Ride Before The Snow Falls

December 4th, 2025

If I had waited a day this is what I would have been faced with.

Tuesday was sunny and nice. Snow was forecast for Wednesday. It’s a new month: December. With the stage set like that how could I not go for a ride. The only gear I didn’t wear was my heated gloves. I figured my fingers might get chilly but they’d be OK.

I had no idea where I was going. I headed south to start with and got to where I thought I might go east but didn’t. On further south and I got to Arapahoe Road. Here I turned east. Going west is out of the question now till next spring, except if I just want to stay in town.

I knew I had been out as far east on Arapahoe as you can go but I didn’t remember where it ends up. Guess I’ll find out again and decide where to go after that when I get there. So. Cross Parker Road, on past E-470, and then I remembered this was going to bring me up onto Smoky Hill Road. OK.

When I left home the thermometer out front, in the sun, had read 60. The one in back, in the shade, had read 50. That’s a fair representation of how much effect sunshine offers. And it was sunny when I left. By the time I reached Smoky Hill Road the sky had totally changed. It was fully clouded over and not a bit of blue sky to be seen. And the temperature had dropped. OK, I had never expected to take a long ride and this seemed like good spot to turn toward home.

As I’ve been out riding lately I have noticed again and again road work aimed at installing medians on major streets. I had just gone past some on Arapahoe Road but now, heading west on Smoky Hill Road I saw some of the strangest medians I’ve ever seen. Usually they put in planters and vegetation or else just some smooth concrete or concrete stamped to look like brick. Not on Smoky Hill.

In these new medians they’re putting in it is all rough, sharp, loose rock. Sharp, jagged rock about the size of a football and just spread out thickly on the dirt. This is the kind of thing that would eat your tires almost instantly. Nobody is going to willingly drive onto these medians. But I bet this is a heck of a lot cheaper than even the simplest concrete. Is that all it is, a cost-saving matter? It’s definitely not aesthetically pleasing.

Anyway, I got home and was not too chilled and I had gotten my December ride in, in case the bad weather persists. Not a day too soon.

Biker Quote for Today

Make noise with your Harley Davidson bike and work in silence to achieve it.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides | No Comments »

Getting Aggressive On V-Stroms

December 1st, 2025

This trail is nothing compared to what some of these folks in this ADV thread have done.

I’m down to only one motorcycle these days, and that one is my 2006 Suzuki V-Strom. I keep telling myself I will buy a second bike, presumably some time in the next year, but I don’t actually feel very motivated because I really like the V and it can do just about anything.

Of course, there are a lot of things it could do that I won’t try to make it do, primarily at this point because I don’t have the right tires for that kind of thing. I’ve quit running those 80/20 Shinkos because they don’t hold up to highway travel all that well and I do a heck of a lot more highway riding than off-road riding.

However, may people who own V-Stroms do have knobbies and they do take their bikes all kinds of places. And there is a thread on Adventure Rider where the theme/title is “Let’s see your Vstrom OFFROAD.” I was looking at this recently and oh man, some of these folks are up for a lot more than I am. Or maybe they weren’t really up for what they encountered but they did encounter it.

Just to give you some idea, I started on page 80 of this thread (there are 91 pages at this point, with 20 posts per page) and I’ll describe a bit of what there is to see.

Right away, in the fourth post on the page, we encounter a couple standing amongst some bikes, giving a thumbs-up, with the caption “High spirits before.” If that is not foreboding nothing is. You scroll down and they’ve come down a steep, gravel hill that comes to a large pool of water at the bottom, with one bike coming through the pool. The next several shots are a bike on its side, having come through a smaller pool, and then a different bike up to the saddle in a deep pool and the rider trying to walk it through.

But they made it and I’m sure they were proud of themselves. I’m not sorry I missed that one.

Next come a bunch of shots of bikes in great-looking spots, people really pleased with where they have gotten to. Some real feel-good shots.

Page 81 opens with a shot of a guy splashing through a stream. Yeah, I’ve done that. Then more shots of cool places people have gotten to. And then it starts going a bit off. First a shot of a dirt road, followed by a path that is mainly marked by other people’s tires having passed this way, followed by a long stretch of muddy road. Then a V-Strom high-centered on a pile of rotting timbers that the guy thought he could get over but was wrong.

A little later (caption “Oops!) we see a V half-way on its side with the front on dirt and the rear in a mud puddle.

