Passes & Canyons Blog

Riding Trail Ridge Road.

Our third day of riding on this year’s OFMC trip is done and we’ve gone all of about 450 miles. This is an easygoing trip.

Starting out the first day our meet-up point was the Century Casino in Central City. Bill, John, Dennis, and I came together there and got on the Peak-to-Peak Highway headed for Estes Park. The wind had been gusting pretty hard when I arrived and Dennis especially was concerned about rain, so there was some suiting up before we left. Of course the sun came out brightly as soon as we left so by Nederland it was time to stop and peel off this unbearably hot stuff.

An uneventful, but very pretty, ride brought us to Estes Park where we checked in to the Twin Owls Motel. I truly believe that perhaps 30-50 years ago this may have been one of the premier lodging establishments in Estes Park but boy, this old girl is showing her age. It’s still attractive, with a nice patio and a lobby full of extremely large plants, but the place needs repair and many of the old repairs are themselves in need of repair. Kind of Sad. But a nice view.

In Estes we were joined by two more, Free Eggs and Bread. John tried to speak a text message to Friggs and Bret and his phone interpreted their names in a way we found sufficiently comical to saddle them with those names for the rest of the trip.

A little confusion ensued in the morning as John led the way toward Rocky Mountain National Park. When the lead four made a traffic light and two did not, nobody waited around for us to catch up. A conversation had been held discussing the route but certain of us were not privy to that discussion. So I took the lead and Bread and I headed to the Fall River Road and into the park that way. I knew there were two entrances, however, and suspected the others had gone the other way so we cruised on to where the two roads meet before heading up Trail Ridge Road. Sure enough, they were coming the other way and we met them there.

Trail Ridge was good. Not horrible traffic and not overly chilly. And the elk were having a field day. We saw herds in three different spots and they were out there just prancing and showing off their racks like they owned the place. Which they pretty much do. All the crowds of tourists stopping to look and shoot photos were restricted to the road and the paths while the elk had free run of the whole mountain. Very cool.

Down where that road meets US 40 just outside of Granby we stopped for gas and a break and the new Indian Dennis is riding got a lot of attention. The bike that caught my attention, however, was the one ridden by Dave of Missouri, who pulled in on a 2002 Kawasaki Concours. I’m on my 1999 Concours on this trip so we had to talk and exchange notes. Turns out Dave just bought this bike two weeks ago specifically for this trip he and his buddy are on. We compared gear and I was very interested in his Givi top bag while he was very interested in my highway pegs. He was definitely feeling the lack of those.

Heading west on US 40 we ran into light rain at Hot Sulphur Springs but John, in the lead, made the decision I would have made, which was to keep going and ride out the other side of it. We did get wet going up Byers Canyon, and there were placing when you could just see the rain in the air up ahead of us, but we did ride out the other side and by the time we got to Kremmling we were dry again.

A little past Kremmling we turned onto the road over Gore Pass and it soon became very clear we would be getting wet, so we stopped and suited up. And a moderate rain did come down. But hey, if you don’t ride in the rain you don’t ride. We ride. And by the time we reached Toponas it was pretty well over with.

We turned north from Toponas just the short distance to Oak Creek and that was our stopping point for the day. The Oak Creek Motel is very nice and the two restaurants in town both serve good food. After we had walked over for dinner and were back at the motel the rain started and this time it was coming down pretty hard, along with some powerful winds. We were sitting out under the eaves of the motel when a couple on a BMW came into the parking lot, obviously looking for shelter. Sadly for them, though the motel was not full, the proprietors had turned on the No Vacancy sign, presumably they did not want to be bothered late at night by new arrivals. The beemer folks saw the sign and rode a circle and headed back out. We commented on how that poor guy was probably hearing it big time from his lady friend about why he hadn’t wanted to make reservations. We sure were glad not to be in their predicament.

It was raining in the morning when we got up so we had breakfast and got all suited up. It rained lightly for a while but soon the clouds started to lift. We were heading west on US 40 again and stopped before we got to Hayden to unsuit. On to Craig, Maybell, and Dinosaur and then we were into Utah. The first town of any size is Vernal and that was our destination today. Fourth time I’ve been in Vernal in the last two months. We didn’t have lunch so we had an early dinner and now the guys are out in the pool. It’s hot here! And now I’ve got this blog post written I guess I’ll go join them.

