Passes & Canyons Blog

This blog is for real riders and written by a real rider.

For many years after I built this website I solicited paid advertising and was also open to having specific blog posts “sponsored” by some business wishing to drive traffic their way. In later years I have done away with all that so now when I get emails asking to sponsor posts–easy money to be sure–I just delete them.

A different thing I tried several times was to accept guest posts. I figured that if someone could write a good piece that I felt my readers would find interesting and relevant, sure, I’m open.

That really did not work out. I would receive a contact, I would reply specifying what I was looking for, I would receive assurances that yes, the piece I would be sent would be highly professional and very much of interest to my readers. And then I would receive dreck. Absolute garbage.

If you read this blog you know the kinds of things I write. I write very specifically about rides I’ve done, issues I’ve encountered, gear I’ve tried out, trips planned, and a lot more. What do these so-called professional writers send me? The kind of stuff that would be common knowledge even amongst the newest beginning riders. I wish I could think of a specific example–I’m drawing a blank right now.

But the point is, I write for people who have themselves ridden for a long time. They (you) are not interested in how to pick a helmet that fits, why you should always carry rain gear, how to check out your bike before a long trip. You already know those things. And if you don’t, there are a thousand sites across the internet where they have articles that go into those things in great detail. I don’t get into that stuff.

And those are only somewhat relevant topics. If I could remember some of the things I’ve been sent I could give you examples of some truly irrelevant topics these people pitch me.

OK, great! I love it! After I wrote this I checked my email and found this request for a guest post. Here’s part of it:

I’ve been writing about Fashion, Style for 5 years and I’m confident that I can write a high-quality, informative, and engaging guest post that would be of interest to your readers. As you can see I have a few ideas for guest posts that I think would be a good fit for your blog.

Yeah, right, that’s exactly what this blog is about.

Of course, these pieces come larded up with links to various products or websites where the writer would get a payment for any traffic that followed the link.

Now I do have to say, over the years I actually have published, I think, three guest posts. But isolating those three good pieces from the mountain of dreck is just not worth the effort.

So I just started marking everything that comes in asking to do a guest post as Spam. I don’t even open them. I know I get some follow-up emails saying “hey, at least do me the courtesy of replying and saying no thanks,” but while that would be courteous, if you knew how many such requests I get you would understand why I’m just not going to give of my time for that. Am I discourteous? Fine, I’m discourteous.

And that’s the point of this post. I want it up there so maybe some of these people who are planning to approach me will see it and reconsider. Let me make things absolutely clear:

I DO NOT ACCEPT GUEST POSTS.

Can I make that any clearer?

Biker Quote for Today

100 reasons not to date a biker: 15. We are depressed from November to March.

The OFMC gets out of the rain in New Mexico last year.

The RMMRC is leaving in a few days on this New Mexico ride and at last week’s meeting someone asked me which bike I’ll be riding. Gosh, I hadn’t even thought about that. I guess I ought to.

The Honda CB750 was out right away because its tires are too thin and would not be enough for a 1,500-mile trip. That left the Concours and the V-Strom.

I figured what I really ought to do is take both of them out for runs and see which seems to be most ready, or else figure out what each of them might need.

I checked the tires on the V-Strom and the air was good. Check. Tires are good. Check. My top bag has suffered some damage in a couple times dropping the bike but I pulled out a strap that secures it well so no worries there. Check.

How is the oil? I just got the oil changed in my car the day before because I realized I had pretty much forgotten about paying it any attention. And I couldn’t remember the last time I changed the oil in the V.

I checked, which first meant figuring out how. That’s how bad an owner I am. So there’s a sight glass and you’re supposed to hold it level and check the level in the sight glass. Well, I didn’t see anything in the sight glass. I figured it would be good to take it for a ride over to Vickery to get some oil. That way I would also get a chance to see how it’s running.

It ran great. One thing I like about this bike is that it always runs great. I’ve had my troubles periodically with the Concours and the CB but the V-Strom, as they say, is bullet-proof.

I got home, put in some oil, checked the sight glass, put in some more, and it looked fine. So this bike is ready to go. I guess I’ll be riding the V-Strom. But now I really ought to check the air and oil in the Concours, just because they need to be checked. And if I do that before I leave, and I take it for a ride, maybe I’ll change my mind about which bike to ride. After all, the Concours is a really fine highway bike . . .

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker when you hate the fact that you were in front of your computer long enough to read this and not on your scoot.

The EagleRider tour does a group shot in Yosemite.

I’ve seen a number of online articles lately about a subject I strongly identify with. Here’s one headline that sums it up: Teenager fined by airline after attempting luggage ‘hack’ of wearing six layers of clothes.

What’s the deal and why do I care? I did the same thing back in 2010. But I didn’t get fined. That’s kind of extreme, in my opinion.

