Passes & Canyons Blog

OK, this will be a shameless promo. Looking on Thursday at the seven-day forecast, the best day coming up should be Tuesday, December 31. How convenient. That’s the day of the Last Brass Monkey Run.

The Last Brass, as it is called for short, is an ABATE of Colorado event intended to be the last ride of the year. Although ABATE tried moving it to the last Saturday of the year, in order to get more people to come, that didn’t have much effect so it was moved back to the last day of the year.

This year the Last Brass will be held at the Rock Rest Lodge, 16005 Old Golden Road, out in Golden. If you haven’t ever been to the Rock Rest you might want to come just to see the place.

Back a long, long time ago I lived very near there with my girlfriend, Sue, and we used to go there on Saturday nights for the country swing dancing. I hadn’t been there in probably 40 years but it was one of the stops on the ABATE D-17 Dart Run this summer so I stopped in again. Holy smokes, has that place changed. Forty years ago it was basically a dive bar with a huge dance floor. Now it is still rustic but it has been updated in a way that retains and enhances the ambience. And it’s a lot more popular.

So the Last Brass used to be an event where you would come to some distant starting point, sign up, and ride to the location. For many years that location was always the Grizzly Rose. Years ago you would come to the Rose and the parking lot would be jammed with motorcycles of all kinds. Then, for reasons unclear to me, attendance started to drop. The Grizzly Rose was no longer a viable venue because it was much, much too big for the number of people showing up. So it started moving around. It was at Wrigley’s for a couple years and then last year was the first at the Rock Rest. (I didn’t make it last year.) This year it’s the Rock Rest.

There will be music, food, door prizes, “games of skill/chance.” Now there are no far-flung starting places, you just come on down. Registration starts at 11 a.m. For ABATE members it’s $15; for non-members $20. If you join or renew your membership it’s $10. I originally joined ABATE at the Last Brass and I always renew there if I go. I’ll definitely be going this year. I invite you to join me. And if you do come, be sure to find me and say hello.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if you ever quit a job to go to Sturgis.

I got confused and made an assumption but then finally got it all straightened out. Denver’s long-running Motorcycle Show and Swap (now called the Colorado Motorcycle Expo) will be held as usual at the Stock Show grounds, on February 1 and 2. However, for the first time this year we will also have the Progressive International Motorcycle Show going on at the Colorado Convention Center on January 17-19. Golly, golly.

At ABATE meetings we had the usual “are we going to do a booth at the show and swap/expo this year” discussions. In the course of those discussions it was mentioned that the expo had new ownership. This is new, new ownership because there were new owners who took over just about five years ago.

So when I heard that we were going to be hosting the Progressive International Motorcycle Show–at the convention center, no less–I assumed the ownership change meant the expo had been subsumed into this big deal event. But then I started seeing promos for the expo. Huh? I did some searching and found out we’re getting both. Oh my gosh.

I have to tell you, I’m a lot more interested in the Progressive show than I am in the expo. For one thing, the expo is held at the Stock Show grounds and that is highly inconvenient. It’s an out-of-the-way place and about the only way to get there is to drive/ride. And then you have to pay to park. Getting to the convention center, for me at least, will mean getting on the light rail.

But more than that, the Progressive show has a lot more to offer. Back when I was writing for Examiner.com I made a special trip to Greenville, South Carolina, to attend a Progressive show. (It didn’t hurt that my parents lived in South Carolina, near Greenville, so I visited them and stayed at their place.)

The show was impressive. They had new bikes from all the manufacturers, gear from all the gear companies, a lot of demos and special events, and all in all was a very good event. And I’ve wondered for years why they didn’t have one of these here, but figured that they figured it was hard to compete when there is already an established event (the expo). Well, anyone who has been paying attention knows the expo has been having its troubles the last few years so perhaps Progressive decided it had an opening.

