Passes & Canyons Blog

Yeah, it’s cold and gonna get colder the next couple days, but then we’re supposed to get a little warmer. Just in time for this year’s final organized motorcycle ride, the Last Brass Monkey Run.

The Last Brass Monkey Run is put on each year by ABATE of Colorado and it starts out at a couple spots, The Frontier Club in Aurora and Susie’s in Golden, and comes together at the Grizzly Rose.

Registration at the starting points begins at 9 a.m. and the party at the Grizzly Rose begins at noon. Registration is $10 for ABATE members and $15 for non-members. Plus, if you’re an ABATE member and you renew your membership at the event it only costs you $5 to get in.

Goings-on include food and live music, a chili cook-off, cash prizes, door prizes, 50-50, and of course the chance to catch up with friends and get in your last ride of the year.

Of course, if the weather turns nasty or you just can’t motivate yourself to get on the bike, you can come in your car. What the heck.

So hey! I’ll see you there, right?

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Butler Maps goes east to the Ozarks

Biker Quote for Today

Trailering your bike is a sickness. Call 1-800 2 SCARED TO RIDE

What a gorgeous day Sunday. I rode the Kawi to the ABATE meeting and then in the afternoon I took off on the Honda for a real ride. Time to give that battery a good charge.

It was so nice that the mountains called. I knew as I went up in elevation the temperature was going to drop but I was dressed warmly and had my electric vest on. Upward!

I cruised up through Morrison to Idledale, to Kittredge, and on to Evergreen. Lots of bikes on the road. Lots of bikes parked in Morrison and Evergreen.

And yes, it got cooler. It didn’t take long for me to be glad I had the electric vest on. It was sunny, but with the sun low in the south, the canyon was mostly in shadow. And the higher I went, the lower the mercury dipped.

By the time I reached Evergreen it was getting cloudy. I had wanted to stop but didn’t. You know how you have intentions and yet sometimes you never act on them. That was me. I turned south on Highway 73, the road to where I would meet U.S. 285 at Conifer. Now I was getting cold, especially my hands. I realized the time had come to switch to my winter riding gloves and I wished I had done so already. By the time I reached Conifer I was starting to wonder if my vest had stopped working; I was that cold.

So I cruised on down to Aspen Park and pulled off to get something hot to hold and drink. There’s a Starbucks in the King Soopers there and that was just the ticket. Feeling reasonably warm again, I rolled on back down the hill. By the time I got back to the city it was a comfortable temp again but I kept the vest turned on anyway. Felt good. And yes, it was still working.

The moral of the story, or lesson or whatever: It’s that time of year. I probably won’t be riding into the mountains again until sometime next year. And I really do need to get some electric gloves on my hands, sooner rather than later. Judy said she’d get me some for Christmas, and if I tell her specifically what I want she won’t wait for Christmas. I had forgotten to do that. No more forgetting.

But oh man, what a great day to be out for a ride. After doing all this riding this past summer I haven’t been on the bikes all that much this fall. And now I’ve started a job, for the first time in more than three years. I’m back at the point where when I occasionally go for a ride it hits me that, “Hey, this is really fun! I should do this more!” From here on it’s all about the weather.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Women motorcyclist research project seeks participants

Biker Quote for Today

The world belongs to those who can laugh at it.

I’m not much of a glad-hander, so even though I’ve been an ABATE member for several years now and I go to my district’s monthly meetings as often as possible, I still don’t even know most of the people’s names, and I’ve never spoken to most of them. So I was very interested to figure out recently that one woman who has been coming for awhile, and whom I had never met, is Kathy Banning, one of the co-owners of United Dirt Bike School. And so at the meeting last Sunday I approached her afterward and we spoke.

If you’ve been reading this blog you know that for some time I have had a growing interest in riding off the pavement. I’m not necessarily interested in the serious, really difficult trail riding that some people do, I’m just tired of missing out on all these great roads that Colorado has that don’t happen to have asphalt on them. I’ve ridden a bit with Kevin Smith, of Colorado Mountain Moto, and Ron Coleman, of Western Dual Sport Motorcycle Adventures, but I want more. And most especially, I want my own dual-sport or dirt bike.

