Passes & Canyons Blog

Once again, Judy and I were up in the mountains this past weekend, in her new Subaru Forester, checking out some dirt roads. A dual-sport bike is really high on my wish list but until that happens we’re using her high-clearance, all-wheel-drive vehicle to scout out some roads that might make for some good riding eventually.

We knew we were going to be coming from Aspen over Independence Pass, so looking at the map, Weston Pass presented itself as something to consider. This road runs over from a little south of Leadville to just a little south of Fairplay. It’s a short-cut that eliminates the drive down to Buena Vista and then back up over Antero Pass on U.S. 285. Of course, with roads like this one, the short-cut takes about twice as much time as the long way around, even though it’s probably one-quarter the distance.

So let me tell you now, Weston Pass would be great on a dual-sport bike. The ruts and potholes and rocks and all the rough stuff that held our speed down much of the time to around 5 mph would just be fun on a proper dirt bike or dual-sport. And in fact, we did see and talk with one guy going over the pass on his bike. That’s him in the picture. I didn’t get his name but it was good to talk with him because he reassured us our car would get over the pass OK. The eastern side of Weston Pass is easy but the western side, which is the side we went up, was very rough. We saw a sign down on the eastern side warning that the western side of the pass road was not maintained for low-clearance vehicles. They weren’t kidding about that.

In the meantime, if you do have a dual-sport, it’s a nice road, going through some terrific country. I have a strong feeling that the more we go out on these roads in this Subaru the more my “need” for a dual-sport is going to increase. And I know that a bike will go on roads that we wouldn’t dream of taking the Forester on, so that will open up even more possibilities. In the meantime, I’m going to have to depend on getting off in the dirt with my friends Ron Coleman, of Western Dual Sport Motorcycle Adventures, and Kevin Smith of Colorado Mountain Moto. They rent dual-sport bikes so if you’re like me and don’t have your own that is an option.

Judy and I figure the next dirt road we want to check out is Boreas Pass, from Como there in South Park over to Breckenridge. Again, I doubt it’s particularly challenging on a bike, but we’ve never been over it so we’re going to go. And some day I will get that bike.

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It was not a motorcycle trip but my wife, Judy, and I were out running around the mountains last weekend and had a chance to really compare some maps I had brought along. We were in her new Subaru Forester, which is an all-wheel-drive vehicle with high clearance, so we wanted to do some dirt, and take some roads we hadn’t been on before.

I brought along three maps that I figured would be useful. One is the Colorado Motorcycle Skill Rating Map that was put together largely by ABATE of Colorado and the Motorcycle Roadracing Association for the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). Another was the Colorado Bicycling and Scenic Byways Map, also produced by CDOT. The third was the Butler Motorcycle Maps Colorado map.

With Judy playing navigator, I drove. We went over Ripple Creek Pass, on the Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway, which runs from Yampa over to Meeker. Later we went partway back along that road to Buford and took the Buford to Newcastle Road. Then we drove the Colorado River Road from Dotsero to a little north of State Bridge on CO 131, and finally over the Trough Road, which runs from State Bridge to Kremmling. The first two are rough roads that you would not want to take a street bike on (though we have in fact ridden the Flat Tops Byway on street bikes–bad idea!), while the other two are just fine for street bikes.

All in all, we had a great time, saw some great scenery, and gathered a lot of information that will eventually end up in the Dirt Roads section of this website. What I hadn’t really thought about, though, was what a good test this was for the maps. They all three were helpful in their way, but the word from the navigator is very clear: The Butler Maps Colorado map is the best.

What that means, very simply, is that the one you pay money for is better than the two free ones. That stands to reason, and is appropriate, but of course was not something you could just assume. But we put them to the test and that’s the verdict. And let me make the point here as well that this is not a verdict biased by the fact that Butler advertises on this site. I’m not sure Judy is even aware of that. She just switched back and forth between the three again and again and at one point told me in no uncertain terms that I should tell everyone that the the Butler map was the best. So there you go. I’ve passed the word along.

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I’m slower than a dude riding one-handed on a DR350 while running a video camera. -Bk.Rd.Rnr

On a beautiful day like today I had to get out and ride. Plus, I owed an article to one of my editors and figured a piece about riding up Mount Evans would work just fine.

I know it can get cold up there, even when it’s warm down here in the city, so I put on long underwear and a turtleneck shirt. I also put on my electric vest but waited to turn it on until I needed it. Then I had other warm clothes in my bags.

