Passes & Canyons Blog

The Colorado Motorcycle Expo, formerly the Motorcycle Show and Swap, has had a rough few years. First there was a shooting that resulted in it closing early and then not happening the following year. Now it is stuck in the same conundrum facing so many venues in light of the coronavirus.

Obviously, the folks running it have to make some decisions about the 2021 show, presumably to be held in January. Here are some of the proposed changes.

• The number of attendees inside the building at one time will be limited to 700. This will increase to 1000 if we use more space on the lower level and 3rd floor. The good news is vendors and employees are not counted as attendees. Our plan is to stagger admission times with 2 hour blocks so the overall attendance is not significantly impacted.
• All food and beverage consumption will be confined to designated areas. This means people cannot walk around eating or drinking.
• Facial coverings will be required at all times with the exception of designated food and beverage areas.
• Aisle sizes will increase and be designated for one way traffic only. Additionally, the spacing between vendors will be increased. Our plan is to spread the bike show out throughout the entire vendor areas in order to increase traffic throughout the expo and to fill the increased spaces between vendors.
• Plexiglas barriers will be required for all vendors where financial transactions take place. You can provide your own or the facility will rent these to you.
• A quick temperature scan will be included with daily vendor check in/screening.
• Proper social distancing will be expected and enforced with attendees.
• Concerts and entertainment are not allowed at the facility. Our plan is to have after hour parties that are relocated off-site for 2021.

All of this, by the way, is only if they’re able to proceed in the first place. That is not a given and at the moment the management is reaching out to the vendors to see whether they would even plan to come. If that comes up with a largely negative response the Expo may not happen at all, I would presume.

But also, you have to wonder a few things here. First, will people come to the Expo? I know Judy and I don’t get too bent out of shape by the coronavirus but we categorically do not go places where there are crowds. And they say facial coverings will be mandated at all times. Considering a significant portion of the biker community is made up of Trump-friendly anti-maskers, this could be hard to enforce. Who’s going to tell a group of 25 1%ers that they have to put masks on or leave? This could be tough.

More news will follow. I’ll update you when I hear anything more.

Biker Quote for Today

Top 10 signs that a computer is owned by a Harley rider:
And the Number 1 sign that a computer is owned by a Harley rider:
01. — A half-naked, big-breasted “warrior princess” and her tiger have been airbrushed onto the sides of the monitor.

So I did it. I finally made a coronavirus era trip to Costco and I did it on the V-Strom as I had said I would. I bought everything on my list and a few extras and the huge bags that bike has ate every bit of it and could have held more.

First off, the bike came to me with two absolutely enormous Givi side bags. I don’t normally keep them on the bike except when I travel but I put them on for this occasion. And there is also a fairly large top bag on the rear that holds quite a bit, too. Heck, as long as I’m not buying some ginormous package of toilet paper–Costco size–I could probably do most of my Costco shopping on this bike.

Not having been to Costco in about six weeks, before all of this coronavirus shutdown got rolling, I was a bit leery, wondering what it would be like. I pulled in and the parking lot was not as full as normal but I could see a long line of folks waiting to get inside. I parked and put on my mask and took my place in line. They have freshly painted markers every six feet along the sidewalk to keep people from getting too close.

I pulled out my phone to text Judy to say I was in a line to get in, but it was moving quickly, but the lady just in front of me turned to me and started chatting. I never did text Judy because we talked motorcycles the whole while that we waited.

Yes, she was retired, about my age, and she used to ride motorcycles. She said she rode a Harley Low Rider for many years but then a friend suffered a horrible crash and was left a quadriplegic. That scared Wanda (that’s who this was) and she decided that if you’re scared you have no business on a motorcycle. So she sold it.

But she missed riding and after awhile she bought a Yamaha V-Star. She said she really liked the V-Star better than the Low Rider but after awhile she got scared again and sold it. But she was adamant that she continues to keep her M on her driver’s license. She might yet ride again some day and lord knows you don’t want to have to take that rider’s test again.

So we talked bikes. She asked me if I’d ever gone down and I told her about the time up by Deckers when I was coming down the gravel road pretty slowly when a dog walked out right in front of me from between two parked cars. She told me about putting her foot down once at a stop and discovering only then that there was a rut and only air where she expected pavement. I said yeah, I’ve done that, too.

She also told me of how she twice got her leg burned by the exhaust on that Low Rider. I concurred and told he that while I have never owned a Harley I have ridden them at times. Once it was raining and I had my rain suit on and at a stop one time I looked down to see that the leg of my rain suit was melting against the pipe.

In this manner we whiled away the time until we got to go in. And then for the first time in weeks, the store had everything I came for. And the bags swallowed everything I bought.

Biker Quote for Today

Biker Mom. Like a regular mom only cooler.

While I acceded to the logic offered by Brook Reams and my wife, other motorcyclists are sticking with the argument that coronavirus-conscious riding is not a bad thing. For one, even though I have quit going on them, the RMMRC continues to hold regular rides.