What I don’t want is to get out somewhere, all on my own, and get in trouble. Now, I’m a confident sort of person and I think I’m pretty good at recognizing my limitations, so I don’t really think that is all that likely. But what if it did? One way to improve my odds would be to improve my skills. I’ve taken the MSF Beginning Rider Course and the Experienced Rider Course, so why not take a dirt-riding course? And Kathy and her partner, Michael St. John, are both MSF certified to teach dirt riding. I told Kathy that I’m interested.

An interesting thing is that apparently, so are a lot of other people. They have limited access to the training course they use and from what Kathy tells me, they have a line of people waiting to get in their classes. That’s a good problem to have, I guess, though you would actually wish you could accommodate everyone who wants to pay for your services.

So I got the scoop on it all. They provide the bikes and the gear. You need gloves and proper footwear. A full-day class runs $175 if they provide the bike, $150 if you bring your own. Get on their email list and they’ll keep you apprised of class opportunities. And even with winter coming on, that doesn’t pull the plug on classes. As long as conditions allow it and they have interested students, they teach all year round.

I’m not saying I’m definitely going to do this, but I’m definitely thinking about it. And after working totally as a freelance writer for the past 3-1/2 years I have now taken an editor position, on contract, with the National Park Service, so I’m going to have some money again, at last. As always, you’ll read about it here if it happens.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
More articles published in Rider and Accelerate

Biker Quote for Today

Paved roads…… Just another perfect example of needless spending by the government.

Completing our recent weekend on the Western Slope, Judy and I were coming home via Gunnison and figured that rather than go over Monarch Pass again, as we had just a couple weeks before, that we would take Cottonwood Pass. Of course that means going north from Gunnison to Almont and then east up Taylor Canyon.

But Judy had been looking at the map and had spotted an alternative. If you start up Taylor Canyon, there is a spot where a road forks off to the left that goes up through Spring Creek Canyon. It’s all gravel whereas Taylor is paved up through Taylor Reservoir, but hey, we’re into exploring the unpaved roads these days. Let’s do it.

Spring Creek Road is comparable to the gravel part of Cottonwood Pass. I’ve seen plenty of Harley cruisers doing Cottonwood so it’s not a question of could you do it, it’s a question of would you want to. It’s a beautiful canyon. Of course, when was the last time you saw an ugly canyon? And if this is your first time in the area, Taylor Canyon is probably prettier. But if you’ve done Taylor Canyon before, Spring Creek is a nice change of pace.

The one issue, of course, is that you would end up doing a lot more gravel. You might be fine with doing the little bit of gravel coming down Cottonwood. This extra 25 miles or so might not be something you’re interested in.

Unless you’re on a dual-sport bike. Then it’s a no-brainer. It’s a nice road, it’s a place you’ve never been before–what else matters?

After cruising up the canyon you come over and down to where you hit the road coming down to Taylor Reservoir from the north. The Taylor Canyon road comes up along the reservoir on the south. At the east end of the reservoir you meet up with that road, and turn left to go up Cottonwood.

So it’s an option. We enjoyed it.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Going over the edge of the Grand Mesa

Biker Quote for Today

“Improvement makes strait roads, but the crooked roads without Improvement, are roads of Genius” — William Blake 1757-1827

Kevin Smith and I had plans this summer to head up onto the Uncompaghre Plateau on a couple of his V-Stroms, but thanks to a screw-up by his doctor, Kevin spent much of the summer recovering from that misadventure. (If your doctor tells you a procedure is successful 95 percent of the time, think really hard about what it would mean if you were in the 5 percent.)

