Passes & Canyons Blog

There was no rush leaving Gunnison on our last day out. It was a short ride home and we might as well let it warm up a bit. Except for Mark, who slipped out on his own early, just wanting to get home.

Now that Cottonwood Pass has been paved all the way it makes a really good alternative to Monarch Pass. Not only is it shorter, there are still plenty of people who have never been over the new road yet. That was true of at least a couple of our folks so that was the obvious route.

Despite our later start it was still darn chilly heading up Taylor Canyon but oh boy was it beautiful in the morning light and there was almost no traffic. Just nice for a cruise. Still, the further we went, and the higher we went, the colder I got. Thank goodness I had my electric vest.

Just below Taylor Reservoir we stopped because Ralf again wanted to talk about hydro-geological issues. He pulled over right below the dam and talked about the Colorado River Compact. At this point the wind was whipping a good bit so it was very cold standing there. I had the idea to pull out my rain jacket to use as a windbreaker and as I turned back to my bike I saw that Susan had already had the same idea and was pulling on her rain jacket. That made a lot of difference and I kicked myself for not thinking of this a couple days earlier.

We continued on past the reservoir and up the pass. The new road is very nice but I still miss some of the twisting and turning that they straightened out when they redid this road. I guess that’s what they call “progress.”

We stopped at the top and this was in fact our time for good-byes. Heading on down, Susan planned to make a stop in Buena Vista, Ralf was going to be heading down toward Salida, and Charley and Karen had no intention of trying to keep up with the fast guys–Bob and Dave–on US 285 on their double-loaded 650 BMW scooter. That left Bruce and me to play it how we saw it.

Down to Buena Vista, to US 24, to US 285, and east. At first the four of us were together but it didn’t take long for traffic to separate us. But then, thanks to passing lanes, we were back together. This continued until we reached Fairplay and then somewhere between Fairplay and Jefferson Bruce dropped off. Now it was just me, sort of trying to keep with Bob and Dave but not really expecting it to last.

But somehow I did stay with them all the way to Bailey. Making the bend and heading up Crow Hill I figured this would be where the final split occurred. We started up the hill together but soon cars had moved between us and that was the last of it. I would occasionally catch a glimpse of them up ahead but by the time I got to Conifer they were lost in the distance.

Not a problem. After four days in a group I was enjoying being on my own. Rain was threatening, and even dripping a little here and there, but it finally really came down around Conifer. I already had my rain jacket on so I just rode through it and sure enough, it stopped soon. Then on down the hill and into town.

Now of course, I was hot. There’s just no way to avoid hitting one extreme or the other when you’re on a motorcycle. So I got home as quickly as I could and eagerly peeled everything off. Ah! Time to relax. Good ride. Nice trip. Nice to be home.

Biker Quote for Today

100 reasons not to date a biker: 31. You’ll have to help us with bike projects, because sometimes it takes three hands.

Dave and I loaded up and rode across the street to join the rest of the RMMRC group on our four-day ride the second morning. While I parked, Dave disappeared. After a few minutes it occurred to me and I asked Susan if they had all already gotten gas. She said yes and I realized that was probably where Dave had gone. I figured I’d better do so, too.

I filled up and used the facilities one last time and as I came out I saw a group of bikers heading down Horizon Drive toward the westbound I-70 ramp and then realized it was my group. They were leaving without me. I guess I should have said something to someone other than Susan about getting gas.

I hopped on and blasted away to catch up but this is a fast group of riders so that didn’t happen at all quickly. Meanwhile I considered the situation. I recalled some discussion of riding Colorado National Monument. Our ultimate destination this day was Ouray so it would make the most sense if you’re going to ride the monument to start on the Fruita end. But they might not; could I get to the exit to the other end before I lose sight of anyone? Regardless, I figured if I didn’t find them I would ride the ride I considered nicest, which would be to go to Fruita, ride the monument, and then meet them all at lunch down in Gateway.

