Passes & Canyons Blog

The RMMRC taking a break on a ride several years ago.

For the first 20-some years of my motorcycle riding the only “club” I rode with was the OFMC. And I put that in quotes because we weren’t really any kind of organized club, we were just a group of friends who liked to ride motorcycles. But over the years a lot of the guys gave up riding, and those who didn’t give it up just seemed less interested in doing much of it except for the annual trip.

That’s not me. I generally ride a lot and if I have someone to ride with that’s great, if I don’t I never hesitate to take off on my own.

But it is nice to have a group to ride with, if for no other reason than having group rides set up by numerous people gives you a lot of opportunities and also can take you places you didn’t know were there.

Enter the RMMRC, or Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club. I joined the RMMRC in 2016 and right from the start I suddenly had a lot of great riding opportunities and also was meeting a whole bunch of good guys. Also some women but mostly guys.

Now, I have been a member of ABATE of Colorado for more than 20 years and they do some rides and I’ve been on a few but those are almost entirely the large group, poker run type of rides. And I’m not interested in that kind of thing. So even though I attended monthly meetings for years I never really got to know most of those people and there were plenty who I know on sight but even now don’t know their names.

Not so with the RMMRC. All it takes is to go off on a four-day ride, eat meals together, share motel rooms, and just generally hang out and you learn people’s names and you do get to know them. So I’ve made a bunch of friends and had some really good times.

But things are changing. As opposed to every other summer since I’ve been a member, there have been precious few rides being planned. As a consequence, I haven’t been riding nearly as much as I usually do. And why is this?

I hate to say it but it’s age. The RMMRC has dwindled seriously since I joined. A number of the members have died. Others have just reached the point where they physically cannot ride any more. And now there are several of the really core members who are battling cancers and other serious–and deadly–illnesses and lord knows how long they’ll be with us.

And we’re not getting new members. The only new member I can think of in the last couple years was John. He was a great addition to the group, very enthusiastic and eager to ride a lot. And he is one of those now facing serious health issues.

When I joined I would go to meetings and there would be between 30 and 40 people attending. We would have special rooms of our own at restaurants to hold the meeting. At the August meeting this year there were 8 of us and we were at a couple tables out in the main restaurant. The restaurant was no longer willing to give us a separate room with a dedicated server; we’re just an eight-top.

So I’ve told myself a thousand times that if no one else is organizing rides then I should set some up. But it doesn’t happen. I beat myself over the head for it, saying just do it you idiot, but I don’t obey myself.

Recently we did a joint ride with the local BMW club, which is now headed by Sara and Sean, who used to be RMMRC members. I wondered if this was the beginning of a move to merge the two. But that was a big group on that ride, 30 or more, and again, I really don’t like riding in that big a group. So I soon peeled off on my own. If we do end up merging I’ll give it a shot but I’m not enthusiastic.

Which gets me to the title of this piece. Is this how a club dies? I know Judy is facing a similar situation in a club she belongs to. All the core members are getting old and there are few new, younger members to keep it going. I guess time will tell.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker when your butt hurts, your back is killing you, you can t feel your hands or feet, and when your buddy asks you if you want to take a break you look him straight in the eyes and say HELL NO LET’S RIDE!!!!!

That’s Dennis between my old Concours and his old Indian. That’s Bill back by his Harley.

It happens as you get older. You eventually find you don’t need all the stuff you’ve accumulated and you start thinning the herd.

Dennis is the latest with stories to tell. He and Janice had lived up in the hills off Deer Creek Canyon Road but had decided it was time to move down into town. They bought a pretty dang nice–but much smaller–place over in Arvada and are pretty happy with it, but . . .

The “but” for Dennis is that the place they left had an oversized three-car garage. He and Janice each have a car and they each have a motorcycle. No problem at the old place. Big problem at the new place.

