Passes & Canyons Blog

Holy smokes there’s a lot going on this weekend. If the weather is sufficiently good–which it appears will happen–there are going to be a lot of people out on two wheels the next couple days.

To start with, the 12th annual Old Bike Ride is Saturday. This is a great thing to go to to see a bunch of nice old bikes that–obviously–are in good running order. There is no charge and this ride, as the website says, is “Open to all riders of (sufficiently) old motorcycles and all (sufficiently) old motorcycle riders.” That is to say, “a motorized vehicle with less than four wheels made in 1980 or earlier.”

I went on this ride a few years ago but have a habit of being busy when it’s happening. My 1980 Honda CB750 Custom barely qualifies as old enough, though that’s what I rode four years ago. No one told me to leave, you know. And the point of the ride is, “to encourage people to bring out their old motorcycles and ride them.” What could be more simple than that?

This ride starts promptly at 9:30 a.m. and leaves from one block west of Washington Ave on 13th Street in Golden.

Also going on on Saturday, of a totally different stripe, is the G-Force Powersport Bikini Bike Wash. I probably won’t be making it to this one but you might be interested.

Another Saturday event is the Fay Myers Block Party. They do this every year, with stunt riding and food and who knows what else. I’ve been to this and it was worth an hour or two for sure.

On Sunday morning, Erico Motorsports is sponsoring a very casual “Sunday Morning Ride.” Says Erico, “This is just going to be a couple hour ride through the front range.” Very casual. If you’re looking for a group to go ride with, this could be your ticket. The ride starts at 9 a.m. at the Butcher Block Cafe, 1701 38th St, Denver. RSVP to MatthewK@ericomotorsports.com if you will plan to go so they can get an idea how many will be coming.

As long as we’re going over upcoming events, here’s one on June 1. The 4th annual Vintage Motorcycle Show will be taking place at Heritage Square, no admission charged. Go and see what’s on display. This is another one I somehow manage to miss, though I intend to go every year. Maybe this year. Of course, that’s our wedding anniversary, so that may interfere. We’ll see. Maybe Judy would like to ride out there for it.

Of course, all these are in addition to the others I have listed on the website. I didn’t hear about these in time to get them up there.

So get out and ride this weekend. I’m planning to work on my V-Strom, trying to get the handlebar weights put back on now that I have the replacement parts in hand. Once I accomplish that, you bet I’ll have to take the bike out for a “trial run.”

Biker Quote for Today

If you cannot find a good companion to ride with, ride alone, like an elephant roaming the jungle. It is better to be alone than to be with those who will hinder your progress.

On Monday I gave the basic run-down of where we went on this Colorado Motorcycle Adventures “Intro to Adventure Riding” ride I did with Scott Lee and the folks who signed up for it. That recitation left out any of the personality and interaction that went on, and that’s the stuff that makes things truly interesting. That’s where we’re going today.

The first little bit of excitement occurred when we had come down Foxton Road to reach the Platte River and South Platte River Road. I was bringing up the rear and the group pulled over and parked next to the Platte. It was sloping ground and the other bikes pretty much took up the more level spots. I jockeyed into a position I cautiously deemed satisfactory–maybe–and then proceeded to climb off the bike very carefully. Then I stood there a moment checking it out to be sure the bike was stable. It seemed to be.

So I turned around and walked over to talk with a couple of the folks. A couple minutes later someone yelled “Look out!” and I turned in time to see my V-Strom topple over. You probably know: No one likes seeing their bike fall. It gives you a horrible feeling.

Of course there were plenty of folks to help get it back up and then moved to a more level spot. Damage was pretty minimal. It apparently hit on the end of the handlebar and the weight at the end that serves to dampen vibration busted off along with the hand guard that was attached at that point and further in on the bar. I haven’t done anything with it yet but it looks like all I need to replace is the long bolt that holds that weight on and all will be fine again. I can’t think of a less expensive motorcycle repair. But I still hated to see that bike fall.