Just as I got to the exit to the non-Fruita entrance to the monument I caught a glimpse of riders ahead on the interstate so I figured that was them and I cranked the throttle even harder. Just as they were exiting at Fruita I pulled up alongside Charley, who was riding sweep with his wife Karen on behind. Charley waved me on ahead of him and I was back with the group.

We rode the monument, stopping a couple times so Ralf, a hydro-geologist, could give us a little education on plate tectonics and uplift and erosion. Ralf is very knowledgeable so these were interesting presentations.

Leaving the monument we headed down US 50 to Whitewater, where we turned west on CO 141 toward Gateway and the Unaweep Tabeguache Scenic Byway. The Paradox Grille in Gateway is excellent, but also on our agenda was the Gateway Auto Museum. I’ve been to Gateway numerous times, eaten at the Paradox several times, but I had never been in the museum. Let me tell you it’s worth it. They have some amazing cars in there.

The road to Gateway is very nice but the road south from there to Naturita is spectacular. If you are familiar with the canyon country of Utah, this is a small area where the canyons crossed the state line and made their way into Colorado. Beautiful country and a beautiful ride.

We stayed on CO 145 until Placerville and then took CO 62 on to Ridgway. From there it’s just a few miles south on US 550 to Ouray. Coming into town we saw signs warning that 550 over Red Mountain Pass would be closed for construction beginning at 8:30 a.m. the next day. Oh, oh. We’re going to have to get an early start. And it’s going to be cold.

Biker Quote for Today

We know you’re a poser if you set at least one mirror, if not both, to reflect yourself.

Who knew it was 400 miles to Grand Junction from Denver? Or that it would take more than nine hours? We all know shortcuts; here we’re talking about longcuts.

I took off a week and a half ago with eight others from the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club (RMMRC) on a four-day Colorado Cruise ride and that was our first day. This is not a group that just rides out to the local bar; this is a group for people who really want to ride.

Nine of us on eight bikes left Morrison at 9 a.m., heading up along Bear Creek to Evergreen, cutting over toward I-70 on Evergreen Parkway, and then taking Jefferson County Road 65 from Bergen Park over to old US 40 alongside I-70, and finally down to where that road meets old US 6 coming up out of Clear Creek Canyon. Then we had no choice but to get on the interstate for a few miles.

We got off I-70 to go over Loveland Pass, down the other side and onto the Shadow Mountain Road to go around that reservoir, over to Frisco and back on the slab. Then off again at Copper Mountain to go up Fremont Pass to Leadville, where we stopped for lunch.

After lunch we headed down to Twin Lakes and turned up over Independence Pass. That brought us down to Carbondale but no way were we interested in continuing to Glenwood Springs on I-70; we turned south and went up over McClure Pass and down to Paonia. That put us on CO 92 heading west but at the tiny town of Austin we took a shortcut north to connect with CO 65 at Orchard City, on through Cedaredge and over the Grand Mesa.

Our day was getting long at this point but the folks in the lead are go-fast guys and there was no traffic so we probably crossed the Grand Mesa in record time, coming on down finally to I-70 and blasting on into Grand Junction as the rain started falling. Just as we reached the shelter of the motel entryway the skies opened up briefly and then we had a terrific rainbow.

And that’s how you cover 400 miles on a trip the map says is about 250 miles. Our ride was a lot prettier than the interstate, a lot more twisty, and we got up high where the leaves were already turning. A beautiful day to ride. A very auspicious start to the trip.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if you buy your 3-year old niece a Harley-Davidson t-shirt.

I had never heard of Exit Tours until Mike Brown contacted me. When he told me he was in the motorcycle tour business I was eager to talk, and before that I hurried to look at his sites. Far from enlightening me, the sites left me puzzled. There are several references to “the club.” Now I really wanted to talk.

In brief, Exit Tours is a club for people who want to ride off-road with others of a similar inclination. To go on a club ride the fee is $199. Membership is $399 per year, with your first club ride at no charge, so really, $200 per year assuming you go on at least one ride.