I was over there last week and got the tour and made a point to see the garage. I definitely understand. There’s plenty of room for the two cars but in order to get two bikes in they first have to move the car on the left out and then wheel the bikes in and line them both up along the side of the garage. Like, right alongside. As in almost touching. Whereas they used to just ride in and park the bike and get off.

It has an effect. It used to be when Dennis needed to go into town he’d just figure “might as well take the bike.” And he rode a lot. Now, it is a real effort to get the bike out. He’s not going to do that just on the spur of the moment, just because why not. No, if he needs to make a quick run to the store–something he used to routinely do on his BMW, or the Indian before that, or the Harley before that–it’s going to be in the car. Every time. Dang.

His situation makes my situation, which I have always thought of as quite nice, seem really, really nice. We have a large two-car garage with an attached workshop. I park one bike in the garage and when I had three bikes I parked two in the workshop. Now I just have one in the workshop. And yeah, I have to pull my car out to get the V-Strom out and then pull Judy’s car out to get it back in, but there’s no issue with cramming it into a tight space. I just pull in front of the cars and park. Then with the bike or bikes in the workshop, I just open the door and roll it/them in or out.

As reasonably convenient as that is, it has nevertheless deterred me from riding as much as I might have over the years. It’s the idea of gearing up and then getting a bike out, just to make a quick run to the store, that just doesn’t work for me most of the time. So I totally understand Dennis’s disinclination to go to all the trouble he has just for a quick run to the store. Dennis has always been the guy in the OFMC who has ridden way more than anybody else. I think that has changed.

Of course, my prospective answer to this issue has for a long time been that I want a little electric scooter. But I’ve never bought one. And now they have these electric power-assisted bicycles. A moped, actually, although the name “moped” has been appropriated by scooters, which are not in fact mopeds. Sooner or later I’m convinced I will. Then it will be the easiest thing in the world to hop on and cruise off on some small errand. Fun. What am I waiting for?

Biker Quote for Today

100 reasons not to date a biker: 18. The bike gets washed and waxed twice a month. The car never.

This illustration from the Colorado State Patrol website shows enough space between cars for a while other car. How often is that the actual case? Like never?

I was headed over to see some friends on the other side of town and the only sensible way to get there was to go up I-25 and then west on I-70. You do what you’ve got to do.

Traffic was heavy on northbound I-25, and going slowly, and what a surprise to see this guy on a motorcycle come blasting past me, lane-splitting. As I think everyone knows by now, Colorado recently legalized lane-filtering, where it is legal to pass between vehicles as long as they are at a dead stop. Lane-splitting, where you pass between moving vehicles, remains illegal. But by now it’s no secret that some riders see the legalization of filtering as giving them license to split.

One thing I noticed about this guy once he was past me was that he had only one side bag, which I wonder if was because that made him that much narrower and thus able to split lanes more safely. Whatever. I’m pretty sure he knew what he was doing was not what the law made legal.

Shortly after this guy blasted past I saw another bike come on the highway and while this guy was not as aggressive about it, mostly sticking to weaving from one lane to another and back opportunistically, I did see him do a little splitting as well.

And then, on my way home, now southbound on I-25 with heavy traffic moving slowly once again, here comes another guy splitting lanes. I guess this is just how things are these days, the proverbial give them an inch and they take a mile approach.

Let me hasten to note that I have no personal objection to lane-splitting. I just hope these guys doing this don’t screw things up for the rest of us by annoying the legislators enough that they decline to renew the filtering law when it comes up for review in three years.

On a side note, I recently saw a couple articles about how lane-splitting is now going to be legal in Minnesota. It appears that their bill is more permissive than ours, allowing bikes to split at up to 25 miles an hour while going no more than 15 miles an hour faster than the cars they are passing. But what also struck me as interesting was mention in these articles that the bill was signed by Gov. Tim Walz. I’m pretty sure a little more than a month ago most of us would have read that article and not had any idea who was governor of Minnesota. And now all of a sudden it’s, “Oh yeah, that guy.”

