Passes & Canyons Blog

The view going the other way.

Off onto some new gravel again this weekend. This time taking Pitkin County Road 265 from where is comes off CO 133 on the southern side of McClure Pass.

I’ve been over McClure many times and on occasion have noticed this road heading west, with the sign saying Collbran. I figured it was time to see what was out there.

Right away the road runs up a wide ranching valley, with what looked like a mix of working ranches and some rich-folk “ranches” that are more retreats than anyone’s way of making a living. The gravel in through here was pretty good, well-maintained. That changed pretty abruptly when the ranches ended; the road got a lot rougher. Still, it’s the sort of thing a dual-sport bike is built for so no reason to hesitate. And it was somewhere along through here where, looking back, we had that great view of that mountain in the photo above.

The road began to climb and at times it was hard to be sure which gravel road to take. They all looked inviting but if you stopped and read the small print on the signs you could tell which was which. We went up through forests and could see a lot of the mountains around us and while none of it was the kind of scenery that leaves you awestruck, it was all pretty darn beautiful. This is backcountry Colorado that you’ll never see if you stick to the pavement.

Passing into Delta County the road becomes 74.4 Road, the funny way they number things out in the western part of the state, and comes down another ranching valley before meeting up with Highway 330E. North from here takes you to Silt or New Castle, depending on which turns you make, while left leads soon to pavement and on to a turn-off–paved–to Vega State Park. That was where we headed, to camp for the night.

No, we’d never heard of Vega State Park before but it’s a very pretty place. The park itself has campgrounds and cabins for rent and there is also a private lodge on the lake that has cabins. I’m definitely going to be pushing for the OFMC to make a night’s stop here on one of our summer rides. If you come from the Collbran side it’s all paved. I’m the only one of the group who likes doing gravel so pavement is important.

So as I say, there was nothing spectacular here but there was sure nothing that was ugly either. This is beautiful country. And I’ll tell you about the road to Silt the next time.

Biker Quote for Today

Why do I ride? Because this is out there and it never ends . . . and about 50 other reasons.

The road winding through the area scorched by the Hayman Fire.

The whole point of getting a dual-sport bike was to explore parts of Colorado where the road is not paved. We did that this weekend.

The plan was to go down the road to Tarryall Reservoir and then loop back up to Bailey on a series of roads. We didn’t follow the agenda.

First off, we got off U.S. 285 about a mile and a half east of Jefferson, rather than at Jefferson as planned. That put us on Park County Road 56, Lost Park Road, rather than Park CR 77, which is Tarryall Road. That was fine because CR 56 was gravel whereas, as we learned, CR 77 has been paved all the way to Tarryall Reservoir. We ended going up through some beautiful country that we had never seen before, and that’s the whole point.

We met up with Tarryall Road a little north of the reservoir and cruised past and the pavement ended. But only for now. Turns out that the entire way from Jefferson down to Lake George, on U.S. 24 just west of Florrisant, is in the process of being paved. And what a nice route! Once they finish this will be a must-ride street bike route. It’s not very often that an entire new paved road becomes available. This will be a good one.

We didn’t go all the way to Lake George, however. I had been reading in Steve Farson’s terrific book, The Complete Guide to Motorcycling Colorado, about Matukat, a series of roads that runs from Bailey down past Wellington Lake and down through the heart of the area burned by the Hayman Fire a few years ago. This road meets up with Tarryall Road a few miles north of Lake George and we turned onto it, heading back north again.

As Steve describes it in the book, “From the roads you ride to the sights you see, this route delivers big time.”

Part of the route is wooded; much of it shows the charred landscape of the fire, although things are starting to green up again. It will be many years before the forest comes back the way it used to be but that provides an opportunity. We couldn’t help but think about how different the view is with so many of the trees gone. There were many places where we could see forever and the whole landscape was visible. If there had been tall trees lining the road we would have been happy to find the occasional unobstructed view so we could see the area around us. In fact, it makes me think about going back and shooting a bunch of photos from specific spots and then doing so again every 5 years for the next 30 years or so. And then what an interesting exhibition I could put on!

So we diverged from the agenda again along here. There are a number of intersecting roads and they’re not all well marked, so we missed our turn that would have taken us up by Wellington Lake and out at Bailey. Instead, we came out onto CO 126 down near Deckers and followed it up through Pine to catch U.S. 285 at Pine Junction.