The ride fee gets you GPS tracks, meals, a t-shirt, camping fees covered, and the camaraderie. Plus, sometimes, portaging your gear from one night’s stop to the next one, although most rides are loops that end back at the same spot. None of that stuff comes free, except the camaraderie, so thus you have the fee. And I assume the club pays Mike for his efforts in arranging all this. Thus you have the club as a business model. Or, as Mike said, “It makes it so I don’t have to pay to ride.”

I have known other tour operators whose main purpose is really to get their own travel either free or at a discount. This appears to be a functional business model. It also keeps down the red tape. If a business is going to operate on public land there are required permits. For a club to just ride through there is no such requirement.

And it does seem to actually function like a club. Mike said that since 2012 he has had about 800 people on these rides but there are a core of about 30 who come repeatedly and who pitch in on the work.

This is not a company offering training or that sort of thing. You are expected to bring your own bike and know how to use it. The rides are either dual-sport, adventure rides, or trail rides. Different loops are mapped out so you can choose whichever is right for your skill level.

Rides are primarily within Colorado but some dip into New Mexico and some are in California.

Summing it up, Mike described the club as being “for guys who know how to ride, but not where to ride, and want to ride with others and make new friends.” That sounds like something I could be very interested in but Mike tells me my V-Strom would not usually cut it on their routes–not enough ground clearance. He did say, however, that there is one ride they do where the V-Strom would work. I’m interested.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if you stare longer at the pictures of the bikes in Easyriders than the naked women.

I’ll get to the answer first. I asked last week if anyone actually uses the RSS code in the sidebar and I got an answer. Yes. There are at least some people who still do, and the code apparently is still working. So I won’t be deleting it. Good to know.

If there is one thing motorcyclists recognize when they see it it’s a good day for riding. Saturday was one of those days and we were out in force.

The RMMRC did a ride and it was finally not in the high 90s temperature-wise. Then we went up in the hills and it was downright cool. How welcome that felt!

Starting out from the Phillips 66 in Morrison, a dozen of us, broken initially into two groups, crossed over past Red Rocks to Golden and then headed up Clear Creek Canyon. Through the vagaries of traffic we ended up in one group in spite of ourselves as we made our way up to Idaho Springs and lunch. One of the older members of the group remarked at lunch that he believed that was the first time he ever rode up Clear Creek but I find that too hard to believe. You don’t live in Denver for decades and never go up that canyon. Especially if you’re a motorcyclist.

One thing I found puzzling in the group I started out in was that the leader, who was not Bob, acted very Bob-like in that he took the lead position in the right side of the lane. I know Bob does that, and I finally got an explanation from him as to why, but here we go again with someone else. Isn’t it the norm that the leader takes the left position? Not for everyone, apparently.

Leaving Idaho Springs we gave up on breaking into groups and just headed out en masse. We ran up and over Squaw Pass. Although I’ve done Squaw Pass many times, I rarely go west to east, which is what this was, so it was pretty interesting. I’ve heard it said that going the other way on the same road is like taking an entirely different road and there is some truth to that. That kind of doubles your options so things don’t get too same old, same old.

Reaching the Evergreen Parkway near Bergen Park we split, with some heading south to Evergreen and the rest of us jogging north to the turn-off to Kerr Gulch. That is so much nicer than fighting the traffic in Evergreen. Then Idledale, and back to Morrison, and each in his own direction. Nothing special about the day, other than it was a really nice day to ride and everyone recognized it.

Biker Quote for Today

A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour.

We’ve had some really nice weather the last couple days so I had to go ride. Normally, with Wednesday forecast for a high around 72 there is no question there would have been an RMMRC ride. However, with the coronavirus flaring up in a big way, the RMMRC sent out a note earlier this week that for the time being all rides and events are suspended. I guess I’ll have to do this on my own.

It’s times like this when I get antsy to move somewhere else. I’ve been out on the plains way too much lately but going to the hills means riding half an hour across town both ways. It makes me jealous of Bill, who lives right alongside CO 93 running up from Golden to Boulder. He gets on his bike and he’s in the hills in five minutes.

