Passes & Canyons Blog

The first ever motorcycle roadracing event was held at the brand new High Plains Raceway Saturday and I was there. The weather cooperated and it was a good day to be out having fun.

Mind you, I’m not a big race fan. I think this was only the third racing event I’ve ever been to. Judy and I went to the Super Bike races at Pikes Peak Raceway some years ago, and then we went to the ice races down by Woodland Park earlier this year. And then High Plains on Saturday.

It was fun, and I’m sure I’ll go again, but what I’m saying is, don’t expect me to talk about this like an expert because I’m not. But I’m going to offer you my novice observations on what it was like.

First off, I went because it was the inaugural motorcycle event and that seemed worthy of coverage, which I posted on Examiner.com.

Secondly, I wanted to meet and speak with a racer who is being sponsored by ABATE of Colorado, Jonathan Kuo. As Jon put it, ABATE is generally perceived among young sportbike riders as being a bunch of grey-hairs who ride Harleys. Sponsoring Jon is an outreach effort to try to change that perception and bring more of the motorcycle community into the organization. I’ll be doing a separate story on Jon later.

So anyway, one of the fun things about High Plains Raceway is that everybody gets a pit pass. That is, the parking and spectator area and the pit area are all one space, so you can walk around and talk with the racers, look at their bikes, and just mix freely. And if, like me, you’re pretty new to this sort of thing, it’s interesting some of the things you notice.

For example, it seems like everyone has a scooter or pocket bike or at least a bicycle. Getting around in the pit area can entail quite a bit of walking, so it’s completely normal to see some really big name racers like Jason DiSalvo and Matt Lynn, both of whom were there Saturday, riding around on little 50cc scoots. Small electric bikes are particularly popular, it seems.

Also, it’s a real family scene, right down to the critters. Hey, if you’re going out for the weekend you’re going to take the dog along, right? In many cases, at least, the answer is “Hell yes!”

From what the racers say, the track itself is a very good one. I was told it has some challenging turns, some fun and exciting elevation changes, and once they finish putting in the amenities it should be worthy of hosting Super Bike racing.

Of course it was fun to watch Jon Kuo race, in the way it’s always more fun when you actually know one of the guys out there on the track. Jon’s only in Novice class as yet but there’s no question he’s one of the good ones. I watched him run two races and he placed second behind the same guy each time. The two of them were smoking the rest of the field. You could see in the curves how they would swoop down and through, while everyone else had nowhere near the lean and often were way off the line.

So I enjoyed myself. And hey, it was historic in at least a small way. First time for the new track. And I looked in the Denver Post and they said nothing about it at all in the sports section. Too busy with the Nuggets, I guess.

Recent from the Denver Motorcycle Examiner
Healing is focus of Denver-area biker couple’s Run For The Wall

Biker Quote for Today

When you’re riding lead, don’t spit.

You’ve got to love it when you run across a piece of writing that makes you say, “Everyone ought to read this–it’s great!”

I did just that the other day when I paid a visit to Fasthair, a biker blogger in Iowa whose blog I link to in the sidebar column to the right of this post, under “Favorite Links.”

First off, that’s a picture of him, and yes, he’s on a bike wearing a tuxedo. This is a piece of the photo he uses on his blog, and it’s worth it to go to his blog just to see the whole picture. Then, of course, you need to read the story behind the picture. Fasthair, if you have any problems with me using this piece of your photo just let me know and I’ll remove it.

But, back to my main topic, Fasthair recently posted a story, My First Time, where he tells about his first day wrenching for a nitro-powered motorcycle dragster. I’ll quote just a few lines here, to whet your appetite, but I don’t want to spoil the story. Go read it yourself.

It snorted nitro out the carburetor instead of ingesting it the first time Frog whacked the throttle, it did it couple of more time just for good measure a couple of seconds later.

With what I’m sure was a surprised look on my face I said matter-of-factually “it needs more fuel.”

opening the crankcase drain so what oil is there can drain and I drain the oil tank of what looks like a babies diaper on a bad day

“I’ve got a little trick for that” he replies pointing to the little can hanging off the front of the carb.

OK, now go read the rest yourself.

Biker Quote for Today

The nasty little bugger looked like it was going 90 miles an hour when it was standing still in my garage. — Hunter S. Thompson

We had the opportunity to do a lap at the yet-to-open High Plains Raceway today. Yeah, OK, we were in a pick-up and I wasn’t even driving but it was still a blast.

You may recall my last post about this new racetrack, just a few weeks shy of a year ago. I’ve been checking the website periodically but it had been awhile, so I checked again this morning.

Well, blow me away, they’re set to open! Like in about one month. I had to see this so Judy and I climbed on the Kawi and scooted on out there. We saw a truck going around the course, and the gate was open, but we were hesitant. Then a car came heading out and I flagged the folks down to ask. They said to just go on in, that the track manager would be happy to see us and would give us a ride around the track. We went in.