Oh well, that just leaves us with a piece of road we still have to get to. Next time! And next time we’ll reverse course and head south from Bailey. And then probably find some different road going somewhere else. I mean, we’ve already seen Tarryall Road now. Although I will be back there on my Concours or my CB750 when that road is finished.

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Going two-wheel on Ride to Work Day

Biker Quote for Today

One day, I will take it easy. Today won’t be that day.

A tight space for my third bike to live in.

Of course I’ll start out with another picture of my new V-Strom. If you’ve seen the last one, this is obviously shot soon afterward because it’s now in the garage and the snow is still on it. I’m going to have to do some rearranging because that door beyond it in this photo is my access to where I keep the other two bikes. The door to the outside from there only opens from the inside so clearly I’m going to need to set things up so I can get in there.

So yeah, as I say, I do get mail. Most recently I got a note from Steve who asked for some assistance. I can’t offer him anything but maybe you can. Here’s his email:

I own a 2005 HD Softail that is fuel injected with a Powercommander. I had the engine bored out in 2009 to 95” and am running the same map that Dynojet recommended for break in. But now I’d like to find a good tuner to get the most out of the bike. I live in Silverthorne, but would go the distance for the right guy. I’m wondering if you could recommend anyone?

OK, I don’t know any Harley tuners. I don’t ride Harleys so it’s not something I pay attention to. But what about you? Any recommendations you have I’ll pass along to Steve. Thanks.

Then here’s another. A guy named Kevin (not my friend who brought my V-Strom) sent just a quick note asking, “How much is a computer for a 2005 big dog?” I replied I had no idea and wondered why he thought I might. He pointed me to a piece I wrote on Big Dog a couple years ago. So anyway, if anyone can answer the question let me know and I’ll pass the info along.

Also, I got a note from Todd, who is coming to Colorado with his brother and sister and their spouses to ride. He sent me a Google mapping of his proposed route and was asking for any suggestions I might have for tweaks. You can take a look at his route here.

It looks like a good trip. Starting out from Colorado Springs they’ll go down to New Mexico via Cuchara Pass, then do the Angel Fire loop out of Taos before coming back north. Out of Colorado City they’ll go up through San Isabel, stopping at Bishop Castle of course, and on to Canon City. From there they’ll hit Buena Vista and take Independence Pass over to Aspen and Glenwood Springs.

Then it’s east on I-70 to pick up US 40 and over Berthoud Pass, to Grand Lake and over Trail Ridge Road, and then to Denver on the Peak-to-Peak. From there it’s back to the Springs with a sidetrip up Pikes Peak.

Sounds pretty good to me but I did offer some suggestions:

Your southern leg will definitely be good. In Canon City be sure to ride Skyline Drive. You might also want to take a side trip to the Royal Gorge. It’s cool to ride across the bridge and the best thing is to keep going out the other way. Most people go in and double back, but the road on through is very narrow, twisty, and pretty.

Leaving Canon City, as an alternative, you might consider going out US 50 to Salida and then catching 285 to Buena Vista. Both routes have their attractions; US 50 takes you up the Arkansas River canyon.

Heading east on I-70 you really ought to go over Loveland Pass rather than through the Eisenhower Tunnel. The descent is breathtaking.

Coming from Denver it will depend on what you do there as to what makes sense. If you’re coming around the city take C-470 south from I-70 on the west. If you do go into town, then coming out by I-25 makes the most sense, but if you make your way over to CO 105 through Perry Park and Palmer Lake that’s much nicer than the interstate.

OK, for anyone who knows Colorado that’s not rocket science, but for someone who doesn’t know the area I hope those are some good ideas. I get these letters all the time and it’s one of the things I enjoy about running this website that I get to help people plan their trips. Sometimes I even get to meet them!

Biker Quote for Today

That road is fabulous, I wish to test it .

It's going to be time to start riding to work soon.

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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Tilting Motor Works offers a fun trike conversion

Biker Quote for Today

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

The OFMC in 2011, headed to Telluride.

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.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner

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

The OFMC in 2012 in Utah.

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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Eyes on the road! Crazy stuff ahead.

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