But I did head west. I took Hampden/US 285 to C-470 and got off at Morrison. I was going to run up that road to Kittredge on CO 74 but just like the last time I tried that the road was closed. I figured the work they had been doing several weeks ago would be finished, but no. Wonder what they’re doing?

So I took the Hogback Road that runs up past Red Rocks, under I-70, and turned left onto old US 6 up through Mount Vernon Canyon. I wasn’t sure yet where I was headed but about this time I decided I’d take the turn-off over to Lookout Mountain and the Buffalo Bill grave site. That’s a nice road and you get several stunning views of the plains laid out below.

I stopped at Buffalo Bill’s to get that photo above and then headed on down. What I was already surprised at was how many other people on motorcycles had the same idea. Also, not a surprise, there were at least as many people on bicycles.

I started heading down and came up on a guy on a bicycle. I could have passed him but I’ve seen these folks on hills like this. I figured he’d actually want to go faster than I did. I was right. We neared the first sharp curve and he started scorching. Within seconds he was gone. I was in no hurry.

So I cruised on down, waving to any number of other bikers coming up, and then suddenly two bicyclists went blasting past me. Holy crap! I hadn’t been looking in my mirrors because what was there to look for? And I got passed one more time before I got to the bottom.

A note: the lower end of the Lookout Mountain road has been newly paved and they have added four speed bumps in the area where there are houses around.

I got down to CO 93 and one of the first things I saw was a motorcycle cop, and this guy was wearing just a short-sleeve shirt. I had a tee shirt, a flannel shirt, a vest, and my leather jacket. That’s how warm it was. Beautiful day in November.

Then from there I just headed home.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if you don’t go a day without wearing something that says “Harley Davidson.”

A regular ride for the RMMRC is out to Kiowa to Patty Ann’s Cafe, where the folks are friendly and the food is very good. Such a regular ride that we really have to work to find different ways to get there and come back.

Sure, we could always ride down Parker Road to Franktown and take CO 86 east to Kiowa but what fun would that be? Fortunately there are a lot of different routes.

The one we took out there on Wednesday was another really basic one: out east on Quincy to the Bennett-Kiowa Road and then south. If you just took those two routes you would soon be bored out of your mind. But there are numerous north-south roads, intersecting numerous east-west roads and you can pretty much zig-zag your way and vary the route any number of ways. You end up in the same place.

This, of course, is the curse of living in one place too long. There’s not a road anywhere near you that you haven’t ridden several hundred times.

Years ago I used to be pretty footloose. I moved around. And even when I stayed in the same place I would go away frequently, for extended excursions. I was known for this. When some friends moved to Buffalo, New York, the wife told me she wasn’t saying good-bye to me because she knew I’d be showing up at their door at some point. That was 40 years ago and I have never seen those folks again.

As it turned out, I settled down. I bought a house. That meant staying in one place and having mortgage payments that had to be made or else. That meant jobs where they expect you to show up every day. Dang, footloose was fun.

So I started going on all these week-long summer trips with the OFMC, which we’ve been doing for 31 years now. But even that started getting repetitive. In 31 years you cover a lot of roads anywhere you can get to and back in a week and a day or two.

For a while I pushed the guys to try something like shipping the bikes a long way away and flying out and then riding home. Or renting a truck to haul the bikes one way and having a marathon drive out somewhere distant and then riding home. I never could get anyone to go along on that with me. I’ve given up on that, plus the OFMC is down to just three again and in 2019, as I was mapping out a route, they told me they were game for some big miles in order to reach some places we don’t generally go. Afterward, planning the 2020 trip, they told me “let’s not do such long rides this time.” OK guys, whatever you wish.

And you end up riding the same roads over and over again. Sometimes I want to move to another city just so I can ride different roads. That’s not going to happen. I’ll keep riding these same roads, and ultimately they all lead to Patty Ann’s. Heck, it’s not a bad destination.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if people have nearly died of starvation looking at all of your bike/run pictures.