We took off and rode along the Platte and this time I was second from the rear. This road is gravel and even on the V-Strom I could feel my tires slipping occasionally. The guy behind me was going pretty slow and I didn’t want to leave him behind in case of trouble so I hung back while all the rest of the group passed out of sight ahead. They eventually stopped and waited for us, fearing trouble, but no, it was just a guy who wasn’t used to riding on gravel and was skittish. After that a more experienced rider took the sweep position so I didn’t worry when I lost sight of them behind me.

At lunch we had more opportunity to get acquainted. I was surprised to find that most of the group was from the Denver area. There were a father and son from California and a woman by her self who was also from California. Everyone else was local. I found that kind of odd; why sign up for something you can just go and do? But they did have reasons. One guy was looking to buy a new bike and wanted to try out a couple of the ones he was considering. He and Scott traded back and forth during the day so he could test both bikes. And another guy had had the idea that this intro to ADV was going to be more of a training ride. Maybe that’s something Scott will want to consider in the future for this particular ride.

After lunch we turned off onto West Creek Road and then turned off it to go down a dead-end road that was just nice riding. We got to the end and Scott suggested that anyone who wanted to make a more spirited run should go ahead and just wait for the rest back at the main road.

So the father and son took off along with a couple others and I was in about the middle of the pack. They got out of sight ahead but in a couple minutes I came up on them, seeing that they were stopped in a group. Then I saw why. Seems the son had gotten a bit too enthusiastic and had run off the road on a curve, right into the woods. Oops. I don’t know if he went down or not because by the time I got there the bike was upright and several people had run over to help him wheel it back to the road. No injuries and only minor damage to the bike.

It was funny for me how my perception of the whole thing evolved. At first I thought, why is he riding out there in the woods? It was only as it dawned on me that he hadn’t had any such intention that I realized, oh, he kind of screwed up, didn’t he?

Then we went on to where we were crossing water. Everyone did fine in the water, and if anyone had gone down it wouldn’t have been a major mishap, though it would have been uncomfortable. Wet. I raised my legs when I went through but a couple times it still splashed up enough that I got soaked below the knee. Glad I had high boots on. And there was that one time in the middle of the muck that my rear-end started sliding away, but I caught it and got through OK. Hey, what’s adventure riding without a little adventure?

So that’s a bit more of the human side of this ride. Now, of course, I need to take Judy out and show her these roads.

Biker Quote for Today

When noobs give up, they’re not quitters, they just stay noobs.

These were exactly the kinds of roads I bought the V-Strom to ride. There are probably a couple thousand miles of these roads in Colorado alone, and I want to ride a lot more of them.

As mentioned previously, Saturday was my day to ride with Scott Lee and a group he was leading on a Colorado Motorcycle Adventures tour. It was a good day.

We met early at Foothills BMW/Triumph and all the paying folks did their paperwork. As a tag-along there was no paperwork for me but Scott’s wife, Lorie, did insist that I take a T-shirt and a Butler map of Colorado, and I spent some time getting acquainted with some of the other riders.

Taking off, we went out Sixth Avenue to C-470, down to the Morrison turn-off and up CO 74 to Evergreen. We turned south on CO 73 to Conifer, jogged west very briefly on U.S. 285, and headed on south along Foxton Road. That brought us down to the Platte River where we headed southeast along the river to where we hit the road that comes over from Sedalia, via the Rampart Range. A turn-off from that road took us back into an area I don’t think I’ve ever been in before, because of course, all of this was on gravel. That’s why I bought the V-Strom, to ride these gravel roads.

We twisted and turned our way along these roads until we finally came out on CO 67 a little south of Deckers, and then went to Deckers for lunch.

