Passes & Canyons Blog

Bill gets some pix on top of Cottonwood Pass.

We headed out of Buena Vista at a reasonable hour headed up over Cottonwood Pass. It wasn’t as cold as the day before but once again, late July or not, I was darn glad to have my electric vest on. Since they finally paved the other side of this pass it has become a very popular route for a lot of people but the crowd wasn’t too thick.

Heading down, though, we had options and I thought I had gotten it all worked out. Once we got past Gunnison we had the issue of a bridge across the Blue Mesa Reservoir being out of service . . . or not. There were two possible detours. One was to get to Almont coming down off Cottonwood Pass and turning north to Crested Butte and taking the unpaved Kebler Pass. They use a lot of magnesium chloride on that road so it’s really hard-packed, like really rough pavement. I’ve been over it and it’s not bad.

The other is to head out of Gunnison and take the road at the east end of the reservoir south toward Lake City and then, before coming to Lake City, take the Lake City Cutoff, which goes down to US 50 on the far side of the bridge. But the cutoff is not paved either.

The third alternative was that I thought I had found information saying that the bridge was actually open just one lane at a time for light traffic, such as motorcycles and passenger cars. We headed for the bridge.

At the turn-off to head for Lake City the road straight ahead had a sign that said it was closed. Not a good sign. We went past it. You could still go in because there were campgrounds and fishing areas you could get to on this side of the bridge. But we kept seeing signs saying the road ahead was closed. Not a good sign at all. We kept going.

Sure enough, we came to where the road really was closed. There was a guy there telling people what their alternatives were and he told us we should hurry back and take the Lake City road and then the cutoff. He said the cutoff opened for westbound traffic at 12:30 p.m. and if we didn’t make it there in time we would have to wait two hours for the next opening. We didn’t have much time so we hustled.

Until we got behind a couple really slow, large vehicles. Dang! Well, we got there in time and didn’t even have to stop, they just waved us on through. And then it was 15 miles of rough gravel. I was on my V-Strom so for me it was no issue. Dennis didn’t like it on his BMW but he just figured it had to be. Bill, on his Harley, absolutely hated it. He said later if he’d known what it was going to be he would have turned around and gone home or something. Anything but that 15 miles of gravel. He was not a happy camper.

I had actually been surprised they had gone for it. When I told them what the guy at the blockade had told me I was not expecting Dennis to just say simply, “Let’s do it.” But he did. He and Bill hate gravel. And Bill just followed us. Bill prefers to just follow. This time he wasn’t so glad he had done so.

The way I looked at it, this was supposed to be a Colorado adventure tour, where we stop for all the tourist attractions we typically just ride right past. Our first day was doing a hot springs. Our second day was zip-lining. Now our third day was getting off the pavement into the backcountry. Kinda.

One way or another we made it to Montrose, our stop for the night.

Biker Quote for today

The joy of riding a motorcycle is out of this world. The thrill of riding in the hills and mountains is an opiate addiction. — Avijeet Das

Bill comes in on a zipline.

Day two on the OFMC trip started out cold. I had my electric vest but had not thought to bring the liner for my mesh jacket because I figured if it rained I’d put on my rain jacket. But a liner would stop the wind, which a mesh jacket does not. We were headed from Hot Sulphur Springs over to Kremmling for breakfast so it was a really cold ride to Kremmling.

After breakfast we headed south and it was warmer but still quite cool. But we got to Silverthorne and it was warmer, then up to Copper Mountain and on over Fremont Pass. The really nice thing so far on this trip is how green everything is. It’s the end of July and everything is still green. Beautiful.

Not so beautiful, on our way down, was how we came around a curve at one point to find a car passing on a double-yellow line. In our lane. Fortunately there was a wide shoulder. Idiot. Do you not understand the concept of a double-yellow line?

We got over the pass and down to Buena Vista and it was too early to get into our motel. That’s the thing with these short riding days we’re doing this year, you get where you’re going early and then what do you do? So we got some lunch and then got into our rooms and waited for time to head back a bit to where we had a reservation to go ziplining.

Our zipline guides were two young guys, one a fairly typical-looking young guy and one who had multi-colored hair and about 20 piercings all over his face. A very capable couple of guys who really seem to enjoy their jobs. And very personable.

We got all geared up and up we went. Six runs. The first few were OK, nothing to write home about, really, but the fifth was a scorcher and a blast. Made the whole thing worthwhile. So it was something we all agreed we were glad we did but that none of us really has any interest in doing again.