Biker Quote for Today

The only time you’ve got too much gas is when you’re on fire.

The OFMC on one of our numerous visits to national parks, this one being the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

For something kind of significant it was awfully ordinary.

I was expecting to ride a bike to work yesterday or today, with that being my final ride to work, but there was no work for me to do so I didn’t go in either day. Now on Thursday and Friday I will go in but I’ll need my car both days. That means when I rode to work last week on Tuesday, that was my last ride to work.

And I don’t mean just for this job; I mean forever. When I leave the office at the National Park Service on Friday I will be officially retired. Done.

Of course, I’ll continue to write, both here and other places on a freelance basis. I’m a writer. That’s what I do, like breathing. Plus, doing freelance work gives me an extra push to get out and do some great rides, and it also makes my expenses when I do those great rides tax deductible. Why in the world would I stop writing?

But I won’t be riding to work any more. So how was my last ride?

First off, it was a little cooler than I anticipated. In the morning I was glad I did wear my sweatshirt but the electric vest might have been welcome. Traffic on Hampden was seriously backed up for no reason I could perceive, until I got past Santa Fe. Then things opened up and I cruised. It was a totally uneventful ride.

Heading home I decided to leave a little early. The sky to the west was threatening in a big way and while I had my rain gear I really preferred not to have to use it if it could be avoided. Plus, I’ve got short-timer’s syndrome and by mid-afternoon I really didn’t want to be there any longer. So I left.

Raindrops were falling as I walked out to the bike but I figured once I started heading east I could outrun it. As I worked my way over to Union, south on Union, east to Kipling, and then south on Kipling to US 285 it was a steady, but light drizzle. Then I got on 285 and blasted and soon left the wetness behind me.

From there it was a simple, again uneventful cruise on home. No pictures, no stories to tell. And no chance for another, different final ride to work as I had expected. Oh well, mundane is fine, I guess. I don’t really have a desire to “live in interesting times.”

Biker Quote for Today

The difference between driving a car and riding a motorcycle is the difference between watching TV and actually living your life.

Looking over the old dam at Castlewood Canyon.

I was down in Castle Rock awhile ago and saw a road heading off to the northeast that I’d never been on and made note that I ought to check it out some day. Well that day came on Thursday last week. I picked that day not to work last week because it was supposed to be gorgeous and it was. Let’s take the V-Strom and find some dirt.

Douglas Country Road 43, which is what this was, also known as North Crowfoot Valley Road, runs diagonally. It’s almost always a good guess that any road that runs diagonally goes directly from one town to another. Like the Longmont Diagonal that runs directly from Boulder to Longmont. That was the case here, too. This road runs directly from Castle Rock to Parker. I had no idea there was a direct route and I had no idea the two towns were so close.

But the road was paved and it wasn’t very interesting. Darn. Now where am I going to go?

OK, I’ve been to Castlewood Canyon State Park several times but generally on the east side where the highway runs over the canyon and then you turn off to go into the park. I knew, however, that there was an unpaved road over on the west side that runs right by the old dam that broke many, many years ago causing a heck of a flood downstream. I’d been there once in a car but never on a bike. My new destination.

So I headed south on CO 83 out of Parker, turned west on CO 86 at Franktown and then quickly took a left onto County Road 51, which was my road.

I hadn’t thought about paying a park fee but there was the ranger shack and the signs telling you you were supposed to pay $7. I stopped to check it out. The shack was unmanned–although someone had left their keys in the lock!–and checked my pockets. I had a couple twenties but wasn’t going to pay a $7 fee with one of those. I also had a five and a bunch of change. I put the five and the change in the envelope and dropped it in the slot, after marking on the envelope, “It’s all I’ve got.”

I suppose I could have just ignored it all and ridden on but while I was there a couple rangers pulled up, coming from the direction I would have been heading . . . without my sticker. So it was probably good that I decided to pay, even if I shortchanged the state a buck and change.

And off I went. And it was good. I’ve had this V-Strom for almost two years now and have hardly had it on much dirt. Last year up in the Black Hills I went out on some dirt one day but it was terrible. It occurred to me afterward that the bike still had the street tire on the rear that it had when I bought it and that tire was by now almost bald. No wonder it had no grip at all on the loose stuff.

So now I have a good, almost new semi-knobby on the rear and this was the first time I’d had a chance to get in the dirt with it. What a difference! What great grip! What stability and confidence!