And another side note: I was actively studying the space between vehicles available for a bike to pass through and it just reconfirms my certainty that the idea of someone filtering while staying entirely within the lane of the vehicle they are passing is utterly absurd. Not once did I see enough room even for a scooter to get past. You have got to ride the lane divider. Those illustrations on the Colorado State Patrol website are ridiculous in that they show cars vastly smaller in proportion to the lane width than in fact is real.

Biker Quote for Today

“I have discovered biker paradise. It is called the Great Smoky Mountains.” — Foster Kinn

That Wolfhurst Lake development seems to be a world of its own out there.

Sometimes “Construction Ahead” doesn’t begin to tell the tale.

I was out on the Honda the other day, figured I’d head for the hills, where it was cooler. I hate taking the same route all the time so I vary it. This time I figured I’d go west on Belleview, turn south on Santa Fe, and pick up C-470 west just over to Kipling, where I would get off and then take the road up Deer Creek Canyon. Easy enough . . . most of the time.

This time, however, as I approached C-470 on Santa Fe there was a sign that read simply “Construction Ahead.” Normally that’s not a problem, you just navigate whatever detours they have set up and go about your business. But a little further ahead they showed they really meant business. The signs and barricades were shunting all traffic up onto the fly-over that puts you on C-470 eastbound. No matter if you wanted to continue south on Santa Fe, or wanted to go west on C-470. You’re going east on C-470. Period.

Dang. Might they not have put up some slightly more informative signs? I could have taken a different route.

OK, no matter, I would just go east as far as Lucent Boulevard, cross over, and come back to Santa Fe on County Line Road. Then I’d do the jog to get on C-470 westbound. Foolish me. I got to Santa Fe and the southbound lane was completely blocked and your only options were to go north or go across and follow that road, which looked like it ran alongside C-470 in the right direction, so that was my choice.

Nope. All that did was lead me into a mobile home development for seniors that was surprisingly extensive but had no other exit than the road I just came in on. So I got to go back out the way I came in and headed east on County Line Road, back to Lucent Boulevard.

Now here’s where my brain really misfired. C-470 was unimpacted by this construction on Santa Fe. There is a westbound on-ramp at Lucent. All I had to do was get on the on-ramp. But somehow that thought never crossed my mind. I crossed over the highway again and continued south till I came to a major road heading west, which I took to Santa Fe. No way was I going to go north now and get tangled in that mess again from a different direction. So I headed south.

What that meant was that to get where I was headed I had to go south to Titan Road and take it as it wanders all around over by Roxborough Park and Waterton Canyon, loop all the way south of Chatfield Reservoir, and finally get to–what else–the road up Deer Creek Canyon. About 45 minutes spent trying to cover ground that takes about 3 minutes to ride on C-470.

In case you’re out that way, I wouldn’t take Santa Fe at C-470 any time soon. It looks they’re rebuilding that entire intersection and a job like that takes a long time.

Biker Quote for Today

“I learned one thing from jumping motorcycles that was of great value on the golf course, the putting green especially: Whatever you do, don’t come up short.” — Evel Knievel

No, you really are not required to filter past a car in front of you only on the left.

I’ve written about how, in my opinion, the information being put out by the Colorado State Patrol (CSP) about the newly legal (in Colorado) practice of lane-filtering is misleading and downright incorrect. So I went straight to the source.

I spoke with Sgt. Patrick Rice, who is the public information officer for CSP. Real nice guy and we had a good talk.

Right off the bat, Patrick acknowledged that the CSP statement that riders must pass the vehicles ahead of them on the left was off the mark. The legislation does not say that and if there is room for the rider to pass on the right it is perfectly legal. He explained that when CSP was considering how to get the information on this new practice out to the general public it was decided that it would be most easily understood if they put it in those terms. You or I may disagree with that decision but that’s what it’s all about.

OK, we got that cleared up.

