Passes & Canyons Blog

Man, have I got a lot of work ahead of me. If you have gone through the Passes and Canyons, Motorcycle Touring in Colorado website thoroughly you know that even three years in it is still weak in information on some roads. The simple fact is that although I’ve been all over this state numerous times, there were some places I had not been back to since I started the website. Therefore, although I could show a map and talk a little about the route, I did not have the photos and other information I routinely collect and post.

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.

Hot ziggety, it’s almost time for our summer trip!

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.

I had a pleasing email in my inbox this morning. It seems the folks at Mile High Harley-Davidson discovered this site and liked it enough to feature it in a post on their blog. They sent me a bunch of rides to add to my Rides and Rallies page and mentioned, oh by the way, we recommended your site on our blog. Boy, did they ever! They didn’t just link to the home page, they gave their readers links to all of the great roads pages on the whole website.

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.

I want to take this opportunity to thank a few people who have very generously offered me photos and other information that has helped make this Passes and Canyons, Motorcycle Touring in Colorado website better and more complete.

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.

I’ve started adding something new to the website, a listing of good-quality unpaved roads that you can ride even on a street bike.

The instigator for this was Larry Matkovich, who runs Larry’s Custom Cycle in Canon City. He asked why I didn’t have any and I replied that the website was primarily for people on cruisers and street bikes. Larry said he knows of some very nice roads that may be gravel but are easily navigable on street bikes just the same. I told him I don’t know many of these roads but if he could supply the info I would be happy to get it up on the site. Can do, he said.

Well, Larry’s coming through on his promise so I am, too. Check out the Dirt Roads and Side Trips page for what we’ve got so far. And then keep checking back as we add more. Also, if you have any to suggest, just send me the information at ken at motorcyclecolorado.com. Thanks.

I got an email from Steve in New Zealand asking about early and late season road closures. He asked:

I found your website and it is REALLY great. Myself and 3 or 4 friends are coming over from New Zealand in 2009 for a 12 day bike ride. One thing which would really help overseas people is to know which roads are NOT passable during the “early” months (ie Apr/May/Jun). We are planning on being there the first 2 weeks of June, so it would be very handy to know which roads are NOT passable, given “normal” weather conditions. Obviously it is not possible to predict the exact weather in advance but knowing that certain roads are likely impassable means that detours can be pre-planned (where practical of course).

I did some checking and found six roads that the Colorado Department of Transportation says close for the winter:

US 34 over Trail Ridge Road

CO 82 over Independence Pass

CO 5 to the top of Mount Evans

COS 1 to the top of Pike’s Peak

GCR 12 over Kebler Pass

FR 209, 306 over Cottonwood Pass

For more info on this subject, check the What You Need page.