Stuck inside then, it’s only natural to be planning next summer’s group motorcycle trip. John is the OFMC’s maps freak and he loves nothing more than poring over maps for hours and plotting routes. There are times when I challenge his pronouncements that “this is what we’re going to do this year,” mainly because it’s not his to simply decide unilaterally, but sometimes he comes up with such good ideas that the only thing I can do is say “OK.” This is one of those years.

John has actually given us two options this time and I’m just going to paste them in here. The main deal with both is to head down to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The rest is just the routes there and back.

Option 1:
Friday: Denver to Grand Junction – 244 miles via I-70.
Saturday: Grand Junction to Marysvale, UT – 253 miles via I-70 & US-89.
Sunday: Marysvale to Mesquite, NV – 184 miles via US-89, UT-143, UT-14, & I-15. *thru Cedar Breaks Natl Monument.
*Monday: Stay in Mesquite. *Golf, bowling, gambling.
Tuesday: Mesquite to Jacob Lake – 141 miles via I-15, UT-9, & US-89. *thru Zion Natl. Park
*Wednesday: Stay in Jacob Lake. *Round Trip ride thru Grand Canyon Natl. Park-North Rim is 130 miles.
Thursday: Jacob Lake to Torrey, UT – 221 miles via US-89 & UT-12. *thru Bryce Canyon Natl. Park.
Friday: Torrey, UT to Moab, UT – 248 miles via UT-24, UT-95, & US-191. *thru Capital Reef Natl. Park & Glenn Canyon Natl. Rec.
Saturday: Moab to Denver, CO – 322 miles via UT-128 & I-70. *Arches Natl. Park & Colo. River canyon.

Option 2:
Friday: Denver to Meeker – 225 miles via I-70 & CO-13. *stay at the old downtown Meeker Hotel this time.
Saturday: Meeker to Moab – 224 miles via CO-64, CO-136, I-70, & UT-128. *over Douglas Pass & thru Colo. River Canyon.
Sunday: Moab to Hanksville, UT – 200 miles via US-191 south & UT-96. *thru Glenn Canyon Natl. Rec., Halls Crossing.
Monday: Hanksville to Bryce Canon, UT – 161 miles via UT-24 & UT-12 *thru Capital Reef Natl. Park.
Tuesday: Bryce Canyon to Jacob Lake, AZ – 150 miles via UT-12 & US-89. *includes a 30 mile scenic ride thru Bryce Canyon Natl. Park.
Wednesday: Stay in Jacob Lake. *scenic 130 mile RT ride into Grand Canyon Natl. Park North Rim and back to Jacob Lake.
Thursday: Jacob Lake to Panguitch, UT – 195 miles via US-89, UT-9, UT-17, I-15, UT-14, & UT-143.
*very scenic ride thru Zion Natl. Park & Cedar Breaks Natl. Mon. near Brian Head ski area.
Friday: Panguitch to Green River, UT – 212 miles via US-89, UT-62, UT-24, & I-70. *scenic ride back to the Interstate.
Saturday: Green River to Denver – 320 miles via I-70. *go home

So oh boy, we’re gonna go ride motorcycles! Is life wonderful or what?!

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Biker Quote for Today

Ride hard, you can rest when you die.

The OFMC is off on its annual trip and we’re mostly doing Colorado again. We have, however, dipped down into New Mexico, spending last night here in Chama and tonight outside of Espanola. Then it’s back to the home state.

It started like a river, with a stream that met other streams and grew. Four of us left Denver Friday morning, met up with a fifth in New Castle, and then were joined there by two more. Yesterday our eighth member met up with us here in Chama. We have taken some of the main roads everyone takes and we have gotten off on some smaller roads many of us never knew existed. For instance, did you know that behind the hills that New Castle and Rifle back up to there are roads connecting those communities? They’re country roads going through some nice country and they’re a great alternative to the interstate.

We also wanted to avoid U.S. 50 down from Delta through Montrose and on to Ridgway. That one-time two-lane road is now a four-lane expressway and no fun. So John led us on CO 348 which winds through the Olathe corn country. How that road came to be considered a highway I have no idea. It zigs and zags like a ragtag bunch of country roads someone, for a joke, decided to call a “highway.”

Saturday night in Telluride was a hopping place. The place we had reservations screwed up, despite John having called two days before to confirm his reservations, and had us down for one room for two nights. No, we needed two rooms for one night. So they opened up what we took to be a private condo in the place and three of us who had that room had one of the fanciest motel rooms we’ve ever had.

Yesterday it was on over Lizard Head Pass, through Durango and Pagosa Springs to where we turned south into New Mexico, to here. Today it’s back toward Antonito over Cumbres Pass and then we’ll head right back into New Mexico. We’re taking a roundabout route or else today’s ride would be only 75 miles and not all that interesting.

Time to go ride.

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On the road with the OFMC

Biker Quote for Today

Officially old enough for an Electra-couch.

We’re doing something of a grand tour this year, which is to say that we’ve gone into Grand Teton National Park instead of just passing by it. We’ve gone into Yellowstone and actually stopped at places such as Old Faithful, rather than passing by or not even going to that part of the park. And of course we came over the Beartooth today, which is always a good ride.

