Passes & Canyons Blog

I don’t often devote this space to passing events but hey, it’s winter and not a lot of riding thanks to snow and ice. Besides, you might be interested. I was.

I got an email today informing me of Triumph Motorcycles America’s 20-city “British Invasion Tour.” And the first stop was set for January 9. Yikes, that’s already past. I assumed they’re coming to Denver, so when? Tomorrow. January 19. Oh my gosh.

You have to make a reservation to go but there’s no charge. While I was anticipating some kind of all day affair, in fact it is just a three-hour event, from 7 to 10 p.m. It’s being held at Mile High Station, at 2027 West Colfax. Where the heck is that?

OK, I get it. You follow that link and up at the top, next to the Mile High Station logo it has a logo for Ironworks. I get it, I know that place. It’s basically under the Colfax viaduct west of the river but east of Federal. That building has always been a beauty and I’m pleased to see it’s still there and still in use. If you’re not familiar with getting there you’ll want to look at Google Maps.

So what’s going on? Per the website:

An exclusive first look at our all-new 2024 motorcycles.

Light food
Live Music
Activations
Cash Bar

First 100 guests to arrive receive exclusive merch!

And apparently it is only the new bikes. Not a comprehensive presentation, just the new ones.

Of course I’d like to go. And wouldn’t you know it, I have a conflict, one that I really don’t want to duck out on. Dang. But maybe you can go.

Biker Quote for Today

A glorious day with a new bike.

I got in two last rides right at the end of 2023. The weather is looking OK so maybe I’ll be able to get in some January rides right away. We’ll see.

On Saturday it really wasn’t much of a ride. Mark over at Rowdy Rocket finally had a spot open for me to bring the Concours in so he can fix the issue that has the throttle not backing off as it should. That was just a very short, five-mile ride but hey, I was out on a bike on December 30. Were you? Now I’m just concerned, having given the bike to Rowdy on December 30, that I get it back before January 31 so I can get in a January ride on it. The last time they had my bike they had it for a very long time. If need be I’ll nudge Mark, but I’d rather not have to.

Then on Sunday it was the day for ABATE of Colorado‘s annual Last Brass Monkey Run. This was looking like the best chance in several years to actually ride to this thing so that was my plan. Also, I was still 26 miles short of turning over a new 1,000 on the V-Strom so you know I was going to ride if at all possible. And it was.

I checked the temperature and it seemed reasonably warm out there so I dressed accordingly but when I went out to roll the bike out it was a lot colder than I expected. I was wearing jeans with long underwear and the usual up top, including my electric vest, and planned to wear my winter gloves. I took off the jeans and put on a second layer of long underwear and then put on my riding pants, which I mostly wear in the winter. Then I pulled out my heated gloves. I didn’t want to be cold unnecessarily.

I took off, headed out west to Golden, to the Rock Rest Lodge, and yes it was cold. I had set the gloves at 50 percent power but soon wished I had set them at 75 percent. And I had carelessly draped the cord for the vest between the tank and my body in a manner that led to me accidentally turn it off three times. Let’s just say that when I reached the Rock Rest I was glad to get off and go inside.

It was a great turn-out–the best in years. And a lot of folks came on their bikes, as you can see in the photo. It was good to check in with all the usual folks (Mike: I guess it’s been exactly a year since I last saw you). Yeah, but in 2024 there are going to be some issues at the legislature where we’ll be seeing each other down at the capitol.

Coming home it was a bit warmer but I still set the gloves at 75 percent and that kept my hands toasty almost all the way home. And I was more careful with the cord for the vest and never once turned it off by accident.

Now I’m eager to check my odometers and see how many miles I put on each bike this year. I took three trips so it ought to be a higher number than last year. Those numbers will be showing up here soon.

Biker Quote for Today

2 > 4

Covid is not gone but the world is moving on and we’ll just live with it. Which is to say, after two years of not a lot of motorcycle rallies or events going on, it’s all back now. I’ve been much busier recently updating and adding events to my Rides and Rallies page and I’m a little blown away by all the many events already announced. And we’re not even into the season yet.

Let’s just look at a few.

All the racing events are back on the calendar. You’ve got a series of vintage motocross races set. And of course the big one, Monster Energy 2023 Supercross. Plus, the Motorcycle Roadracing Association is planning a full series of events, too.

The annual Molly-Dharma Run is set for June 11. This event raises money for animal shelters and is always one of the most popular poker runs in the state.

One I haven’t seen before is the Southwest Quest – Women’s Moto Retreat. This event, in June, is a focus for women riders.

In July the Christian Motorcyclists Association is having its big gathering in Hotchkiss. And shortly after that the BMW Motorcycle Club of Colorado is having its annual Top O the Rockies Rally just down the road in Paonia.

In August the Four Corners Motorcycle Rally returns, and it’s a good one. Then there are a couple one-off things going on in September. The Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum, in Colorado Springs, is having a 30-year anniversary celebration and that coincides with a Colorado stop-over by the Motorcycle Cannonball event, which runs from coast to coast on really old machines every two years.

Those are just some highlights. There will be plenty of poker runs and fundraisers planned by a wide range of organizations. Basically, any time you’re looking for something to do on your bike you’re likely to find something going on. So get out there and ride.