I guess I’ll be going to both. I’ll probably spend some time working the ABATE booth at the expo and I’ll definitely go downtown for the Progressive show. So much more convenient than flying to South Carolina!

Biker Quote for Today

It must have been that wild-eyed, silver-tongued schemer
A girl like Jody don’t think for herself.
Him and that Harley and his damn Jalapeno
Smokin’ that stuff’ll make you hurt yourself. — Bonnie Raitt

I have several Google alerts set to bring me articles mentioning motorcycles, bikers, and such, and today I got one about an event I’ve never heard of. Just wondering if you have.

From WYMT, a TV station in eastern Kentucky, there was a story, “National Motorcycle Ride Day.” I’ve never heard of National Motorcycle Ride Day.

Apparently this day is designated on the second Saturday of October each year. Well, we missed it this year, that’s for sure. It’s described as encouraging “motorcyclists in the USA and the world to get out and on their motorcycles for a united day of riding.”

OK, I’m all for that. But where did this come from and who made this designation? Here’s the answer:

National Motorcycle Ride Day was submitted in August 2015 by Chad Geer, and the Registrar at National Day Calendar declared National Motorcycle Ride Day to be celebrated annually on the second Saturday in October.

OK, so it seems that anybody who wants to declare a day to celebrate/commemorate something, all they have to do is fill out the form at this “National Day Calendar” and presto, you got it!

Of course, you then have to somehow publicize it and get the word out or you’re going to be having your very own, one-person celebration.

Is there more to this? Here:

National Motorcycle Ride Day was founded in 2015 by Chad Geer of Dunlop Tire N.A. The month of October signifies the beginning of fall and also the end of the riding season for a lot of bikers. It is also the month the pneumatic tire was developed by John B. Dunlop. Without this development in tire technology motorcycles would not be able to function.

OK, well, cool. Chad, you have my best wishes on making this into something. Hey, at least WYMT did a story, and that got distributed nationally. It’s a start.

Biker Quote for Today

Reasons not to date a motorcyclist: The garage is decorated nicer than the house.

Continuing my recent series of scheduling screw-ups, I got it wrong on the Dart Run.

The Dart Run, I should explain, is a fundraising poker run put on each year by my own District 17 of ABATE of Colorado. I was prepared to be a volunteer working one of the stops on the run but they had all that pretty well settled so I figured I would do the run. That way I would at least contribute monetarily, plus I was intrigued at the whole idea of this variety of thrown/shot/whatever ways of selecting your card.

Those ways include a blow dart, ninja stars, bow and arrow, and I’m not sure what else. It sounded like fun.

Because I was not working the event I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the particulars. So Saturday when I wanted to know the schedule I went to the ABATE website and to the calendar. The event listing said 12 a.m., which I know is equivalent to midnight, but I also know not everyone is clear on whether noon is 12 a.m. or 12 p.m. I thought it a little odd to start a poker run at noon but I figured whoever put the event up on the calendar had made a mistake and really meant 12 p.m.–noon.

I showed up at The Shack, the starting and ending point at noon and there was not one bike in sight. I went in and asked and was told, “Oh yeah, they all left at 9:30.” OK. And I didn’t know the route but the waitress/bartender told me some place in the hills, then Wrigley’s and then the Rock Rest and then back to The Shack.

Now, The Shack is at the corner of Broadway and Mineral so I just headed west on Mineral, which turned out to be a road I may never have ridden that far on before. That was interesting all by itself. I got out to C-470 and went north and stopped at Wrigley’s. There was nobody there. I didn’t ask but just headed on to the Rock Rest.

At the Rock Rest I found Carol Downs who told me that actually, Wrigley’s was the first stop after The Shack, and then the group headed up to Rollinsville to a place up there. And that she had heard that it was pouring rain up there. So I hung out at the Rock Rest.

