I’ve been busy. But I finally got it done. Here are some photos from these places.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
SuperSkin helmet touted as lifesaver

Biker Quote for Today

To me, the best kind of trips are the ones you planned on the way, allowed yourself to change, and maybe didn’t end up where you expected.

After four years with the same basic design, we’re making a big change here. The blog has already changed, as you can see, but the Passes and Canyons, Motorcycle Touring in Colorado website will not get its make-over for another day or two.

This has been a lot of work for my brother and for me. He is a professional web designer and I guess he decided it was time for me to have a more professional-looking site. I built and have maintained this thing all by myself all this time. I don’t have the skills to do what he does. I’m a writer; he’s the designer.

Here’s an interesting example of what he’s done. You see this picture in the body of this post? And you see the image across the top of the screen. They are the same picture. It’s the second shot on the Hoosier Pass page.

What I saw as just a shot of the road at the top of Hoosier Pass he saw as a defining photo to make the theme of the whole site. Just crop a lot from the bottom and a lot from the top and you have a guy on a motorcycle with the mountains behind him . . .

When he asked me if I had a high resolution copy of that image I couldn’t understand what he wanted it for. I was impressed when I saw.

So anyway, I hope you think the change is good. There have been a few mishaps along the way and it has been a lot of work for both of us. I doubt you’ll see another major change for at least another four years.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Motomarathoners cruising some of the best Colorado has to offer

Biker Quote for Today

When you feel like playing hooky, play it. When the sun is shining, go for a ride. If you need a motorcycle, just buy it. Sooner is better than later.

Just to give you an idea of how big that is, the best month the site has ever had before was July 2008, where traffic hit 6,051 unique visitors. I was thrilled in May 2008 when it topped 4,000 for the first time, 4,024, and then it only went up to 4,504 in June 2008.

After four years I know the pattern here. Traffic climbs from December through July and then tapers off. What that means is that this 9,754 record is destined to fall, and soon. And the numbers show it. Already this month, only 3 days and 21 hours in, the total of unique visitors is 1,579. That works out to about 12,000.

This all just blows me away. I built this website out of passion and my own interest, and hoped that at least a few other people would like it and my work would be appreciated. Hitting these numbers leaves me in awe. Thank each and every one of you for your interest. This is so rewarding.

Recent from the National Motorcycle Examiner
A terrific motorcycle sidetrip in southwestern Utah

Biker Quote for Today

HEY! Let’s go ride our BIKES!!!!

Well, this summer I finally got up that way again and I was a bit chagrined. First of all, despite my “memory” the road is no big deal. It’s certainly not worth going out of your way to ride this road when there are so many truly terrific roads in Colorado to ride.

Second, oh my god, what have they done to Crested Butte?! This beautiful, picturesque little town has been engulfed with condos, malls, and everything else from which it was once a refuge. So I can’t even suggest you go to Crested Butte for the town. The old part of town is still there but it is totally touristed out. The mountains are still beautiful, but that’s about it. It’s not worth the trip. Don’t go.

Really, about the only reason to go to Crested Butte now, as far as I can see, is to ride Gunnison County Road 12 over Kebler Pass. This gravel road is in good condition, even good enough for Gold Wings, and comes out onto CO 133 along the south side of McClure Pass.

I’m sorry, all you Chamber of Commerce types in Crested Butte, I just call things the way I see them.

Biker Quote for Today

Life is too short for bad rides.

Let me give you a quick run-through of what is new.

I’ve added photos to the Red Mountain Pass page. This is one of the premier passes in Colorado and the photos show it — finally!

I’ve also added photos of Colorado 65 over the Grand Mesa. The mesa itself is beautiful but the ascent and descent have breathtaking vistas.

One couple of passes I had overlooked are Cumbres and La Manga Passes. It had been long enough ago that I had been there that when I started on the web site I forgot how nice they are. So I’ve added them. (And they are a pair, it’s one stretch of road.)

Wolf Creek Pass is another that I had on the site but did not have adequate coverage of. Now it’s there. McClure Pass is another.

In addition to these passes, I have added a lot of motorcycle-accessible campgrounds along these same routes. I know that this is not of much interest to a lot of people but for those of you who do camp, anything I’ve listed can be reached on two wheels without too much hassle.

And finally, I put up some photos from Rim Rock Drive through the Colorado National Monument, as well as some more photos from Skyline Drive in Canon City.

And I’m still not done. Within the next couple weeks I should have the rest of it complete. Keep checking back. Thanks.

Biker Quote for Today

The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the road has gone and I must follow, if I can.

