Passes & Canyons Blog

This wasn’t super early but the sun was still coming up as we went over McClure Pass.

In the early days of the OFMC we were notorious for the lateness of our starts. We’d sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast, and maybe get on the road by 10. Or 11.

Not any more. First of all, none of us sleep that late these days. My normal time to get up is in the 7 to 7:30 range. Dennis and Bill are both early risers who are up long before me. Now about the latest we get going is 9. But that’s still not really what you could call morning riding–that’s already mid-day riding.

When I went with the RMMRC on the Colorado Cruise we had to get an actual early start one day because the road south out of Ouray was going to be closed for construction at 7:30 up near the top of Red Mountain Pass, and would not reopen until lunch time. To play it safe we were rolling out of Ouray about 6:45. That’s early morning riding.

And it’s so nice! Now, in this case it was cold, and I could have done without that. But it was so beautiful! We all see the sunset most days but many people–including me–rarely see the sunrise.

The world at sunrise can be an enchanted place. The colors, perhaps the sparkling of dew, the smells, and more.

I’ve ridden all over Colorado many times and I don’t have many specific memories of particular stretches of road–except a few morning rides.

I was heading to Arizona Bike Week one year and I camped for the night somewhere east of Mesa Verde along US 160. I woke up with the sun and got going and enchanting really is the right word. Cool, fresh, delicious, and a wide open road with almost no traffic.

Another time we spent the night in Monticello, Utah, and it rained early in the morning. We got an early start very soon after the rain stopped and again, enchantment. And this time the color was really brought out by the wet, as were the smells. Have you really smelled sagebrush? You generally won’t on a hot, dusty afternoon but on a cool, wet morning it’s overwhelming.

Then there was another time, also on US 160, between Fort Garland and La Veta, going over La Veta Pass. You don’t want to hurry; you just want to cruise and savor it all. And with almost no traffic you can.

I’m just not that much of a morning person to do this sort of thing all the time, but when circumstances put me into that situation I’m never sorry. Try it. You might find that you love it.

Biker Quote for Today

In the motorcycle safety course they tell you that target fixation is bad, where your eyes are looking is where you usually end up. Must be why I keep running over female joggers.

“Discovering” here is a sorta, kinda thing. I’m pretty sure I rode at least part of this road once before but could not have taken you back there and only stumbled on it then.

I’m talking about Lake Gulch Road, which runs south out of Castle Rock and meets up with CO 83 south of Franktown.

I’ll make an aside here, telling you that I’m playing with Google Maps to show you the entire route we took last week when the RMMRC rode down to Colorado Springs to visit the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum. I’ve never delved deeply into Google Maps so I’m not real sure how to make it do what you want but as you can see I had some success, although there are two spots (probably obvious) where the software added bits I didn’t want and I can’t figure out how to get ride of them.

So anyway, we headed out from Performance Cycle over to Sedalia where we were meeting up with a few more riders. We headed south on CO 105 to west of Castle Rock, where we turned east on Wolfensberger Road. I had been on this before but had gone straight on into Castle Rock. This time we turned southeast on Plum Creek Parkway, under I-25, and on to where we turned right onto Lake Gulch Road.

At this point I was extremely interested. I’m always interested in finding new roads. This one was great. We quickly were out of town and going along a very pretty highway with very little traffic, winding and climbing and just generally being the kind of road motorcyclists always like.

I could tell it was angling southeast so after awhile I figured we would eventually meet up with CO 83, but where? And then we did reach 83 and I now knew that I had taken this road going the other way once. Even now, though, I don’t know if I came out where we got on it or if maybe I got off onto South Ridge Road, which would have taken me into Castle Rock at a different place. I suspect I did.

Regardless, what a nice alternative route this road is. And so far it is still undeveloped, although with Castle Rock exploding that probably won’t be the case for long. So go ride it now while you can.

Biker Quote for Today

I was hit by a moose driving my motorcycle yesterday. How he managed to drive it is a mystery to me.

Independence Pass was one place on this trip where even the fast guys went slowly.

I am not a go-fast guy. I’m not an aggressive rider or driver. But I know that many people who ride have a particular enjoyment of speed. I get it. I have ridden fast plenty of times, I just don’t make it a regular part of my ride. There are just moments.

The rest of the time I’m generally happiest just tootling along at an easy pace. That’s one reason why I enjoy riding alone so much, I get to go exactly as fast as I choose, stop exactly when I want to, and get going again exactly when I’m ready to do so.

But when you’re riding with a group you have to make compromises on a lot of these things. And I do, although within limits. I’m very much a “Ride your own ride” kind of guy, and if the guys in front of me are going a lot faster than I’m comfortable with I don’t hesitate to drop back. I know where we’re going. I’ll get there in my own time.