Next I asked him about the CSP statement that the rider must pass the vehicle ahead while staying entirely within the lane they both share. I said that that is not how filtering takes place in the real world and I asked him to point out to me in the legislation where they said that came from. Patrick pointed me to Section 2 where it reads “NOTWITHSTANDING SUBSECTIONS (2) AND (3)(a) OF THIS SECTION, THE DRIVER OF A TWO-WHEELED MOTORCYCLE MAY OVERTAKE OR PASS ANOTHER MOTOR VEHICLE IN THE SAME LANE AS THE MOTORCYCLE IF:”

This is exactly the section I discussed previously saying that I believed they were misreading this bit of text. To quote myself, “Maybe whoever wrote this piece read it to mean you can pass another vehicle only if you stay in the same lane that it is in, when in fact it should be read that you can pass another vehicle THAT IS in the lane you are in but you don’t have to stay completely in that one lane in doing so. A significant difference of meaning. So the law could have been written a bit more clearly.”

I suggested this reading to Patrick and he agreed that it makes more sense but he said they spoke to the legislators who passed the bill and they agreed with the CSP interpretation. So that leaves them with implementing the law as it is written, not as it might have been better written or as common sense dictates.

That, of course, meant one thing to me: Time to contact the sponsors of the bill and ask them if that was truly their intent and interpretation or whether perhaps the folks at CSP misunderstood. I have reached out to but as yet have not heard back from Javier Mabrey, one of the sponsors.

In the meantime, Patrick tells me that of course patrol officers can and do exercise discretion in their enforcement practices, and he expects that if a rider is otherwise following protocol carefully but crosses over the lane divider while passing someone he does not expect that rider to be confronted. And he said this sort of issue is one of several that have already been raised and he expects that when the bill is being considered for sunsetting in three years–or sooner–it will be amended and these issues will be cleared up.

On a different note, Patrick did educate me on another aspect of the bill. There is a passage where it reads “SHALL NOT OVERTAKE OR PASS: (B) To THE RIGHT OF A VEHICLE IN THE FARTHEST RIGHT-HAND LANE IF THE HIGHWAY IS NOT LIMITED ACCESS.” What I had not understood about this is that it is saying that on city streets it is not permitted to filter on the right, even if you can stay entirely within the lane, because that could lead to a crash if the person you are passing is about to make a right turn on red. OK, that makes sense. Good to know.

Biker Quote for Today

“He loved talking to the mountains. He loved talking to the breeze. He loved to drift. And he loved to ride his motorcycle.” ? Avijeet Das

Sedalia was the end of the trip this year as we went our separate ways.

Headed home from Fort Garland on the last day of the trip we had several options as to route. Bill considered heading up US 285 because that took him right past his daughter Jenna’s house and he could stop for a visit. If we really wanted to get home we could just continue on US 160 to Walsenburg and take I-25 north. Or we could get to Walsenburg and then cut back northwest by the Wet Mountains to Westcliffe, then to Penrose, and on to Colorado Springs and pick up I-25 there if we wanted something more laid back and scenic. Plus a fair bit longer.

In reality, the last day of the trip always turns into horses headed for the stable and we decided to blast.

Of course the ride from Fort Garland to Walsenburg is a very nice ride, especially early in the morning. I’ve been on US 160 going both ways early in the morning and its pretty darn sweet. This day was no different.

Then there was I-25. Ugh. There was nothing to do but to do it but we agreed that rather than take I-25 all the way into Denver we would get off at Monument and take the back road. The back road is CO 105, which runs up to Palmer Lake, through Perry Park, on to Sedalia. For Dennis and Bill that is actually a more direct route to where they live and I considered splitting off at Monument but then Bill had an idea.

These two guys have been telling me for years that Bud’s Burger Bar in Sedalia has the best burgers around. I had never been there. Judy and I were over that way recently at lunch time so we had decided to stop and try the place out but it was jammed and we would have had a long wait to get seated, so we left. So let’s stop at Bud’s for lunch. I’m in.

