Oh man, winter is really here. It’s colder tonight than it has been since last winter. And we had a real snowfall last week.
I admit, I’m not one of the real hard core. I haven’t been on either of my bikes in almost three weeks. This weekend, however, I will be on one or both of my bikes without question as long as there isn’t ice and snow on the streets. ‘Tis the season to be opportunistic–you never know when a blizzard will strike and keep you off the bike for weeks. You have to grab the moment when you’ve got it; tomorrow can easily be too late.
And where do I ride when the weather gets bad? Well, first off, I stay down here on the flatlands. It’s a whole other climate up in the mountains. We might have 50 degrees and sunshine down here but you head up to Georgetown or Estes Park and all of a sudden it’s 25 degrees and there are patches of snow and ice in the portions of the road that are in shadow. And if there’s no snow and ice you can bet the road is covered with sand from the last snowfall. That makes for better traction in a car but it makes your motorcycle ride much more of an adventure than you would prefer.
So with the mountains ruled out, where to? Well, there’s one really nice loop that I’ve taken many times and it comes complete with your choice of biker bars to stop at for some socializing and refreshment. Going counterclockwise, I head south on US 85 to Sedalia, turn west on CO 67, go a mile and then turn south on CO 105. This is a very nice ride that takes you down to Palmer Lake, and you then reach I-25 at Monument.
Continue east on CO 105 until you get to CO 83 and head north. This takes you past Castlewood Canyon State Park, a nice stop, to Franktown, to Parker, and the back to Denver. The whole ride, if you end up back where you started, is about 90 miles.
Places to stop include the Stagecoach in Franktown, in Sedalia you’ll want to hit the Sedalia Grill, and in Palmer Lake, O’Malley’s Pub is the place to go. Black leather is definitely the fashion in these places, and the food is good, too.
If you up on the north side of town and don’t want to head all that way south, my favorite place is Jerry D’s in Dacono. Again, black leather is the fashion. You’ll feel right at home.
It has been said that winter is nature’s way of telling you to polish your bike. That may be, but it’s no reason not to get in some good riding when the weather permits.
Biker Quote for Today
Young riders pick a destination and go. Old riders pick a direction and go.
I had this song in my head and I’ve never known or been able to understand all of the words in the lyrics. So I had this sudden thought that there are probably quite a few people just like me out there, and that it could be a real service to print the lyrics.
First off, it’s pretty violent. Especially the first episode; the second episode not so much. Still not something my wife would want to see.
So is it any good? Is it worth watching? Is it worth doing something I’m not accustomed to doing, i.e., turning on the TV? I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. And the really amusing thing in this internet age is that I’ll do so without turning on my television. If you go to the official site, the one in that link above, you can watch any episodes you want on your computer. I really like that because otherwise I would have to catch whatever episode was on and come in in the middle of the story. On the web I can start with the pilot episode and catch up at my own speed.
I’ve read about these things in the motomags but this was the first one I’ve ever seen. And I still don’t know what to think of it. It a three-wheeler with two in front and one in back. This particular one was bright red and still had the temporary tag on it.
What do you do if you’ve lost a leg but still want to pilot a motorcycle trike? In most states, to operate one of these vehicles you need a motorcycle validation on your driver’s license. That can be hard to get if you’re disabled in any of a number of ways.