Oh, and it was a nice road, too. I came out of the park, turned west on South Lake Gulch Road, and wound my way into Castle Rock. Then home. A couple hours altogether. I’m looking to do a whole lot more of that in the very near future.

Biker Quote for Today

Dirt bikes are not for wimps. They are, however, quite suitable for the clinically insane.

On the road with the OFMC.

People are planning their motorcycle trips for this summer right now. I tell potential advertisers on this site that if they are not going to do a full year of advertising they need to do it now, not during the summer. Year after year my lowest traffic month is November and in December it starts picking up again and then climbs and climbs. This is when people are doing their planning, and if you want them to stay in your motel, this is when you should be reaching them.

I frequently am asked to offer my thoughts on a proposed trip route, such as the post I just did a few days ago. Well, here’s another request and my reply. (By the way, it was suggested that I might have routed that last group over Guanella Pass, and that was what I would have done, but I know they are doing work on that road, finally paving it all the way over, and it is going to be a mess this summer. So I chose an alternate route.)

Here’s the request:

Hi Ken,

I have been riding quite a lot in the States, have done some rides in Colorado too. Colorado is among my favorite states when it comes to motorcycle riding, but this time I am having difficulties figuring out what to do. My dilemma is that my wife and I want to spend about 8 days riding, starting May 1st. Basically the itinerary we are looking at is:

Denver – Estes Park – Steamboat Springs – Keystone – Aspen – Durango – Gunnison – Black Canyon. I am confused as what kind of road closures we may expect at that time. I understand it all depends on the snowpack, but still. Is there any suggestion, you could do ? Like: don’t do it, it is way too early in the season, many roads will still be closed and your fingers will get frozen or do you think it could well be done. It is hard to find this kind of information.

I look forward to receiving your opinion.

Thank you,
Ed

In case you’re wondering, Ed is from the Netherlands. So here’s my reply:

Ed–Always happy to try to assist. Here’s what I think is likely.

Denver to Estes Park, no problem. Whether you take the Big Thompson Canyon or the Peak to Peak Highway, it will be clear (unless we get a spring snowstorm, which is always possible).

Estes to Steamboat, depends on your route. The direct route would be over Trail Ridge Road but that will almost certainly not be open at that time. You could, instead, go south from Estes to I-70 and then over Berthoud Pass to Winter Park and on to Steamboat. Or go through the tunnel to Silverthorne and then take the road through Kremmling to Steamboat.

Steamboat to Keystone, should be no problem, whatever route you take.

Keystone to Aspen, doable on I-70 but Independence Pass will not be open yet.

Aspen to Durango, no problem.
Durango to Gunnison, no problem.
Gunnison to the Black Canyon, no problem.
Black Canyon back to Denver, no problem.

It always hinges on the weather, and you could get the most gorgeous weather imaginable. Or you could get a blizzard. I would certainly recommend that you bring heated gear. I love my electric vest and heated gloves. I ride all year round and use those. The middle of the day is fine but as soon as it gets dark it gets cold, especially in the mountains. When it’s snowing there’s just nothing you can do. And there’s no way to know this far in advance what is likely to happen.

Hope that helps.

[end of response]

I enjoy it when people ask me for my thoughts on this. I’ve even had the chance to meet some of them when they’ve gotten out here. It’s just one of the things I enjoy about running this website.

Biker Quote for Today

Not sure if riding is good therapy or an addiction.

The OFMC on a ride.

It’s common for me to receive emails planning Colorado trips, asking for suggestions on riding routes. It’s interesting for me because everyone’s plans are different, everyone has different interests, amounts of time to spend, and starting and ending points. I look at their particulars and see what I can come up with.

Here’s a query I received recently, and my response. I’m always hoping that other folks who read this will say, “Wow, I’ve never done that road. Maybe I will.” Or maybe you’ll leave a comment telling me what you think a much better route would have been. Maybe you’ll turn me on to something I’m not aware of.

Anyway, here’s the exchange.

Hey Ken!
Love your website!!
I don’t know if you have the time to answer individual inquiries but we thought we’d give it a shot!

We’re planning a mid-July 2015 ride to Colorado after our yearly ride to Red Lodge, MT and the Beartooth mountains.

Our plan is to leave Red Lodge and ride to Estes Park (stay in Estes Park) and then ride Rocky Mountain National Park.
After our tour of RMNP we’d like to go down and ride Pikes Peak.