Next some more “look at the great place I got to” shots. Envy is what I’m feeling now.

Then there’s another high-centered bike, followed by another bike up to its axles in mud. And a bike on the ground, with a shot showing that they have come through a so-called trail that is nothing but water hole after water hole. Then more mud, more water holes.

It goes on and on. And this was just starting on page 80 of 91 pages. Worth a look for the entertainment value and to see some great shots of some of the great places a motorcycle will take you. If you have the right tires.

Biker Quote for Today

I’m not a thrill-seeker; I’m a thrill-giver to my soul.

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Posted in Dirt biking, Dual sport bikes, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

Happy Thanksgiving

November 27th, 2025

Photo from Adobe

Taking a holiday today. I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving.

But yeah, I’ll put in a quote.

Biker Quote for Today

Two wheels, endless possibilities.

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First Cold Ride Of The Season

November 24th, 2025

Not the nicest day to ride but a good day on the bike just the same.

I wanted to ride Sunday but by the time I got stuff done that needed doing I had missed the window of warmth. The sky had clouded over and the temperature was dropping. So I got on the V-Strom and headed out. I’m no fair-weather rider.

I didn’t turn on the electric vest immediately but by the time I’d gone about two miles I did. Yep, gonna be a chilly one. Hope I don’t regret not having my heated gloves.

I had no idea where I was going. I’ve been heading to the hills as often as I could knowing the weather had to change soon, but this day the clouds over the mountains were looking threatening and I figured that was not a good idea. Instead of west I went south.

I still had no idea where I was going, though. On an impulse, I turned east on Belleview, through the south end of Cherry Creek State Park and it bends south to become Peoria. I went around Centennial Airport and to regain Peoria but hadn’t gone far when I concluded that yeah, it’s darn chilly. Maybe I don’t want to go too far from home. I turned west on Liberty Boulevard, which runs around the south end of the airport and over into the Inverness area.

Stopping to get a quick photo with the airport and mountains in the background I did see the only other biker I would see on this day.

Inverness Parkway took me north to County Line Road and I went west on County Line. Just because I didn’t want to get much further from home didn’t mean I wanted to head home. By now I was used to the cold and finding it brisk but pleasant. Thank you to the electric vest for that. Without it I would have been pretty uncomfortable.

I followed County Line all the way to Broadway and then turned north. What a lot of construction there is at the moment on County Line Road. I guess they’re expanding from two lanes to four in a long stretch of it. That’s probably overdue. Then going north on Broadway I hit a bunch more construction. These guys must be rushing to finish the work before bad weather sets in.

From Broadway I turned east on Belleview and headed back home. Not the longest or most scenic ride ever but it was good to be out on the bike for about an hour and a half. I still have a lot of making up to do from having missed the whole summer and I want to get out as much as I can, even when the weather is not the best. Sunday was one of those days.

Biker Quote for Today

The road is my stage, and my bike is my dance partner.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

More Gear Shopping–Helmets

November 20th, 2025

I need a new helmet. I still have one decent helmet but my best one, a Shoei, gave its life for me on June 29 and needs to be replaced. So while I was at Performance Cycle last week I looked, with the assistance of Stevie, at helmets. I hadn’t planned to but hey, I was there.

According to Stevie the best helmets are made by Shoei and Arai. I was interested to look at the Arai because I know the Shoei but don’t really know anything about the Arai.

The one thing that caught my eye immediately is that they specify whether their helmets are intended for people with rounder heads or people whose heads are more oval in shape. This is fabulous. When I started riding I had two Bieffe helmets and both of them were incredibly uncomfortable. Painful. That was a big part of why, in my early days, I mostly rode without a helmet; wearing the helmet I had hurt.

 This is the Zox helmet I bought mid-trip. It’s not  a top-of-the-line helmet at all but hey, the color  matches my bike! ¯\_(“)_/¯

It was only when I needed a new helmet in the middle of the RMMRC’s Great River Road trip in 2022 that I came to understand. I was talking with a guy in a shop and he explained it to me. If you buy a helmet for a round head it is going to press hard into your forehead. That’s why you need an oval helmet.

Now Stevie, at Performance, was fully aware of this. That’s good in a salesman. And he said the Shoei was actually a compromise between the two extremes, while the Arai was an all-out oval. I tried on the Arai and I was not as pleased as I expected to be with the way it felt. It felt super snug. Stevie checked, having me push the helmet all the way one direction and then inserting his fingers between the helmet and my head and he said the fit was actually quite good. And maybe once I would wear it a while the padding would adjust to the shape of my head and feel good.