What is there to say about I-25. We survived it. We got through Colorado Springs. The traffic on I-25 through Colorado Springs is terrible and it was this day but we slogged on through. Then the run on up CO 105 was as sweet as ever. This is a major route for motorcycles on weekends especially so it’s always good.

Then Sedalia and Bud’s. Once again they were full but my friends, the old hands, knew that the protocol was that if there was space at one of the big round tables you just ask the folks there if it’s OK to join them. We asked these two guys and they welcomed us. Finally I’m going to taste a Bud’s burger.

I’d like to say it was fabulous, but I don’t like to lie. No question, it was a good burger but not something I’d drive all the way over there for. So we were talking with these guys we were sharing the table with and they asked what our favorite burger places were. Bill and Dennis said right here. Bud’s. These guys said they are always on the hunt for the best burger in town and in their opinions there is no place that beats The Hound, over at Hampden and Yosemite.

Now my ears perked up. I live right there by Hampden and Yosemite. Judy and I used to go to that place for burgers and we definitely considered them the best in town. But the place changed hands, changed names, and we were disappointed in the burgers under the new management and had not been back. I told these guys this and they said whatever may have been, they do once again have the best burgers in town. Judy and I will definitely be trying them out.

So we continued with our meal and finally Bill stopped and asked what I thought of the Bud’s burger. “You’ve eaten half of it and you haven’t said a word.” I know he wanted me to rave about it and say how great it was but, again, I hate to lie, so I said honestly that I thought it was “definitely a good burger.” Period. It was not what he wanted to hear. I think he took it personally and was a little miffed.

We finished eating and now it really was time to split up. I would get on US 85 and take a right turn while they would go left. We said our good-byes and the 2024 OFMC trip was another in the books. Maybe the last. But I thought that last year so maybe not. We’ll see.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if you won’t ride unless it’s a group ride.

Bill shot this to document our deluxe accommodations in Fort Garland.

This 2024 OFMC trip was planned as a Colorado adventure tour so for the most part we stayed in-state. However, on this day when we were running from Ignacio to Fort Garland there were two routes of about the same distance and one of those promised a lot less traffic.

By either route we would need to leave Ignacio on CO 151 headed east, past Chimney Rock National Monument where we stopped the day before, and get on US 160 headed east to Pagosa Springs. From Pagosa we could have just stayed on US 160 all the way in to Fort Garland, going over Wolf Creek Pass along the way, but that’s a very busy highway with a lot of trucks and not very appealing. Besides, we’ve been over Wolf Creek any number of times.

The alternate route was to go south from Pagosa on US 84, down into New Mexico, where we would turn east on US 64, over to Chama. Then from Chama we could take NM/CO 17 northeast over Cumbres and La Manga Passes to Antonito. We’d pick up US 285 at Antonito, up to Alamosa, where we we rejoin US 160 the short distance east to Fort Garland. With roughly the same distances it was really a no-brainer.

The same road looks different going the other direction so it was no hardship leaving Ignacio and cruising back along CO 151 up to US 160. Then the run east to Pagosa was again just beautiful. It really does seem the whole state is greener late in the season this year than it typically is and on a beautiful day you just can’t ask for better. We gassed up in Pagosa and headed south and found northern New Mexico just as green. What a sweet ride.

It was going to be an early lunch but we figured Chama made the most sense for eating so we pulled in there and parked. As nice a little town as Chama is, it really seems to be going downhill. We found our food options very limited–more so than I recall from previous visits–and we decided instead just to try to find some ice cream.

Now, Chama is home to the southern end of the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad and draws a lot of tourists to the train. Where you find hordes of tourists you generally find ice cream parlors. Not obviously the case in Chama. But what is not obvious is nevertheless true in some cases.

