Passes & Canyons Blog

Gary and Gina head out for Ogalala, Tuesday’s destination.

Monday to Tuesday this week we had our first Motorcycle Travel Network (MTN) guests in several years, Gary and Gina. They were on their way home to Ontario, Canada, after riding down to the Grand Canyon. Seeing the Grand Canyon has long been one of Gary’s bucket list dreams so they decided the time was now to make that happen. Mission accomplished.

They were on their Gold Wing, pulling a trailer. Almost all their stops on this three-week trip were with either MTN members or members of another, similar travel club, called Evergreen Club. While MTN is targeted at motorcyclists, Evergreen is for anyone as long as you are 50 or older. For both groups you pay $15 for a single or $20 for a couple per night of your stay, to defray your hosts’ expenses. Then there is a yearly membership fee for both clubs.

Gary and Gina were having a great trip, though now that they were heading home it was kind of the horse heading back to the stable feeling. Also, they have had great weather the whole trip but now were anticipating running into some rain. When they left us they were headed to Ogalala, Nebraska, where they had booked one of the few motel stays of their trip.

One of the big things about MTN is that you automatically have your interest in motorcycles in common, so there is an immediate bond. Unlike other MTN guests we have hosted, however, we actually talked very little about motorcycles. And that was fine. It’s just that if you are uncertain about other topics you can always fall back on motorcycles. But we didn’t.

We make a practice, whenever we have MTN guests, to cook a nice dinner and invite our guests to join us. (Always good to issue the invitation before they arrive lest they make a point of getting dinner before arriving.) Apparently that is not the norm, and it is certainly not expected of the hosts, but for us the whole pleasure of hosting is to spend time with our guests. Another thing that is sort of expected is that the hosts will provide local expertise as the guests continue on their way. Gina had a route pretty well mapped out already but I was able to direct them to an alternate route that allowed them to avoid even the brief stint on the interstate that they were expecting to have to do.

Living in Canada as they do, Gary and Gina can’t ride year-round the way we can here in Colorado, so they have to make the most of the summer months. Gina is a dedicated gardener so the irony is not lost on her of how she works to raise all these vegetables and then leaves them there for someone else to harvest and enjoy. We do seem to have had an inordinate number of Canadians among our MTN visitors.

We have no idea now when our next guests will come, or when we will be the visitors again, but this is something we have done for many years now and we have always enjoyed it very much. You might want to check it out.

Biker Quote for Today

As in motorcycling, so in life: Look where you want to go.

Home page for the Motorcycle Travel Network website.

I got a big surprise Saturday when my phone pinged with a text. It was from the Motorcycle Travel Network (MTN), a couple from near Toronto asking to spend the night here in mid September.

The MTN was something of a precursor to Air BNB and that kind of thing. Motorcyclists join and if you’re traveling you can find other motorcyclists to stay with for a token “expense” fee. Meet people who share your passion and who can direct you to the best roads and places to go in the area. No one knows local like the locals.

Or you open your home to other bikers and the roles are flipped. Judy and I have done both and we have thoroughly enjoyed both. And met some really nice people.

I’ve been a big fan of the MTN for a long time but they had seemed to fizzle out awhile ago. It was run by a couple and then he died. Time passed and there was little if any activity on the site, but then she decided to reinvigorate it and for a year or two it seemed to be back. Then nothing again.

Well now I see that the situation has changed a bit. It used to be to visit or to host you needed to be a paid member. That was about $40 a year the last I checked. Now, however, if you want to visit you need to be a paying member, but if you only want to host there is no membership fee. That’s why even though I haven’t paid in a long time we are still listed as being hosts.

The way this would work for most people would be to be listed and take guests and then only if you’re going on a trip and want to stay with MTN people, at that time you pay to become a member. If you stay one night with some folks you’ll save much more than you would have spent on one night’s lodging and you’re now good for a year.

We have had so much fun with people who have stayed with us and who we have stayed with. And they’re from all over the world. We’ve had a number of Canadians, some Germans, and others I can’t remember where they were from.

Now we have something to look forward to. You can bet I’ll tell you all about their visit afterward.

Biker Quote for Today

Spending a week on bikes in a foreign world is more than a trip; it’s a way to connect with new place, people, and most of all with yourself.

Hanging out in front of the Meeker Hotel.

I give Charlie big kudos for putting together a terrific two-day ride for the RMMRC. The weather was good, the roads were great, and with all the recent rain, everything was incredibly green. And the folks were pretty companionable, too.

We started out Tuesday morning from the Phillips 66 in Morrison, eight riders. Kicks stand up (KSU) was 9 and I got there about 8:50 and needed gas so I didn’t have time to get myself linked in on the Cardo communicators. But Gene was the last to arrive and it turned out somehow that he and I were linked to each other, so we did some chatting during the day.