Then there was nothing much to do but go back to the motel and go have dinner. We headed out to a pizza place, found it was a fancy restaurant that also served pizza, with a 45-minute wait to be seated. I ordered at the bar for take-out and told Bill and Dennis we didn’t need all three of us to carry a pizza back to the room.

They headed back and then the black clouds started coming in. Was I going to be walking back to the motel with a pizza in a pouring rainstorm? Turned out to only be a light drizzle and it was a good pizza.

And that was it for day two of this year’s OFMC trip.

Biker Quote for Today

Life is short, buy the motorcycle, have a ride, live your dreams.

Our first stop on the trip, just a quick break.

The OFMC left on this year’s trip today and this post will go up tomorrow. For once it’s a real-time report.

It’s just the three of us again this year, Bill, Dennis, and me. Bruce considered coming for part of it but chose not to. Too bad. We really hoped he would come.

Having only a short ride today we were in no hurry. After meeting at a Starbucks near Bill at 10 we were rolling around 11. Golden Gate Canyon was our chosen route.

We always make a gambling stop but since we had such a short ride today we agreed to make an unplanned gambling and lunch stop in Black Hawk. We’re in no hurry. We sometimes will each put $20 in a machine and play it together. We did that this time, quickly losing half of it first on a machine Bill chose and then on one I chose. Time for lunch.

After lunch Dennis chose a machine and we quickly won all our money back plus $2.50 and we figured this was a good time to cash out and get rolling. A nice start for the trip.
We went up through Central City and over the Central City Parkway to I-70, I-70 to the US 40 exit at Empire, and then over Berthoud Pass and down to Winter Park.
Now we were looking for ice cream. This is how we travel. Lots of stop, no hurry.

We found ice cream in Granby and then it was a short hop to Hot Sulphur Springs. Still mid-afternoon. So we got our swimsuits and headed to the hot springs the town is named for. A good soak, relaxation, and now it was time for dinner.

And that was the first day. Very easy-going. Very relaxed. Tomorrow’s going to be a longer day.

Biker Quote for Today

Good time, good friend, good wheel.

We just didn’t see that many bikes over eight days in the area. Meanwhile, do you see that kiosk on the left? That’s a bus stop. On a busy highway. With no pull-off area for the buses. And there were Ubers picking people up and dropping them off along there not even at the bus stop. It was crazy, not to mention incredibly dangerous.

Judy and I just spent a week in southwestern Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh area generally, and while we were not on a motorcycle you can bet I was taking it all in from the perspective of a motorcyclist.

My initial impression was pretty negative but it evolved over the time we were there. In case you don’t know, it’s really hilly around Pittsburgh, and you might think that would lead to great motorcycle roads. It does. Sorta.

The thing is, in the immediate metro area there are a lot of hills and they’re very steep. Translation: Going anywhere but along the drainages is unfeasible. And in a metro area of 2.3 million that means a lot of traffic on not so many roads. Roads that would be gorgeous to ride except that on both sides of the highway it’s one big strip mall, there are frequent traffic signals, and the roads are choked with traffic.

We got a bit further out of the city, and more importantly, we got off the main highways. Now it was sweet. The hills were not as steep so you could go up, over, and around them, and there was almost no other traffic. Very sweet for riding a bike. But there were two problems.

First off, as we’ve seen in some other parts of the country, it’s all trees. There’s nothing to see but trees. On these small roads, even when you get to the top of a hill you have no view of the surrounding area because all you can see is trees. We rode along a river at one point and could hardly see the river because of the trees. In fact, as we saw later, it was the big highways like the US highways and the interstates that were just cut through the topology where you actually had views from time to time. Trees are nice but after awhile they get very boring.

The other problem was that while these little roads are great motorcycle roads, if you actually want to get somewhere, taking these roads is going to take you a very long time. It’s rare that the speed limit even reaches 45 and with all the winding around you’ll cover at least 150 miles going 100 actual miles. Terrific if you just want to go out for a nice day ride; terrible if you’re traveling and want to stay off the big roads.

Now, don’t get me wrong. We really like the Pittsburgh area. When I told the guys we were going to spend a week in and around Pittsburgh John’s immediate response was “I’m sorry.” John, you don’t know what you’re talking about. There’s a lot to see and do in this area and we had a great trip.

