Passes & Canyons Blog

This is not the first time I’ve said this but I’ll repeat myself: I’ve got to get a dual-sport motorcycle.

The trigger this time is a ride I didn’t do, because I didn’t have a dual-sport. I was contacted on Monday by a guy named Milan, who heard of me through Ben at House of Motorrad. Milan told me he works as a ski guide in winter and wants to start doing Colorado motorcycle guiding in the summer. He asked if he could get a link to his site on my site and, by the way, wanna go for a ride?

Milan lives in Telluride and was headed back that way from Golden and proposed taking some dirt from Como to Salida. I said I’d love to, but not on one of my street bikes. He replied, “You could probably take a street bike on the Hartsel dirt- very easy.”

As for me, I replied, “I know better than to take my Concours on anything rougher than hard-packed gravel.”

Milan nudged, “I’ll be leaving Golden area about 9 am. It is a hardpacked gravel.”

I demurred. My Connie does not like gravel, even hard-packed, for very long. So I didn’t go.

Good choice. I heard from Milan today, saying, “You made the right choice by not coming, there was a stream crossing (about 6″ deep) and some ruts in another part of the ride.”

But I was curious what route he took. That’s it there on the map, although there’s no detail at this scale, though it gives you an idea. According to Milan, “I rode 285 to Como, took a right on Elkhorn Road (F.R. 15) to Hartsel. Then took County Road 53 to Forest Road 175 – that dropped me right into Salida.”

So OK, if I ever get that dual-sport I have another route to check out. Some day.

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Had a terrific time with Ron Coleman of Western Dual Sport Motorcycle Adventures today dual-sport riding in the hills west of Boulder and around Central City. He was on one of his V-Stroms and I was on his F800GS. Oh, and I dumped the thing twice. Details in due time.

Ron dubbed this the Fall Color/Cemetery Tour for very literal reasons. The aspen are at their peak of color about now and here’s an interesting thing you may not know: cruising around in the hills above Central City there are numerous old cemeteries, with gravestones dating back to the mid-1800s. They’re actually very picturesque, with some very ornate markers.

We headed out of Boulder going up Boulder Canyon but then turned off onto Magnolia Drive. This road climbs very steeply with numerous switchbacks that must have a road pitch of at least 15 percent. It was nice to be on a bike that was light and had great low-end torque. Up over a crest and the mountains to the west came into sight and the pavement ended. We wound our way along and then reached the Peak-to-Peak Highway just north of where the road up Coal Creek Canyon hits it.

Heading south on the Peak-to-Peak, we turned off just before reaching Black Hawk onto Apex Valley Road. Where Apex Valley Road appears to end, a hard left took us up Upper Apex Road and after awhile we came out into a clearing on a ridgetop where there were three cemeteries. What was surprising was that there were also some very new condos up there. Ron said he believes they were built to house casino workers when gambling was legalized in Black Hawk and Central City.

We headed down toward Central City but turned off on a gravel road that carried us along a ridge overlooking the town. At one point Ron stopped, took a hard right, and went down a badly washed out road that had softball-sized rocks and about 6 inches of sand. In retrospect, I should have made the commitment to do it and just gone for it. But I didn’t. I was very hesitant and lacking in confidence, and I high-sided. That bike flipped me like a rag doll but I landed totally unhurt and the bike was not damaged either. We got it back up and went on our way.

From Central City we took the parkway over to I-70 and on to Idaho Springs for lunch, where we met up with Jacque, a friend of Ron’s who I had ridden with before. She was on her F650GS. We continued west just to Fall River Road and then, after probably less than a mile on that road turned off onto the York Gulch road. This brought us to another old cemetery where, when I put my feet down to stop, I ended up just falling over because my feet didn’t make contact with the ground. Ron pointed out after we picked the bike back up that there was a rut right where my foot was expecting something solid. Once again, no injuries, no damage.

Following that road further we ended up right back at the other cemeteries above Central City and retraced our path down Upper Apex and Apex Valley Road, back to the Peak-to-Peak. We headed north but then turned east on South Beaver Creek Road, unpaved, which ran into CO 72 coming up Coal Creek Canyon. Took that road down to CO 93 at Rocky Flats and then on back to Boulder.

What a great day to be out in the mountains in the dirt. So good, in fact, that we’re going to do it again next week.

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I went dual-sporting again this weekend with Kevin Smith over in the Gunnison area. Kevin lives over there and rents V-Stroms through his company, Colorado Mountain Moto. Last year we rode Cinnamon Pass. This year we rode Carnero Pass.

Never heard of Carnero Pass? Neither had I. But it’s the perfect example of what I keep saying, that I want to do a lot more dual-sport riding because I know there are a lot of fabulous roads in this state that I’ve never been on because they are not paved.