So with the Unk Plateau, as the locals call it, beckoning, that was the next destination for Judy and me after we came down off the Grand Mesa on the Land’s End Road. All it took was a short jog north on U.S. 50 and then a left turn onto CO 141 at Whitewater. CO 141 is the road that runs to Gateway and through the Unaweep Canyon, itself a terrific ride, and all paved.

To get up on top of the Unk Plateau you just cruise about 13 miles until you reach the turn-off for the Divide Road. Through a series of switchbacks you climb quickly to the top of the plateau and then the road heads south.

Although the locals all know and are familiar with the Unk, I have the strong impression that most other people in the state have no idea it exists. It’s a large area–more than 60 miles long by about 15 miles wide–and there are no towns and only gravel roads up there. Not surprisingly it’s a favorite for hunting, fishing, and camping. Also for ATVs and dual-sport or dirt bikes.

Unlike the Land’s End Road, I would not even want to take my Honda on the Divide Road. It’s too rough in too many places. This is definitely dual-sport or dirt bike terrain. But if you are riding one of those, the Unk is calling to you. There are hills, canyons, cliffs, lakes all just waiting. Think Grand Mesa, but with a lot fewer people. Heck the Divide Road even goes over a pass, Columbine Pass, as it traverses the plateau north to south.

It’s big enough, too, that we didn’t even cover the entire north-south cruise as we intended because it was getting late in the day. Instead, midway we turned off on a road that headed down to Delta. If we had taken the Divide Road to the end it would have brought us out in Montrose. So there’s plenty more to see. Maybe Kevin and I can get up there next year. On bikes.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Going over the edge of the Grand Mesa

Biker Quote for Today

If you dump it in front of me, I promise I won’t run you over.

Utterly, utterly spectacular. I’m talking about the Land’s End Road running off Grand Mesa down toward Whitewater. A week ago I had no idea this road existed. Now I’ve been on it.

I have to acknowledge that this is another instance of Judy and me going on roads that would be fabulous on a dual-sport bike but doing so in her Subaru Forester. Because I still don’t have a dual-sport bike. I’m really, really hoping that by next summer that situation is going to have changed. But in the meantime, we drive these roads and I view them from the motorcyclist’s perspective. And oh man, what a perspective this road offers.

You can go either way on the Land’s End Road but I strongly recommend down. I suspect that climbing you just wouldn’t see it the way you do descending. So to do that, you take CO 65 onto Grand Mesa, either coming from I-70 on the north or from Cedaredge on the south, and catch the well-marked turn-off at about the 31 mile marker. That road heads west to the edge of the mesa, runs along the rim a ways, and then reaches the point where it plunges downward. Oh. My. Gosh.

Up to this point the road alternates between good gravel and pavement. Starting down it is all gravel until you get down off the mesa and get near U.S. 50. But it’s good gravel and I would probably be willing to take my Honda CB750 Custom on it. No way would I take my Kawasaki Concours on it. The Connie hates gravel. On a dual-sport or a dirt bike I’d be in heaven.

If you’ve never seen this road you really owe it to yourself. Heck, go there in your car if nothing else. I just can’t believe I’d never even heard of it till now.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Motorcycle thefts decline 6 percent in 2011

Biker Quote for Today

You know the sign that says ‘Pavement ends’? I want to see more of those.

OK, you’re forgiven if your first reaction is to wonder, “Now, where the heck is Hotchkiss?” Just so you’ll know, Hotchkiss is just west of Paonia as you come off of McClure Pass and just 20 miles east of Delta.

If you know the area at all that should tell you, Hotchkiss is in the middle of some pretty nice country. And as we found out this weekend, it makes a good base of operations for some terrific riding. Which is where the Hotchkiss Inn comes in.

I’ll make note right up front that Kris and Andy Bartol, the proprietors of the Hotchkiss Inn, are advertisers on this website. Whenever possible, I like to become personally acquainted with my advertisers so it was just natural that Judy and I would go spend a weekend at the Hotchkiss Inn. Plus, that allows me to add my up-close-and-personal comments about a place on the site.

