Passes & Canyons Blog

Hot diggity, the days are getting warmer–and longer–and riding to work is once again going to be an option. Actually, where I work now, out west of Union on Alameda, there are a couple hard-core BMW guys who already are riding most days.

Of course, I haven’t met them yet, so who knows if maybe they just live 2 miles away. For me it is a 22-mile ride if I take the direct route, or about 26 miles if I take the route with less traffic. You can ignore a lot if you’re only going a few miles.

I don’t like taking the more direct route because that puts me in the thick of commuter traffic, with a lot of stop and go. That’s murder on your clutch wrist. Plus it’s dangerous. I went this same route several years ago when I was working out in the same general area and there was more than one occasion when I was on a bike and someone decided to pull into the next lane without looking to see if anyone–me–might be there who they could not see in their mirror.

The fact is, though, I’m going to be a bit torn in another month or so. The W line for the RTD’s light rail system is set to open April 26 and that will enable me to get on the train very close to home and ride all they way out to 2nd and Union. I’ll need to get on a bus from there but the bus stops right outside our office building. Why battle traffic at all when you don’t need to?

But I will want to ride at least some days. So I guess I won’t be getting a monthly pass. Those things cost enough that if you don’t use them every day you don’t save any money. I guess I’ll just get the book of passes that save you some money and ride the bike some days, ride the light rail some days, and maybe even drive my car some days–maybe not.

Of course that’s the other thing. Right now there is a bottleneck on I-25 where Santa Fe feeds into it, but that project looks like it should be finished in two or three months. Once they get all those north and south lanes open I’m hoping the jam-ups that are there pretty much every day will go away, and then even taking that route by car may be a lot better. Might even go that way on the bike, if it improves a lot.

Till then, though, I’m just looking for it to be nice enough that I won’t have to dress as if it was winter just because I’m leaving home at 7:45 a.m. Then maybe I’ll finally meet those beemer guys.

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Biker Quote for Today

Don’t just look at it – Ride the bloody thing!

Where is the OFMC going on its 2013 ride? I mentioned before that it’s an all-Colorado ride so there will be some short days. Day one will be the very shortest, at least for everyone except John, who is coming from Montrose. We’re headed to the Poudre Canyon. Those of us leaving from Denver will head up to Loveland, west out of town on U.S. 36, and then to Masonville and up the Buckhorn Canyon road, over the Stove Prairie Road to the Poudre, and then to the Sportsman’s Lodge.

Day two we’ll go on up the canyon over Cameron Pass into North Park, then take U.S. 40 over Berthoud Pass and then over to Dillon. Johnathon has a gig there that night so this is when he’ll be joining us.

We’ll take CO 9 out of Dillon the next morning, up to Kremmling, and then Gore Pass to Toponas. How we’re going to get to Meeker–our stop for the night–from there I’m not sure. We once took Ripple Creek Pass, which is the most direct way, but that road is unpaved and most of the OFMC guys don’t like riding gravel. It’s a beautiful ride, though.

Next stop after Meeker will be Mesa, via Douglas Pass, with a sidetrip over Rimrock Drive through Colorado National Monument. Mesa, in case you’re uncertain (I was) is on the north side of Grand Mesa on CO 65, which you reach via the Debeque Cutoff.

The following day we’ll cross Grand Mesa and head down to Crested Butte. Our route will take us through Crawford on CO 92, to the north rim of the Black Canyon, on through Gunnison, and then back north out of Gunnison.

From there we’ll head back south to Gunnison, over North Cochetopa Pass down to Saguache, down to South Fork, over Wolf Creek Pass to stop for the night in Pagosa Springs.

Breaking out of the all-Colorado theme for one night, our next stop will be in Angle Fire, New Mexico. We’ll head south out of Pagosa on U.S. 84 and pick up U.S. 64 through Taos and on to Angel Fire. Not sure why John picked that spot, considering we stopped there for lunch a couple years ago and I know I was not impressed. Oh well, John plans the route.

Then it’s back into Colorado, along a route I’m not totally certain of, other than that we definitely go over La Veta Pass, then up through Westcliffe, and end up for the night in Canon City.