And that’s very much what it’s all about on a lot of the RMMRC rides I go on. I used to refer to Bob and Robert as the Go-Fast Boys. The two of them on matching Gold Wings would often take the lead and if you were going to keep up with them you had better be comfortable cranking up some speed. I generally didn’t.

Robert has moved to Panama now so now it’s Dave and Bob who I think of as the Go-Fast Boys. But there are others. This came very clear on the recent Colorado Cruise, where Ralf led much of the time. Let’s put it this way: Dave considers Ralf a Go-Fast Boy.

Fortunately, there were enough of us on this ride that it was easy to break up into two groups, the fast ones and the others. I generally stuck with the slower group. But not always.

The first day out we covered 400 miles getting from Denver to Grand Junction, so by the time we were crossing Grand Mesa it was late in the day and getting a lot cooler. This didn’t seem like a time to dawdle and we didn’t. The speed limit over Grand Mesa is something like 45 but there was no traffic and we raced over at about 70 mph. Usually I’d have preferred to take my time and enjoy the scenery but this time I was OK going fast.

And while I prefer not to ride someone else’s ride, there can be benefits to pushing yourself at times. I mean, how do you improve your skills if you never challenge yourself?

So on the third day, when we rode from Ouray down to Durango, east to South Fork, and then north to Gunnison, I spent a lot of time at the tail end of the fast boys. And you know what? I did really well and felt very comfortable. For one thing, if everyone in front of you is taking this curve at this speed there’s really no reason to think you need to slow down. Just get in a groove behind the guy in front of you and follow his lead. And for the most part I did. Not entirely, but most of the time.

I can do it. I think I have a lot of skill as a rider. I’m just not an aggressive kind of person. I like going at my own pace.

Biker Quote for Today

What kind of motorcycle has the best sense of humor? Yamahahaha.

Val hams it up for the camera at Daniels Park.

I did a short ride with a small RMMRC group Saturday and we had an interesting encounter.

Val and Chris had invited everyone over to their house for breakfast before a ride down to Daniels Park. It was kind of nice because it offered a comfortable situation for a few of us who weren’t well acquainted to get to know each other better. Val is a relatively new rider who has a nice little KTM but thanks to Covid has not been able even to schedule a riding test to get her license. So she has to ride with someone who does have a license, such as all of us. From Daniels Park the group could decide to keep going, and they did, but I opted to head home–too much needing my attention at home.

So anyway, we headed out and were winding our way through Littleton and the south suburban area headed to the park when we came to a spot where we needed to turn right. There were seven bikes. I was riding sixth, behind Gene, who was behind I don’t know who.

Approaching this intersection the leaders passed a bicyclist in the bike lane. Not a problem, they were well ahead of him and they turned. One by one these motorcycles made the turn, but with each one the bicyclist drew closer. I was observing this with interest. It occurred to me that I wasn’t really sure who ought to yield the right of way when the cyclist got to the intersection, assuming he planned to go straight. But my thinking was that whatever was the “right” thing, he really ought to slow down and let these string of motorcycles make their turn as a group. I mean, how big a deal would that be?

But he didn’t. As he came to the intersection the rider in front of Gene turned in front of him, he hit his brakes and wobbled pretty fiercely, and as he then crossed ahead of Gene he angrily yelled at Gene. OK.

When we stopped I asked Gene what he had said but Gene had been listening to music so he didn’t catch the words but nobody could miss the anger. And I asked and everyone agreed that the right of way is supposed to be ceded to the bicyclist. But the guy in front of Gene, the offender, said he figured he had plenty of room to make the turn without interfering with the bicyclist. And apparently he thought he had done so and was surprised that there had been an incident.

Which just gets back to my original thinking. OK, the guy had a right to believe the right of way should have been yielded to him. (Nobody has the right of way, it’s a matter of who is supposed to yield the right of way. That’s a technicality but it’s good to keep that clear in your mind.) But in this case, wouldn’t it have been smart for the cyclist to have decided for his own safety to just defer to this string of motorcycles?

We motorcyclists know all too well that if someone violates our space that no matter how in the right we are, we’re still the ones who are going to get hurt. Clearly that applies even more to bicyclists.

And even if someone understands and accepts that the cyclist had the right of way, sometimes people make bad judgments. In this case that apparently happened. We follow the maxim of riding as if we’re invisible. Again, bicyclists should follow that concept even more since they’re even more vulnerable. I don’t think it’s any secret though that at least some bicyclists are overly self-righteous in asserting their right to their share of the road. And I think this guy was one of those. Fine, be that way, but I personally think my own safety and well-being take precedence over my rights on the road. I’d rather rant about some idiot later than wake up in the ER.

