Passes & Canyons Blog

OK, this is just for fun. I saw this headline the other day that I just had to click through on: Czech president injured while racing motorcycle.

Oh wow. Do you really mean the Czechs have a president who is cool? Apparently yes.

In this story from the BBC it tells us that “Czech President Petr Pavel has been taken to hospital after injuring himself while riding a motorcycle.” And it also says, “Czech police said they were not investigating the accident because it happened on a closed racing circuit – not on the road.”

That’s right. He wasn’t just riding a motorcycle, he was racing. And yeah, he had an unplanned get-off, but nothing serious. They just took him to the hospital for a couple hours for observation, in case something cropped up that was not immediately apparent. That happens. In the crash scene management class I took awhile back they talked about how someone may feel just fine immediately afterward only to have shock set in a little later. But he was fine.

So I was just letting my imagination go on the idea that we would have a president who rides motorcycles. Can you picture Joe Biden on a motorcycle? Nope. He’s at an age when not many of us are riding anymore. When the reflexes are gone it’s time to hang up the keys.

What about Donald Trump on a bike? OK, I could visualize him riding bitch with someone else at the controls but I don’t think I’d like to be that person. Don’s got some weight these days and I’ve had one experience riding with someone like that and I don’t want to do it again.

Back sometime soon after John and I first got our bikes we went over to Al’s to drink some beer and play some music. Al wanted to go for a ride and he climbed on my bike behind me. Now, I weighed about 140 then and Al had to have been close to 190. Not fat but large and solid. And Al was very excitable, meaning he didn’t just sit there passively being a passenger. No, he was shifting his weight and turning this way and that, throwing me way off balance and making me fear we’d crash. We went just a few blocks and I stopped and insisted he ride behind John, who is bigger. John didn’t care for it much either so we didn’t go very far.

Let’s go back a little further. How about Barack Obama on a bike? Now, that I could see. He’s a lot younger and he’s athletic. And here’s the funny thing. I Googled “Barack Obama on motorcycle” and I got a lot of links to photos that people have Photoshopped to make it look like he’s riding a motorcycle. Humorous.

But the Czechs have an actual president who rides his own. The BBC article says he rides a BMW R1200 GS. Cool. Maybe some day we’ll have a biker-in-chief.

Biker Quote for Today

“You see, I don’t know how to ride a motorcycle, actually.” — Henry (the Fonz) Winkler

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.

The OFMC, at this point consisting of Bill, Dennis, and me, took off on our yearly trip two Fridays ago, planning a longer trip than usual and thus an extra day to do the extra miles.

We headed out from Golden up Clear Creek Canyon, got on I-70 near Idaho Springs, and continued west on the slab. I was on my Kawasaki Concours, Bill on his Harley, and Dennis on his BMW. An uneventful ride to Vail, where we stopped for lunch at McDonald’s. That raised a question: Why does a place like that send a guy to clean the bathrooms during the lunch rush? Wouldn’t his efforts be more useful on the line at that point, and you know of all those customers there have to be quite a few wishing to use the restroom. Do these people ever think about these things?

Glenwood Canyon seemed especially beautiful in this very green summer. At Rifle we got gas, then turned north to Meeker. We got behind a truck and at a clear spot with no oncoming traffic I figured Bill would pass but there was a double yellow line and he didn’t. Then there was a dense stream of oncoming traffic and I was sure we were coming to construction. We did, but got there just as the tail end of the line started moving, so we didn’t have to stop. It was quite a few miles of gravel and dirt, and slow going.

We got to Meeker and typically for Bill, he rolled right past the motel. Dennis and I did not. My mantra on these trips is “never let Bill lead” but on a straight shot like this he could hardly go wrong . . . until he did.

Bill has friends who now live in Meeker and they said there were “doin’s” in the town park, come on down for free food and music. So we did. Bill and Dagney seemed quite nice and agreed to ride with us the next day to breakfast in Rangeley. They showed up the next morning on their Harleys and we had a really nice early morning cruise.

The place we went for breakfast turned out to have one cook and one waitress/cashier/drink preparer and the place was packed. It was 45 minutes before she was able to bring us water and ask for our orders. Everyone knows at this point how hard it is to get people to hire. We finally rolled out of there about 11 a.m.

We picked up US 40 at Dinosaur and went west to Vernal, Utah. Hot as blazes. It got a bit cooler as we gained elevation heading north toward the Flaming Gorge. That’s always a nice ride. Got a late lunch at Mountainview, Wyoming, passed under I-80, and rode another 45 minutes to Kemmerer, our stop for the night.

We learned from our waitress at dinner that there was a bluegrass festival going on in town that whole weekend, including right at that moment, but we were at a place just south of town and none of us was inclined to ride into town. Too bad, it would have been fun. Instead we spent a long time talking with a guy from Texas who had ridden his Harley-Davidson Pan America up to the Arctic Circle in Canada, then did a circuit through Alaska, and was now headed back home. Some people are more hard-core than us.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker when you can identify bugs by taste.

