Passes & Canyons Blog

Judy and I had been married for three years when I bought the Concours. She had ridden with me numerous times on the CB750 but those had been mostly just short day rides of about 100 miles, plus one over-nighter we did just down to Manitou Springs.

After I bought the Concours it seemed the natural thing to do was join the Concours Owners Group (COG). And if you’re going to join a group you pretty much ought to figure on going on some of their rides. So when a day ride was announced we decided to go along.

What we did not know about this group was that the general approach for a day ride was to really take a ride, as in a long day. We got up early and jumped on I-25 down to Colorado Springs where the group was meeting up at a cafe. We didn’t know the route, we just figured we’d follow the leader.

From Colorado Springs we headed southwest to Penrose and then took CO 67 down to CO 165, down to I-25 again down by Colorado City. Along the way we stopped at Bishop Castle, which was our first visit there. This is why you join a riding group because they take you places you don’t even know are places.

Somewhere along this route–I don’t remember where–we stopped for lunch at the home of someone the ride organizer knew. This was pretty nice of them considering that there were probably about two dozen of us.

On I-25 we headed south to Walsenburg and then turned off onto CO 69, which heads up through Westcliffe. It was at this point, on a break, that Judy heard one of the other women riding behind that for the last hour all she had been able to think about was putting her knees together. Judy hadn’t been thinking about it but from this point on it was very much in her mind, too. At this point we had gone about 200 miles, which was the longest ride she had ever been on. And we were nowhere close to home.

We continued on CO 69 up to Cotopaxi and U.S. 50. We took 50 east to Penrose again, where we stopped for gas. Most everyone filled up but I figured we were fine so I didn’t get gas. We backtracked northeast to Colorado Springs and at this point people started peeling off, each going their own way. We got on CO 83 rather than take the interstate back to Denver. By this time we were on our own.

I knew we were low on gas but I figured on getting some at Franktown. But we didn’t reach Franktown. About five miles south the engine sputtered and we coasted to a stop in front of a farm house. Oh crap.

Fortunately someone was home, and they had gas to sell us, so with a gallon poured in we made it on to Franktown and a station. Then home. Altogether we did about 400 miles that day. I mean, to put that into perspective, in 30 years of doing the OFMC rides I’m not sure we have ever done a 400 mile day, and if we have we’ve only done it once or twice at most. Judy never did another COG ride with me, and I never did another COG ride of that length. I’m sorry, some people really enjoy that but not us.

Not that we don’t do long rides, we just break them up more. Two years ago we did 3,000 miles in about two weeks, up to British Columbia and back. But that comes out to just a little more than 200 miles a day, on average. Certainly we had longer and shorter days on that trip but only one of those was over 300.

Oh, but it’s all about the stories, right? If we hadn’t done this I wouldn’t have this story to tell.

Biker Quote for Today

She hugged me tight, burying her face into my back and the longer I drove the tighter she held and though her eyes were closed I knew she was smiling. I could just tell. — Atticus

Many people enjoy riding motorcycles as something that is part of your day. Then there are those for whom riding all day long is what it’s all about. Trust me, I’m not one of the latter.

When you take off on a week-long motorcycle trip you inevitably meet other bikers out on the road. You talk about where you’re coming from, where you’re headed, and all that. Sometimes the people you meet are really hard core.

We spent two nights in Gunnison on last month’s trip and there were a couple guys on bikes who were at the same motel. I flat cannot remember where they were from, maybe Ohio or Missouri, but they were a good ways from home.

One of these guys wasn’t really into really, really serious riding but his buddy was, and the first guy just did it because it’s what his friend wanted to do. “He’s just glued to the saddle.”

So what kind of day rides were they doing while in Gunnison? Oh, how about a day ride over to Arches National Park? That’s about 150 miles one way as the crow flies, and nearly double that on the ground. And then they figured to tour the park while they were there. Really?

Or how about something a little tamer: Gunnison to Lake City, to Creede, to South Fork, to Pagosa Springs, to Durango, to Montrose, and back to Gunnison. Heck, that’s child’s play, barely 350 miles. Of course they made the detour to do the rim ride and the East Portal Road down into Black Canyon of the Gunnison, so add another 50 miles.

By the way, the first guy told me that on the Million Dollar Highway he told his friend to just go on and not worry about him. That road freaked him out so much he wanted to take it very, very slowly.