Pulling up at the office, there were two bikes parked there and the silver pick-up. Doug Shaffar is the track manager and he was telling two other bikers about the place at the end of their cruise around. We joined in the conversation, the other two were ready to take off, and Doug said “Get in. Let’s take a ride.”

On the 2.5-mile loop he stopped frequently to explain the lay-out of the track. Early on you come down a nice straightaway right into what he said is called “Danny’s Lesson,” a decreasing radius right-hander that would get your adrenaline pumping just fine if you went into it too fast. On around and up what he called the “High Plains Drift” and through the others of the 15 curves.

We hadn’t counted on anything like this when we headed out. I just figured I wanted to go see it and shoot some pictures. I had dim hopes that I’d find someone I could ask some questions of, but to actually get out on the track and get a full-blown tour was way cool. And guess what? You can do it, too. I asked Doug specifically if it would be OK for me to tell folks they can come out and get the same treatment and he said absolutely. Now, he’s not always there, but if he is, you’re welcome. If you want to call ahead the number is 303-769-4771.

You might want to do it soon, though because in just four weeks racing starts. This may be a brand new track but their weekends are booked from the first of April all the way through November. This track will host both auto and motorcycle events and the first race will be put on by the Sports Car Club of America. The second is a Motorcycle Roadracing Association event. That will be April 11 and 12.

Maybe I’ll see you at the races.

Biker Quote for Today

Thou shalt explore the outer limits of engine-braking, backfire, and hurl fireballs from thy tailpipe.

You really can’t believe the way these racers scream around the frozen track until you see them do it. We saw them today and it was great!

My wife, Judy, and I went to the Harry’s Roamers Motorcycle Club ice races at Rainbow Falls Park, which is off CO 67 between Deckers and Woodland Park. A frozen lake provides the track. It was pretty dang cold but the racing was hot! Well, at least some of it.

You have to figure, with classes ranging from pros to toddlers, not all the racing was hot. But if, like Judy, you swoon over cute kids you would have loved these tiny tots on their tiny bikes. In some cases you could probably run and keep up with the leader, providing you didn’t slip and fall on your butt on the ice.

The top racers, on the other hand, were amazing. They have sheet metal screws drilled into their tires to provide traction and it must really do the job. I haven’t even seen lean angles like that at dirt tracks.

There was a real variety, too. Besides the two-wheelers, there was also three- and four-wheel ATV racing, and also the third-wheel guys. These third wheels were basically motorcycles with a large third wheel set up like an outrigger. And then there were also the guys on two wheels who don’t use studs in their tires. Don’t ask me how they stay up.

The whole thing was a lot of fun, it took much longer to get there from Denver than we expected, and it was biting cold, at least early on. If you go be sure to get an early start and dress very warmly.

The club will be holding four more race days this season, on Jan. 11, Jan. 18, Jan. 25, and Feb. 8. There’s an $8 gate fee, with kids under 12 free. You can buy food and drinks but be prepared to pay very high prices. Better to take something along.

This was a lot of fun. I strongly recommend it. Enjoy.

Biker Quote for Today

Go fast and aim for where the trees aren’t.

Do you remember Second Creek Raceway? You know, it was out a little east of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, a little west of where Denver International Airport now is.

If you do remember it you’re probably aware that it is closed now. It seems they built housing developments nearby and the poor homeowners couldn’t abide the noise from the racetrack. Never mind that the racetrack was there long before their houses were. Of course, there’s an airport nearby, too. Maybe they’ll try to get that closed.

Well, here’s the good news. Second Creek is on the verge of doing a phoenix gig and rising from the ashes. The new name will be High Plains Raceway and it is out on US 36 about 17 miles east of Byers.

You can find out all about it here.

This new raceway is a joint effort among the folks who ran Second Creek, various clubs (mostly racecar clubs) that used Second Creek, and some corporate sponsors who presumably have some sort of interest in the business end of it. They’re conducting a fund-raising campaign, have about $2.3 million so far, and need $3 million.

They also have all the necessary permits in hand and “we are fast approaching the funding required to begin construction.”

The site is more than eight times the size of Second Creek so it should be a pretty nice facility. I don’t know if you have ever done a “track day” where you get to ride on a racetrack, with not fears of oil or gravel and no inattentive SUV drivers to contend with, but if you haven’t you should. Done in conjunction with some training on better riding they can benefit just about anyone.

Stay tuned. I’ll keep you up to date on the progress, and the opening, and then any motorcycle events held out there. Heck, you might even want to go out for the car races. This stuff can really be fun.

Biker Quote for Today

Never trade the thrills of living for the security of existence.