And then the next day we head home. And we start thinking about next year.

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Biker Quote for Today

Maybe Old’s Cool is a bunch of dirty old men who swear because , let’s face it, old bikes run on blasphemy as much as they do gasoline and oil. — Jinx

I still miss the simpler, early days when the OFMC was three of us and we would just pick a direction and go. Now, with 8-10 guys every year, we have to plan ahead. The days of three guys in one room with two beds, taking turns being the one to sleep on the floor, are over.

So now we plan, and make reservations to ensure we all have beds. Plus, we don’t ever camp any more.

We’re all set for 2013. There will be nine of us this year and it will be an all-Colorado trip again. We’re doing this more and more because some of the guys have trouble taking off for the whole trip and by staying in the state we create a situation where anyone who needs to can ride out to join us or back home in one day. That’s hard to do when the group is up in Montana or Idaho. And, of course, our chief planner, John, likes to do it this way because his son, Johnathon, is one of those who have trouble getting away.

In fact, John changed the plans for two days when it turned out Johnathon–who plays sax in a band–had a gig in Dillon during the trip week. We’ll be staying in Dillon that night.

There was a time when John was not the sole arbiter of where we would go and when the way he is now. Originally we made decisions together. As John started taking more and more control for himself I pushed back a lot. It’s not just your trip, dude. But I eventually got tired of the persistent struggle and decided the heck with it, let’s just go ride and have a good time.

When I want to do something else I go do it on my own. I actually prefer to ride alone much of the time anyway. I can be fairly antisocial, definitely a loner. And I like to camp, too. Heck, there are times I just throw the sleeping bag out on the ground next to the bike.

So now we just have to wait for late July. I’ll give you our itinerary on Thursday.

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Biker Quote for Today

Give big space to the festive dog that makes sport in roadway. Avoid entanglement of dog with wheel spokes. — Old Honda Manual

Running this website I get frequent emails from riders planning trips to Colorado asking about routes. I’m always happy to help them plot out something that fits their interests and schedule.

Most recently I got this email:

We are going to be taking a 2 weeks vacation on the bike through Colorada,to Yellowstone National Park, then to Boise Idaho, and head back maybe on a different route. One think we’ve been interested in is the train ride from Durango to Silverton. We plan to leave Oklahoma City, come up through Chama, New Mexico, and head north through Colorado, maybe travel Wolf Creek Pass. We don’t care to do the Royal Gorge, Colorado Springs, or any of that area. Probably more central/western Colorado. We figure about 3 days in Boise, a couple in Yellowstone, etc… It’s difficult to decide on roads and any advice would be most appreciated.

Here’s my reply.

If you come in through Chama it is very nice to come over Cumbres and La Manga Pass to Antonito. Then you could go north to Alamosa and pick up US 160, go west to South Fork and over Wolf Creek Pass and on to Durango.

From Durango you will definitely want to ride Red Mountain Pass to Ouray. Ouray is one of my favorite towns in Colorado so I definitely recommend staying there. Stay on US 550 out of Ouray to Ridgway and then turn west on CO 62 to Placerville, pick up CO 145 to Naturita, and take CO 141 to Gateway. This is the Unaweep road and it’s great.

That will bring you out a bit south of Grand Junction where you have several good options.

1. You can go on to Junction and go to the Colorado National Monument and ride that road. Definitely spectacular. Then you might want to just jump on I-70 through Debeque Canyon and on to Glenwood Springs. Head toward Carbondale and Aspen and go over Independence Pass. Go to Leadville and down Tennessee Pass to Minturn and that will bring you back to I-70. Go back a little west on I-70 to Wolcott and take CO 131 up through Toponas to Steamboat Springs.

2. Head south away from Junction to Delta and go east on CO 133 to Hotchkiss and over McClure Pass down to Carbondale and then take the road over Independence Pass. Then same as No. 1.