We ran up past Red Rocks to get on old US 40 running up Mount Vernon Canyon. This road serves as a frontage road alongside I-70 for a ways but frequently bends away from the interstate. Onto I-70 briefly and then off again and back to 40. Here’s where we lucked out.

US 40 goes away from the interstate for a while but then comes back as you go up Floyd Hill. Then you go down the other side and get on old US 6 just long enough to get on I-70. As we headed down we could see the interstate totally stopped. They’re doing major work on the bend at the bottom of the hill and we must have passed about 500 stopped cars as we cruised on down. When we merged onto I-70 at the bottom it was starting to move and we had to go slow but never had to stop at all. Sweet.

We only stayed on I-70 a few miles to Idaho Springs and then got off and rode old US 6 up to the Empire turn-off onto US 40 and then headed that way toward Berthoud Pass. We made a quick stop just past Empire, by the Guanella Ranch, which was good for me because I was cold and this gave me a chance to put on more layers.

Then it was a lot of fun blasting up Berthoud Pass, cruising past all the other traffic. We were rockin’!

Down the other side into Winter Park and on to Granby where we made a brief stop, then on to Kremmling for lunch.

Next it was on to Rabbit Ears Pass and down into Steamboat Springs. It had been a long time since I’d been over Rabbit Ears because I do my best to avoid Steamboat, so it was nice to see the pass again. Everything is just so incredibly green at the moment.

Steamboat wasn’t as bad as it sometimes can be and then it was on to Hayden and then Craig. Four of the guys were stopping in Craig while the rest of us were continuing on, down CO13 to Meeker. Bob, who was staying in Craig, said he saw no reason to go to Meeker because there was nothing out there and it’s a boring ride. Bob is wrong. This is a really pretty ride and we had a good time.

We got to the Meeker Hotel and checked in and proceeded to kick back. Meeker is a really nice little town–unlike Craig, which is not much of anything. And the Meeker Hotel has been completely renovated just recently and is quite nice–but incredibly cheap! Only $80 a night for a single! Can’t beat that.

So it was a sweet day’s ride. And tomorrow we get to do more.

Biker Quote for Today

It’s what I love about fast motorcycles. Because when you find yourself balancing on that razor’s edge of mortality, all the rest becomes dust in the wind.

I believe Loveland Pass is on the return route.

Following the let-down of my recent aborted California trip with the RMMRC I’m definitely pleased that we have another ride coming right up. Nothing like the California trip but hey, you take what you can get.

This is just going to be a two-day trip, up to either Craig or Meeker and back the next day. Craig or Meeker is dependent on where you want to go. Some guys will stay in Craig while others go on to Meeker. Then in the morning the Meeker contingent will return to Craig and we’ll ride home together.

Why the split? In one case it’s a matter of someone who is recovery from surgery not being sure what he can endure, and the shorter ride to Craig is preferable. Others just don’t see any point of going to Meeker and backtracking.

But for those of us going to Meeker–and I am–it’s because Craig is really nothing special and Meeker is a cool little town. Plus we’ll be staying at the Meeker Hotel, which is a very cool and newly remodeled old hotel on the town plaza. Plus, if you’re dollar-conscious, the Meeker Hotel is cheap–$80 a night.

Wherever each person stays, the real thing is going to be the route coming and going. You can get to Meeker quickly by taking I-70 to Rifle and turning north, but who wants to ride the slab? So we’ll leave Parker in the morning and take some smaller roads up to Empire–with a few miles of unavoidable I-70–and then take some meandering routes home. It’ll be fun. Now we can just hope this heat wave is done by then but at least if not we’ll be up in the high country where it’s cooler.

And we’ll be on motorcycles. What else really matters?

Biker Quote for Today

I’ll linger here as long as I can . . . but there’s a curve approaching, so I let off the gas, take a deep breath and let out a sign of relief. I think I found what I was looking for. It’s time to head back home.

Getting sick on a motorcycle trip is the worst.

There’s not much that puts more of a crimp in a vacation than getting sick. That was certainly the case with me on this recent aborted (for me) RMMRC California ride.

Getting sick on a motorcycle trip has got to be worse than so many other forms of travel. If you’re in a car with a couple other people you can just crash in the back seat and be miserable. Or if you’re on an airplane you can just be miserable while you fly. There’s nothing expected of you. Heck, I got sick on an airplane once and passed out. That would be a disaster on a motorcycle. You could die.

On a motorcycle you are the sole party responsible for operating the vehicle and if, for example, you get nauseous out in the middle of nowhere good luck getting stopped in time so you don’t puke in your helmet. And then you’re sick but you can’t exactly just choose to stay where you are–you have to get to somewhere.

