to make everyone conform to your wishes but on my own I could do anything I wanted–or needed–to do. I stopped. I found a nice smooth boulder and lay down and closed my eyes. After 20 minutes of soaking up the warmth of the sun I was ready to go on.

The rest of my trip home was like this. I left when I was ready. I stopped when I needed to, or wanted to. I ate when and where I wanted.

Motorcyclists always talk about the freedom of being on a bike. But I don’t see it. Not unless you’re riding alone. Back in my old Examiner.com days I did a couple pieces about the Ride For The Wall, an event of mostly military vets remembering MIAs and POWs. I didn’t see any freedom going on there. That was all strictly regimented the way only vets can be. Heck, I got screamed at for trying to enter a gas station differently than their whole group was being channeled and I was not a member of their group.

I’ve also heard a lot about the 1%er clubs and how they have and enforce strict rules about group riding. And I’m not referring to riding in staggered formation. I strongly agree with that concept. That’s just common sense.

So yeah, I like riding with a group at times. But what I really love the most is when I just head out on my own. That’s freedom.

Biker Quote for Today

If you drive a car you’re responsible for your car. If you ride a motorcycle you are responsible for every car around you.