Biker Quote for Today

It does not matter how slow you ride as long as you do not stop.

You would be hard put to find any better place for people watching than the Colorado Motorcycle Expo, although I didn’t seem to get as many really good shots as I have in past years. Still, if you can’t come up with something you ought to hang up your camera. Let’s do some gawking.

Biker Quote for Today

You can’t scare me; my grandpa is a biker.

On Saturday I headed over to the National Western Complex for the 2023 Colorado Motorcycle Expo. Some aspects of this show never change but then some of them do.

It was a cold, overcast day (at least by the time I got there) and one thing very different was that there were not hundreds of motorcycle parked out front. No surprise considering the weather. But there were some here and there so there were some hard-core folks in attendance.

An odd thing that I take to be just coincidence was that as I was coming in there were a surprising number of people leaving who were carrying handlebars. Do a lot of people come here for handlebars? Probably my timing was just right for this totally random situation.

Inside you would have thought it was the middle of summer. I haven’t seen that much black leather in one place since the last time I came to the Expo. Personally, I don’t wear my riding gear except when I’m riding but this sort of event seems to prompt people to dress the part, never mind that they drove there in their cars.

The biggest surprise of all was that somehow in the intervening years (since 2019) all of the so-called “outlaw” clubs have established a presence at the Expo. By which I mean, they have all taken booths and set up with banners and everything and are now selling their own branded merchandise. Want some Sons of Silence merch? Take your pick of four different booths (Eastern Colorado, Metro, Southwest, Southwestern Colorado). Hell’s Angels merch? Got that. Gringos merch? Yup.

And this is an amazing transformation because the last time I went to the Expo the clubs were pretty much banned. There had been an inter-club shooting a couple years before and the management was working to keep them away, at least insisting that they not come wearing their colors. Times have changed.

Another surprise was how many Christian motorcycle groups had booths. I’ve really only been familiar with the Christian Motorcyclists Association (CMA) but there was a whole slew of them that I had never heard of: Tribe of Judah Motorcycle Ministry, Soldiers for Jesus MC, and Hellfighters, just to name a few. Who knew? Not me. And they all had booths.

Of course there were a bunch of show bikes–that never changes. What was different about that this year was how very many mega-trikes there were. These are the things that are basically cars with extended forks and a single front wheel and two car tires on the rear. There used to be three of these things you’d see at local events, and I know one of them got smashed pretty badly in a crash in Wolcott some years ago. But there were about seven of them on display at the Expo.

Also, and this was new, in the downstairs there was an area where they had a bunch of custom cars. Don’t think I’ve ever seen cars on display at the Colorado Motorcycle Expo before.

And of course there were the people. There is absolutely no better place for people watching because there is nowhere else you’ll see so many really odd and interesting looking people.

Of course I shot a lot of pictures and I’ll be following up here with a couple posts that are primarily just photographs. Check back in a few days.

Biker Quote for Today

Ride to work, ride to play. Ride tomorrow, ride today.

I made it out to Golden Saturday for the Last Brass Monkey Run, ABATE of Colorado‘s annual year-end event, but I sure as heck was not on a motorcycle. While the main roads were mostly clear, my street still had an inch of ice on it. Normally when it snows as much as it had just done a couple days earlier the city sends a plow down the middle of the street, but that never happened this time.

So I drove. As did a whole lot of other people apparently. It was the biggest turn-out for this thing in quite a few years. It used to be ABATE would reserve the entire Grizzly Rose venue and it would be full, but in recent years attendance has dropped severely–I have no idea why. I was going to insert a photo from the days when this was a really big deal but apparently I’ve got all those old shots archived somewhere. I need to get my photos organized better.

There were nowhere near enough people to fill the Grizzly Rose but at the Rock Rest it was a nice crowd. And for me it was nice to see a bunch of folks again who I hadn’t seen in a while. I used to attend my ABATE district meeting every month but about a year ago I decided it wasn’t really that good a use of my time. I’m interested in ABATE’s legislative work and there hasn’t been much motorcycle-related stuff going on at the legislature.

One of those folks I saw was Stump, who is ABATE’s legislative liaison. I asked him what is coming up this year and once again it doesn’t sound like much. He talked about maybe working to get Colorado to drop its designation of motorcyclists as (vulnerable? at-risk? something like that) road users. Why? Apparently in some states that is now being used as an excuse to call for mandatory helmet laws. If these people are at risk, then by golly let’s make them protect themselves.

I’m all in favor of wearing a helmet and I always do but I am one of those who believe it should be up to the rider to decide. As is ABATE in general. As is the American Motorcyclist Association.

Anyway, there doesn’t seem to be much going on so I no longer attend meetings, so it was good to see these folks again.

Back in the day, too, you used to see a lot of folks showing up on December 31 on motorcycles. This year there was only one. And years ago, it was actually a ride. Starting from various points around the area people would gather and ride to the Grizzly Rose. Not anymore. It’s too unpredictable with the weather so they have created an all in one room poker run instead. (My worthless hand came out to be an ace high. Not anywhere close to a winner.)

Still, it’s the last biker event of the year. So I went. And I had a good time. What more can you ask for?

Biker Quote for Today

I don’t have a bucket list but my bikeit list is a mile long.