3. Head through Delta on to Montrose and go east on US 50. Stop at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and ride the rim and the East Portal Road. Terrific. Continue east through Gunnison over Monarch Pass and go north at Poncha Springs to Twin Lakes, just a little south of Leadville, and go the other direction on Independence Pass to Aspen and on to Glenwood Springs. Ride east on I-70 to Wolcott and do as in No. 1. This has the benefit of taking you through Glenwood Canyon on I-70, and that’s fabulous. I don’t normally recommend interstate but there’s no other way to see Glenwood Canyon and it is worth it.

Once you get to Steamboat Springs, go west on US 40 into Utah to Vernal and take the road north, US 191, up past the Flaming Gorge and into Wyoming. The road to the west of the gorge, through Manila, is the nicer route. You’ll come out at Green River. The nicest road toward Yellowstone is the one that goes through Kemmerer, up to Cokeville, and through the Star Valley, US 30 and US 89, then US 26 and US 189. The early part of that stretch is prairie but you’re going to run though a lot of that at this point no matter which route you take. This will bring you up to Jackson and the south end of Grand Teton and then to Yellowstone.

So those are some thoughts. Hope that helps. Have a great trip. I’ll be happy to answer any other questions you might have.

Every writer has different things they want to do or places they want to go. Every time I sit and look at the map and figure out an entirely different route. It’s kind of fun.

Biker Quote for Today

I rode a motorcycle to Reno, just to eat some pie.

I eagerly unfolded my copy of the Colorado Backcountry Discovery Route map, from Butler Maps. What roads would it take, which ones have I been on, and which ones might I realistically consider riding at some point?

To refresh your memory, the Backcountry Discovery Route series is sponsored by Touratech, makers of adventure motorcycling gear. What these guys do is go out and develop a route that crosses an entire state, generally north to south, and then they make the GPS logs available for free. Butler Maps has partnered with Touratech on this, producing maps of the routes.

And what do you know, I actually have ridden parts of this route.

Of course part of it was easy. The route starts at Four Corners and comes up through Cortez and up to Dolores on paved roads. I’ve done all that. Then it gets off on the more gnarly stuff. The route parallels CO 145 along over Lizard Head Pass, taking the west side of the San Miguel Mountains and the lizard head, up to where CO 145 has now passed Telluride. Dropping back south of Telluride almost to Lizard Head Pass, it leaves the paved road again through Ophir and over Ophir Pass to connect to US 550 a little north of Silverton. Jogging north, it then crosses Cinnamon Pass over to Lake City (ridden that one) and then heads up Slumgullion Pass before getting off on the dirt again all the way to Cochetopa Pass, south of Gunnison, and on to meet up with US 50 east of Gunnison at Doyleville.

I’m not going to describe the entire route. In brief it goes something like this: Tin Cup, Taylor Reservoir, Cottonwood Pass (ridden that), Buena Vista, Weston Pass (been there), Leadville, Hagerman Pass, Crooked Creek Pass (been there), Gypsum, Colorado River Road (ridden that), State Bridge, the Trough Road (ridden that one), Lynx Pass, Steamboat Springs, Columbine (been there on the bike), and on to the Wyoming state line at Battle Creek.

The route is broken up into sections and gas stops are indicated on the map. That’s pretty handy when you’re going off the pavement and don’t run into a lot of stations, I’m sure. Alternate routes are pointed out that are a little easier (or possibly simply passable when things get wet), and nice sidetrips to places such as hot springs are pointed out. Lodging is pointed out.

Altogether this route covers 675 miles. As the map states, “It is intended for intermediate to advanced riders and can be ridden on most street legal dual-sport and adventure motorcycles.”

Hey, if you’re looking for some adventure riding, this is Colorado, after all. Go ride!

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Biker Quote for Today

It’s not how fast you’re going, its about how fast your fast comes to a stop.

For those of you who favor getting off the pavement, the time has come to put the biggest event of the year on your calendar. Every year Adventure Riders holds regional events and Westfest is the one for this region. Westfest 2013 will be held August 9-11 up outside of Buena Vista, headquartered at the Arrowhead Point campground. This is a private campground so in addition to paying the $45 Westfest registration fee you’ll also pay $45 per person for tent camping at Arrowhead Point, if that’s where you stay. Of course there are other options, but all the non-riding fun will be centered on the campground.