It all comes down to one over-riding principle: don’t be stupid. I think this guy was stupid.

Biker Quote for Today

We know you’re a poser if you’ve never ridden long enough to know that stock seats are never comfortable.

Lunch at Green Mountain Reservoir.

If anyone pays attention to the time of day when these posts generally go up you’ll be aware that this is much later in the day than usual. That’s because I only just got back from an all-day ride with the RMMRC. Roy called last night and told me to be at his place just before 8, so I was. So were Charley and Tim. We headed on out to Morrison to meet up with the rest, and there were a bunch today, about 12 of us.

Essentially this was a fall color ride. This is the time of year when the mountainsides are covered in yellow and gold and it’s always the sort of thing you want to take pictures of. Happily for us, it was also one of these incredibly beautiful October days that Colorado is know for. Let’s ride!

We headed up past Red Rocks to US 40 where it runs alongside I-70 going up Mount Vernon Canyon. Right away we lost Roy, who rides sweep. No one had any idea what happened to him and we hoped he didn’t break down but the plan from the start was that if we got separated just regather at the Subway in Granby.

We took US 40 and then US 6 as much as possible, just getting onto I-70 briefly when we had to, and then followed 40 up over Berthoud Pass. Bob, who I consider one of the fast guys, suggested that the guys like Mike, who Bob considers a fast guy, might want to blast on ahead. Mike said he would stay with the group until we hit the pass but then look out, he’d be gone.

So we were totally splintered by the time we got to Granby, and who should I see first but Roy. Seems as sweep, he saw two bikes behind him so he waved them ahead and then followed them. They were not part of our group. Oops. So he went up Lookout Mountain and caught US 40 that way and ended up ahead of us.

The Subway in Granby was not going to open for another 15 minutes so some elected to stay and wait while the others went on to the Subway in Kremmling, with the others to catch up with us there. The idea was to get lunch to go and then go have a picnic down by Green Mountain Reservoir south of Kremmling.

I took off with the group heading to the Kremmling Subway and what happened then was like much of the day. Everyone else was on newer, powerful bikes. I was on my very old, decidedly less powerful Honda CB750 and I just can’t keep up with these guys. No matter, we all knew where we were headed.

Food in hand, we turned south. CO 9 runs along the east edge of the reservoir but we turned onto the road that runs along the west shore and finally found the only campground still open. Time for lunch.

I wrote last week about differences in the OFMC and the RMMRC and here’s another one. The road down into the campground was gravel and none of us were on dual-sport bikes, but we all went down it anyway. The OFMC–other than me–flat out refuses to do any gravel. They would not have done this.

After lunch we continued south on CO 9 with the plan to get gas at Silverthorne. Some people were more antsy to ride so even while a few were not ready to roll yet, a bunch took off. I was the tail end of that group. We were going to go over Loveland Pass rather than through the tunnel. Once again, they left me in the dust.

I was not unhappy with that. I like to ride at my own pace and blasting over a high mountain pass at excessive speed is not my thing. I figured at this point we were all totally scattered and that was really the end of the group ride but to my surprise, as I got down to I-70 they were waiting. And not just for me. Did I know where the others were? No, I hadn’t seen them since the gas station but in less than a minute there they were and they passed us and we pulled in behind them.

Bob, in the lead, was still following the practice of avoiding the slab so we got off at Bakerville and onto US 6 again, down to Silver Plume. This old road running alongside but away from the interstate is such a nicer ride than the slab. We had to get back on I-70 at Silver Plume, just to get down to Georgetown, and then we were off again, although we lost one rider who didn’t realize we would do this and was stuck in the left lane going past the exit.

So it was US 6 on down to Idaho Springs and two people, I’m not sure who, headed up Squaw Pass. For the rest of us, once we were back on the interstate this time it was all over. I quickly found myself riding just with Roy. But I didn’t figure I wanted to do the slab all the way home so I got off at El Rancho and turned down Kerr Gulch Road, angling down to CO 74 at Kittredge. Much nicer ride.

And there I was, heading east on US 285/Hampden when who pulls up alongside me but Tim. He had been way out in front of me. How the heck did I get ahead of him? Was my shortcut that much faster? Or was Tim one of the ones who took Squaw Pass, and he did it so fast that he barely ended up behind me? I have no idea.

Whatever. Bottom line was, this was a terrific day of riding. The weather was great, the colors were good, most especially down CO 9 from Kremmling to Silverthorne. Of course it totally disrupted everything else I had had in mind to do today but that’s the price you pay when you’re (deep, rumbling voice) a biker.

