Passes & Canyons Blog

Since John quit riding I have become the planner for each year’s OFMC trips, and I think I’ve got our route worked out now for 2022. Here’s what I’m thinking.

For quite a few years now the trip has been locked onto the last full week in July. I don’t know how that came to be but for most of the guys that became inviolable. I often suggested that some time other than the maximum heat of the summer might be nice, but nobody else seemed to agree with me.

Guess what? Bill and Dennis have agreed that this year we should go south, and do so later when it’s not so hot.

Where to go? The first part was easy. In 2020 we intended to go into New Mexico but days before we were to leave New Mexico announced it was closing down the state due to Covid. We had to scramble to work out a different route and change our reservations. So this time around I figured we’d just start off the way we planned to in 2020.

That means we will start off riding to Alamosa, and on the second day take the short cruise from there to Espanola, New Mexico. With the OFMC there is always a gambling stop and a golf stop. Espanola fulfills both these requirements because we’ll stay at an Indian casino and resort, with gambling and golf. We’ll be there three nights so one day will be golf and the other will be for a day-ride in the area.

That was the easy part. Where to next?

I know that a highly recommended route is through the hills of south-central New Mexico/Arizona through Alpine, AZ. But how do we get there without taking a lot of interstate? Then I had the flash. We can head south out of Espanola on US 285 to Santa Fe, loop around Santa Fe and then get on I-25 for a while headed toward Albuquerque. But I didn’t want to go through Albuquerque so what if we turn off I-25 at Bernalillo and take the road that goes down the back side of the Sandia Mountains. And we can take the short side trip that takes us to the Sandia Crest, where you get an expansive view of the city laid out at the foot of the mountains.

Continuing south I was looking at taking I-40 west to I-25 and south but, again, that didn’t appeal and I noticed that south of the Sandias were other hills. Hills? Mountains? Not sure. But was there a road on their east heading south? You bet. So we’ll take those roads south to Mountainair and then go west on US 60 and pick up I-25 just a few miles north of Socorro, our stop for that night. OK, this is working.

Heading west out of Socorro on US 60 we’ll make a stop to visit the Very Large Array, a radio-telescope installation that is right off US 60, and is said to be spectacular. Then on to where NM 12 goes southwest from US 60, to US 180, and on to Alpine.

The first part of the next day’s ride will be nice, through the hills but eventually will become a bit of a slog, heading north on US 191 to I-40, east to Gallup, then north on US 491 to Shiprock, then east on US 64 to Farmington. That’s going to be the most tedious ride of the trip.

From Farmington we’ll head up toward Durango but turn east on US 160 before we get to Durango. Through Pagosa Springs, over Wolf Creek Pass, to South Fork, and then CO 149 to Creede. We’ve never stayed in Creede. Could be very nice. I’ve always liked the town.

Our last day will be up over Slumgullion and Spring Creek Passes to Lake City, down to Gunnison, over Cottonwood Pass to Buena Vista, and then home on US 285.

That looks like about 1,400 miles. These guys don’t like really long days so the longest will be about 270 on the way to Farmington. I think we have a plan.

Biker Quote for Today

We know you’re a poser if you grab for your hairbrush before your old lady.

Conspicuity: the quality or state of being conspicuous

One of the really big issues when you ride motorcycles is being seen. We all know how this goes. How many times have we heard drivers who caused, or nearly caused, crashes with motorcycles say “I didn’t see him.”

They’re not lying. I myself have twice been in situations where I nearly caused an accident with a biker because I did not see him. So there are two things we all need to do: make yourself as visible as possible and then ride as if you’re invisible.

In the RMMRC there are a good many people who make a point to wear the eye-catching bright yellow or orange vests that go on over your riding jacket. Roy, the club’s safety director, has spoken to me more than twice about my black helmet and black jacket. Roy always rides sweep and he has told me that as he looks ahead he can see this rider and that rider but that I frequently blend into the scenery. Now, I do have reflectors on the sidebags of my Concours and a couple of my helmets but I guess that really doesn’t amount to much. I put more focus on riding defensively, as if I were invisible, as I said.

And so far that has worked out pretty well for me. The closest encounters I have had have generally involved people changing lanes without turning to actually look to see if there was someone in the lane they wanted to shift to. If you’re–even just for an instant–in their blind spot, and they don’t look, nothing you wear will make them see you. I pay a lot of attention to that sort of thing.

So I found it interesting riding with the RMMRC on the Colorado Cruise, hanging out in the rear of the group, that many of these guys in their fluorescent vests were barely visible, at least from behind. Why? Because they had dark top bags and such rising up behind them that almost totally blocked my view of their bright vests.

And who was the most visible of all? It was Susan, a very short lady on a small bike whose white helmet and fluorescent-striped jacket stood out vividly. And the funny thing was that Susan told me she preferred to be in the middle of the pack because she was afraid, being so small, that it was too easy for people not to see her. But in fact, nobody was more visible than her. And of course, she didn’t have bags stacked up behind her.

