Passes & Canyons Blog

Eight months ago I went up Taylor Canyon and over Cottonwood Pass shooting pictures and gathering information to put these places up on the Passes and Canyons, Motorcycle Touring in Colorado website. Taylor Canyon is a beautiful canyon, with lots of good motorcycle-accessible camping spots. Cottonwood Pass is only paved on the east side but the gravel road is passable on the west. Both deserved to be on the site.

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

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.

You’ve probably already noticed. At least if you’ve ever been to this blog before.

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.

Oh man, I’m blown away. I track unique visitors to this website each month and last month, May 2009, the traffic nearly hit 10,000. There were 9,754 unique visitors last month, to be exact.

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!!!!

It had been a long time since I’d been to Crested Butte, but I had really good memories of it years ago. So when I built this website I included a page for the road up from Gunnison, but had no pictures to show what it was like.

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.

It has taken me quite awhile, and I’m not finished yet, but there is a lot of new material on the Passes and Canyons, Motorcycle Touring in Colorado web site. Although I’ve been all over this state numerous times, there are some areas I haven’t gotten back to since I started building this site — until this summer.

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.

I have to tell you, I’m amazed. You may recall that I announced in early April that this Passes and Canyons, Motorcycle Touring in Colorado website had had more than 3,000 unique visitors in the month of March, the first time it ever hit that level. It took 2 years and 5 months to go from zero to 3,000, so I was pretty excited.

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.”