In Gunnison we also met a couple who were riding their KLR 650. They were from Delaware. That’s a heck of a distance but they were not planning to ride the bike home. Instead, after they were done with their tour the were just planning to sell the bike and fly home.

Of course, the one group who really stand out in my memory was on a different trip, where Judy and I met three young guys on Sportsters who were making an eight day trip from Green Bay to the west coast and back. Now that is extreme.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if you think God invented winter just as a good time to get your bike painted.

With departure for this year’s OFMC trip drawing near, we were through into confusion when Dennis got word that New Mexico has issued an order that anyone coming into the state must quarantine for either two weeks or the length of their stay, whichever is shorter.

So, right. We were going to be in New Mexico for three days and they’re saying we should quarantine for that entire time. Plus, the Indian casino hotel we had booked in Espanola told Bill when he called that all their restaurants are closed, with only their snack bar open. Short notice but revisions were clearly in order.

There are two things that are givens on any OFMC trip: golf and gambling. Frequently we combine the two. That didn’t look possible now, so we figured out a new plan. Our first night will be in Alamosa and we agreed to head from to Gunnison for two nights, including a day of golf, and then go for one night to the Sky Ute Casino Resort to get in the gambling segment. Everyone had their assignment as to who to call.

Text messages started flying quickly. Bill found out the Sky Ute was closed. And I found out that the motel we like to stay at in Gunnison, which is directly adjacent to the golf course, had changed hands and names and their prices had about doubled. Yikes. Let’s go to Plan C.

Dennis called Cripple Creek and made us reservations at the Double Eagle Hotel & Casino. We’ll go there from Alamosa. Bill was able to get us a tee time in Gunnison so I had to look around a bit, finally finding a different motel with rates that are not sky high. We just won’t be able to walk out the back door directly onto the golf course.

After that the trip will get back on track as planned so long ago.

I have to admit, I was starting to have reservations about the whole trip. Infections rates across the country are now reaching record levels, although not where we’re headed. Plus, what better social distancing can you do than riding a motorcycle? The one issue will be eating. Restaurants are open, and we’ll have our masks with us, and at worst we can go to grocery stores for food. At motels it will just be us in our rooms and obviously we all accept that we’ll be exposed to each other, but none of us has had any exposure we know of.

Some people might argue that we should cancel the trip, but some people made the same argument when Judy and I went to New Orleans in early March (after Mardi Gras, not during). We decided to go and we don’t regret it. We had a good trip, we didn’t get sick, and it proved to be the only trip we’ll probably get to do this year. We did cut it short by one day, however, when we found the world closing down around us.

If this turns out to be a bad idea I guarantee I’ll be telling you about it. But I’m optimistic.

Biker Quote for Today

I can see Elvis
Throned like a king astride a golden Harley
Smoking a reefer he just rolled
Full of Acapulco gold
With Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley — The Waterboys

We were in Natchez, Mississippi, a couple weeks ago, headed north to Vicksburg. Judy suggested we take the Natchez Trace part of the way, until the direction of the road diverged too much with our objective. Sure, why not. I had never been on the southern end of this road and I was curious.

I had been on the northern end of the road, quite a few years ago now when I was sent by my job to do some work in Nashville. When I bought my airplane tickets I made sure to schedule my return for Sunday so that after I worked all week I would have the weekend there to be a tourist and also to ride some new roads.

Back in those days it was not so easy to find motorcycle rentals but I did find one Harley dealer in Franklin that had rentals. I reserved a bike. They said they had helmets and rainsuits to lend so I needn’t bring mine. Here was a lesson in the making.

I got to the dealership and picked up the bike. My plan was to spend a day riding south on the Natchez Trace, spend the night somewhere, and then take different roads back. There were a couple issues, however. First off, it was raining. And the only helmets they had to loan me were open-face. That might be fine in nice weather but in the rain? I’d just have to make do.

The other issue was that the only rainsuits they had were sized to fit someone over six feet tall weighing 300 pounds. I could have gotten two of me into this thing. Once again, I’d just have to make do. So the lesson is, always take your own helmet and rain gear. But it took me a second lesson to really learn the part about the helmet.

Anyway, I headed out and made straight for the Natchez Trace. I got on the road and started cruising. But after about 50 miles I was bored out of my mind. It was a pretty road, winding its way along hilltops through forest. On and on and on. I’m sorry, but after you’ve seen about a million trees there’s just not a lot of interest in another two million or three million.

