Passes & Canyons Blog

The Expo is a great place to see some cool bikes, and the people-watching is pretty good, too.

I just learned this so I’m guessing a lot of you had not heard either: this year’s Colorado Motorcycle Expo has been rescheduled for February 19 and 20. It had originally been set for this weekend.

I was in the midst of writing a post saying I would be skipping this year’s event when I went to their website to copy down the URL and only then discovered the postponement. Here’s what they say about this change:

Even though the dates have changed, The Expo is on!!

The 2022 Colorado Motorcycle Expo will be held February 19th and 20th.

The Colorado Department of Public Health has granted us a variance pre-approval to Public Health Order 20-38 should the order be extended. This means vaccinations will NOT be required for our event.

We can hardly wait to you see everyone there!!!

I had been wondering about this, thinking it was highly unlikely that, despite any “mandate,” this biker crowd would comply with a mask requirement. And now it seems no requirement for vaccinations, either.

This is all exactly why I was planning to skip it this year. Judy and I are fully vaccinated but for three days each week we keep our three-year-old grandson Jack, and at that age he is obviously not vaccinated. Now, they say kids that young are highly unlikely to get seriously ill from Covid but on rare occasions they do. Judy is super cautious about this, not wanting to be in any way responsible if he should get sick.

All that considered, it seemed to me that the Expo was shaping up to be a possible super-spreader event, much in the way the Sturgis rally was last year. I like going to the Expo but keeping my grandson safe, not to mention keeping my wife happy, takes a higher priority.

But who knows. Omicron seems to be fading rapidly and maybe the difference of a few weeks will be significant. But right now I’m not counting on it.

Biker Quote for Today

All grampas are created equal, but only the coolest ride motorcycles.

A shot from the 2009 Show & Swap.

Two more motorcycle events have been canceled due to Covid 19.

The Last Brass Monkey Run, the annual last-day-of-the-year event put on by ABATE of Colorado, has been canceled.

Larry Montgomery, ABATE state rep, said in the latest issue of the Spokesman, ABATE’s member newsletter, “At this time we are temporarily on hold for the Last Brass Monkey Run that was to be held on December 31, 2020, at the Rock Rest Bar & Grill in Golden. We are still going to make available to anyone that would renew at this event to be able to renew online December 31, 2020, and you will receive your Brass Nuts in the mail along with your membership card. For those that do not renew, but would still want or need the Brass Nuts for this year we will make arrangements to get them to you for a $5.00 donation to ABATE. We will need mailing info to send them to you.”

This would have been the 33rd Last Brass Monkey Run so once again, a long-standing tradition bites the dust thanks to the coronavirus.

Also canceled is the 2021 Colorado Motorcycle Expo, the event that takes the place of the old Colorado Motorcycle Show & Swap.

I also got word of this cancellation through the Spokesman, where Mike Cole, ABATE District 17 rep, said, “We talked to you last month about your interest in attending the Colorado Motorcycle Expo in 2021, while we did get a response from you and it appeared that many were not going to attend, the decision has been made for us, the 2021 Expo has been canceled and I believe you all know why, unless you have been living in a virus bubble?”

ABATE had been debating having its usual booth at the Expo and had asked members if they planned to attend the Expo. I had replied that I for one did not plan to go, and I listed my concerns in this post about the event. Man, the folks who bought out that event have got to be losing their shirts on this badly timed acquisition.

But we can take heart from the fact that vaccines appear to be on the way. Maybe by next summer my listing of upcoming events will once again be packed with rides and rallies.

In the meantime, we can all still ride alone, which I prefer anyway–most of the time. To set the mood, I pulled up some old biker quotes about riding alone:

• Riding faster than everyone else only guarantees you’ll ride alone.
• The road is only open when you ride alone.
• I can tell better stories when I ride alone, but I have better time when I ride with friends.
• He who rides alone can start today.
• If you cannot find a good companion to ride with, ride alone, like an elephant roaming the jungle. It is better to be alone than to be with those who will hinder your progress.
• Motorcycles are better than men because your motorcycle never wants a night out alone with the other motorcycles.

Biker Quote for Today

I don’t know why they got mad. All I said was that in order to be a biker your motorcycle needs to leave your yard.