We left McPherson, Kansas, very early with a lot more miles to cover this second day of the Great River Road Ride. Riding in early morning is frequently magical and it was this day. Plus, eastern Kansas is a lot prettier than the western portion. Winding through emerald green hills broken by the jagged red clay banks of little streams it was absolutely beautiful.

Crossing into Missouri we followed smaller roads all the way across the state. From Jefferson City we followed MO 94, which follows the Missouri River. Judy and I drove this road the other direction just last year and I knew it was a nice road. I did not remember that there were considerable stretches that were hilly and twisty and perfectly designed for motorcycles.

I was riding second behind Dave and we got into the good stuff and he cranked it up, as he typically will do. I am not an aggressive rider normally but in this case I did not want to hold up everyone behind me, plus, I figured my V-Strom has to be more agile than his big honking Beemer so if he can take this road at a rapid clip I can, too. And I did. I kept tightly with him every mile of the way and you know what? It was fun. It was a lot of fun. That evening on our way to dinner he told me “You did some fine riding today.” I knew that, and I know that I’m probably a better rider than a lot of folks, but it feels good to have that competence recognized by someone who is himself an excellent rider.

At one point Dave made a wrong turn and I’m guessing his GPS told him we could get back on track if we just took this one small road a few miles. We turned off and paused. Initially at least it was gravel. I was on the V-Strom so no problem for me but I wondered about the others. We continued and so did they and we reached pavement in just a few miles and all was well. Then we were back into the twisties. And who knew these Missouri hills were so full of wineries?

By this time we had come a long way and I know I was long past wishing for a stop. We came by several places I felt were perfect to pull over for a while and I was praying Dave would take them but no, he kept cruising. And then we were into the mess of suburban St. Louis afternoon commuter traffic. A couple more navigational glitches slowed us down more and even put us a bit at hazard but we finally worked our way into St. Charles, our stop for the night. Oh man, another 455 miles on top of the 470 the day before. Let me off this bike!

Biker Quote for Today

You can’t ride all day if you don’t start in the morning.

The BMW Motorcycle Club of Colorado is a good place to go to meet folks to ride with, but their website is also a good resource even if you don’t want to join the club.

In particular, I’m looking at their Pass Bagger page. The Pass Bagger “quest,” as they call it, encourages members to earn patches for riding greater and greater numbers of passes in Colorado. First off, who knew there were so many?

There are three categories: paved passes, unpaved passes, and gaps and summits. If you click on the links to the lists you’ll see about 80 paved passes. OK, some of these have got to be just high spots that technically are passes but you would never realize it. And in some cases it’s a little confusing considering that, for instance, they list three Ute Passes. I’m not sure if this is all one pass or three separate ones. Each is listed in a different county. Doing a little digging it seems there really are three.

As for unpaved passes, there are probably something like 130 of them.

Where it really gets interesting is the gaps and summits. A sampling of these include Cat Creek Gap in Archuleta County, Limestone Gap in Moffat County, and Battle Mountain Summit in Eagle County. I have no idea what any of these are. That’s a pretty good reason to go find out, wouldn’t you say?

All of these also include the longitude and latitude so you can plug it into your GPS, as well as the elevation and the level of difficulty. A few are designated as favorites.

So I’d say that’s a pretty good resource. Of course the club has a whole lot of other rides and events to participate in. Yeah, I know I mentioned these guys in my post just a couple weeks ago about riding clubs in Colorado but I felt they have so much going on it was worth it to bring the club up again. And despite the BMW in the name they welcome all makes.

Biker Quote for Today

Why motorcycles are better than women: You only need to get a new chain or belt for your Motorcycle when the old one is worn.

I was walking through the neighborhood when I saw the coolest thing. There was this kid in the street on some three-wheeled thing doing 360s and all kinds of really fun-looking stuff. I had to stop and watch him. Then I noticed his dad working in their garage–which was packed with a big Jeep and a Ural sidecar rig, a big BMW adventure bike, and a couple other motorcycles.

OK, I thought, I’ve got to talk to this guy.

His name is Eric and yeah, he’s totally into motorcycles. He has a few more besides all these. He told me a story about riding the big beemer with a buddy going over Engineer Pass. Very narrow much of the way, with no choice but to keep going because there was no way at all to turn around. Number one on his mind was what in the world they would do if he dropped that big thing. As it was, in some places one bike would park so both riders could navigate one bike ahead, then get parked so both riders could get the second bike through that spot. But they made it.

And of course we talked about a lot more. Meanwhile, this thing his son was on . . .

It’s a Razor PowerRider 360, and man is it cool. And the kid was loving it. Of course I was thinking how in a couple years I’ve got to get one of these for Jack, our now 2-year-old grandson. And looking on their site I see these things only cost about $200. Yeah, Jack’s going to have one and he’s going to go crazy.