The Rock Rest itself is an interesting place. About 40 years ago I lived with my girlfriend just a short distance from there and we used to go dancing there on Saturday nights when they would have a country band playing. I haven’t set foot in the Rock Rest in perhaps 35 years. Here’s a shocker: it has changed. This funky little dive bar is now a popular local spot and it was busy on a Sunday afternoon.

Anyway, some of the folks made it down from Rollinsville and blew darts for their cards, while I did my best to shoot a usable picture in the poor light. Then I just figured I’d head on home.

But I mentioned to Carol that the website had said 12 a.m. and she said she had noticed the same thing just the day before. So hopefully future events will give an accurate starting time.

Biker Quote for Today

It’s a good day to have a good day.

“You didn’t happen to see about 100 folks on motorcycles right here in the last minute or two did you?”

I went to the Old Bike Ride this weekend–twice. And I’ll go again next Sunday.

Yeah, OK, explanation required.

I was running a little late Saturday, reaching Golden just a minute or two after 9:30 and the ride was supposed to start promptly at 9:30. And there was nobody there. There were two motorcycles parked but I didn’t see any riders. Where the heck is everyone? There’s no way that many people can leave that quickly.

Of course it was my error. The ride was on Sunday, not Saturday. Oh well, it was a nice ride, though a little brisk. I wasn’t dressed for winter riding and might have wished I was but it got warmer as the morning progressed.

So now it was Sunday morning and it was a lot cooler and much more overcast. Warned by yesterday, I dressed for the weather, and it was a darn good thing I did. Even with warmer gear and my electric vest it was COLD riding out to Golden.

But I got to Golden and there were about a dozen, maybe 15 guys standing around with their bikes. I parked, removed my helmet, and turned to the guys near me and said, “I expected quite a few more people here.” Oh, they told me, the ride has been postponed till next Sunday. Weather up in the hills is a bit nasty.

I spoke with the guy who seemed to be in charge and he confirmed that there was dense fog at Genesee and the ride was planned to go up over Squaw Pass and then along the Peak to Peak. He said there was a probability of rain on the Peak to Peak, possibly turning to snow. No, let’s do this next week.

OK, and for the second day in a row I surprised Judy by showing up back at home hours earlier than she expected. Next Sunday!

Biker Quote for Today

Slow is fast…smooth is fast. If it feels fast, you’re doing something wrong and probably going slower than you were before.

I wrote here about my trip to Arizona Bike Week when it happened, but looking at what I wrote I see that what I put up on Examiner was quite different. That makes sense since it would be boring to write essentially the same thing a second time. So here’s what you didn’t read previously.

The Pre-Rally is already in full swing but Arizona Bike Week itself doesn’t start until Wednesday. I’m en route and will be there tomorrow, Monday. I’m happy to be able to say that because it wasn’t a sure thing earlier today.

The weather gods seemed to be smiling on me this morning in Denver, with temperatures higher than they had been in a week and clear, sunny skies. I climbed aboard my Kawasaki Concours and took off with my only concern being whether I could keep my hands warm.

That particular question was starting to feel a lot more important by the time I got to Castle Rock, just 20 miles from home down I-25. My finger-tips were very cold but I didn’t have a lot of time to think about them because as I climbed toward the Palmer Divide I noticed that about half the cars coming the other way had snow on them. Then the highway started looking suspiciously wet and I wondered if that moisture was in liquid or solid form.

Then came the fog. I got over the divide and started the descent toward Colorado Springs and it was pea soup. To say that the warm, welcome sun I started out with was nowhere to be seen is an understatement. I tucked in behind a pick-up pulling a trailer that was going about 40 and just crept along. And I was getting a lot colder.

Of course I had my electric vest on, as well as my warmest longjohns and a bunch of other warm clothes. If not for the vest I would have turned back. No way would I ride on in that cold without that warmth. But by the time I got to the south end of Colorado Springs my fingers were screaming in pain from the cold and I pulled off to get a cup of hot cocoa at a convenience store.