After lunch we headed south again on CO 67 for about eight miles and then turned off onto a gravel road called West Creek Road. This road took us down into an area that, like so much else in the area, was burned out in the Hayman Fire years ago. You know that eventually the forest will regenerate but it’s surprising after this many years how few and small the young trees still are. At the same time, with the trees gone it opens up vistas that you never would have seen before, and which are pretty dang impressive.

We turned off onto one road that was a dead-end but Scott figured the area it went through was worth seeing so we went down and turned back. It was definitely cool. I really wanted to be shooting pictures but I needed to steer the bike. The two people in the group with the GoPro cameras undoubtedly good some good footage.

Back on the through-road again, we continued on into an area that is designated for dirt biking. I’m really not at all sure what this area is. It’s not the Rampart Range, and it’s over on the back side of Pikes Peak so that we got a great view of the peak as I’ve never seen it before. We did see a couple dirt bikers whizzing along.

We stuck to the road, which by now was pretty narrow and uneven–exactly what dual-sport bikes excel at. We were having fun!

The route looped around and we picked up a stream that wove back and forth across the road. There were no bridges; we rode through it and definitely got wet. This was the first time I’ve ridden the V-Strom through water. I’d crossed little bits of water other times on other dual-sport bikes, and then there was the time on my Concours when we were coming down Hoosier Pass toward Breckenridge and there was water running eight inches deep across the highway, so it wasn’t my first time with water. But it was an adventure just the same, especially the one time when my back end started slipping sideways before my traction hooked up again.

After looping around through all this fire-scarred terrain I was surprised when we emerged back out onto CO 67 less than half a mile from where we got off it. So from there it was just back to Deckers, back along the river and up over and down to Sedalia. At that point people started peeling off and heading their own ways home. It was a good day to be out riding.

Biker Quote for Today

Always take the road less traveled, unless the riding is better on the other roads.

I find it amazing how the number of motorcycle rental and tour outfits in Colorado has grown. Not many years ago I could have named about four but now there must be about ten of them. Is there enough business for them all to keep going? That is a really good question.

But for the moment, none of the companies in business when I started this website or that have come into being since then have folded. I wish them all great success.

One of the most recent of the newcomers is Colorado Motorcycle Adventures (CMA), which is owned and run by a guy named Scott Lee. As a fair number of these companies do, CMA advertises on this site, so this is my disclaimer.

And as I try to do as much as I can with these outfits, I’m going for a ride with Colorado Motorcycle Adventures. CMA rents bikes and leads tours. As the word “adventure” in their name implies, they are focused on adventure motorcycling. They rent dual-sport or adventure bikes. They lead backcountry tours.

The tour I’m tagging along on, on my own 650 V-Strom, is their “Intro to Adventure Motorcycling Tour.” Business seems to be pretty good because the tour was sold out, but as I say, I’m just tagging along. It will be a 135 mile, seven-hour loop heading out of Lakewood going south on a route I can’t really figure out from the small map I have at the moment. The sheet says the total dirt mileage will be 30-40 miles, taking about three to four hours. You can bet I’ll have a lot more info to share with you after I’ve done this ride.

One intriguing note: the sheet says lunch is included “at a small, local restaurant off the beaten path — remember this is an adventure ride so it applies to our meal as well!” I’m very curious.

What’s going to be really interesting about all this is that the date is set for May 3 and we all know what the weather can do in early May. I asked Scott about this and he said that short of really horrid weather–like a blizzard–we’re going. He has people coming in from out of state for this and rescheduling is just not an option for them. Keep your fingers crossed and bring all the appropriate gear. I’m glad I’ve got my V-Strom outfitted to use my electric vest. But mostly I hope the weather is gorgeous. If it isn’t then I’ll probably get some good experience in mud. That’s something I have zero experience with so far.

So I’ve got something to look forward to. Four weeks off. Gonna be a good one.

Biker Quote for Today

A straight road never made a skilled rider.