But then there is the price. The Arai runs about $200 more than the Shoei, and the Shoei is not cheap. We’re talking $650 and $450 respectively. It would be hard for me to pay that extra $200 for something that doesn’t feel especially comfortable. And maybe my head really is more midway between round and oval.

I think I’m going to get the Shoei. It’s the RF-SR model. Basic but a very good helmet. There’s a limited color selection so I guess I’ll go with white this time (my old one was black) for the increased visibility. And maybe I’ll put a bunch of colorful decals on it.

Biker Quote for Today

Adrenaline is my fuel; adventure is my destination.

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Posted in Motorcycle Gear, motorcycle helmets | No Comments »

Last 2025 Ride In The Hills?

November 17th, 2025

One of the many rock formations along South Valley Road.

With a near-record high temperature and forecasts for snow–finally–in just a couple days I wanted to get into the hills for perhaps the last time this year. And gosh, I never have to decide what bike to ride anymore, it’s always the V-Strom.

The quickest, most direct route is to get on Hampden (also known as US 285) just a couple blocks north of home and heat straight west. But I’ve been that route a thousand times so I often look for something else. I didn’t really know just where I was headed so I went south on Yosemite to Arapahoe and then west. Yeah, I’ve been that route plenty, too, but not as much as Hampden. Then Arapahoe ends at Broadway so I turned south on Broadway.

My thought was to get onto C-470 and go west but when I got to Mineral I realized that if I have ever been on that particular stretch of Mineral it was only once and I have forgotten it. So great! A new road to ride. And no, it did not look at all familiar. With a metropolitan area as large as Denver’s, you can be surprised to find how many roads you’ve never been on. You get to explore in town.

I got past Santa Fe and crossed the Platte and it was all undeveloped and really pretty. I guess this must be floodplain and will never get built on. We can hope. By the time I reached Kipling I was back on a portion of Mineral I have been on. I pushed on west all the way over to C-470 as it comes north now and expected to have to take it north or south but found that Mineral feeds directly into the mouth of a small canyon. Great, I’ll keep going.

Then I recognized it. This is part of Ken Caryl Ranch and we have family living out here. I took the road going south a little past C-470–South Valley Road–and realized I had accidentally done a great job of navigating. As I had been cruising along Mineral I had figured out a tentative route and that included going up Deer Creek Canyon Road. Well, South Valley Road goes south through a beautiful valley with lots of gorgeous rock formations and open space and meets up with Deer Creek Canyon Road. Couldn’t have done better if I’d planned it that way.

I turned up Deer Creek Canyon Road and a lot of other bikers had chosen this same road. No matter whether they were going the same direction I was or the other direction, they all blasted past me. I was just not in a hurry. I was interested in savoring this gorgeous day. Unlike when I’d been up this way last week, this time I did not take the turn onto South Deer Creek Road but kept going on Deer Creek Canyon Road up and over the top and down to South Turkey Creek Road. I went east a short distance till I made the turn onto North Turkey Creek Road, headed toward Evergreen.

Then again, unlike my other ride last week, I did not turn up High Drive but stayed on the Turkey Creek road, all the way up to CR 73, which runs between Conifer and Evergreen. At this point in the day, deep in the canyon there were a lot of places with bright sunshine followed by deep shade. You can’t see a thing in the shaded area so as you approach it you hope there is no sharp turn as soon as you get into what you cannot now see. On top of that, on the right-handers there is a lot of gravel thrown up onto the road by cars that cut the corner a bit too tight. So the real nightmare is plunging into the shadows and finding yourself faced with a sharp right turn and a lot of gravel on the road.

Fortunately that was not the case usually but in at least one spot that was exactly what I encountered, and this particular spot had more gravel than any other place I saw. It’s times like that when you really ought to be taking it easy. I was, but boy did I see a lot of guys–on sportbikes mostly–who were riding pretty aggressively. Not for me, thanks.

So I made it on up to Evergreen and turned down Bear Creek Canyon to Morrison. Then I cut over to US 285 and turned east for home. Wow, did I have a nice ride! And now the weather is already turning colder and we’ll see if this snow arrives as predicted.

Biker Quote for Today

Bikers don’t follow the crowd; they make their own path.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

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