Make no mistake, this is a dirt bike/dual-sport event. They do have some rides planned for street bikes but other than routes like Independence Pass you should still figure on gravel. If that works for you, that’s great. These folks are out there to ride the hills and have a good time back in camp later. And several meals are included in your Westfest registration.

I had hopes of going to this thing a couple years ago, and wrote about it here several times, but circumstances conspired to prevent that happening. I’m not even going to fantasize this time because with the silly thing called a “job” that I have now I know it just isn’t going to happen.

But if you can get away and like that kind of riding you should definitely go. I’ve been to several Adventure Rider events and they’re a fun group of people. And I will get to this one of these years.

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Biker Quote for Today

Rode down black bear pass on fully loaded bikes–we knew better–but did it anyway.

Are you interested in crossing Colorado, border to border, on an adventure motorcycle on unpaved roads and trails? That’s what the Colorado Backcountry Discovery Route is all about and the folks who mapped it out will be showing a video of their riding of this route.

The first showing will be this Saturday, Jan. 19, at BMW of Denver, 2910 S. Havana. The show starts at 5 p.m. They ask that you RSVP to save a seat. The second showing will be the following Saturday, Jan. 26, at Performance Cycle of Denver, 1990 S. Broadway. No further info on their showing. There’s no admission fee.

The Colorado Backcountry Route is another in a series of such efforts headed up for the most part by Touratech, a company that specializes in creating and selling tough gear for adventure motorcyclists. The backcountry route thing is great for off-road riders because it helps establish routes (free GPS files are available) and good for Touratech because it helps them sell more gear.

Paul Guillien is general manager of Touratech and I spoke with him at the time that the non-profit group they formed released the Utah Backcountry Discovery Route. I’d link to that article but unfortunately it was published on RumBum.com and RumBum has shut down operations and it’s not available. I’d republish it here except that I sold all rights to the piece to RumBum, so they own it, not me.

Too bad, it was a good piece. I will, however, excerpt the opening two paragraphs. That’s fair use under copyright law.

By the standard of “It’s not an adventure until someone says, ‘WTF are we doing here??’,” Paul Guillien and his riding companion were pretty certain they were having an adventure coming down from Reservation Ridge.

“Two of us were out scouting away from the group and we got stuck on Reservation Ridge. It’s about 9,000 elevation, we were buzzing along, and next thing we know a rain storm opened up on us and within minutes the bikes were falling down.”

Suffice it to say, this Colorado video is likely to be well worth watching. Even if you don’t ride in the dirt.

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Biker Quote for Today

We have always taken “very dangerous” and “not recommended” as indicators of where some good riding was to be had.

I seem to be really bad about this. I had every intention of going to the Last Brass Monkey Run. The fact it was cold was a plus because that meant I’d get to really test out my new electric gloves. But just as has happened in the past, my plans did not work out.

The problem is the weather. We had snow quite awhile ago now but it has been cold and colder and our street is still a sheet of snow and ice. There was no way in the world I was going to ride my bike down that street. Heck, I slip and slide on it in my car. And I don’t know about you but the idea of going to a motorcycle run in a car just doesn’t cut it.

So once again, my plans fell through.

Now it’s going to get interesting, though. Tomorrow is January 1 and that means I have 31 days to at least get in one ride on each bike. I never miss a month ever and you would think this would not be a problem. But hey, if it doesn’t at least warm up enough to melt that snow and ice on the street, it could be a problem.

It’s way too early to be getting worried, but you better believe the first chance I get to get out I’ll jump on it. At this time of year you’d better not snooze or the chances are very good you will lose.

So Friday is supposed to be 40 degrees, the only day this week higher than the 30s. Maybe Saturday will be the day. (I’ll be at work on Friday so that won’t be a day to ride.) Time to start keeping fingers crossed.

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Biker Quote for Today

Don’t stop riding until you get to the crash , you might save it!