Oh, and just to make that last statement seem a little foolish, Kevin’s wife Janet rode with us–on her Ninja. Now, Kevin says this Ninja 500R is really more a standard than a sportbike, but still, we were on dual-sports and Janet was on her Ninja. It’s a matter of attitude. Some people say “A touring bike is whatever bike you’re on when you go touring.” I guess you can say that a dual-sport bike is any bike you’re on when you go dual-sporting. This is the bike Janet has so it’s the bike she rides wherever she wants to ride. This is not the first gravel mountain pass road she’s been on on that bike.

Now, I still wouldn’t have wanted to have been on that road with my Concours. But my CB750 is a different story. That bike just handles better on gravel than the Kawi. And if that Ninja could do this ride my CB could, too.

So where did we go? We headed east out of Gunnison just a few miles to where we turned off on CO 114, which runs down over North Cochetopa Pass to Saguache. We went over the pass but before we got as far as Saguache we turned off onto Saguache County Road 41G. This is the road that goes up over Carnero Pass. Carnero is almost as high as Slumgullion Pass, which we crossed later, but you’d never know it. I guess we had done most of our climbing coming up North Cochetopa, and so even though we down then a ways, it didn’t seem like that much further up to Carnero after we got off CO 114.

Coming down, though, we had a pretty good descent as we made out way toward Del Norte, where we finally reached the pavement again. In the interim we rode some very nice roads and saw some terrific scenery and just generally enjoyed a day out away from pretty nearly anyone else. We did go back to Gunnison via South Fork, Creede, and Lake City, though so that was all paved and populated. The aspens are turning, though not quite at their peak yet, and it was a beautiful autumn day, though it did get blustery in the afternoon. What a great day to be out on some great roads. I love living in Colorado. (You can read more about it and see pictures from the ride on Examiner, via that link immediately below.)

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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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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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I keep saying it and I’m going to say it one more time: There are too many great roads in Colorado that I have never seen because I’ve only been riding a street bike all these years. I have got to get a dual-sport bike if I can just figure out a) where the money’s going to come from and b) where I’m going to store it.

I had the latest in a series of opportunities this past weekend to do some dual-sport riding. This time I went out with Ron Coleman, who runs Western Dual Sport Motorcycle Adventures out of Boulder, on one of his V-Stroms. The last time I went out with Ron we went up Fourmile Canyon and through the Wall Street area that later was the epicenter for that big fire they had up there. We then continued along the Switzerland Trail, which used to be a rail line many years ago.

This time we headed out of Boulder on the road up Sunshine Canyon, which took us through another area hit by the fire. What was really surprising about that part of the ride was seeing how selective the fire was. Some houses stood unscathed while others were ash heaps. In the trees there were paths visible where the fire burned some but left others green and growing. Pretty dang interesting.

We reached the Peak to Peak Highway and jogged south on it a short distance and then turned off on another gravel road that winds past Caribou Ranch. The days when this ranch was a premier recording studio are long over, and I’ve known for years where it was generally, but this was the first time I’d ever seen it.

We took another job off the Peak to Peak, and then a side-trip that took us up to the old Caribou townsite, now a ghost town. That’s Ron in the picture riding past the only remaining structures in what was once a gold mining town with a population of 3,000. And yes, that’s snow falling. Summer is definitely past.

Back again on the Peak to Peak, we turned off on the Coal Creek Canyon road and made a side-trip–gravel roads again–to the site of the Lincoln Hills resort that was a major draw for Blacks at a time when they were excluded from other, segregated facilities.

We returned to the canyon road, went up and over the ridge through Wondervu, and then turned off onto the gravel road that takes you past Gross Reservoir and eventually brings you out on the back side of Flagstaff Mountain. Then down Flagstaff Road into Boulder.

What a gorgeous ride! And sure, I’ve been on the Peak to Peak countless times, but I’ve never been on these other roads. Why? Because my Honda is barely tolerable on gravel and my Kawi detests gravel. In the meantime, the V-Strom is just every bit as comfortable on gravel as the Kawi is on the highway. But you know what? The V-Strom is also totally at home on the highway, and way more agile than the Kawi.

And there are a zillion more of those roads up there and all through the Colorado mountains. I don’t know how I’m going to make this work. I love my Honda. It’s the first bike I ever owned and I’ve been riding it for more than 20 years. I don’t want to part with it. And I love my Concours. I have to suspect that the V-Strom really is no match for it when it comes to serious touring. But I only have room in my garage for two motorcycles, not three. And I want a V-Strom in the worst way.

I’ve got to figure something out.

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