Man, was I roasting before I got out of town. Getting up onto CO 103 over Squaw Pass it finally started getting cool and that was a welcome relief. I reached the turn-off to the mountain, up by Echo Lake, and wondered if I would hear what my friend Dom was told when he was up there just two days earlier, which was that it was so windy they didn’t recommend riding a bike to the top.

Nope, no such warning, and clearly none was needed. They did warn me about frost heaves at the 9-mile marker, near Summit Lake, but I know about those. Just think of them as whoops and you’ll be fine.

So I cruised on up and it was a glorious day. Sunny and warm, I never turned on the electric vest. The view of the Sangre de Cristos from the top was unbeatable. They just went on forever.

Of course, I don’t think you can ride this road without seeing at least one person going down so scared of the sheer drop-off on the edge that they straddle the center line. And I will note that there was one place where the asphalt was just dropping away over the side. Even I stayed close to the middle along that stretch.

And then it was home again. Nothing much, I just rode to the top of the world and back home, all in about five hours. What did you do with your day?

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Any motorcyclist caught holding up automobiles on a winding road will be forced to sell all fringed accessories, buy plaid pants and take up golf. — Peter Egan

I recently acquired a copy of a “Colorado Motorcycle Skill Rating Map,” put out by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). It’s a concept taken from a similar map that is intended to give riders in South Dakota’s Black Hills an idea of how challenging those roads are. Whereas that map covers just the Black Hills, the CDOT map covers the whole state of Colorado.

CDOT called on ABATE of Colorado to help put the map together, and ABATE pulled in the Colorado Sportbike Club so as to include that group’s perspective as well.

Unlike so many other state maps where the roads have different colors depending on whether they’re interstate, U.S. highway, state highways, unpaved, or whatever, this map shows all roads as either green (easy), orange (moderate), or red (difficult). Not surprisingly, the entire eastern part of the state is green. From the Front Range west it’s a mix of colors.

The truth of the matter is that for those of us who live here, the map offers little we didn’t already know. The main quibble we might have is that, accustomed as we are to riding in the mountains, for us, marking almost any road red is a stretch. That’s not the point, though. This is a map aimed at tourists, the people who don’t live here. And for many of them, the roads we whip around with confidence may be challenging indeed.

So the real benefit of a map like this for us is that if there are any red roads on the map that we haven’t been on, this is a heads-up that we need to head that direction. Beyond that, I’d love to have maps like this of every other state. I don’t care if a road is rated “difficult” or not. I just have a strong hunch that any road with that rating is likely to be a good motorcycle road and one I’d like to ride. And as well as I know Colorado and many of our neighboring states, there are a lot more states where I wouldn’t have any idea which roads are the best. Maps of this sort can provide that information.

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A good ride is one from which you can walk away. A great ride is one after which you can use the bike again.

We’re at that time of year now here in Colorado when you may or may not be able to ride some of the best roads in the state. May can be a little early to be coming here to ride but I know people are already doing so. Just this past weekend, when I was down at EagleRider in downtown Denver there were about eight Harleys lined up at the curb waiting for a group of European (German?) riders, who showed up while I was there.

I hope those guys didn’t have their heart set on riding Trail Ride Road because that ain’t gonna happen. The latest word from the Department of Transportation is that the hope to have that road open in early June.

On the other hand, DOT announced today that Independence Pass will open today. I’m guessing that if you ride that pass in the next couple days you’d better dress warmly. Right after it opens that road is likely to have high walls of snow on one or both sides of the road and temperatures at altitude are not balmy.

As for the other seasonal roads, here’s what DOT now says on their website.

Pikes Peak road: Currently the road is open 13 of the 19 miles. Weather permitting it will be open all the way later today.

Mount Evans road: “Due to recent heavy snowfall, the Mt. Evans Highway is not expected to open for another one to two weeks. Crews have been diligently working each day to get the road cleared of snow and ice. However, snow is cleared one day and then more snow falls overnight, requiring crews to retrace their plowing operation from the previous day. Crews are currently re-clearing the area between Echo Lake and Summit Lake and will then clear the last four miles to the summit.”

Cottonwood Pass and Kebler Pass are still closed as of this date, May 26, 2011.