What we found was a Subway that was split into two sections, one for sandwiches and the other for ice cream. There was no one manning the ice cream side till we asked and then, while the ice cream was good, it had some ice crystals in it, suggesting that they don’t go through the tubs very quickly. I really think if they put a big, highly visible sign out by the road reading “Ice Cream!” they could double their business.

From Chama we headed north. The OFMC has ridden Cumbres and La Manga Passes a few times but not a lot. The last time we did it going north we ran into a herd of cattle being moved to a new pasture. When the cowboys showed no inclination to help create a path through the herd a car started honking and edging through. We followed suit, with the Harley boys revving their engines loudly to convince the steaks on legs to get out of the way. A memorable ride.

This time there were no herds, and it was smooth sailing, and the thing that struck me was how unfamiliar this route seemed, even though I know I’ve been over it multiple times before. But once again, really pretty.

We got into Antonito and if we thought Chama was a food desert, well Antonito was the Sahara. So we pushed on to Alamosa but at that point we were only a few miles from Fort Garland so we just made that turn and cruised on. We’d just have an early dinner.

There’s not much in Fort Garland but there are a few restaurants and at least one of them is pretty good. The Mountain View Diner has no A/C and the fans were not nearly enough on this hot day but the food was actually quite good. And thus our day came to a close. Home tomorrow.

Biker Quote for Today

Why motorcycles are better than women: Unlike women, motorcycles don’t whine unless something is really wrong.

You can see some of the work that has been done at this new national monument so far.

Leaving Durango on this year’s OFMC trip we had originally planned to ride down to Mesa Verde National Park where we were to spend the night at the Far View Lodge, the very cool old lodge inside the park. It was a treat I was looking forward to but Bill had announced he would not be going there with us and we ended up cutting that night out and moving everything else up.

That left us leaving Durango with the day’s destination of . . . Ignacio. Eighteen miles away. OK, let’s see what we can figure out here.

Because this whole trip was planned as a tourist trip, with us stopping at attractions and doing things that tourists do and that we generally haven’t, we had on our plan for the day leaving Ignacio to make a stop at Chimney Rock National Monument. I suggested that we head east on US 160, then turn back west at CO 151, which runs right by the monument before leading us directly on to Ignacio. Make it about a 100-mile day. The guys thought that sounded good.

The ride out US 160 was very nice as the entire state seems to have stayed green much later in the summer this year than usual. Really, really beautiful. We made the turn and were soon at Chimney Rock.

Chimney Rock National Monument is one of the newest national monuments in the country. It’s new enough that other times we have been past it it has not even been open yet to the public. Now it is but there’s still not a lot to it in terms of infrastructure.

First off we had to go in on a gravel road, and everyone knows how Bill feels about riding on gravel. He wasn’t thrilled but it was only a quarter mile. We got to the visitor center area and it is in such an early phase that the ranger did not have an actual visitor center, he was sitting there under an open tent talking to people and handing out literature. Besides restrooms the only structure was one building that was split with one half being a museum and the other half a gift shop.

It’s a good museum, though, and I found out a whole lot I had not known about the place. I’ve seen the rocks that give the place its name many times passing by and had assumed the monument was all about the rocks. And I thought making it a national monument for the rocks was a bit of a stretch.

In fact, it’s an archaeological site and up on the mesa above there are pueblos that are pretty well preserved. With the gravel road we were not going to ride up to the pueblos, plus it was a pretty hot day and we were in the middle of the heat. The ranger said they do have a shuttle going up for those who don’t want to drive but we passed. I’ll do that some other time when I’m out that way with Judy. Bill seemed positively disinterested and I didn’t know how Dennis felt about it.

So we saw what there was to see and then headed on to Ignacio. Even after our detour it was far too early to check into our rooms at the Sky Ute Casino Resort but they have a very good restaurant where we had lunch and then there was the gambling. This was one place where arriving early was not an inconvenience.

Biker Quote for Today

With the throttle’s roar, I ignite the adventure on the road.