Archive for the ‘motorcycle touring’ Category

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An Easy-Going Ride To Cheyenne

Monday, July 13th, 2026


Wyoming 210 heading east from Laramie to Cheyenne.

I needed to go up to Cheyenne but there was no way I wanted to take the interstate. I-25 was certainly the most direct way. I live about 1 mile from the highway and it takes you straight up to Cheyenne, less than a mile from my destination. Nope. Not gonna happen.

Instead, I figured I would cruise out to the west side of town and take Colorado 93 up from Morrison, to Golden, and on to Boulder. Then I’d head to Longmont, catch US 287 north to Laramie, and then cut east on a short stretch of I-80 and the rest of the way in on Wyoming 210. Much better, but a lot slower. Hey, I’m in no hurry. I just want to get out for a nice ride.

It has been blazing hot lately, and it was when I headed out on the V-Strom on Thursday. But we’ve also had a lot of smoke from forest fires further west and that smoke, while making the air hazardous to breathe, does provide some relief from the heat. You don’t have that blistering sun beating down on you. So it was a hot ride across town but a bit nicer along the foothills.

I got through Golden and up to the turn-off up Eldorado Canyon, just south of Boulder, and turned east to pick up Cherryvale Road to continue north. I wanted the bypass around Boulder and then the Longmont Diagonal up to Longmont. But I must have missed a turn somewhere. Doesn’t matter, as long as I take roads going either east or north they’re all heading in my direction. What this wandering did though was to add a lot of slow travel in the heat. There’s a reason I try to avoid Boulder County and this is a big part of it.

Coming into Longmont I knew I could skirt around the more congested parts of town but I intentionally wanted to go straight to 287 because I had not been this way recently and wanted to see the changes. There is so much development and redevelopment going on up and I’m curious. And what I saw confirms that Longmont more and more seems like a place it could be really nice to live. Not that I have any intention of moving. But a very nice smaller town.

Once I finally got through Longmont I was able to pick up speed a bit. Meanwhile, the sky ahead was looking decidedly wet. Bring it on. As long as it doesn’t come down too hard I won’t even stop to put on my rain suit. And I did get a bit wet as I got close to Loveland. I got through Loveland surprisingly quickly and then on to Fort Collins. Even Fort Collins was less of a traffic jam than Longmont and going out of town I needed a break.

I stopped for gas–not that I needed it but it’s a reason to stop–and spotted an ice cream shop right next door. Score! I had been thinking about an ice cream stop. I enjoyed the air conditioning and the ice cream, then looked out to see that it was actually pouring rain. OK, I guess I’m in no hurry.

The rain didn’t last that long and I went out and now had to decide what gear I needed. I knew the roads would be wet and even if it didn’t rain any more I could still end up with wet, dirty pants. But I decided against pants. I did put on my rain jacket, just in case I did run into actual rain. Somewhat to my surprise those were both good decisions.

Yes, at first my pants legs got a bit damp but soon the road was drying out and that was that. Meanwhile, the rain had cooled things off enough that the extra warmth and wind-breaking quality of the jacket was appreciated. It was actually a little chilly.

Then it was a direct cruise up to Laramie. I stopped again to stretch and have a bit to eat and what a difference Wyoming was. It was a good bit cooler than Colorado and no smoke in the air.

Heading east out of Laramie you have little choice but the interstate but in just a few miles you can get off onto the two lane. I took the exit, crossed over the highway, and then came to a T intersection. Going left seemed to go straight north, while going right was headed east. Easy choice. Until I went about half a mile, crossed a small bridge, and found nothing but gravel on the other side. What the hey?

I turned around and went back, then consulted the map. It turned out the road that appeared to go due north only did so for a very short distance and then it bent east. This was my road. And what a nice road! Not mountains but hills and a much nicer transit to Cheyenne than the interstate would have been. Time to find my hotel.

Biker Quote for Today

A true biker knows that life begins at the end of your comfort zone.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, motorcycle touring, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | 1 Comment »

I’ve Looked At Clouds

Monday, July 6th, 2026


I searched and searched for a photo that even came close to what I saw and this was the best I could find. But it’s still nothing like it. (Photo by antoine de Barquin on Unsplash.)


One thing about clouds is that they are always utterly unique. One thing about riding motorcycles is that you are not in a box with a limited field of vision, you are out there to see it all, all around you.

That was the situation on the first day of our recent Utah trip, just about the time we crossed from Colorado into Utah. The sky was incredible. If I had been alone I would have stopped and shot a photo. That’s one of the problems in traveling with a group. I can’t count the number of pictures I have missed because I was with other people and for me to stop means for the whole group to stop.

Here’s what I wrote in my journal that evening: “Coming into Utah there were some incredible clouds like I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. A sky full of individual cotton balls, tinted purple and blue and white, patches of blue sky poking through, and the rest of the sky all kinds of mixed shades.”

And it’s so utterly impermanent. Five minutes later the sky didn’t look at all like it had before.

What this really emphasized for me is that I really need to put my GoPro camera to work more often. If I had had that set up not only would I have captured some shots of this incredible sky, I would also have gotten some pretty fabulous shots of the bikes ahead of me going through some terrific country. I always get lessons on these rides; too bad I rarely remember them when it’s time to prepare for the next trip.