It was such a hit as a one-off idea that it has become a yearly event. This is the Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Run, a coast-to-coast ride that is restricted to bikes that were built in 1936 or earlier, which is to say, that are at least 78 years old. This is an event you’re going to want to turn out for just to see all this old iron actually out running.

The riders will be crossing Colorado on their way west from September 13 through September 16.

I heard about this thanks to Gary Wright, from Falcon, who will be one of the riders. If you see someone with the #57 that will be him.

I’ll let Gary give you some of the details.

it’s the 2014 Cannonball Endurance Run. being the third one ran. over 100 Pre 1937 motorcycles (78 to 102 year old bikes) with riders from 11 different countries in a coast to coast timed endurance run from Florida to Washington this coming Sept.. Sept 5th. threw 21st.. it enters Colorado on the afternoon of Sept. 13th in Burlington Colo.. leaves early am 14th., makes its way to a mid day stop in Colo. Springs at the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum then ends its day in Golden Colo.. early morning (15th.) leaves Golden Colo. crossing the Continental Divide Three Times before that days end in Grand Junction Colo.. leaving the state early morn of Sept. 16th 2014. there may be folks interested in seeing this moving museum?

No one is claiming that these bikes are all stock; being that old that would be pretty much impossible. However, “The bike must be powered by an original engine. Many things could be changed on a machine, and updates made for safety sake, but the core of the machine must be 1936 or earlier.”

Brakes are one thing that not only can be changed, but which you are encouraged to upgrade. “We are all aware that 100 years ago brakes were not that good. If in any way you can improve your braking ability, to the point of even adding a front brake, then it is highly recommended.”

This ride started in 2010, so this will be the fifth year.

Gary will be on his 1930 Indian Chief. Scanning the list of riders it looks like most of the bikes will be Indians, Harleys, and Henderson, with a reasonable number of BMWs mixed in and a lot of onesies: a 1929 BSA Sloper, a 1931 Sunbeam M9, a 1928 Velocette, a 1935 Sokol 1000, a 1923 Neracar, and a few others.

A particularly interesting rider is Claudia Ganzaroli, #105, who will be shipping her 1928 Moto Frera from Italy, where she lives. And she’s not the only one coming from another country. These folks are out for an adventure!

I’m looking forward to this. They’ll be coming through on a weekend so there’s no reason in the world why everyone close by shouldn’t come out to see this rolling museum. It’s gonna be great.

Biker Quote for Today

The older I get, the faster I used to be.

I had to ride on Sunday. The weather insisted and so did my bikes. After running some errands on the Kawasaki I got on the Honda to do some cruising. There were some roads south of town I wanted to explore.

Of course one problem was that I didn’t know the names of these roads. I knew when I went past the exit off I-25 for Ridgegate Parkway that that was where I had wanted to get off. No problem, two exits further south is Happy Canyon Road and in all the years I’ve lived here I’ve never taken that road. I figured now was the time.

I got off on Happy Canyon and found that just like the exit just to the north, Castle Pines Parkway, this road goes through Castle Pines. I had just been down that way a couple weeks ago. And sure enough, Happy Canyon came out on U.S. 85 just a very short distance southeast of where Castle Pines and the Daniels Park road come out. So fine, I made the three-quarter-mile jog to the Daniels Park road and went back to I-25 that way, and then north to the Ridgegate Parkway exit.

What I had in mind was the road that runs along the hillside alongside the highway, just because I’d never been on it and previously had not known how you even got to it. As I headed the short distance east from the highway to the southbound road I was interested to see that Ridgegate Parkway continued east and I wondered where it went. I decided to go south on the road I planned–which turned out to be Havana, at least up at this end–and then come back up and go further east on Ridgegate.

Havana, or whatever it became, was a nice winding cruise and where did it come to but to Castle Pines Parkway as it continued east. Wonder where that goes? I’d never been on it before either, so I figured I’d follow Ridgegate some other time.

By the way, that map you see here shows in yellow this route I took. The mapping software is 2010 version but this extension of Castle Pines Parkway to the east is so new it isn’t even on the map.