As the story explains, this Australian teenager put on 13 pounds of clothing in order to avoid paying extra for overweight baggage. They made her pay 62 Australian dollars ($40.54 US), which I presume is about what the charge would have been for another bag. OK, fine. If you follow that link and look at the photo it does appear she pushed the whole concept a bit too far.

In my case it had nothing to do with weight; it was totally a matter of lack of room in my bag.

As the National Motorcycle Examiner for Examiner.com, a now extinct crowd-sourced website, I had been among a group of international motojournalists invited by Eagle Rider to do a one-week tour in California. I tend to travel light so I only took a nylon bag with the stuff I needed for the week, as a carry-on.

What I had not planned on was that as we toured around southern California for a week, we made a lot of visits to cool places. And every place wanted to promote itself with this group of writers from all over the world, so they loaded us up with swag. In addition to probably more than a dozen T-shirts, I was bringing home about 10 jump drives (very small, no problem), a leather motorcycle jacket, 8 large bags of beef jerky, several hats, and I can’t remember what else.

As I packed to go to the airport I found that I could not get it all into my one medium-sized bag. It seemed to me the only option was to take as much clothing out of the bag as necessary in order to get everything else in, and then put that clothing on my body. Kind of like the Australian teen. Sure, I’d be a little warm for a while but I could tolerate that.

Well, airport security did not ignore the obvious. But I thought the way they handled it was a bit ridiculous.

They never once asked me why I had so many clothes on. If they had I would have explained and then told them if they want to search me go ahead and do so to your heart’s content, but at least now you have heard my explanation.

No, they didn’t say a word, but they patted me down, X-rayed me, pulled everything out of my bag–just went to great lengths to see if I had something dangerous on me. At one point I tried to offer an explanation but the security agent very harshly told me to keep my mouth shut or things could get much worse. OK, I was just trying to be helpful.

Ultimately they didn’t find anything and I was allowed to board the plane. And I’m sure they were all pleased that by the time their shifts were over my plane had completed its flight uneventfully and all was well. But if it had been me, I would have been very interested to hear the explanation for this passenger’s peculiar behavior. Maybe, just maybe, one of them still remembers it and still wonders what the heck was going on with me that day. Sorry sucker, you’ll wonder till your dying day.

Biker Quote for Today

“If you brake, you don’t win.” – Mario Cipollini

Not sure if you can make out the haze but those hills out to be a lot clearer.

Where is that rain when you need it? Last week I was complaining about the rain going on and on and now I was getting really tired of all the smoke filling the air from those forest fires in Canada. At least if we had the rain it would wash that smoke out of the air. Then it occurred to me that that may have been exactly what was happening last week. Without that rain we may have been living in and breathing that smoke as we are now.

Anyway, I decided it was time to take my first ride of the year up in the hills. Certainly all the ice and snow are gone, though there could certainly be sand and gravel to contend with. Also, maybe if I got up higher I could get above the smoke. Let’s give it a shot.

I headed up Bear Creek from Morrison and took Kerr Gulch from Kittredge over to pick up Evergreen Parkway near I-70. Then I picked up US 40 running alongside the slab, up Floyd Hill and down to US 6 coming up out of Clear Creek Canyon. Just FYI, there’s a good bit of construction going on on US 40 along here.

Up on Floyd Hill I was definitely not above the smoke.

I took US 6 down to where it branches off from the Peak-to-Peak Highway and made the turn toward Black Hawk. Now I was climbing and somewhat to my surprise it started getting darn chilly. I had not put on all the layers I had with me because it was so warm but now when I got to Black Hawk I stopped and did put on my vest. I’m guessing the smoke is blocking the warmth of the sun from getting down to the ground.

Up and further up till I reached my highest point, where CO46 meets the Peak-to-Peak coming out of Golden Gate Canyon. At this point I could see through the smoke enough to see that above it all it was a clear, sunny day but you might need to be up on top of Mount Evans to really experience it. And then I plunged back down into the haze.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker when the wind in your hair and face makes you happier than a paycheck.

Riding Cottonwood Pass.

The Denver Post, as the media tend to do, had an article the other day that focused on a real issue but made its central thesis something that is very secondary. Specifically, in an article “Deadly crashes hit all-time high in 2022,” they wrote about exactly what the headline implies. And good for them on that.

But, no surprise to us, after stating the facts of the matter the article veered off into how many of those who died were wearing helmets and why wearing a helmet is so important. I don’t dispute that helmets make a difference. But it was not until the very last paragraph in the article that they said, rather blandly, “Other drivers also need to use caution around motorcycles, particularly around
intersections where passenger vehicles often fail to see oncoming motorcycles.”