With my freezing hands wrapped around the hot cup of cocoa, I questioned people coming in the store as to whether they knew how the weather was on south. No one knew for sure but the presumption was that it should be warmer heading toward Pueblo. I asked a guy where he was coming from that he had snow on his car and he said, “My house. Right here in the neighborhood. We had snow this morning, but I think it’s all done for now.”

With my hands warm again I got back on the bike and pressed on. Sure enough, the farther south I got the warmer it got. It was a little chilly going over Raton Pass but by the time I reached Santa Fe I switched the vest off because it was getting too hot.

Meanwhile, about the time I reached Walsenburg, before reaching the pass, I got hit by the first blast of the powerful crosswinds I was destined to contend with for the next several hours. Almost all the way to Albuquerque the winds played their cat and mouse game, easing off when the road dipped beneath the general landscape and blasting me as soon as I came out in the open again. I’d pass a truck on the downwind side and have to stand the bike up quickly to keep from steering right into it, and as soon as I would pull ahead the wind would blast me toward the median. I took to diving back into the right-hand lane as soon as I got ahead of the truck because while that’s exactly what happened most of the time, other times the blast hit me so hard that if I hadn’t already been leaned in like that it would blow me off the road.

At Albuquerque I turned west on I-40, so now at least, any westerly wind would be blowing in my face rather than from the side. I pressed on to Grants and considered continuing to Gallup. But the sun was at that point where if I had, it would have been setting and I would have been riding right into it the last part of that leg. I opted for Grants. That’s about 530 miles of the 850 from home to Scottsdale, where I’m headed. Another 320 miles tomorrow won’t be bad. Plus, I get to leave the interstate at Holbrook and the last 140 miles will be on two-lane through some mountains I’ve never seen before.

So all right! First bike trip of the year. Yee hah!

Biker Quote for Today

Riding fast is one thing, riding in a hurry is a completely different thing. Never ride in a hurry.

Would anybody challenge me if I said that bikers tend to be colorful folks? If they did I suspect I could substantiate my claim. To that end, here are some of the people I saw at the 2019 Colorado Motorcycle Expo.

Oh, and I forgot to mention in my last expo post that in my meandering through the area trying to get to the National Western center through all the roadblocks that, golly, golly, the surrounding area seems to be marijuana central. I passed more warehouses that had big, colorful murals on the outside that appear to be grow houses. And in some places the odor was powerful. To the south of the highway, between Brighton Boulevard and York Street it’s one heck of a concentration.

Now here are the people pix.

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”6″ gal_title=”CME2019people”]

Biker Quote for Today

I want to interrupt a game of Magic: the Gathering by busting through a wall on a motorcycle. — Megan Boyle

It’s a motorcycle expo, right? The Colorado Motorcycle Expo 2019. So of course there were cool bikes to look at. Here are some of them.

As an aside, getting to this event was amazingly difficult. I could have simply taken I-70 and gotten off right there but I didn’t want to do that and figured city streets would be more interesting. That set me up.

First of all, the new A Line commuter train from downtown to DIA has disrupted some streets. And now, the old street that used to run under the elevated portion of I-70 has been shut down. On top of that, prep work on rebuilding the highway entirely seems to be underway so there were a bunch of detours.

I ended up snaking through neighborhoods, crossing under I-70 again and again, and could see the coliseum, but I couldn’t get there. Finally I managed to get onto Brighton Boulevard and that took me where I wanted to go. I took the direct route home and the difference was four miles. I wandered four miles through a very small area trying to find this place that I have been to many, many times before.

OK, here’s the pictures.

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”4″ gal_title=”cme2019bikes”]

Biker Quote for Today

My back and ass hurt, I can’t feel my feet.
My hands have gone numb, bug parts in my teeth.
But there’s gas in the tank and a headwind to fight
On a wide open road, no end in sight.
So you think we should stop? Am I getting that right?
One answer for that, Hell No! Let’s Ride!