But is southwest Pennsylvania a good place for motorcycling? I really don’t know what to say. If you do, if you’re familiar with riding in this area, by all means, please leave a note and clue me in.

One other thing. We really just didn’t see all that many bikes. In mid-week we were in Altoona and in that little town we saw more bikes than we had all the rest of the week up to that point. Who knows why. But we never really did see all that many motorcycles at all. Who knows. Not me.

Oh, and one more aside. We got home Sunday, unpacked, ate dinner, and were immediately faced with a plumbing emergency. Welcome home.

Biker Quote for Today

When the road ahead seems impossible, start the engine.

This cabin in Cooke City, Montana, was another on the low end. They didn’t usually rent it out but because there was no place else available in town they opened it up for us. Now they’ve been spruced up and are in regular use.

If you travel much you inevitably find yourself in some places that are really nice and other places that are not so nice at all. In the 30+ years the OFMC has been doing an annual trip we have certainly had our share of both.

Of course, when you find a really good place you want to go back there. However, life goes on and sometimes you can never go back.

One of the nicest places we ever stayed was in Taos, New Mexico. The El Monte Lodge was just a little to the east of downtown on the main road. The room we got in 1997 was a large suite with three or four beds, a kitchen, loads of room, and our own private fenced, shaded patio complete with barbecue grill. And it wasn’t very expensive. We knew a good thing when we saw it and decided to stay two nights.
This place was so nice we went back a few years later. Got the same room. Loved it.

Don’t go looking for the El Monte if you’re in Taos now. It’s gone. Replaced by some big new resort. It was just too good to last in a place where that location was too much a prime piece of real estate.

One of the worst places we ever stayed was in Gallup, New Mexico. We had just come from Laughlin, Nevada, in a brutal trek across the state, with fierce winds pounding us from due north that had us leaning hard to the left to keep from being blown off the road.

We got into Gallup ready to sit still somewhere. We grabbed one of the first motels we saw and were pleased that it was cheap. Yeah, there was a reason it was cheap. It was total crap. This was in the days when there were just the three of us and customarily we took turns in rooms with two beds of one person sleeping on the floor.

The problem was, there were insects running all around on the floor. Bill had the short straw that night and we heard about that place many times for a long time afterward.

On the other hand, one of the better places we have stayed is also in Gallup, and I highly recommend it. That’s the El Rancho. This is an old place where the movie people used to stay when they were shooting in Monument Valley, nearby. All the rooms are named for stars. And while it costs more than the numerous dumps in town, it is actually cheaper than the modern places in town. And it has a lot more character.

Then there was Jordan, Idaho. This, too, was back in the days of just the three original guys—Bill, John, and me—and in the time when we still camped sometimes. There was really nothing in Jordan but we did find a farmer’s field that doubled as a campground. We pitched our tents and went to sleep.

Only thing was, a hellacious rainstorm broke out overnight. Oh well, if you’ve got a good tent you just ignore it and go back to sleep. Not the case for Bill. His tent had a rain-fly that somehow came loose in the fierce winds and he woke up getting drenched. He had to get out in that rain to reattach the fly. John and I knew nothing of this but come morning we heard a lot about it.

Wow, now that I’ve gotten started I could just keep going but I won’t. Let’s just say our adventures in accommodations have gotten a lot tamer since we’ve all reached the point where we have enough money to stay in the nicer places.

Biker Quote for Today

I know I’m alive. When I ride even the familiar seems strange and glorious. The air has weight as I push through it, its touch is as intimate as water to a swimmer. — Dave Karlotski

I got a lot of good riding out of this bike and it hurt to sell it, but I’m not unhappy that it’s gone.

As all regular readers of this blog are aware, I sold my 1999 Kawasaki Concours back in March. It was the first time I had ever parted with a motorcycle that I owned. Riding for 35 years, I have owned three bikes and still own and ride two of them. Selling the Connie really brought mixed emotions.

It didn’t help, of course, that I ended up letting it go for a pittance. But after problems at the end of last year’s OFMC trip, and months spent waiting for the shop where I took it to do . . . nothing . . . it really was something of a relief to be done with it. But it was still sad and a bit wrenching.

During this time I looked around and found a used Yamaha FJ-09 at Vickery Motorsports that I was very interested in but until I could clear space in my garage I had nowhere to go with it. By the time the Kawi was gone the FJ-09 was, too.