Biker Quote for Today

Travel as much as you can, as often as you can, and as far as you can. Life was not meant to be lived in just one place.

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Communicators–Nice If We Knew How To Use Them

Monday, June 22nd, 2026


My Cardo communicator on my helmet.

I did this Utah ride with the RMMRC guys and I was looking forward to having us all connected via our Cardo communicators. I told myself that before I left on this trip I ought to pull mine out and charge it and also refresh myself on how to operate it. I did charge it but I did not refresh. You know, someone else will be the main guy and he will know how to do it and all that.

Yeah, right. I got over to Morrison, where we were assembling, in plenty of time to get connected, and everyone there was asking, “How do we connect these things?” Oh great. I had the user guide on my phone so I called it up and was looking at it but it seems the process is open to interpretation. Does this mean this, or does it mean that?

We only managed to get Tom and Gene connected so Tom was leading the ride and Gene rode sweep. It’ll do. We’ll get this all figured out tonight in Green River. Meanwhile, during the course of the day I needed to let Tom know I needed a gas stop so I used old fashioned hand gestures to give the word to Gene to pass up to Tom. Hey, it worked.

That evening in Lindsay’s suite (he didn’t request it; they just gave it to him) we were sitting there with the door open so anyone walking down the hall could glance in and see these weird guys sitting around wearing motorcycle helmets. There were five of us and with some effort we finally got four connected, but the fifth just was not happening. I was the fifth. I didn’t like that situation.

We decided to try again from the start and once again we only got four connected. This time I was in but Dave was out. Dave did not like that situation.

But we were out of ideas so for this whole ride Dave was not in communication while all the rest of us were. Probably more than anyone else, I empathized with him deeply. That could have been me. But not deeply enough to offer to swap communicators with him.

Since getting home I have re-read the user guide again and I think I do understand what our issue was. We really need to get this figured out. Like, maybe get together to get it done before we’re actually leaving on the trip.

Biker Quote for Today

Bikers don’t need a crowd; we ride alone but together.

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There It Is–How Do We Get There?

Monday, June 15th, 2026


Stopped on McClure Pass Summit

The fourth day of this 5-day Utah ride brought us back into Colorado. We were continuing south out of Moab, down US 191 to where Utah 46 splits off to the east to cross the base of the La Sal mountains into far southwestern Colorado. If you’ve never taken this road you are missing a really sweet one. The decline into Paradox Valley is magnificent.

First, though, I had to get all screwed up. I left the motel ahead of the others telling Dave I would stop at the first gas station out of town on the right. There is no gas station going out of town on the right. I ended up doubling back as the other guys came past me heading out of town and I had to do a U-turn and hit the road without having all my riding gear on properly. What a pain that was.

So we got into Colorado and reached Naturita and had two options: go left up to Gateway and then out to US 50 north of Delta or go right down to Placerville and over to Ridgway, then north on US 550 to approach Delta from the south. The north route takes you along the Unaweep Tabeguache Scenic and Historic Byway and is a terrific ride. The south route is very pretty and a good bit shorter. We went south.

There’s not much in Placerville but we wanted a pit stop so we pulled in. The only store in town had no public facilities but a note on the door saying there was a park two blocks north where there were restrooms. We never knew that. And what a nice little park. Now we know.

Reaching Ridgway we were planning to stop for lunch but we got into town and it was jammed. A festival going on. OK, we’ll go on to Montrose.

But first, going north out of Ridgway, Lindsay had an idea. The turn-off to Owl Creek Pass is right outside of Ridgway and he wanted to show us something. Some rich dude had built an amazing house just up the road a ways. But Lindsay, this road is gravel. I was on a dual-sport but the others were not. Are they really that interested?

We went a distance and they were not. Through the communicators Tom and Gene said we’re going back. Lindsay was out of communications distance so I passed the word along. We never saw that house. Not all ideas are actually good ideas.

We lunched in Montrose, went north to Delta, and turned east on Colorado 92, picked up Colorado 133 at Hotchkiss and up and over McClure Pass. I was glad to see McClure. My lunch had been unexpectedly large and I had eaten it all. Heading for Delta I started getting drowsy and the whole was to Hotchkiss and Paonia I was struggling to keep my eyes open. The curves on McClure woke me up. Just what I needed!

If you’re familiar with Aspen you know the Maroon Bells. McClure Pass shows you the back side of the Maroon Bells. Nice ride.

Down to Carbondale and then we needed to take Colorado 82 toward Aspen, though we were stopping today in Basalt.

I was never familiar with the old Basalt but it’s a certainty that it looked nothing like current-day Basalt. Basically an extension of Aspen. I noticed one young woman in particular who was truly decked out in Aspen chic attire. Whatever floats your boat.

Finding our motel was the challenge of the day. We could see it. We could get about 100 feet from it. But there was all this construction going on and there didn’t seem to be any way to get to it. Crazy. Finally we ducked down what looked like an alley and got there. Crazy.