So right from the start of this trip I was not feeling great but managed to keep going. It was only the morning of the third day when it hit me hard and I had to go back to the motel. Being sick away from home and all alone is nobody’s idea of fun. But I really want to give credit to the managers of the Snuggle Inn in Loa, Utah, for being as hospitable as anyone could possibly be. They offered me their car to drive to a nearby clinic and even offered to drive me there if need be, plus they were very solicitous of me and my needs every time I ventured out of my room. That mattered a lot! I will always be thankful to them for all they did.

Of course, terminating a trip in the middle of the trip has its own issues. I had to cancel all my motel reservations for the remainder of the trip or else I would have been charged for them. As for the motel for the third night, I just had to eat that because it was too late to cancel. But for the rest I got on the phone and made a bunch of calls.

All went well there except for one place. I reached someone at the desk and told the guy what I wanted to do and he asked me to call back after 3 p.m. because their computer was down at the moment. So after three I called and all I got was a recording saying they were not able to answer the phone now and no, you cannot leave a message. Call back later. I called back several times and got the same recording.

This reservation was not for several days yet so there was no rush, but once I got home a couple days later it was drawing much nearer so I called again. This time I got a fellow who sounded like the same guy I originally talked to but this time he told me I would need to cancel my reservation through Expedia. I’ve encountered this before and as has been the case before I explained to him that I did not book my stay through Expedia, I booked it directly through the desk by phone.

He said I should call Comfort Inn corporate or something and I said why should I do that? Why can’t you do it right now? He said call back at 2:30. I was angry. I shouted at him asking why I should call back at 2:30 when I had him on the phone right now?!! He canceled it. Jerk. He sounded Pakistani or something and I just suspect his rating and/or pay is tied to how much cash he brings in and a cancellation means less cash coming in, so he tries to foist the cancellation off on some other poor soul. Who gives a damn about the customer?

So yeah, being sick on the road is a bummer in more ways than one. But when it happens you just have to deal with it the best you can. I hope I don’t have to deal with that again any time soon.

Biker Quote for Today

“I saw Jesus so many times I started using him as a braking marker.” – Kenny Roberts

I’m definitely going on this trip but it’s going to cost me a bundle.

I told my wife, Judy, at lunch the other day that I had spent the morning spending an obscene amount of money. I was making my motel reservations for this RMMRC ride to California in April. I’m figuring that by the time you add in motels, gas, and food I’m going to be spending around $3,000 on this trip. Yikes!

Why so much? Mostly it’s motels. There are only four of us going and two have agreed to share rooms. I would have been fine sharing with the fourth but he prefers to have his own room. I have no idea why; I just know that some people do prefer their privacy, even if it means paying more.

What a difference from the early days of the OFMC. Back in those days, long ago, we were not anybody’s idea of flush. John and Bill and I would get into town, split up, and go check prices and availability at several motels, then regroup and choose. Most of the time we got rooms with two beds and we rotated whose turn it was to sleep on the floor. We also carried tents and sleeping bags to we could camp if we wanted to or needed to. We didn’t make reservations in those days so sometimes that camping gear saved our butts.

So affluence is a big part of this spending escalation. We never went the expensive route back then for the simple reason that that was money we did not have. Cheap was a necessity. Fortunately those days are over. I’m not crazy about spending so much on this trip but I have the money and it is money I can afford to part with.

The other thing is aging, although for myself that really is not an issue. The group of us who are going got together the other day to prepare and they all agreed that camping is well in their pasts. Gosh, I still enjoy camping, as does Judy. But beyond camping, these guys have certain standards for accommodations that rule out most of the cheaper places. For instance, we’ll be in St. George, Utah, one night and there are a lot of places where you can get a room there for less than $100. The place the group selected, however, runs about $200. This is one instance where I opted to stay down the road a couple miles and pay about $60 less. It’s still a plenty nice place and I don’t know what the reason was for choosing the higher-priced place but I just can’t see any reason to pay that price.

In other cases there really was no choice. We’ll be spending one night in Death Valley and there are not a lot of accommodations available in Death Valley. And then, the place we’re staying has much higher rates on the weekend and we will be there on the weekend. So I’ll pay about $270 for one night in a two-queen suite all by myself. The point here is that we’re going for the real Death Valley experience. I’ve never been there so I’m not sure what that consists of but I’ll pay the fee and find out.

So it ought to be a really good trip. And I suppose there is an off chance that some fifth person will yet show up who I can share rooms with. But I’m not expecting it. It’s just money, you can’t take it with you when you die, and I have no heirs. Why not spend it.

Biker Quote for Today

I don’t want to know how much your motorcycle cost, shut up and ride.