So now whenever I get together with friends the question always comes up, are you going to get a new bike? My answer is as surprising to me as it is to them: No.

No, I really kind of like only having two bikes. I like having room in my workshop to use it as a workshop, rather than as a garage. I like having one less vehicle to maintain, pay taxes on, and pay insurance on. And it had gotten hard to find someone to work on such an old bike.

I also like not jockeying around this really heavy machine. Both my other bikes are much lighter than the Concours and I had been aware for a long time that the day was going to come as I get older when I was not going to feel up to handling that heavy thing. I’m not at that point, but already being free of that feels good. I also don’t miss having to deal with all that bodywork–the plastic panels covering the engine and forming the fairing. That stuff makes any work you do on the bike twice as much of a hassle.

Still, having finally sold a bike, I now feel a new freedom to think about doing so again. My main bike now is my 2006 Suzuki V-Strom 650 and I like it a lot but truth be told, I really would not mind something just a little bigger. Like that FJ-09, or the newer Yamaha Tracer. When I’m riding the V at highway speeds that little engine is very busy. An 850cc or 900cc engine would not have to be working quite so hard to hit those high speeds. Plus, the V-Strom is old enough that it’s now an issue to find someone to work on it.

I’m in no hurry, but what I foresee is to find an FJ or Tracer, buy it, and immediately turn around and sell the V-Strom. But right now I have not looked at bikes for sale at all, and I have no inclination as yet to begin. I’m just enjoying the two bikes I have.

Biker Quote for Today

Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of riding a motorcycle.

Here’s a place I would hate to run out of gas. Anyone else coming by today?

Oh, gosh, it wasn’t so long ago since I dipped into this Adventure Riders thread. Back in February. No matter, I’m doing it again today. I’m short of subject matter.

The question posed in this thread is “When was the last time you ran out of gas?” Here are a few responses. What’s your story?

• At age 40 (now 67), 2nd day of ownership of my very first bike, taking a ride, I ran out of gas about 1/2 mile from home. I was such a noob, I wasn’t sure what was wrong. Bike sputtered and died. Luckily most of it was downhill to my home. I call dealer and they asked if I flipped the petcock. What the **** is that was my reply? After he stopped laughing, he explained and all was well. Plus I learned something about motorcycles.
• I equate the need to carry gasoline with the ice cream napkin postulate. The number of napkins you need is directly related to the number of napkins you do not have. Gas works the same. This past spring I got a new to me road cruiser. It isn’t exactly great on mileage, but I could go 200-250 on a tank full. But I realized that my butt and joints usually need a break before then. So typical I start looking for gas around 150 miles for a good stretch and fill up. This way I am never stressing about fuel and I am usually feeling pretty good.
• It’s been a few years now, but I ran out of gas a couple times with the bike that had the largest gas capacity of any I’ve owned. My 2010 GSA supposedly had an 8.9 gallon tank, but it actually held just over 10.0 gallons. I filled it to 10 gallons several times, at different stations, as the distance to go was very accurate . . . until the fuel strip messed up. I planned to stop at a station on the way to work, but ran out about 100 yards short. It took 10.05 gallons.
• The last out-of-gas moment was a planned event. I had two 2l Fuel Friend containers with me, you got to know what your range is, so go and do the test on each new bike! Interestingly enough a biker stopped and ask if I was ok. Thank you dude for checking!
• About ten years ago, my daughter was suiting up to ride her KLX 250 to work, and remarked that she was getting great gas mileage all of a sudden. I told her to check the petcock and she laughed, assuring me that it wasn’t on reserve. I laughed too, to myself, and waited for her call. Sure enough, she ran out. I brought her the gas can, but she was a bit late for work that day. She hasn’t run out of gas since.
• I just bought a low-mile ‘05 tiger to replace my high-mile ‘06 tiger, and have been swapping farkles (including gps and aux lights) from the old one to the new one. I learned the hard way that the trip meter gets reset when the battery is disconnected – I was passing a string of cars in a passing lane going up a hill when the bike started losing power. It took me a minute or two to deduce how I managed to run out when the trip meter read only 190 and I can get 260 to a tank.
• I was coming North on route 9 after school one night and the bike sputtered…I was going about 60mph reached down to flip to reserve and it was already there. Hmm no traffic around it was well after midnight. I quickly pulled the choke and started swerving from side to side and leaning the bike to the left as far as I could. This got me to the crest of the hill I was on and then the bike died. I was still rolling at about 30 mph with the clutch pulled and headed slightly down hill. I knew the area well and that there was an all down hill run 1/4 mile to a exit ramp then down hill to a gas station. I also knew the gas station was closed at 10:00PM…but figured I could drain all the hoses at the pumps and be ok. Coasted into the station and drained all the hoses got the bike fired back up and made the 5 mile ride home.