It’s a good year to be making a grand tour. Yellowstone is famous for the incredible congestion that is caused by tens of thousands of tourists, stopping en masse every time a wild critter shows its face. You can’t avoid that entirely but apparently the recession has cut tourism quite a bit, so the traffic was definitely bearable.

On the other hand, your economic stimulation dollars are hard at work in the national parks, and we got stuck in construction delays again and again. So, six of one, half dozen of the other. But a great place to ride.

Coming over the Beartooth was terrific, despite the gravel spots and the delays. Being from Colorado, we are jaded with elk and buffalo and those sorts of animals but even we stopped to see bears at a couple spots. Coming down from the Beartooth there was one just off the road, up the hill, and he was flipping over rocks to find food underneath. One rock he kicked aside tumbled down the hill right into the road in front of me. Not a danger, as I was stopped at the time, but very interesting nevertheless.

And then there was the very interesting scene we encountered in Yellowstone. Somebody pulling a trailer with a big Harley on it ran off the road and crunched everything. The Harley was lying upside down in the shrubbery and the car was bent upward at both ends. Air bags probably kept the occupants from being too badly hurt but the car, bike, and trailer were all totaled. And they were really weird to see in that condition.

So anyway, a couple more days and we’ll be back home. It’s a great summer to be out on the road on a motorcycle.

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Biker Quote for Today

Confused and Prone to Wander

Of course the OFMC is planning a summer trip, and this year we’ve decided to return to the Beartooth. In case you aren’t familiar with one of the greatest motorcycle roads in the U.S., the Beartooth Pass is traversed by U.S. 212 running from Red Lodge, MT, in the east down into Yellowstone National Park on the west some 65 miles distance. Along the way it rides the ridge above timber line for miles and miles.

We’ve done this ride before, but not since 1992. It’s time to go back!

We went west to east before and we want to go east to west this time. Plus, the OFMC has a bunch of new members who weren’t along on the last trip up there.

We’re also doing something new this year. While we had given serious consideration to hitting Jackpot, NV, again, another favorite stop of ours, it didn’t work into the plans. Instead, we’re going to Lava Hot Springs, ID. This is a place John, our map-meister, ran across and looked up and then proposed. It looks very interesting.

The rest of the trip will be focused around these two destinations. We’ll be either stopping at or passing through a lot of the usual places these trips to the northwest take us through. These include Saratoga and Thermopolis, WY; Vernal, UT; Red Lodge and West Yellowstone, MT; and Craig and Steamboat Springs, CO. I’ll map out the route and post it once we get it all nailed down.

Yeah, July seems like a long way off but that just means you get that much longer to dream about the ride. If you’ve never done a week-long ride then start planning and organizing. This is always my single most favorite week of the entire year. What’s holding you back?

Biker Quote for Today

Ride ’til the horizon is behind ya.

That’s it in the picture. It’s a little small by OFMC standards, but then so is his wife, Felicia. That’s her on this Honda Rebel 250.

Johnathon said it was his bike, but gosh, it’s just too small for him, “so I guess my wife can have it.” That makes Felicia the first of the OFMC wives to ride her own. But I don’t guess she’ll be joining us on our summer trips, so does that make her OFMC Auxiliary? If women find that concept offensive these days don’t tell her I said it.

Felicia is a good one to have her own bike. She likes taking trips with Johnathon, but more than that, she’s a gutsy rider. The two of them went to Costa Rica and on their return we heard from Johnathon how they rented ATVs for a day and she smoked him blasting down the jungle paths. He’s an experienced biker but she rode that thing like she was born to it.

So good for you Felicia. Come join us on the next day ride, but even though I’d like to take the Rebel for a test ride I don’t think I’ll be offering to swap bikes. She’s only about 5 feet tall, you know. I don’t think I’d want her on my very tall Concours.

Biker Quote for Today

My favorite ride? Tomorrow’s!

That means the OFMC now has four Harleys, four Hondas, one Kawasaki, and one Yamaha. Dennis sold his Gold Wing.

The real irony of this is that it could have happened months ago. We were off on the summer road trip and one of the Harley riders had mechanical problems with his new bike. So he and several others hit the Harley dealership in Durango. Stranded there for half a day, they all spent some money, but Dennis had his eye on a Street Glide just like the one he has now.

There’s a real problem when a company has a product that is so in demand that it sells itself. The “salesmen” tend to become “order takers.” Well, this particular order taker who Dennis was talking with had a live one on his hook and didn’t do a thing. So Dennis walked out without the bike, but he knew now what he wanted.

And now he has it.

Biker Quote for Today

Sit tall in the saddle, hold your head up high – Keep your eyes fixed where the trail meets the sky – And live like you ain’t afraid to die – And don’t be scared, just enjoy your ride.

That’s really too bad because motorcycle camping is a great, and incredibly inexpensive way to do some terrific traveling. It also allows you to be more flexible in your trip. With hotels and motels you usually need to have a reservation, which locks you in.