I got off the Trace and considered my options. It was still raining. I decided to bag it, and took the regular roads back to Franklin and the dealership. At least the local roads had some interest–I got to see towns and homes and farms and all that. But I turned the bike back in and spent the rest of my time doing other things.

Ever since then I had wondered if perhaps it was only this stretch of the Natchez Trace that was boring. Maybe further south it gets more interesting. So when Judy suggested it I was plenty willing to check it out.

Well, I have to tell you, it’s not just the north end. The south end of the Natchez Trace is just the same: miles and miles of a winding road going past several million trees. Now, it was pretty, and that far south the spring was in full bloom. It was not an unpleasant drive. But I would have no interest at all in taking this road for 200 or 300 miles. Fifty was plenty.

Now I know. My curiosity has been satisfied.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if your Christmas list has no words, just part numbers.

I’m not certain, but this could be the last of these Examiner Resurrections. I’m about at the end of these pieces that I feel are good enough and timeless enough to be republished since the demise of Examiner.com, where I originally published them.

Boredom Totally Lacking In Ride Across The Prairie

Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota are known as long, boring states that you just have to get across by a lot of travelers heading east or west, but it doesn’t have to be that way. If the journey is the destination, as motorcyclists so often like to say, these middle states are an enjoyable part of the ride.

I left Denver Monday morning in a rainstorm. In fact, by the time I got four blocks from my house I was drenched. Though the sky was threatening I figured I didn’t need to suit up yet as my first stop was to be for gas, and I’d see how the sky looked then. Four blocks later I was pulling under a shelter and putting on rain pants and jacket, but didn’t see the need for the glove and boot coverings that I have. But the rain just came down harder so by the time I reached the station my gloves were soaked through, worse than they’ve ever been soaked before.

At the station I carefully put everything on and, typical of Colorado, by the time I was ready to roll the storm was abating. By the time I made it out by the airport it was already time to start peeling things off. It was getting hot! And though the sky to the west looked like a boxer’s face after a title bout, to the east there was blue sky and sunshine.

I blasted northeast on I-76 to Sterling and then cut north on CO 113, to Sidney, NE, where I picked up U.S. 385. At Alliance I headed east on NE 2, which my map indicated was “scenic.” These terms are relative such that a scenic road in Nebraska would probably not be rated such in Colorado, but you take what you can get. The point was that in my first two days all I did was cross the prairie and it was a very interesting ride. Once I got past Alliance it was all new and all of it was different and beautiful in its own way. I never once wished I could just get beyond this horrid stretch of nothing.

From Alliance I could take the road north out of town, past Carhenge, and that was the shorter, most direct route, but it was also straight. If I headed east on NE 2 there was a squiggle on the map with lakes on both sides that looked to hold promise. That was NE 250 and it delivered on that promise. Who knew western Nebraska had so many curves?

This brought me out to U.S. 20 at Rushville, an east-west road that quickly took me to Gordon, where I spent my first night with some Motorcycle Travel Network (MTN) people. Ray and Shirley are also Christian Motorcyclist Association (CMA) members and Ray made a point of telling me that the $15 gratuity I gave him per the MTN protocols would go to the CMA’s fund raised each year to promote its missionary work overseas.

In the morning I headed east on 20 as far as Valentine and then got onto NE 12 to stay as close to the Nebraska-South Dakota border as possible. Approaching Valentine I was doubtful of signs I saw that described Valentine as a “vacation paradise” but the buttes above the Niobrara River formed beautiful topological features and I could see that if hunting and fishing and horseback riding were what you like to do on vacation, this could indeed be a paradise.

Quickly crossing the river on NE 12 and ascending the butte I saw a turn-out to an overlook, so even though it was about 3/4 mile of loose gravel, and my Kawasaki Concours hates gravel, I took it and the view was fantastic. There was also a lone buffalo just grazing right there, close enough to make me nervous. But I didn’t provoke him and he just watched me nonchalantly and we got along fine.

I finally crossed into South Dakota at the town of Niobrara and then zig-zagged my way north and east to Sioux Falls where I had arranged to stay with a friend from high school who I had not seen in more than 40 years. We had a lot of catching up to do and I think we both found that the other really hadn’t changed all the much in all those years. Let’s not wait to get together again so long next time.

Today it’s on to the Minneapolis area, with a brief side-trip down into the corner of Iowa. Vintage Motorcycle Days, I’m on my way, but it’s an indirect route.