OK, thanks for sharing guys. Of course I have plenty of my own running out of gas stories. The first time was when I was taking a woman I was interested in for her first motorcycle ride and I had forgotten the petcock was already set on Reserve. We walked a mile to a station and back with the gas. Things never took off between her and me.

Another time was with my wife when my Concours was new. We took a ride with the Concours Owners Group and when they all stopped to get gas in Florence I didn’t, figuring we’d make it home. We split off from the group and were heading up CO 83 toward Franktown and I was watching the gauge. Figured it would be good to stop in Franktown. We didn’t make it that far. Fortunately we rolled to a stop in front of a farm house and they sold me a gallon.

I was on my way to work one day on the Honda, heading west on Hampden, and ran out at Franklin Street. Fortunately I knew if I could push the bike about two blocks I could then coast down another three blocks to a station. Got off easy that time. That station is no longer there so I’ll try not to do that again.

There must be others but that’s all I can call to mind right now.

Biker Quote for Today

Riding is like writing stories, one road at a time, one adventure after another.

Beyond the bike airplanes are taxiing over, lining up for take-off.

How quickly we went from “Is it so cold that if I ride I’ll freeze my butt off” to “I might like to go for a ride but I really don’t want to roast.” But Sunday was very nicely cool so what better thing could I do?

I figured I’d ride the Honda but I was very interested to see what happened once I started it up. Would it smoke like crazy as it used to? That issue had just miraculously gone away by itself but that means it could come back in just the same manner. And yes, the exhaust did smoke some at first. Not the huge clouds it used to produce but there was definitely some smoke.

And of course that makes me think about how much oil I have. When you’re getting a lot of blue smoke you are, by definition, burning oil and if you burn enough you end up with none. I had almost done this before I took it in to get the smoking addressed. I headed out one day, knowing I needed gas, and by the time I got to the gas station I just felt like it wasn’t running right. So I gassed up and just went back home, where, as a caution, I added some oil.

The next time I rode it was to take it to the shop, and it ran OK with the little bit of oil I had added, but when the shop started giving it the once over they found it had almost no oil at all. I’ve said it before: I’m a bad bike owner. I really don’t give my bikes the care they need. Shame on me.

So now I’m on this Sunday ride and my oil level is on my mind. I will check the oil level before I ride it again.

I hadn’t gone far and I saw something I had never seen before: one of those Tesla pick-up trucks. I’ve seen pictures but I had never seen one in real life and there it was. OK, a first.

I cruised south, to just north of E-470, and looped around the south end of Arapahoe County Airport and stopped to watch the airplanes lined up for take-off. What a mixed bag. All the way from little Piper Cubs up to enormous corporate jets.

On south and a turn onto the road that eventually becomes Main Street in Parker. And to the south of me the southern edge of the city is going up in the form of condos and homes. Jeez, I remember when the south edge of the city was 10 miles north of here.

East on Main Street, then a turn north on Jordan Road. At the intersection of Jordan Road and Broncos Parkway, on the northeast corner–and I mean right on the corner–sits a new condo complex with balconies overlooking this busy, noisy intersection. Just what I would want for a relaxing place to live. Do people really live in places like that voluntarily? If you flicked a cigarette butt from your balcony it might go right in somebody’s car window.

About this time it dawned on me that my test of using safety pins to snug up my fluorescent orange safety vest was apparently working. All this time it had not blown up around my head and it was staying where I wanted it. It occurred to me that I could use a couple more safety pins and just attach it long-term to my mesh summer jacket. Pin it down around the bottom to hold it down securely. I guess I’ll do that. I’d still recommend if you’re in the market that you pay a bit more and get a real motorcycle safety vest from a motorcycle supplier.

Then on home again. It sure is nice to have some comfortable days in July. The OFMC trip is coming up in a little over two weeks and it sure would be nice not to get cooked on that ride the way we did last summer.

Biker Quote for Today

Speed is my language, and the wind translates it into joy.