So who knows, maybe I ought to get another jacket, this one with blazing yellow stripes or something. Like I don’t have enough jackets. We’ll see.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if your only three piece suit is a leather jacket, leather vest and chaps.

We were riding up on the Peak-to-Peak Saturday. Think about that. It was December 4 and we were up in the hills. That tells you everything you need to know about the weather we’ve had so far in this late fall. Generally by this time of year those roads are either icy or treacherous with sand and gravel.

Not that there was no sand–we encountered a fair bit of that coming down through Golden Gate Canyon. But that was the only sand we ever saw and there was no ice at all. How could there by ice? The day-time highs have continued to be in the 60s.

The only thing that surprised me when I received the notice of the ride, an RMMRC ride, was that it hadn’t come sooner. You can’t have this kind of great weather and not have rides getting planned.

There were nine of us who took off from a 7-Eleven in Golden. We headed north on CO 93 toward Boulder but then skirted around the city to the east, following Marshall Drive to Cherryvale Road and north, then Baseline Road further east to 75th St. and north on 75th to Niwot. Then Niwot Road and Neva Road took us west to US 36, which took us north to Lyons. Time for lunch.

After lunch we tried to go up South St. Vrain Drive (CO 7) to the Peak-to-Peak but it was closed for construction. So we headed back south on US 36 to Lefthand Canyon Drive. That road brought us to the Peak-to-Peak at Ward.

It had been warm down in front of the foothills but now up higher I was very glad to have my electric vest. I had dressed warmly because I didn’t trust it would be warm the whole ride and that was a good thing on my part.

We headed south on the Peak-to-Peak, through Nederland, and on to CO 46, down Golden Gate Canyon. This was where we encountered the only sand of the whole ride. Most of the time it was right in the middle of our lane, although sometimes there would be two lines of it and you’d need to be careful to stay in between them. The worst was in a really tight turn but again, if you stayed in the track you were OK. So be advised if you head up that way. This is not the road that hot-shots on sport bikes should go blasting down any time soon.

Once we were back at CO 93 in Golden it was every man for himself and we scattered quickly. Great day for a ride.

Biker Quote for Today

Whenever I ride my motorcycle I always keep an excess of hay with me. I use hay to increase the horsepower of my bike!

In the early days of the OFMC we were notorious for the lateness of our starts. We’d sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast, and maybe get on the road by 10. Or 11.

Not any more. First of all, none of us sleep that late these days. My normal time to get up is in the 7 to 7:30 range. Dennis and Bill are both early risers who are up long before me. Now about the latest we get going is 9. But that’s still not really what you could call morning riding–that’s already mid-day riding.

When I went with the RMMRC on the Colorado Cruise we had to get an actual early start one day because the road south out of Ouray was going to be closed for construction at 7:30 up near the top of Red Mountain Pass, and would not reopen until lunch time. To play it safe we were rolling out of Ouray about 6:45. That’s early morning riding.

And it’s so nice! Now, in this case it was cold, and I could have done without that. But it was so beautiful! We all see the sunset most days but many people–including me–rarely see the sunrise.

The world at sunrise can be an enchanted place. The colors, perhaps the sparkling of dew, the smells, and more.

I’ve ridden all over Colorado many times and I don’t have many specific memories of particular stretches of road–except a few morning rides.

I was heading to Arizona Bike Week one year and I camped for the night somewhere east of Mesa Verde along US 160. I woke up with the sun and got going and enchanting really is the right word. Cool, fresh, delicious, and a wide open road with almost no traffic.

Another time we spent the night in Monticello, Utah, and it rained early in the morning. We got an early start very soon after the rain stopped and again, enchantment. And this time the color was really brought out by the wet, as were the smells. Have you really smelled sagebrush? You generally won’t on a hot, dusty afternoon but on a cool, wet morning it’s overwhelming.

Then there was another time, also on US 160, between Fort Garland and La Veta, going over La Veta Pass. You don’t want to hurry; you just want to cruise and savor it all. And with almost no traffic you can.

I’m just not that much of a morning person to do this sort of thing all the time, but when circumstances put me into that situation I’m never sorry. Try it. You might find that you love it.

Biker Quote for Today

In the motorcycle safety course they tell you that target fixation is bad, where your eyes are looking is where you usually end up. Must be why I keep running over female joggers.

Every year about this time I start looking at what I want to get done before the end of the year. Usually that includes making an effort to turn over one more 1,000-mile point on each bike’s odometer and then any other odd objective I can identify.

Turning over 1,000-mile points is especially easy–or irrelevant–this year. On the Honda CB750 the meter is sitting now at 35,940. Can I put another 60 miles on that bike yet this year. Is the sky blue?

It’s even more of a no-brainer on the Kawasaki Concours. That meter now sits at 73,986. We’re looking at 14 miles. Yeah, I think I’ll manage that.