Then I was really excited to be able to announce in June that the total of unique visitors for May had passed 4,000. That’s 29 months to go from zero to 3,000, but only 2 months to go from 3,000 to 4,000.

So you might be thinking now that I’m going to tell you the number went from 4,000 to 5,000 in July, but you would be wrong. It went over 6,000! I am just blown away! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your interest. I do this website as a labor of love and it matters immensely that someone out there appreciates my efforts.

Now, knowing the month to month trends, I have every expectation that the numbers will drop off in the immediate future. That’s the way it has worked every year up to now, so I see no reason to expect anything different. But that’s fine. I have a lot of new material that I’m in the process of adding, so when next year’s surge comes you and all the other visitors will have a lot more hopefully useful information available.

Thank you.

Biker Quote for Today

I only feel like riding my motorcycle on days that end with the letter “Y.”

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.

It looks like eight members of the Old Farts Motorcycle Club (OFMC) will be making the ride this year. I, myself, was uncertain for the longest time. I’ve been out of work and feared I’d be offered a job and then not be able to immediately turn around and take a week off. Long story short, I worked it out.

It’s a good thing because this is the year we’re doing the trip I’ve been pushing for for several years. We’re mostly staying in Colorado, with a couple days in New Mexico. Lots of times we’ve taken these long rides, across numerous states. I love those trips but I have also wanted to spend some time just riding, not traveling. That is, check into a motel and stay there for a couple days doing day rides. Then move on and do it again. And let’s really do Colorado.

Well, with eight guys no one gets everything they want, but I got a lot of what I wanted. Most of us will head out on Friday and gather in Cripple Creek. On Saturday we’ll mosey along to Salida, stopping to see Bishop Castle along the way. Most of these guys have never seen Bishop Castle so this will be a real treat for them.

On Sunday we’ll continue west and cross Independence Pass, with Snowmass the destination. The next day we’ll cross McClure Pass and we’ll take CO 92 to the Blue Mesa Reservoir. Then we’ll head to Lake City and Slumgullion Pass, finally ending the day’s ride at South Fork.

The following day it will be on over Wolf Creek Pass and down to Taos, NM. We’ll spend two days in Taos and play some golf.

Next it’s back to Colorado, to Ignacio and from there to Montrose, where John lives these days. We’ll spend a couple days there, either playing golf or doing day rides. And then home.

Of course, one of the good things about these rides is that they will enable me to finally get some photos of some of these passes. There are a number of these roads I have not been on since I started this website, and thus have not gotten any photos of them yet. That’s about to change, and you’ll see the results on the various pages for these passes.

So hot dang! Got some bikin’ to do soon!

Biker Quote for Today

Riding faster than everyone else only guarantees you’ll ride alone.

If you are one of the folks coming here via those links, this “Welcome” is for you! Go ahead and explore the site. Then, if there’s something you particularly like I’m always happy to hear that. And if there’s something you’d like to see added I’m even more interested to hear that.

Of course, if you have any events you’d like added to the Rides and Rallies page just send them along and I’ll get them up right away. Thanks.

Biker Quote for Today

Only a biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of a car window.

Most recently, Andy Simons has sent me a considerable number of his photos from different roads around the state. I’ve got some of them up on the site already but there are quite a few more that will take me awhile yet to put to use. You can see his work on these pages now: Arkansas River Valley; Monarch Pass, Montrose area, and CO 92 from Hotchkiss to Blue Mesa Reservoir.

What I find really exciting is that Andy has sent me some photos of some roads I’ve never been on. Just recently I started adding a few roads that are not paved but are suitable for the more adventurous street-bike rider. Larry Matkovich, who runs Larry’s Custom Cycle in Canon City, got me started on this by sending me some info on a few such roads. Thanks here, then, to Larry as well. The material Andy has sent me will enable me to expand that section.

By the way, Andy is quite the motorcycle traveler and an avid photographer. If you want to see more of what he has done you can check him out on Smugmug.com and Angelfire.

I also want to thank guys like Brad Betts and Steve Shards who have written asking me for information as they plan their trips to Colorado. There is no better way for me to know what topics I should write about than for you to ask me for something in particular. Brad’s questions generated my most recent two posts and Steve’s questions resulted in the whole New Zealand Rides the Rockies series of posts.

There have been other folks along the way who have helped make this website what it is and I offer them my thanks as well. Keep those cards and letters coming in. I’m always eager to do what I can to assist.

One other thing. You may have noticed this “Biker Quote for Today” bit that I now end each post with. In case you wonder where these quotes come from, I have started copying down interesting/relevant quotes that people use in their signatures on motorcycle web forums. So thanks to all those folks as well for providing us all with their quotes.

Biker Quote for Today

People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.