Motorcyclists in other places seem to have adopted the same thinking. Here’s a story about a bunch of riders who were ticketed for doing so, and the remarks of one who protested that they were doing nothing wrong.

The guy made the argument that they were observing proper distancing restrictions and were treated unfairly, as in getting profiled. There seems to be some argument on both sides.

First off, they went for a group ride and then stopped for snacks and beverages at a convenience store. When they stepped outside to consume their purchases the store manager told them they had to leave the property, so the went across the street.

Now, there’s no way from available information to know whether they truly kept their distance from each other, unlike with the RMMRC for which I can attest that we/they do keep a distance. But then the police showed up and started issuing tickets. Here’s where the profiling came into play.

Apparently there were not just people on bikes, there were others in the group who were in cars. And some of the riders had passengers. Well, the cops issued tickets only to the riders. None to the passengers, none to those in cars. So what’s up with that? If you’re supposed to stay home except on necessary travel they were all in violation.

The guy quoted in the story cited the fact that you are allowed to go out for recreation and he argued that riding was his kind of recreation. I have said the same thing. But as others have countered, the kind of recreation you get riding a bicycle is physical, while motorcycling recreation is only psychic. You can say it was for your mental health and that may well be true but I don’t think the police are going to buy that.

And what was not cited was the double-barreled argument I got that if you should crash and go to the emergency room you are using medical resources that could be used on coronavirus and you are also much more at risk of contracting the virus in an ER than you are at home.

So I continue not to go for pleasure rides but I’m thinking that at some point, when the trend of infection is dropping and medical resources are not over-strained, I may go riding again and take my chances on the possibility of a crash.

Biker Quote for Today

When you truly don’t care what anyone thinks of you, you’ve reached a dangerously awesome level of freedom!!!

I spoke earlier this week about how the idea that riding motorcycles was a good thing to do to keep your distance from people had gotten shot down. OK, I get it. But I’m not going to let my last such ride go to waste. This ride was on Wednesday of last week.

Figuring that riding motorcycles was a good thing to do while staying away from other people–thank you coronavirus–I intended to go on a ride the RMMRC had planned for Tuesday last week. I managed to let time slip up on me, however, suddenly realized that even if I hurried I was likely to be late. With this group, when they say kick stands up (KSU) at a certain time, they really mean it.

I hustled on down to Performance Cycle and sure enough, there was nobody there. So I just wandered on home; it was a beautiful spring day so it was nice to be out riding even just for a short run. Besides, there was another ride planned for Wednesday.

On Wednesday I did not let time slip by. The meeting place was Sam’s #3 over on Havana and I was there a bit early, playing it safe. But there was not one other soul around. What the heck? I pulled out my phone and checked the notice to be sure I was not mistaken about the date, time, or place. I was not. So I sat there.

Maybe two minutes before KSU Bob and Robert glided up next to me on their matching Gold Wings. OK, it was going to be just the three of us.

Robert was in the lead and he took us on a ride only he could plan out. Which is to say, we headed out east on the prairie and went on some roads I had never been on, and the reason for this route was that he said he likes to periodically go past places he has lived in the past. And apparently Robert has lived in several of these isolated housing developments way out away from anything else out there.

That was fine. We didn’t care where we went, we just wanted to ride.

Eventually we ended up down south at Elbert and kept heading south. Then west to CO 83 and back toward the city. Nothing special about this ride other than it was a great day to be out on a bike. And now it looks like it will be my last pleasure ride for who knows how long. That right there is what will make this ride memorable.

Biker Quote for Today

She loved her brother, I remember back when he was fixing up a ’49 Indian. Told her ‘little sister gonna ride the wind, up around the moon and back again.’ — Emmylou Harris

OK, this is starting to demand more seriousness. I wrote about how the RMMRC has been doing some rides that were “coronavirus conscious” but I’ve gotten shot down.

First my wife, Judy, pointed me to the state’s website where it details the particulars of the overall order to stay home. It specifically says that pleasure driving or motorcycle riding is prohibited. Oh rats. I mean, it seems like riding a motorcycle is a great thing to do because you don’t come in contact with other people and you’re wearing a helmet and gloves.

Judy replied that yes, but suppose you got into a crash. You would then go to an already overloaded emergency room and use resources that could otherwise be used combating the virus. OK, that has never happened to me in all my years of riding but it could happen today–no one ever knows when that crash will happen.

Then I sat down at the computer to put something together for the blog and I had a comment on my post about that RMMRC ride, from Brook Reams. He basically said the same thing Judy said:

So, if anyone has an accident and goes to the emergency room, they are not only absorbing scarce ER people/time/space/equipment that is needed to treat Coronavirus patients, the person is going to be in a place with a high opportunity for exposure to the virus.

From that perspective, these rides are not “Coronavirus conscious,” they are selfish.