And then there’s the Suzuki V-Strom. That meter is now reading 38,181. You can either say that one is totally out of reach or you can look at it that I already passed that 1,000-mile mark 181 miles ago. I’ve put a lot of miles on that bike this year so I’m going with the latter interpretation.

This year I do have a different goal for the Honda, however. In the beginning this was my only bike and all the miles I rode were on it. Then I got the Kawi and didn’t ride the Honda as much, and then I got the V-Strom and the time on the Honda went way down. For a whole bunch of years I didn’t even put 1,000 miles a year on that bike. So now that in itself has become an objective.

At the start of this year that bike had 35,048 on the dial. So instead of just putting 60 miles on it yet this year I really want to go at least 108. Still totally doable, I just have to get out and do it. And if this great weather continues that will be easy.

So what else do I want to get done before January 1? Well, often as we head into winter I’m looking at my tires and figuring I need better rubber for the winter. Not this year. Already this year I’ve gotten two new back tires and one new front. All the other rubber is good, lots of deep tread. Tires are no issue.

Plus, they’ve all had oil changes and the Honda and Kawi had overall tune-ups. I guess I’d have to say all three are in pretty darn good shape at this point. That’s kind of a nice way to end the year.

Biker Quote for Today

Biker new year’s resolutions: 1. Ride bikes. 2. Look at bikes. 3. Talk about bikes. 4. Repeat.

Many years ago I bought a junker of a pick-up truck to haul materials for some landscaping I was doing at home. This was not a vehicle you would drive for any other reason. It had been in a crash and the frame was bent, so it was one of those things that look like they’re going sideways down the road. Mostly it sat parked in my garage.

It didn’t take me long to figure out, however, that for what I was paying in insurance on it each year I could save money by paying to have this rock and compost and other stuff delivered. So I sold the truck.

A lot of people who have motorcycles don’t really ride them all that much. If you only ride the bike about 1,000 miles a year but you’re paying $200 for insurance that would come to 20 cents per mile ridden. If you put 10,000 miles on that bike you’re only looking at 2 cents a mile. What if you could get insurance where you pay for the actual mileage you put on the bike?

This is actually an option in some states (Arizona, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana). There is a motorcycle insurance company called Voom Insurance that does exactly that. Ron Khirman from Voom contacted me recently asking if I would like to work with them on getting the word out about their company. In exchange for putting up a blog post (this post) they would pay me $50. Check them out, write whatever I feel is appropriate. I said I was interested in their offering but if they were going to pay me I would need to let you, the readers of this blog, know that. “Fine by us,” Ron replied.

So I checked them out. Ron sent me to a link that is presumably a dummy page so I wouldn’t accidentally purchasing insurance that would do me no good–I’m in Colorado and they do not yet operate in Colorado. The first thing that happened was that Norton Antivirus deemed this a dangerous choice and I had to tell it no, I really do want to go to the site. I got no such response when I went to the actual site in the link above. In the meantime I was able to get the information I needed.

For starters, Voom offers three plans at varying price points: Essentials, Popular, and Extended. With Essentials the monthly base rate is $4 and 1 cent per mile. For Popular it is $9 a month and 4 cents per mile. With Extended it is $35 a month and 13 cents per mile. If you go with Popular it adds in comprehensive and collision and going to Extended also includes uninsured, underinsured, and body injury.

Each plan is customizable depending on what coverage you want. For instance, I chose Essentials and used my V-Strom as the bike. It gave me a base rate of $2.10 and a penny per mile. (The last two fees are consistent for all policies.) This includes $25,000 coverage per person, $50,000 coverage per incident, and $20,000 property damage per incident. These coverages meet Colorado’s requirements. If I added comprehensive and collision that went to $7.76 per month and four cents per mile. All the standard choices you always make with insurance were there for your selection.

They also offer the usual deductions for things like having a motorcycle endorsement on your driver’s license, taking a rider safety course, and that sort of thing. I have those so I took those deductions.

So how does this work out for me? Would I benefit by paying per mile for my insurance?

Well, last year I rode the V-Strom 1,046 miles. Taking the basic coverage that would work out to $35.66, whereas I now pay GEICO $145.02 per year on that bike. (OK, an update on Dec. 1: I did the math wrong. I think I misread that quote. By my recalculation it would cost me $60.62 per year. That’s still a heck of a savings.) I tried adding my other bikes onto the policy and it didn’t alter the general equation very much. It would seem that I could save a good bit of money going with a policy like this.

I don’t know. Maybe there’s something I’m missing here but this looks like a pretty sweet deal. If it was offered in Colorado I would definitely check it out further. But it isn’t, so for now I won’t. Get back in touch with me then, guys, OK? If any of you readers give this a shot let me know how it turns out. Thanks.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if you only took the job to pay for your trip to Sturgis.