Oh really? Maybe that should have been the second paragraph in the piece. Yes there were way too many deaths in Colorado last year and I’m willing to bet that most of them were not the fault of the rider who died. Who among us has not narrowly avoided a similar fate more than once?

So I did what I do, I wrote a letter to the editor. I have a pretty good track record on getting my letters published, but at this moment I haven’t heard back from the Post on it so who knows if this one will be. Here’s what I said.

In regard to your article, “Deadly crashes hit all-time high in 2022,” on May 18, as a motorcyclist I support wearing helmets but I object to your focus on helmets related to fatalities. It’s OK to mention that “Of the 2022 fatalities, more than half of the motorcyclists were not wearing helmets, and nationwide, DOT-compliant helmet use decreased by 4% from 2020 to 2021.” But to then go on another two paragraphs about why helmets are good, then do a couple paragraphs about why rider training is good, and then finally, in the last paragraph in the article, point out that other drivers need to be cautious of motorcycles is seriously disingenuous.

If you look at the statistics on motorcycle fatalities you will see that an extremely high percentage of them are caused by other motorists violating the rider’s right-of-way. That is to say, the motorist caused the crash. How about putting that front and center?

And finally, something under half of those killed were wearing helmets. Safer crashes are not the answer; fewer crashes are the very safest thing. Don’t drink and drive–or ride–and put down your phone. That will save lives.

I know I’m preaching to the choir here but maybe somebody, if the letter gets published, will stop and think one time and it just might make a difference.

Biker Quote for Today

100 reasons not to date a biker: 13. The neighbors will come over to complain.

Now there’s something we hadn’t seen in days: blue sky and sunshine.

In Colorado we simply don’t have five days in a row of area-wide rain. Sure, it rains in different spots every day in the summer, while just a couple miles away the sun is shining. But never over the whole region for five days in a row.

So I was getting a little antsy to go ride because we had just had . . . here it comes . . . five days of area-wide rain in a row. It was killing me. On Monday the guys got together for breakfast and both Dennis and I mentioned that we had intended to ride there but the rain said no. Dennis is a snowbird, just back from Georgia a few days ago, and it had rained the whole time since he had been back. What’s with this?

Finally, in the late afternoon, I looked at the sky and it didn’t look good. But it didn’t look all that bad right at that moment. Yeah it’s going to rain again, but maybe not for an hour or two. I’m going riding. And to heck with getting wet, I’ll take my rain gear and if it rains I’ll gear up. I’m going riding!!

Well, my timing was perfect. I had only gone about two miles and suddenly there it was, something I hadn’t seen in days–blue skies and the sun! Holy smokes!

I didn’t have anywhere in particular to go so I just headed south. I turned east when I hit Lincoln Avenue and continued east across I-25 toward Parker. I had been on Lincoln Avenue in the area behind me plenty recently but it had been a long time since I had been on this part of the road.

And whoops, they did it again. I was cruising along and all of a sudden there’s this huge housing development on the south side of the road that just wasn’t there the last time I came along here. It looked like at least 300 large homes. And they were all made out of ticky-tacky and they all looked just the same.

I headed on but a little shy of downtown Parker I turned north on Jordan Road. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t even five years ago that Jordan Road was two lanes but now it’s four and there was a whole lot of new development along it that I had never seen before. This stuff is just crazy.

I worked my way on back home and by the time I got there it was getting seriously cloudy again. As I said, perfect timing.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if your tattoos wash off.

We still use paper maps but back then that was the only option.

The OFMC did really well in terms of avoiding mechanical issues on the road for a very long time. We only sort of, semi avoided it, however, on our seventh trip, in 1995. Bill had his problem before we left.

John and I were at John’s waiting for Bill to get there when the phone rang. It was Bill, with a dead bike a few miles away. We rode down there and found him in a shopping center parking lot. Thinking that maybe if we could get it running all would be fine (fat chance!) we pushed and pushed and pushed him till we were about to keep over. But miraculously, at some point, we did get it started. At this point Bill figured it would not be wise to head out of town so he went straight to his dealer’s place while we waited at John’s.

Maybe an hour later Bill called to tell us the issue was his stator, which had died, and the dealer did not have one in stock and at best it would be a couple days to get one in. We hated to leave without him but we all clearly understood that if someone couldn’t ride the others were not going to let that ruin their trip. John and I left, headed north.

We got as far as Wheatland, Wyoming, that evening and checked into a scuzz-bag motel. Got a quick fast-food dinner and headed to the nearest bar for a few beers. Along with the live band for entertainment that evening we got a pick-up offer from a local woman whose lack of beauty was matched by her obesity and drunkenness. “You guys want to come home with me?” No. Really, really no. Thanks for the invitation.