Biker Quote for Today

The fact that I’m a biker doesn’t make me a different kinda Christian, but the fact that I’m a Christian makes me a different kinda biker. — Dano Janowski

The OFMC left Cody headed into Yellowstone National Park wondering just how bad the tourist traffic would be. We weren’t going in to see the park–we’ve all been there many times–we just needed to get through and out the north gate at Gardiner. If there had been a realistic alternative we would have avoided the park.

Somewhat to our surprise, the road from Cody to the park was not busy and as we got into the park the road was still not busy. Maybe we were going to have a pleasant ride after all.

U.S. 14 into the park goes up over a small pass and it was inevitable that we would get behind some campers going up the hill but there were passing lanes and some of the camper drivers were polite and used the pull-outs to let other traffic pass. Nice. We got down on the other side to where the road runs along Yellowstone Lake and all was clear sailing. And then we hit the construction zone.

For about 12 miles or so, from Yellowstone Lake to Fishing Bridge, the road was totally ripped up. I didn’t mind because I was on my V-Strom but Dennis was on his Indian and Bill was on his Harley. Neither of them ever willingly gets off onto the gravel. This time they had no choice.

So we weaved our way through and around loose gravel and mud holes. Loose gravel is one thing but you really don’t want to go into the mud holes. We did our best. And we uneventfully reached the intersection where the road goes north or west, with our route north.

I was in the lead and the construction ran all the way to the very lip of the road we were getting onto. It was not clearly visible at all but just before I hit the pavement there was a considerable dip that sent my front end first down and then up sharply to the point of getting some air with my front tire. Then bump-boom as the rear did the same. OK, glad I have deep suspension. What about those guys?

Dennis was right behind me and he saw me go up and down. But he’s short and sure as heck didn’t want to come to a stop in the middle of that mess, with no way to touch the ground. So he powered on through. What else could he do? Bill followed, doing the same. Great. No harm, no foul.

It was on this stretch going north that we did encounter the idiotic tourist delays Yellowstone is famous for. Is there a bison way over there? Everybody stop and grab your cameras. Oh, we’re in the middle of the road? Who cares?

So we got on through that section and headed west at Canyon Village, over toward the Norris Geyser Basin, then north hoping for clear sailing out of the park.

Wrong. Long before we reached Mammoth Hot Springs we ran into more construction. More gravel. More slow going.

While this stretch was in pretty good shape, not as torn up as the stretch coming in, it was wet. The truck had obviously just recently sprayed water to keep the dust down, and while there was no dust, the wet made things very slippery. Time to take it really easy around these curves.

And finally we were out of the park. OK, that wasn’t so bad. We’ve definitely seen it worse. Try cruising past Old Faithful just after that geyser has done its thing, for example, and everyone is leaving. Yeah, that wasn’t too bad.

Biker Quote for Today

Reasons not to date a motorcyclist: Our idea of a date night is riding to a sleazy biker bar.

I have talked numerous times about the Motorcycle Travel Network (MTN) and once at least about Biker Buddy. Both of these are similar to Airbnb in that it’s a matter of motorcyclists providing accommodations for other traveling motorcyclists.

But I haven’t said much lately and there’s a reason: It has been more than two years since we’ve had an MTN guest and in the almost two years since I signed up for Biker Buddy we have had no one contact us about a stay.

Until Monday night. On Monday night I got a Biker Buddy email saying that Maureen would like to stay with us on Tuesday night. That would have been great except we had plans to go to the Rockies game Tuesday night. So what time would she be arriving?

Here’s where it got frustrating. There may be ways to contact potential guests directly but because this was our very first we have no experience in doing so. This thing is an app on my phone and it showed that Maureen had requested a stay. I tried tapping her name, hoping to go to a profile that would list an phone number or email but it did not. I tapped a drop-down menu and one option was “Send an email” but when I tapped that it wanted me to fill in the email address, which I could not do.

What to do? Judy insisted that I cancel the reservation because if we couldn’t be here she should not be coming by expecting us. I did tap the cancel button but was told that a reservation cannot be canceled within 48 hours of the arrival. The only thing that left was the “Confirm reservation” button. If I tapped that we would be confirming but with no idea whether we’d be here when she came. If I did not tap it, perhaps she would call, or else figure out we weren’t able to accommodate her.

On the chance that she might come by because the reservation had not been canceled, I left a note on the front door with my phone number and telling her she was welcome but we would not be home till late. No one was here waiting for us when we got home.