I headed over on Wednesday to meet up with the other RMMRC members who were going riding but when I got there I only saw one bike in the parking lot. I pulled over by a woman on a Harley who I did not recognize and she said she hadn’t seen any other bikes. I took a slow turn around the lot and only spotted one more.

Back over by her, she said she was going inside to use the restroom. I parked and walked over and saw the regular cast of characters at an outdoor table. I joined them. There was Robert but he is moving to Panama in less than a week and has sold his bike. Roy was there but not on his bike. Bob was there but not on his bike.

When the Harley woman joined us there were four of us who were on our bikes: her and me plus another woman and a guy on a Concours who I had seen before but whose name I did not recall at that moment. Paula, Valerie, and Gene, respectively, as I know now.

What this meant was that none of the usual leaders were riding and none of us had a plan. Think fast.

I was the one who came up with a plan. I have previously discussed a recent ride the RMMRC took where we rode Kerr Gulch, Witter Gulch, and Shadow Mountain Drive. I had never been on two of those roads and had only been on the third one time. I had mapped out a plan for a ride to take Judy on, essentially doing much of that original ride in reverse. Let’s do this, I proposed.

No one else had any ideas so it was no surprise they agreed to follow me. We headed out toward Morrison, figuring to go up to Kittredge and catch Kerr Gulch Road there.

Now, first off, being in the lead is a responsibility. When you’re just following along you don’t have to do much other than pay attention to the guy in front of you and the guy behind. Leading, especially in the city, means constantly keeping an eye out that you don’t lose anyone off the back end. With traffic and stoplights that can be challenging. This is part of why most people don’t like to lead. But I volunteered for it today.

We passed through Morrison and just on the outskirts of town we hit a roadblock. The whole highway was closed. Dang! What the heck are they doing up there? I still don’t know but, as the GPS says, recalculating.

It occurred to me that we could go back toward Morrison and take the road that runs over to U.S. 285, take 285 to the Parmalee Gulch road, and then take the turn that carries you over to Kittredge. We headed that way with me leading and Paula behind me. We got separated from the other two by cars. At 285 we couldn’t see either of them so we pulled over. After a minute or two Gene came along and said Valerie decided to go home. OK, now there were just the three of us. A pretty small ride by RMMRC standards.

So we followed that route, ignored the sign in Kittredge that said local traffic only, and turned onto Kerr Gulch Road. Up to Evergreen Parkway, a short jog south to get on the road over Squaw Pass, and then a turn down Witter Gulch.

Nearing Evergreen from the back side I pulled into the lot at the Evergreen Golf Course. Everyone was glad to take a break and get off the bikes, and Gene was enthused at what we had just ridden. He said he has ridden his bicycle on Squaw Pass many times and never even noticed that turn-off down Witter Gulch. I wasn’t sure Paula was as enthused because I know from experience that all those really tight turns are work on a big, heavy bike.

I told them my ride had one more leg but if they were ready to head home we were just outside Evergreen. They were game for one more so we rode into town, took the right toward Conifer, and then I had to find the turn-off. Coming the other way you see the sign for Shadow Mountain Drive. Over here, however, the road has become something else and I couldn’t remember exactly what. I warned them I might make a wrong turn.

We got to Brook Forest Road and I turned but very quickly considered turning back, thinking I had goofed. But I reconsidered and kept on and after awhile the road became Black Mountain Road and finally Shadow Mountain Road. That brought us back to CO 73 just outside of Conifer and U.S. 285. Now we turn for home.

It was a heck of a nice ride. There was still a lot more fall color than I expected and it was a beautiful day. A beautiful day up in the hills, that is. Coming down into town the smoke from the forest fires was so bad you couldn’t even see downtown. I don’t even want to think about what this crap is doing to our lungs.

So Robert is leaving the country, and new leadership is going to need to step up for the RMMRC. I guess I’m going to have to do my share. I did pretty well this time.

/Biker Quote for Today

Why motorcycles are better than men: Motorcycles don’t need Viagra.