It turned out that the road worked its way east and north, looping around the also pretty new Reuter-Hess Reservoir, which I believe is a joint venture between Parker and Castle Rock. The reservoir is so new it hardly has any water in it. Presumably that will change.

As I went on I eventually came to an area where new houses are going up and a sign welcomed me to Parker. This must be far southwest Parker, and it’s nowhere near the old part of town, the Parker that was all of Parker the first time I ever was there. The road became Hess Road and it brought me out on Parker Road about two miles south of the old part of town.

I cruised on north toward home until the bike suddenly lost power and started acting badly. Oh rats, don’t make trouble for me today! Then I had a thought, glanced at the trip meter, and flipped the lever to go to reserve. The power surged again and I had a reminder to get gas before I went home.

I wanted to get out on the Suzuki as well considering how unpredictable the weather has been but I also wanted to work in my garden. I had a ride out east planned for the V-Strom but after a couple hours in the garden I figured that ride could wait, and instead I would take this bike and actually ride east on RidgeGate Parkway as I had intended to do on the Honda.

That’s the line in blue on the map, and this road is also so new it doesn’t even show on the mapping software. This road also twisted around east and north and it eventually was labeled Main Street. It took a while but it did indeed take me right into old Parker, on Parker’s old Main Street. So now I know.

And now I see, looking at the map, another road that runs off of Founder’s Parkway in Castle Rock, goes northeast, and meets Hess Road just west of Parker Road. Never been on that road. Guess I’ll have to go take a look.

Biker Quote for Today

So what bike are you going to try it on? If someone loans me a KTM 950 I’ll give it a swing, no guarantee on what the bike will look like after.

The weather gods have smiled on us for the most part this winter, providing numerous days when motorcycle riding is not only possible, but demanded. Not this most recent Sunday, but the one before, was one of those days. How could I possibly say no?

Of course, as I mentioned previously, I had ridden to work on Friday, which served as my first February ride on my V-Strom. That was a pretty basic ride, just out Hampden to Kipling, north on Kipling, and then a bit of a zig-zag to the office. The reverse on the return.

Saturday dawned warm (or so I hear) but by the time I was up and out a serious chill had set in. I took my chances and figured I’d ride on Sunday. I knew that had the potential to be a big mistake but in this case the weatherman proved right.

So here it was Sunday and I had a Honda and a Kawasaki needing to be ridden. One of the really tough questions I have to ask myself again and again over the winter is where to ride to. The mountains are out because I’ve found through experience that no matter how nice it is down here on the plains, up there the temperatures will be at least 15 degrees lower and there will be ice in the shadows. On the other hand, just cruising across the prairie is not exactly exciting.

I find it works best if I can come up with a theme or a destination–something other than just wandering. (Although there is a lot to be said for just wandering some times!)

Heading out first on the Honda I settled on going out east on one of the main roads to see just how far I could get before it petered out. Partially by accident, that street happened to be Jewell. East I went, and further east. The amazing thing for me was that as I kept going further and further out, there were subdivisions out there. Who in the world lives that far out? And why? I got out to Powhaton Road and there were houses out there! To each his own, but boy, that’s not my own.

So anyway, just past Powhaton the pavement finally did come to an end. I was on the Honda, though, and while it’s not a dual-sport bike, it is an old go-nearly-anywhere bike. I figured if the gravel wasn’t too bad I’d see how much further I could get.

It turned out the gravel was great. It seemed to have been heavily treated with magnesium chloride and was a good, hard, stable surface, so I kept going. Which ultimately brought me to Watkins Road. I had heard that Watkins Road had been paved fairly recently but I had never been on it, but there I was, at a T-intersection (see photo) and that was the road I had to take. I knew going north would just lead me to Watkins so I headed south. Time to explore.