OK, I get it. As I said in my reply to Brook, oh well, it seemed like a good idea.

I had also been getting emails from ABATE members about riding being a no-no. So the word is spreading. There was another RMMRC ride set for Sunday and I was torn about going on it but decided not to. I kept checking back to see if it was canceled but apparently not.

It’s not like we haven’t been taking this isolation thing seriously. Judy has only left the house in the last couple weeks to go bicycle riding. I have only left the house to go to the grocery store and to ride my motorcycles and the bicycle. We haven’t seen our grandson in three weeks and that’s really killing us–we’re used to keeping him two days a week while Mom is at work.

So OK, just hunker down and get through this. One thing though: we are low or out of a number of things we typically get at Costco. I have stayed away from there so far but was thinking about heading over sometime soon. I have huge bags on my V-Strom, and we don’t need anything bulky like toilet paper. When I finally go to Costco I’m going on the V-Strom.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if you spend more time polishing your bike than caressing your woman.

Per my last post, about how riding motorcycles is the perfect socially distanced pursuit, the RMMRC has taken this concept to heart. Last week alone there were two group rides that were structured and promoted as being coronavirus conscious. Another is planned for this week.

I went on the first ride last week it was really nice. First off, it was a beautiful day, great for a ride. Second, it was my first time on a bike in about two weeks, so I was due. And third, it was a small group, five people, and we just had a good time on some good roads.

Sort of good roads, that is. Actually, sand and gravel were the order of the day. We went into the hills and this was probably the earliest I have gone into the hills after the winter has abated. The main highways were clear and clean. We didn’t stay just on the main highways.

Meeting up at the Phillips 66 station out by Morrison we headed up to Kittredge on Bear Creek Road and then turned south on Myers Gulch Road, which has turned into Parmalee Gulch Road by the time it reaches US 285. And oh man, was there ever a lot of sand and gravel. Mostly on the curves. Bob and Robert, who I call the Go-Fast Boys, were in the lead an even they slowed down. Just too much loose stuff in too many curves.

Hitting 285 we headed west to just past Conifer where we turned off toward the Platte River on Foxton Road. This had me a little puzzled because we were supposedly heading to a park a bit north of Pine. I knew we could get there this way but the last time I was on it the road along the Platte was unpaved. Were these guys on Gold Wings (three of them) really OK on a stretch of gravel? I was on my Concours, which hates gravel, but I figured I could manage.

So we got to what the map tells me is SW Platte River Road and turned west and what do you know, it was paved. In fact, it was paved so long ago that the asphalt was terrible, with a lot of gravel from disintegrated asphalt scattered everywhere. Obviously it has been a very long time since I’ve been on this particular stretch.

But it was paved and as long as there was a solid surface under the loose gravel the Connie did fine. We reached the intersection at Buffalo Creek and turned north toward Pine, cruised through Pine, and then turned off onto Crystal Lake Road, which took us back down to the Platte at a Jefferson County open space park I never knew existed. Nice place.

We parked–a separate space for each bike, no grouping into parking spaces–and each grabbed the food we had brought with us and then we sat spread around two picnic tables, well separated from each other, and ate and chatted in the balmy spring warmth. When we left we took the road on up to Pine Junction and turned east on 285.

Back at Conifer we turned onto Pleasant Park Road, which eventually feeds into Deer Creek Road and then into Deer Creek Canyon Road. This was where we really hit the sand. It wasn’t just in the corners, it was all over the road, all along the road. Then out to Wadsworth at Chatfield Reservoir, and on home from there. By the way, coming east on C-470 it finally looks like that long-term expansion project is finally nearing an end. That will be a relief–that has been such a huge mess for about three years.

And that was my beautiful ride on Tuesday. What did you do?

Biker Quote for Today

Why bikes are better than women: You can share your motorcycle with your friends.

This thing has been spreading (kind of like a virus) so you may have already seen it. If not, you came to the right place.

In this time of coronavirus pandemic there is constant talk of “social distancing,” that is, not getting too close to other people because they may infect you or you may infect them. So hey, what’s the best possible way to socialize but keep your distance? Riding motorcycles, of course.

Here’s a thing I got from an ABATE member.

BE ADVISED

Avoid crowded spaces — ride motorcycles.

Do not use public transportation — ride motorcycles.

Well ventilated spaces are virus free — ride motorcycles.

Protect your nose and mouth — ride motorcycles.

Recommended use of gloves — ride motorcycles.

Try not to touch contaminated surfaces — don’t let anyone touch your motorcycle.

Avoid shaking hands — do not remove your gloves when getting off the motorcycle.

Keep a safe distance from people who sneeze or cough — ride motorcycles.

Maintain a positive and prudent attitude — Only way to ride a motorcycle.

FEEL FREE TO SHARE THIS IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Wow, I couldn’t have said it better.

Biker Quote for Today

I need some time off from reality. Just a few days away from people and all their bull crap.