But riding it in the street? That’s certainly an issue, although we always did when we were kids and we’re still alive. But Eric had a very good approach. He had two of those “Children at Play” child silhouette signs parked in the street on both sides of their house. He had them actually way out in the street so no driver could possibly miss them. In fact, you pretty much had to maneuver around them, so I suspect they’re pretty effective. Plus, their street, like ours, is very low traffic. So we’ll see.

Biker Quote for Today

If you can still hear your fears, shift a gear.

I’m writing this on Sunday and there is an article in today’s Denver Post that really caught my eye. Maybe you read it, if you subscribe, but it seems most people don’t these days so I figure it’s worth pointing out. The article is titled “Smart cruise control comes to motorcycles.” (It’s actually reprinted from the New York Times.)

According to this article, both BMW and Ducati are introducing this system on bikes. The system controls throttle and braking.

No surprise to any of us, the challenges of creating something of this sort for motorcycles is vastly different from creating the same for cars. As the article notes, “because motorcycles don’t have automatic transmissions, they could stall or even fall over if the technology were allowed to bring them to a complete stop.” So these systems only work if you’re going more than 20 mph.

The systems use radar sensors to keep track of vehicles ahead of you. Mainly they will latch onto a vehicle in front of you and match your speed to that. If there is no vehicle ahead of you it will cruise at whatever speed you set it for, up to 100 mph.

The systems are only programmed to pay attention to vehicles in your lane moving in the same direction. If you’re at an intersection and someone pulls out in front of you it will not register, so hit your own brakes!

According to the article, the project manager at Ducati said the system “is a convenience system, not a safety system; it is there to enhance comfort during highway travels.”

Obviously, the fact that motorcycles lean makes for big differences than systems for cars. BMW’s director of product development is quoted saying that “the system must be able to detect cars and other motorcycles while it is leaned over.” When you’re leaned over above certain speeds both systems will slow you down, with Ducati pushing that point all the way to 50 degrees of lean.

So that’s just a brief overview. If you’re interested I would definitely recommend you read the whole article.

Biker Quote for Today

I Googled my symptoms . . . turns out I just needed to go ride.

I was pretty darn surprised awhile back to check my email and find an invitation to come speak to the BMW Motorcycle Club of Colorado at their monthly meeting. (They don’t all ride BMWs, thus the “Sort Of” in the title above.) Apparently Carl was familiar with this website and this blog and he felt that I would be able to make an interesting presentation. Would I come talk about my writing and my travels? OK, if you think so I’m willing to do it.

First I had to prepare. I wrote out an entire presentation, not that I intended to read it, but just to draw my thoughts together. Then I distilled it down to a list of words and phrases, figuring that would be all I would really need to keep track of where I was going. Finally, I put together a PowerPoint slide deck with photos and images to complement the oral presentation. If you read this blog you know I end each post with a “Biker Quote for Today” so I interspersed some of my favorite quotes among the images.

I would be taking my laptop, which has PowerPoint on it, but just to be sure I saved the deck as a .ppsx file, which is supposed to be a presentation format that can be played even if you don’t have PowerPoint. I copied the file onto the laptop and also onto a jump drive. Redundancy, you know.

So the presentation was to be at the February meeting but the weather was getting nasty that day. Also, I had a minor cold–nothing that would have stopped me from going but when Carl called to say let’s postpone till March I was not unhappy.

March 11 came and I was ready. I thought I was getting there in plenty of time but figured it made sense to get everything set up right away. That was a good plan.

We needed to hook my laptop up the flat-screen TV that so commonly now replaces the old projection screen. But the TV did not want to make nice with my laptop. After several people of increasing technical competence tried and failed to get them to talk, Carl pulled out an old tablet he had on hand and hooked it up. The TV liked his table, so we inserted the jump drive. Redundancy!

This was just at the point when the meeting was starting. So they had their usual business to attend to and then it came time for the speaker. (Oh yeah, that’s me.)

I double-clicked on the file and got a message saying the computer could not open this file because it did not have the right program. More tech-savvy folks jumped in to trouble-shoot and I figured I’d better start talking even minus my visual aids.

I don’t know if it was apparent to the folks in the crowd but it quickly came apparent to me that I needed my visual aids, so I was pretty relieved when someone else pulled out another laptop that had PowerPoint on it and presto, I was in business. Now instead of just talking about my articles published in Rider magazine I could show them. Instead of just talking about my bikes I could show them. And perhaps most importantly, I could show the slides of quotes. Truthfully, I had the impression those were the highlights of the presentation for quite a few of the group.

When it was over I hung around and several people came up to talk to me. I have to tell you, writing this blog is very much a leap of faith. I write stuff and put it out there but I have no idea who might be reading it, if anyone is reading it at all. So it always tickles me when, as happened here, people speak to me about this or that blog post I wrote that they read. Wow, people really do read my stuff!

Apparently, you do. Thanks. I do appreciate it.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if every time you hear a vehicle with headers you look for a Harley.