Extra: In my earlier post comparing the OFMC and the RMMRC I forgot one really big thing, which I have since added into that post. But rather than make you go look for it I’ll paste it in here.
In the OFMC, if we get cold, we’ll stop and put on more gear. If our legs are getting stiff, we’ll stop and take a break. With the RMMRC it seems that once we get rolling we are going to continue rolling. These guys like to ride, not stop. Of course, with a group of any size, stopping requires time. One or two people can stop quickly and get going again, but with eight people it takes about four times as long. And you don’t cover lots of miles in a day if you’re stopping all the time.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if taking your wife on a cruise means a putt down the interstate.

Stopping on top of Wolf Creek Pass. Guess what? It was cold.

If there was one thing that became abundantly clear to me on this recent RMMRC Colorado Cruise was that if you are riding in the high country, summer is over.

I very foolishly wore my mesh jacket and I intended to find the liner but forgot it, and that was quite a mistake. Every time we got up high–which was frequently–I was cold because that cold air just cut through that mesh. That’s what they’re for, to give you nice ventilation on hot days. But these were not hot days. So why was I wearing mesh? Idiot.

I did finally think to use my rain jacket as a wind breaker and should have done so a lot sooner. Sometimes your brain works better than other times.

At the same time, it’s not cold yet down here on the prairie. Shortly after getting home I took the Honda out for a ride and, having gotten plenty chilled again and again on the last trip, I pulled on leather AND a sweatshirt, and for good measure, my winter gloves. Out I went and gosh, who coulda thunk it, I was way too hot. I mean, heck, it was all of 80 degrees or more. But my brain was still back on top of Cottonwood Pass and Red Mountain Pass and you know, you can never be too cautious.

Yes you can.

So here’s a little simple, very obvious advice. At this time of year, if you’re going up high, dress for cold. If you’re staying down low, and the temperature is above 75, expect warmth. How difficult is that? I don’t know, apparently for some of us (me) it’s not as simple as you might think. Maybe some day I’ll figure it out.

Biker Quote for Today

Why motorcycles are better than women: The rashes you get from motorcycles go away without those painful penicillin shots.

The RMMRC heads down Independence Pass.

After five years riding with the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club (RMMRC) I recently went on my first extended ride. All the others have just been day rides. Meanwhile, I’ve been going on week-long rides with the OFMC for more than 30 years. I figure a comparison of the two groups might be in order.

Some sharp contrasts come readily to mind. For one, the OFMC has gotten to be just one long ride and at best two day rides each year. Meanwhile, I can’t even count the number of rides I’ve been on with the RMMRC just this year. A lot. That’s why I joined the RMMRC.

Concern about safety is another sharp difference. To come on an RMMRC ride you must wear a helmet, and we always ride in staggered formation. In the OFMC no one is going to tell you you have to wear a helmet, although in later years none of us would even consider riding without one. The early years were a very different story.

As for staggered formation, the OFMC response to that would be “What’s that?” This had been a bit of an issue for awhile, with some of us lobbying for it while others responded with “don’t tell me how to ride.” I resolved the issue for myself by primarily riding sweep. Otherwise, I would try to make sure not to have Randy riding right behind me. Randy seemed to get target fixated on the rear tire of whoever was in front of him, and you’d check your mirror and there he was barely 25 feet right behind you. I was not grief-stricken when Randy chose to stop riding with us.

I have to say, though, that for awhile there was a guy like Randy in the RMMRC. And he was actually worse than Randy, a lot worse. It was suggested to me that maybe he had poor vision and that made sense. And maybe he had Lasik or cataract surgery because he no longer does that. What a relief.

Going on longer rides with the two groups has one very big difference. With the OFMC we know for sure how many will be coming and we divide motel reservations so each of us only needs to make one or two. Then we reserve rooms for the whole group. In the RMMRC it’s every man for himself. So if you’re going to be out for four nights, that’s four reservations each person has to make (unless you’re doubling up with someone else, which only a few people do). The difference here is probably that with the OFMC we’re friends outside of riding and I know that Bill or Dennis is not going to stiff me. With the RMMRC, these are people I see only for rides and with many of them I don’t even know their last names, much less where they live. Not that I would expect to get stiffed if someone decided at the last minute not to come, but it’s the difference between friends and folks you are friendly with.

One thing that seems to be true for both groups is that we mostly avoid talk of politics. There are people of differing opinions in both groups and there is no better way these days to tear a group apart than to get into pointless political arguments.