The next day we headed on to Deadwood, South Dakota. A gambling stop is always a mandatory part of our itinerary. Of course we lost money; Bill is usually the only one who wins. In the morning, before we started out, John called his wife Cheryl to see if she had heard anything from Bill. This was before cell phones.

Yes Bill had called. No, he had not gotten his bike fixed but he bought a trickle-charger and figured if he removed the fuse for his lights and rode only in the day-time he could keep the bike running, and then charge it overnight. He also had a long extension cord. He would meet us that evening in Thermopolis, Wyoming.

Great! Bill’s gonna make it!

Of course this was before we started planning everything out beforehand, so there was no plan as to where to meet Bill in Thermopolis. So we got a motel on the mail drag and parked our bikes right out front by the curb to make them totally visible. And what do you know, about 20 minutes later here came Bill. He immediately plugged in the charger.

From Thermopolis we rode on first to Pinedale, then Bozeman, Montana, and then to Salmon, Idaho. The night in Bozeman was the Fourth of July so we had a great spot from our motel on a hill to watch the fireworks. Did you know that Bozeman is so far north that they don’t even start the fireworks show until about 10:30 p.m.? And it’s not really dark yet then.

On the way to Salmon we stopped in a couple little ghost towns, Virginia City and Wisdom, where a bartender looked very disapprovingly at my bandana. He told me I had it tied all wrong, and then proceeded to show me how to do it right. I couldn’t follow his instructions so to this day I don’t know how to tie my bandana “right” but that’s OK, I don’t ride without a helmet anymore anyway.

Each of these nights Bill dutifully plugged his bike in to charge and each day it ran OK. Just hoping we don’t have any surprises.

The next night in Kemmerer, Wyoming, we learned another good lesson: some motels have rooms with more than two beds. With three of us we had always taken turns being the one who slept on the floor. This was back when we used to always carry tents and sleeping bags so that was an option, and that’s what we did. We sure didn’t have the money to pay for a second room. Well, this place in Kemmerer had four beds so from that time on we always asked.

The next day, our final night out, we planned to stop in Saratoga but our usual place, the Sand and Sage, had no rooms. They suggested we ride on to Encampment or Riverside, just down the road. We did and got a little cabin that had beds for us all and it was just sweet. About as rustic as you can get but that suited us just fine. We liked it so much we came back in later years.

And Bill never had a problem. Let’s hear it for ingenuity.

Biker Quote for Today

Why motorcycles are better than women: If your Motorcycle goes flat, you can fix it.

A bit of police and biker interaction in Laughlin, Nevada.

If it has never happened to you, you are an extreme rarity. By “it” I mean getting stopped by the cops. And when you do get stopped by the cops there are certain things you really should or should not do.

There is a Midwestern law firm called Hupy and Abraham that has put out an article called “10 Rules for Dealing with Police,” which is worth reading. None of this is mind-blowing; it’s really just common sense. But we know how little common sense some people exhibit sometimes. It won’t hurt to run through the list quickly just to refresh your memory about these sorts of things. I won’t just copy and paste it here because I’m not sure about copyright issues, but I’ll give the list and a few comments of my own.

Remain Calm and Cool — This is self-explanatory. We’ve seen all to often of late what can happen if you try to run or you get aggressive toward a police officer. Remember, they have guns. Just cooperate with them.

Never Touch an Officer — Again, totally self-explanatory. Don’t be stupid.

Do Not Give Up Your Rights — If you agree to a search of yourself or your vehicle you won’t have much of a leg to stand on if things go some way you did not expect. Be polite but firmly decline a search. If you choose not to speak or answer questions without a lawyer present, tell them that and then keep quiet.

Ask if You’re Being Detained or Are Free to Go — You have a right to know what’s happening. Ask politely.

Refuse Most Searches — Insist that they have a warrant. They can still pat you down for weapons, and do not resist this.

Do Not Confess to Wrongdoing — You have a Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Keep Silent, Do Not Lie — If you wish to remain silent until a lawyer is present, state that clearly. Then keep quiet. And certainly don’t talk and lie–you would really be asking for it then.

Ask for a Lawyer — If you want a lawyer say so immediately. If you are permitted a phone call and you call a lawyer the officers are prohibited from listening to your conversation.

Demand a Warrant for Entry into Your Home — Again, self-explanatory.

Report Misconduct Later and Do Not Argue — Do not resist. This is not the time to argue. Make mental notes of what you feel is wrong and write those down as soon as possible afterward. Then file a formal complaint.

OK, clearly, these are not all “stopped going down the road” sorts of tips. These are tips for any time you deal with the police. Again, I have paraphrased and abbreviated. If you want to read the whole thing visit the website.

The number one key thing here, in my opinion is, Don’t Be Stupid. Being totally in the right means nothing if you’re dead.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker when you have more pictures of your bike than your kids and grand kids.