Not that there was much to explore down that way. I rode a few miles and hit another T-intersection, Quincy Avenue. I turned west and headed back into town. I had found where Jewell went to and Quincy would be a ride for another day. Looking at the map it doesn’t really look like it goes much of anywhere either, but through some twisting and turning I guess you can make it out to Byers. Another day.

One thing of note, however, is that heading west on Quincy I ran across quite a few motorcycles heading east. Wonder where they were going?

Back home I got on the Kawasaki and headed out again. This time I jumped on I-25 going south and quickly decided to get off at the Castle Pines exit and see where that took me. Castle Pines is kind of an amazing place. For one thing, there’s more than one “house” in that area that can appropriately be described as a castle. We’re talking homes where the monthly mortgage payment might easily be more than I make in a year. Kind of incomprehensible.

That road actually doesn’t go very far, however, before it hits Daniels Park Road. I knew at that point that going north would just take me into Highlands Ranch and back to C-470 and I didn’t want to do that so I went south. That brought me out to U.S. 85 of course and I turned right, to head up through Sedalia. By now I was seeing many, many bikes. It was a gorgeous day and this road is a popular motorcycling road year-round. No surprise there.

What was a surprise was when I got to Sedalia and rather than the crowd of bikes at the Sedalia Grill that I expected, there were only one car and two bikes in the parking lot. Did that place close? I didn’t stop to inquire but boy, was that a strange sight. In the meantime, there were probably more bikes than cars on U.S. 85, going both directions.

From there it was just up to C-470, east to I-25, and home. I had just spent the better part of the afternoon out cruising and felt pretty satisfied. Is it any surprise that I love living in Colorado?

Biker Quote for Today

One of the beautiful things about riding solo is the quality of the social experience.

Oh well, shucks. I just got the newest issue of Rider magazine in the mail today and my Vetter piece is not in it. I had had the impression it would be, but it’s not in my hands. Maybe next issue.

I’ve been able to do some riding lately. We get cold and snow–like today–and then we get some warm and clear. If we get enough warm and clear the roads get melted off and I can get out. On Saturday I headed down to Franktown, to the Stagecoach, as you can see in the photo. I saw a lot of guys out on bikes and the closer I got to Franktown the more I saw. There were probably 50 or so parked at the Stagecoach.

Sunday I got out again, not going anywhere in particular but doing some exploring. That can be a really fun thing to do if you pick a good area to go explore. I ended up down in Highlands Ranch and just followed some of the major streets. I fail to comprehend–as I have for years–where all the money comes from for so many people to buy so many huge houses. Yeah, I guess many of them may be owned by bank after the housing crash of a few years ago, but certainly not all of them.

The other thing that really struck me was how out of date that whole area is already. With that sprawling lay-out there is no way you can go anywhere other than to your neighbor’s or to the nearby park without driving. That’s the way they built neighborhoods for decades but times are a changin’. People want to somewhere that they can walk to the cafe or whatever other thing and those are the neighborhoods of the future. You couldn’t give me a house in Highlands Ranch.

So it seems like I never just go out for a ride anymore. I’m always testing some product or other and these rides were no different. I’ve got these high-tech earplugs I’m trying out and more recently I received a back brace that is supposed to prevent back pain on long rides. I’m not ready to report on either of them but I’ve been able to use both a few times now.

The earplugs I’m having trouble with. They’re supposed to block bad noise but let you hear people talking and road noises that you need to hear. I put them in and can hardly tell they’re blocking any sound at all, until I take them out and hear what I was not hearing before. I don’t know what to make of them.

The back brace is supposedly for long rides but because I won’t be doing any of those any time real soon I figured I’d just wear it around the house and to work. It’s not at all uncomfortable but considering that I don’t suffer from back pain it’s hard for me to really tell how good a job it’s doing. But I’ll keep using it and will have a report before too long, I expect.

Biker Quote for Today

You’re a biker wannabe if there are no wrinkled, faded, creased, or scratched areas on your leathers.