When it comes to hard riding, the RMMRC is definitely the high-miler club. There are members who are Iron Butt riders and it’s pretty much the norm to blast out 500 miles on the first day of a long ride in order to keep the days within the needs of people who have jobs. All OFMC riders are now retired and nobody is much into long days. A couple years ago I told the guys I could come up with a really nice route if they were willing to do a few long days. They said OK, and we had a nice ride, but afterward they told me they really don’t want to do long (350 miles in this case) days any more. Heck, with the RMMRC just recently we covered 400 miles going from Denver to Grand Junction via a wandering — and extremely scenic — route.

Inserted later: Now that points out one other important difference in the two groups. In the OFMC, if we get cold, we’ll stop and put on more gear. If our legs are getting stiff, we’ll stop and take a break. With the RMMRC it seems that once we get rolling we are going to continue rolling. These guys like to ride, not stop. Of course, with a group of any size, stopping requires time. One or two people can stop quickly and get going again, but with eight people it takes about four times as long. And you don’t cover lots of miles in a day if you’re stopping all the time.

Also, in later years the OFMC has decided we like to take it easy and have at least one non-riding day in the middle of the week. That has become our golf day. So we get to stay two nights in one spot and not have to pack up and head out every single day. I don’t think the RMMRC does anything like that. Maybe I’m wrong; I’ve only been on one long ride and that was just a four-day ride.

And then there’s this difference between the groups: the OFMC is and always has been just guys, while the RMMRC has women members. Not that it makes any noticeable difference.

Of course, the RMMRC has meetings and officers and all that. The OFMC is just a bunch of guys with motorcycles.

What else? That’s all I can think of right now. I enjoy riding with both and I’m glad I have both to ride with.

Biker Quote for Today

Sons of Alzheimer’s: Where’s my bike?

A gas stop on the ride.

There was no rush leaving Gunnison on our last day out. It was a short ride home and we might as well let it warm up a bit. Except for Mark, who slipped out on his own early, just wanting to get home.

Now that Cottonwood Pass has been paved all the way it makes a really good alternative to Monarch Pass. Not only is it shorter, there are still plenty of people who have never been over the new road yet. That was true of at least a couple of our folks so that was the obvious route.

Despite our later start it was still darn chilly heading up Taylor Canyon but oh boy was it beautiful in the morning light and there was almost no traffic. Just nice for a cruise. Still, the further we went, and the higher we went, the colder I got. Thank goodness I had my electric vest.

Just below Taylor Reservoir we stopped because Ralf again wanted to talk about hydro-geological issues. He pulled over right below the dam and talked about the Colorado River Compact. At this point the wind was whipping a good bit so it was very cold standing there. I had the idea to pull out my rain jacket to use as a windbreaker and as I turned back to my bike I saw that Susan had already had the same idea and was pulling on her rain jacket. That made a lot of difference and I kicked myself for not thinking of this a couple days earlier.

We continued on past the reservoir and up the pass. The new road is very nice but I still miss some of the twisting and turning that they straightened out when they redid this road. I guess that’s what they call “progress.”

We stopped at the top and this was in fact our time for good-byes. Heading on down, Susan planned to make a stop in Buena Vista, Ralf was going to be heading down toward Salida, and Charley and Karen had no intention of trying to keep up with the fast guys–Bob and Dave–on US 285 on their double-loaded 650 BMW scooter. That left Bruce and me to play it how we saw it.

Down to Buena Vista, to US 24, to US 285, and east. At first the four of us were together but it didn’t take long for traffic to separate us. But then, thanks to passing lanes, we were back together. This continued until we reached Fairplay and then somewhere between Fairplay and Jefferson Bruce dropped off. Now it was just me, sort of trying to keep with Bob and Dave but not really expecting it to last.

But somehow I did stay with them all the way to Bailey. Making the bend and heading up Crow Hill I figured this would be where the final split occurred. We started up the hill together but soon cars had moved between us and that was the last of it. I would occasionally catch a glimpse of them up ahead but by the time I got to Conifer they were lost in the distance.

Not a problem. After four days in a group I was enjoying being on my own. Rain was threatening, and even dripping a little here and there, but it finally really came down around Conifer. I already had my rain jacket on so I just rode through it and sure enough, it stopped soon. Then on down the hill and into town.

Now of course, I was hot. There’s just no way to avoid hitting one extreme or the other when you’re on a motorcycle. So I got home as quickly as I could and eagerly peeled everything off. Ah! Time to relax. Good ride. Nice trip. Nice to be home.

Biker Quote for Today

100 reasons not to date a biker: 31. You’ll have to help us with bike projects, because sometimes it takes three hands.