Passes & Canyons Blog

I mentioned that we are looking at our latest first snow of the season ever–sooner or later–and here is an indication of what it’s like. I went riding Tuesday, November 4, starting out with a clean visor. By the time I got home I needed to clean the visor because it was all smeared with bug guts. That’s right. I hit not one but a whole bunch of bugs . . . in November. And the biggest and fattest one was less than a mile from the highest point I got to on this ride. Crazy.

Tuesday was supposed to be quite warm but cloudy, while Wednesday was to be a bit cooler but sunny and clear. I figured Wednesday might be the better day to ride but when my Tuesday appointment got canceled I figured I might as well ride both days. So I set out and got about half a block when I realized I had intended to clean my visor. Oh well, I’ll do that some time when I stop. But then I realized I also had intended to check my air pressure. Fine, I was just half a block from home, I turned around.

I definitely needed air, as I was sure I would, and it was nice to have a clean visor. Because I was heading straight on into the mountains, I blasted west on Hampden/US 285, and went up past the Tiny Town exit to the North Turkey Creek Road turn-off. The idea was to complete the ride I started the day before, the route I plan to lead an RMMRC ride on.

Only a short way up Turkey Creek I came to High Drive and made the right. With some very tight turns on the way up (10 mph recommended), this road goes up into an area of woods, lined with houses, many quite large. The road goes up and over and then comes down just outside of Evergreen, where it meets CR 73 coming up from Conifer. It was great. From the moment I got off US 285 till the time I came down into Evergreen I never had a single other vehicle in front or in back of me. And just a few going the other direction. Nice, leisurely riding.

So that completed my planned route, except that I’m figuring to take the group down from Evergreen to a restaurant in Kittredge for lunch. But I didn’t want to go that way this day so I hooked a left and took Evergreen Parkway over to Bergen Park and then went left on CR 45, which brings you out to I-70 up near the top of Floyd Hill. I didn’t want to get on the interstate so I stayed on old US 40, which is essentially a frontage road for the interstate along this stretch, and then down the steep back side of Floyd Hill into Clear Creek Canyon and US 6.

At the junction I went right, to go down Clear Creek to meet up with the Peak to Peak Highway. It had been quite warm all this while, with no sign of the clouds that had been predicted, but down in the bottom of this steep canyon it quickly got very cold. Time to flip on the electric vest.

At the Peak to Peak I went left, toward Black Hawk. Considered stopping for lunch but didn’t. Oh, and so, all this way I had periodically been wiping smeared bugs off my visor. Weird.

I cruised up through Black Hawk and kept going, on up to the turn-off from the Peak to Peak down Golden Gate Canyon. And it was along here I hit the big guy. Now I really needed to clean my visor. The ride down Golden Gate Canyon was pretty much as it always is. Some traffic but not a lot, and several nice stretches with lots of small curves that you can easily straighten out with a bike. That’s always fun.

Then I hit Golden, turned south on CO 93 down to 285 and then east to home. I’m loving this. After being off the bike for so long this is just sweet.

Biker Quote for Today

100 reasons not to date a biker: 74. Doubling the speed limit ain’t no thing.

With temps in the 70s there was no question of riding or not, it was just: Where to?

There comes a time each year when you can simply no longer go into the hills but at the moment Denver is a few days away from setting a new record for the latest first snow of the season. I figured I’d take advantage of it.

That only narrowed the question somewhat. But I guess I’m a bit stubborn. When I took off on my fateful ride on June 29 it was my intention to go over the route I intended to lead the RMMRC on soon after. On my first ride after the crash, but before surgery, I rode to the place on that planned route where the crash occurred. Now, on only my third ride since the crash I wanted to do what I set out to do that day. Who knows, if the weather holds I might yet lead that ride in the next week or two.

The day was warm, skies were blue, and I headed out. Great day to be on the bike. I went down to Belleview and turned west. When I came to Santa Fe, where the crash had occurred, I could have gone south on Santa Fe as I intended that day, but the thought of getting into that left turn lane and just sitting there again somehow did not appeal to me so I continued west on Belleview. At Lowell I turned south.

At Mineral I turned west again to Wadsworth and then south. Stopped at a red light at Ken Caryl Avenue I saw on the other side, headed north of Wadsworth, a guy on a Honda about as old as my bike. No jacket, no gloves, no helmet. OK, I hope you got home safely and do so again and again.

South of C-470 I made the right turn to go up Deer Creek Canyon. Lots of guys on bikes but many, many people on bicycles. That kind of day. I’m not a go-fast kind of guy so I took my time winding up the canyon on Deer Creek Canyon Road and then made the left onto South Deer Creek Road. This road winds around and climbs, ultimately coming out to US 285 at Conifer, changing names a couple times along the way.

After a short while I spotted three guys on Harleys behind me. I figured I was slowing them down but I had no inclination to speed up because, for one thing, this stretch was newly repaved and there was a good bit of loose gravel on the road, especially on the curves. They’re just going to have to be patient. They were, but the first open stretch we got to they blasted past. And in just another couple minutes two guys on Beemers came blasting past me too. Have fun; I’m just not in a hurry.

I wasn’t headed to Conifer; I turned north at Oehlmann Park Road. This road goes up and over a hill with a lot of homes, with terrific views in some places. Steep road going up and going down on the other side. Great riding. I’d hate to live there in the winter.

It comes out on the other side at South Turkey Creek Road, which runs parallel to US 285 between Tiny Town and just east of Conifer. I turned toward Tiny Town. A bit before Tiny Town there is a place where you can go left onto North Turkey Creek Road. That’s my route for this planned ride but for this day I decided I’d had enough and continued on to Tiny Town, got on US 285, and headed home. It’s supposed to cool off Monday but then be warm again all week. I figure I’ll just come back and do the second half in a few days.

You’ve got to love this weather. And considering that I missed the whole summer you can believe I am.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if you try to act like a biker.