Of course the Hotchkiss Inn is biker friendly; that goes without saying. They wouldn’t be listed on the site if they weren’t. Beyond that, our first impression was strongly favorable. We pulled up to a clean and tidy, obviously well-cared-for establishment, and there on the sideboard in the office was cheese and crackers with a choice of wines to greet arrivals. Now, Kris told me later that they don’t set the food and wine out every night, just the nights when they have a bunch of new arrivals coming in, but it was a very nice touch.

Our room held a pleasant surprise in store: It was a two-bed room but there was only one bed. The rest was increased living space with a table and three chairs. Judy and I only need one bed, and this is certainly true of a lot of travelers. Why not get rid of the second bed in some rooms, keep them in some rooms, and turn that extra space into something nice? That’s what they’ve done. And Kris tells me the plan eventually is to add a small couch in these rooms.

It’s all a little at a time. Kris and Andy just took over the Hotchkiss Inn in June of 2011 and there was a lot to be done. You can’t do it all at once but they’re chipping away. Of course one of the first orders of business was to put in really nice, new beds. The pillow-top bed we slept on was very nice. And what’s more important than the bed when you’re deciding on a motel?

The rooms have coffee pots and microwaves but there is also an included continental breakfast in the office. Coffee, yogurt, and a banana will just about do me but they also had rolls, hot and cold cereal, orange juice, and other selections. If you want a cafe type of meal, there is a cafe right across the street.

We are not television watchers but there are also new flat-screen TVs in all the rooms. Unlike us, you might turn yours on.

And what is there to do from Hotchkiss? Well, for starters, there is the Grand Mesa. That’s always a nice ride along CO 65 on any bike, and if you don’t mind some gravel there are even more possibilities. I have a terrific one, in fact, to tell you about soon, but not today. Just keep Land’s End Road in mind.

Of course there’s the ride over McClure Pass down to Carbondale, and from there you can go to Aspen. And on from Aspen if you wish, over Independence Pass.

Another option is to take CO 92 down through Crawford and along the north rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnision. That’s a gorgeous ride. Or run down to Ouray and up over Red Mountain Pass. Or go back past Paonia and take Kebler Pass into Crested Butte and down to Gunnison. Of course, if you did that you could loop back to Hotchkiss on 92 along the Black Canyon.

The point is, there’s a lot of great riding out there and Hotchkiss is a nice place to ride out from and back to for a couple days. And we do recommend the Hotchkiss Inn. So. Just some ideas to kick around.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Motorcycle thefts decline 6 percent in 2011

Biker Quote for Today

So we rip along with nary a care in the world, no traffic, great roads and it’s E-M-P-T-Y!!!

It’s just a fact of life that some of the best motorcycle roads in Colorado close during the winter. And the closures have begun.

First to close was the Mount Evans road, which occurred on Sept. 27. That tells you that Trail Ridge Road, Independence Pass, and the road up Pikes Peak can’t be far behind. Then there’s also Kebler Pass and Cottonwood Pass.

The best place to find out if these roads are still open or not is always the Colorado Department of Transportation’s site, http://www.cotrip.org/home.htm. On their listing they include a snowflake sort of icon circled in red to indicate seasonal closures.

Of course what this means is that it’s time to get out there and do some riding while the weather is still good. I’ll be riding all year round, as always, but you can bet I won’t be on the bike as much in the next few months as I have been in the last few. I am planning to try out some heated gloves and/or heated grips soon, however, so that will force me to do some cold weather riding. It’s a dirty job and all that. If they turn out to be wonderful then I guess I’ll do just that much more winter riding.

So today is supposed to be one of those gorgeous fall days. A good day to be out. I’ll let you guess what I’m going to be doing as soon as I wrap up this blog post and a few other chores.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Only a biker knows . . .: Motorcycle wit and wisdom, #23

Biker Quote for Today

Motorcycles: “It’s just really, really cool. You guys, seriously. They make this noise that’s like BRAAMM and they go superfast…”