There are a lot of roads leading from Estes Park to Colorado Springs but since this is our first ride to CO – we have absolutely no clue which ones would be the absolute best for a day ride from Estes Park to Pikes Peak and back again the same day.

Unfortunately we’ll only have about 3 days for the Colorado portion of our ride.
Some of the young ones have to get back to something they call work!

If you have any time to help us out – it’d be GREAT!!

Thanks much!!

Greg

My reply:

Greg–

Here’s what I would suggest. It appears to be around 325 miles, maybe a bit more. In July if you get an early start the days are long so it could work. It may be a bit longer than you would like. I’m attaching a map.

Head west out of Estes over Trail Ridge Road, down to Granby, and then take US 40 to Winter Park, over Berthoud Pass, down to I-70 and take I-70 west to Georgetown. Go into Georgetown and take Guanella Pass over to US 285 at Grant and then east on that to Pine Junction, where you go south on 126, to 67, to Woodland Park and US 24. That will take you to the well-marked turn-off to Pikes Peak. Once you come down off the mountain, continue east on US 24 through Manitou and catch I-25 briefly north to Monument. Get off at Monument and take 105 north to Sedalia, where you’ll hit US 85. Continue north. In the Denver suburbs you’ll hit C-470. Take that around Denver to the north and west and where C-470 ends you’ll be on US 6. Take that up Clear Creek Canyon to the Peak to Peak Highway and take the Peak to Peak the rest of the way back to Estes.

Be advised, that’s a lot of riding. A possible different approach would be to take the Peak to Peak out of Estes and at the turn-off past Black Hawk, where the road splits and one way goes to Golden and the other way goes to Idaho Springs, go to Idaho Springs and on to Georgetown and then back on the route. You’ll be backtracking on your way home that evening but you’ll save a good bit of time not going the Trail Ridge/Granby/Berthoud Pass route.

Whatever you do, have a great time!

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Motorcycle race where you would never expect it

Biker Quote for Today

PMS – The Silent Killer. Parked Motorcycle Syndrome symptoms include pacing back and forth in the garage, irritability, headache, and nausea. If you or a loved one is suffering from any of these symptoms, get out for a ride. Prolonged exposure to a parked motorcycle can drive you completely insane.

Sometimes we do ride where it's crunchy.

Tuesday was looking iffy. Sure the weather forecast said 60 degrees as a high, but it also said snow later and much colder on Wednesday. What if the cold weather came in early?

I was thinking about riding to work but we had just had a bunch of snow and I wasn’t even sure if our own street was clear or not. I intended to take a close look when I came home on Monday but forgot. Then at dinner I mentioned it and Judy said let’s go for a walk after dinner and we can check it out. But then we forgot that.

So Tuesday morning I got up and decided to give it a shot. Of course I wore all the warm gear.

Turned out our street was clear, so no problem getting out of the neighborhood. I knew the main roads would be clear so the only part I had any concern about was the last two miles to the office. While everything else is arterials, that last bit would probably be called a collector street, and not as likely to be clear. Plus, when I rode to work last week it was along there that I encountered a little ice.

I often compose these blog posts in my head as I’m riding and I was envisioning hitting some ice and going down, thinking about a title for the post along the lines of “Not A Good Day To Ride.” But I didn’t need to use that one. And it appeared I might get all the way to work without seeing one single other motorcycle. That’s very unusual, especially on a day with a predicted high of 60. But I did finally see one other bike eventually. Just that one.

I was also wondering about the parking lot. I knew I was likely to run into ice there. Oh well, if avoiding the ice meant I parked in a car space rather than in the motorcycle parking area, so be it. And yes, there was some ice–not a lot–but I just rolled across it safely.

So it was a good ride in. I love the idea of riding the motorcycle to work in February.

Heading home I knew there would be no problem. I still only saw two other bikes. Where were the rest of you guys on Tuesday?

And nobody tried to kill me. Although one person about three cars ahead did start to pull into my lane without looking to see if someone was there. But that was another car he almost hit, not me. Dude, you need to turn your head and look. And if a car can get swallowed up in someone’s blind spot what does that tell you about a motorcycle?

And now it’s cold and snowy again. But have hope: the weekend forecast looks very good. I will be seeing you out there on Saturday, won’t I? I’ll be there.

Biker Quote for Today

Am I the only one around here who doesn’t think twice about riding in the rain?