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I’m not a procrastinator, but sometimes it looks that way. It’s just that I learned a long time ago that it frequently pays to put off making decisions because so often there will be a turn of events that makes the decision for you. In this case, I was saying just a week ago here that I definitely planned to go on the Old Bike Ride 9 this coming Sunday. Now I’m not so sure.

I have a conflict. If I want to go on the OBR I need to be in Golden at 9 a.m. or so. But I’m also an ABATE member and our district meeting is at 10 a.m. in Aurora. This might not be an issue except that I’ve missed this meeting every month for the last six months at least. Several times I was out of town, a couple times I just plain forgot it, and once or twice I got screwed up with meetings rescheduled due to holidays. I’m not the kind of guy who joins an organization with no intention of participating. If I’m not going to participate why bother joining? I was really determined to make it to this month’s meeting, but I hadn’t looked at the calendar.

This is where postponing decisions comes in. We’ve had a lot of rain and cold weather lately. If it’s raining on Sunday morning I’m going to go to ABATE. If it’s a beautiful day I’ll make my decision then.

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Just a heads-up about a new motorcycle rental outfit here in Colorado. House of Motorrad has opened in Boulder and at this time rents three BMW models, the R1200GS Adventure, the F800GS, and the F650GS.

And let me interject right here the note that Ben Kriederman and his wife Lisa have taken ads on the MotorcycleColorado.com website, which is how I learned about them. So yes, I have financial interest here but it’s still the sort of news this blog has always presented.

Once they get it up and running, the company’s website will be www.HouseOfMotorrad.com, but for now if you click on the listing on the Rentals and Tours page of the site, or on any of the ads, you’ll be taken to their FaceBook page.

Note as of 5-11-11: The website is now up and running.

Here’s what Ben has to say about their business.

We started the business in the hopes of bringing motorcycle rentals to a broader audience. We are a small company trying to keep the overhead costs down so that we can offer top-of-the-line rentals at an affordable cost to the “average joe.” We offer discounts for tour companies and people who have completed a motorcycle safety training class as well as repeat customers. The more you rent, the cheaper things get. We also anticipate adding guided tours to the lineup if the business takes off. Triumph motorcycles might also be on the horizon, depending on how things go with the business.

Ben and Lisa will deliver bikes at no charge within the Denver metro area, including to DIA. The bikes come with luggage and you can rent gear, including GPS. Each motorcycle also comes with a SPOT satellite locater for roadside assistance when you are out of cell phone range as well as the ability for loved ones and friends to track your trip in realtime online.

So there you go. I have to say that it looks to me like the economy is coming back, judging from the news I’m seeing about the motorcycle business. The manufacturers are selling more, Rider magazine just put out a huge issue that is loaded with ads, and new businesses are starting up here in Colorado. Just recently I also added two new motorcycle tour outfits on the Rentals and Tours page. Good-bye recession, good riddance.

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It occurs to me that someone might be reading this blog and not know that it is, as the tagline says, “companion” to the motorcyclecolorado.com website. And it’s also possible that someone might know that, but never have looked at the website to see what it offers.

Now, as far as that goes, I’m only going to say that it features all the best motorcycle roads in Colorado. But it does more than that. It also lists some recommended motorcycle-friendly motels, hotels, B&Bs, what have you. It lists dealers and repair shops. If offers riding stories telling of people’s adventures in Colorado on motorcycles.

And it lists upcoming motorcycle events in Colorado. That’s what I want to talk about here.

On the “Colorado Motorcycle Rides, Runs, and Rallies” page I keep as current a list of upcoming events as I can. I may get a little behind in removing events that are past, and I know I don’t get everything listed, but I do what I can.

So here’s my pitch. If you have an event coming up, take a look at the Rides and Rallies page and if you’re not already on there, send me the info and I’ll get it up. You can see what kind of information I present, so it’s especially nice if you send it to me in that format.

One important note: The website only features events in Colorado. Please don’t send me something that is not in Colorado.

If you want to promote your event, having it listed here is a good move. It doesn’t cost anything and that particular page gets a lot of readership. In fact, it is always one of the top five pages on the entire site. Within the last year, it was visited 7,173 times.

And I guess there’s no better time or place than right now to thank all of you who have already made it a point to notify me of your events. I do appreciate it.

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The letters “MC” are stamped on your driver’s license right next to your sex and height as if “motorcycle” was just another of your physical characteristics, or maybe a mental condition.