Then on Wednesday I checked my email and found that around 4 p.m. the day before Maureen had emailed me. That was followed up about half an hour later by an email from Ginger, one of the folks who runs Biker Buddy. But I didn’t think to check my email before we left for the game.

It turns out Maureen was expecting to arrive around 10:30 p.m. You never know how long a baseball game will last but this was a short one and we were home before 10:30. It would all have been fine. So darn. We enjoy hosting other bikers when they come through town and we’re sorry we missed Maureen. I explained to Ginger what happened; maybe they’ll revise the app to make it possible for hosts to do what I wanted to do, i.e., directly contact the guest.

So that’s a disappointment. But it’s nice to finally get a request after two years being a member. In the meantime, the Motorcycle Travel Network seems to be fading into the sunset. We had not had a guest in quite awhile but when I checked I found that our membership had expired. So I renewed for two years. Well, that two years expired in February and we had zero guests during that time. That’s sad. We’ve had nothing but good experiences with MTN, both as hosts and guests.

If you are comfortable with the whole Airbnb idea, you really should try one or both of these programs. There is no cost to host on Biker Buddy, while membership in MTN is $40 per year or $60 for two years. Biker Buddy pays you $40 per night to host, while you get $20 per night with MTN. And most importantly, you meet a lot of good people who share your motorcycling passion. Just do it, OK?

Biker Quote for Today

It is incredible what a rider filled with irrational desire can achieve. — Dr. Claudio Costa

This year’s OFMC trip was a surprising one in terms of the temperature. The whole week before leaving Denver we had had temps near 100 and so it was on the day we departed. We really wanted to get moving so we could at least have some breeze.

This is Colorado, however, and when you get up high the temperature drops. So as we had taken off dressed for heat, crossing Berthoud Pass was, shall we say, chilly. This set the stage for a week of see-saw temperatures.

By the time we got down to Winter Park it was hot again and that heat stayed with us up to Walden and then to Saratoga, Wyoming. In fact it was so hot in Saratoga that we parked next to a small office building where there was shade on the east side. There was nowhere to sit or anything but we wanted to get off the bikes and we absolutely wanted shade, so we took what we could get. Then we cruised on into Rawlins for the night.

The next day we were going to be crossing the heart of Wyoming, which we know from experience tends to be a long, hot, dusty ride. Again, we dressed for the heat. We had gone about 40 miles when I pulled over. I was cold! The day had started out cool and it was not getting a bit warmer. Bill and Dennis were happy to layer up, too.

We took off again but then reached a rest area and while we were stopped there we added another layer. It was still darn chilly! This was totally unexpected.

Our destination that day was Cody and when we reached Riverton we made another stop. Now it was definitely heating up and layers came off. Then, as we neared Cody, the heat really set in. Where was this heat this morning?

Come morning and this time we were warned. Dennis noticed some riders coming in from the west, from Yellowstone, where we were headed, and they were warmly dressed. So we dressed warmly and were glad we did. It was sure nice to be getting away from that 100 degree heat in Denver, which we could see was still going on.

We got through Yellowstone, spent the night at Chico, Montana, and headed up to Livingston to catch I-90 toward Missoula. Then we got rerouted toward Idaho Springs by Dennis’s by now legendary mistake of putting red diesel into his bike’s tank. We ended up heading south on I-15 and it was a pleasant day. Getting used to the cooler temps I had even put on my electric vest before he headed south with the Indian in the U-Haul, though I certainly did not have it turned on.

That changed when we reached the state line between Montana and Idaho. Just like going through a door into another climate, suddenly it got really cold and I flipped the “On” switch on my power cord. Boy, did that heat feel good!

And then about five miles outside of Idaho Falls it suddenly got blazing hot! Of course I turned the vest off but I couldn’t wait to get stopped to tear off my extra layers. How was it so cold just 50 miles ago? It’s not like we came down out of the mountains or anything.

For the rest of the trip the temperature fluctuations calmed down a bit. As expected it was hot in Vernal, Utah. As expected, it was comfortable through most of Colorado, only getting hot again as we neared Denver.

But the thing that really got me was how we headed out initially expecting hot weather and how little of that we encountered, yet all the while Denver was baking. Meanwhile, those folks in cars are pretty much oblivious to all this. I’ll take the bike any day.

Biker Quote for Today

The cheapest part of a project bike build is the initial purchase.