In the earlier days of the OFMC we didn’t plan. Before we left we picked a direction to head and we took off. Then we would just go until we decided to stop. Or we’d go in this direction until we decided to go in that direction. Two things made this possible: there were only three of us and we all carried tents, sleeping bags, and foam pads or air mattresses. On more than one occasion that gear was a life saver when we rolled into some town late at night and found no room at the inn. There’s always some place to set up your tent.

And it’s not like you need a lot of gear. We never carried things like stoves or cooking implements. We would just eat in town before riding on to the camping site we chose, or, if close enough, we would set up camp and ride back in for dinner. Then in the morning we’d get up in a pretty quick manner, load up, and head into town for that cup of coffee we all had foremost in our minds.

Some people do carry more than we did. I know some folks on the big rigs have room for cooking gear. And then there are people like Rider magazine’s Clement Salvadori who likes to travel alone and pull off somewhere in the wild and drink wine with his campfire dinner. Clem really knows how to do motorcycle camping.

If you’re even remotely interested in camping on your bike you really ought to give it a whirl. I’ve made a point on the website to help anyone so inclined to find good motorcycle-accessible campgrounds. There are a lot of campgrounds in Colorado that are not motorcycle-accessible and they’re not included. If I’ve included it you can be assured that a campground is accessible on two wheels. There’s no better way to really experience Colorado.

Biker Quote for Today

The best alarm clock is sunshine on chrome.

Here’s a map of the route. I’ll have to describe some of it to you since the map doesn’t give enough detail.

We started the trip by getting together in Cripple Creek. Most people reach Cripple Creek by coming down from the north, from U.S. 24 at Divide. Many don’t know there is a back way. We left Cripple Creek via the back way.

To find this road, you take the main drag all the way through town and then hook a right, followed by a quick left. You’re on your way. This is Teller County Road 1. It’s a nice, twisty two-lane that passes through some very pretty country. Go about 7 miles and then turn left on Teller County Road 11. More nice back road. You eventually reach Colorado 9 just a few miles north of where it intersects U.S. 50, a little west of Canon City.

So that’s one back road worthy of a ride. An alternative would be to turn off Teller 11 onto Teller County Road 112, which comes out to Colorado 9 at Guffey. That’s also a nice ride.

We headed on south to U.S. 50 and then turned west. In a short distance we reached Fremont County Road 3, which is the back route up to the Royal Gorge. This very old, very narrow, very twisty little strip of asphalt winds its way up and around to the bridge. You do have to pay to cross the bridge, and if you don’t you have to go back the way you came, but if you’ve never been to the Royal Gorge you really ought to spend the money to do it once. It’s worth it. Plus, we asked for a motorcycle discount and got it. And the road is great.

Once we crossed the bridge we rode back on out the main road and rejoined U.S. 50, and this time we turned east, to Canon City. As you near Canon City you want to keep an eye out for the road over Skyline Drive. This one-lane, one-way, 15-foot wide strip of pavement runs up and along the hogback that overlooks the city. This is a great ride. It’s only 1 mile but it’s a truly spectacular mile.

From Canon City we headed southeast to Florence and then turned south on Colorado 67. This becomes Colorado 96 and turns southwest and then intersects Colorado 165. We made the left turn onto 165 and rode down the 10 miles or so to Bishop Castle. I won’t spend time describing the castle here, just check out the link.

After climbing around in the castle we retraced our route to Colorado 96, headed on west, and reached Colorado 69 at Westcliffe. There we turned north and rejoined U.S. 50 one more time at Cotopaxi. U.S. 50 then carried us up the Arkansas River Valley to Salida, where we stopped for the night. We weren’t more than 50 miles from where we started but what a great day’s ride!

Biker Quote for Today

The twisties – not the superslabs – separate the riders from the squids.

Part 1: The decision to go, getting there, swarms of bikes flood the highways, settling in at home base in Rapid City, partying in Rapid.

Part 2: The Black Hills are the reason bikers love the area, Iron Mountain Road, pig-tail bridges, bikers everywhere.

Part 3: Into the epicenter, the Sturgis scene, hitting the Full Throttle.

Part 4: The campgrounds, big-name entertainment, thoughts on a return trip.

I don’t claim to be an authoritative voice on the Sturgis experience; this is just one person’s description of one visit. But at least it should begin to answer the question, “What’s it really like?”. Feel free to offer your own experiences in a comment. I’d love to hear from you.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker wannabe if you put your pony-tail back in the drawer after you get home.

Well, that’s about to change. The OFMC trip last week could not have been better tailored to meet my needs if I had planned the route myself with that in mind–which I did not do. I had made a list some time ago of 27 places I needed to get to. On this trip I hit 15 of those spots. It’s going to take time to work through it all but in the next few weeks you can expect to see improvements on a lot of pages, including:

• Colorado 92 from Hotchkiss to the Blue Mesa Reservoir
• Colorado 65 across Grand Mesa
• McClure Pass
• Monarch Pass
• Red Mountain Pass
• Slumgullion and Spring Creek Passes
• Wolf Creek Pass

And more. Here’s a map showing our route. What a great ride we had.

Biker Quote for Today

The ride IS the destination.