Biker Quote for Today

I ride to feel alive, not just to reach a destination.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, motorcycle clubs, motorcycle touring, Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club | No Comments »

The Ride So Nice We Did It Twice

Thursday, June 11th, 2026


This stretch through the slickrock was really the only place I could confidently say I recognized from the day before.

I was skeptical of Tom’s route planning for this 5-day RMMRC Utah ride when I saw that he had us backtracking on Day Three every mile we had ridden on Day Two plus some. And really, if that was what we did it would have been less than wonderful, although only to an extent.

But we pulled out a map and put our heads together and came up with a somewhat different route where we backtracked on the really good part but took a different route rather than the less interesting part.

The thing was, we were going over one of the very best roads in Utah on Day Two and you know you’ve heard it said that a road looks completely different going the other way. Well, it’s true. We went back through all this terrific country and if we had ridden it yesterday you could have fooled me.

So we had left Green River and ridden to where Utah 24 runs south to Hanksville, then followed 24 west to Torrey. It was the part from Torrey that was fabulous. Of course doing it the other direction would be fabulous, too. And it was. But rather than turn east to Hanksville we went west, up to Loa, and then took Utah 72 over Hogan Pass and then down to I-70 on the other side.

This was a very nice road that I had ridden last year coming home from the RMMRC trip where I got sick and had to abandon the trip. And I had forgotten that all the way up and down over that pass it was just sweeper after sweeper. Perfect motorcycle road, except that this year there were several sections interlaced with masses of pretty fresh tar snakes. It wasn’t hot, so they weren’t soft and oozy but I know I still slipped a couple times and they made the ride incredibly bumpy. Fortunately it was just sections, not the entire stretch of road.

Of course, that gave us even more of I-70 to ride but this particular stretch is actually pretty scenic. One of the best places to stop–only available if you are eastbound–is the Spotted Wolf Canyon View Area. And we did stop. Plus, we only had to go a few miles east past Green River to reach Crescent Junction, where we turned south on US 191 to Moab. The road south to Moab was not anywhere near as busy as it could have been so that part of the ride was nice and went quickly.

And then Moab. I remember when this was a small town. We used to take camping trips over there, to Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park. That was 40 years ago. I don’t think there’s a single commercial building in Moab that was there 40 years ago that is still standing. I miss the old Moab.

Anyway, it wasn’t as crowded as I expected so I guess it was OK staying there. I generally avoid Moab these days.

And tomorrow we’re heading back into Colorado.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if you try to look like a biker.

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No One To Blame But Me

Monday, June 8th, 2026


On the Utah trip.

I was undecided before we took off on this recent RMMRC Utah trip whether to wear my leather jacket or the mesh. I figured it could be hot in Utah but first we had to get there and that meant the Colorado high country. So I decided to call Tom, who was the organizer of this trip, and ask him what he thought.

Tom said he was wearing his mesh jacket. I was still a bit skeptical but decided that was the way I would go.

What a bad decision. Look at it this way. It’s still spring. Utah gets warm sooner than Colorado but it’s still spring. Don’t dress for summer in Utah, and especially in Colorado, if it’s not summer. And sure, I followed Tom’s suggestion, but the decision was all still mine so I don’t blame him. Heck, I know for a fact that he got cold, too.

On the day we left it was chilly in the early morning. That should have been my first warning heading out to the meet-up spot that I should put on my electric vest before heading up the hill, just to be safe. Did I do that? No. Did it get cold going up? You bet. By the time we reached the tunnel my fingertips were going numb and I was truly cold. Then, as I noted before, I knew I’d never get warm at least until we reached Vail.

When we stopped for lunch in West Glenwood Springs I finally put on my electric vest and plugged that baby in. That, and lower elevation, finally got me warm. So the next day, heading out from Green River, Utah, with a good wind blowing already, I had the sense to start the day with the vest on and plugged in. Man, did I need it. But even still, some of the high spots we passed it was so cold–and this was Utah–that again my fingertips were going numb. But thank goodness for the vest.

The third day I was finally really getting the idea. I wore everything from the day before and also an extra-warmth base-layer pair of long underwear. It was still cold but I now had on everything other than my rain suit that could keep me warm. Actually, putting on the rain suit would have been a good idea because it would have blocked the wind and it was really the cold wind that made the most difference. But on this day we also went lower than any other part of the trip and it actually got hot. I did not object.

The fourth day I expected it to finally get a bit warmer so I left off the base-layer longies and that would have been OK except that in a somewhat confused start to the day’s ride I managed to not have my vest plugged in or even zipped up. I knew there was no way I could safely plug that thing in while moving, but I tried anyway. No way. Better alive and cold than dead. When we finally made a stop I made darn sure to get that thing plugged in and zipped up.

Finally on the fifth day I had it all together and was as warm as could be expected. But the point is, it was still cold. It was still springtime in Colorado and we were in the high country. What idiot goes riding in the high country in the spring wearing summer gear?

I hope I don’t ever do it again but I know myself well enough to not swear it will never happen. You try to learn from experience but you only sometimes succeed.

Biker Quote for Today

Interstates undeniably allow us to make good time, but I question if they make time good. And making time good is why I ride motorcycles — Eric Trow

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