Passes & Canyons Blog

Ice racing is a family sport–and a lot of fun.

When I’m updating my Rides and Rallies page I often check in on various clubs to see what events they have planned.

One such club is Harry’s Roamers. While it is not the only thing they do, Harry’s Roamers is well known for putting on ice racing up at Rainbow Falls, down toward Woodland Park. Judy and I have been to the ice races a couple times and it’s a lot of fun.

But this year I was not finding anything about ice racing being scheduled. That was odd. Normally this would be about when the racing season was winding up. What I did find was an exchange on one site between someone asking if there was ice racing this year and a reply. What caught my eye was that one of the people exchanging notes was Joel Brown. Joel is my mechanic. Hah! I’ll just call Joel and ask him what the deal is.

So I did and Joel told me a whole lot. First off, I didn’t know it but Joel is the president of the club. OK, I guess I’ve really come to the right source. Another thing Joel told me was that Harry’s Roamers is the oldest chartered motorcycle club in Colorado, having been chartered by the American Motorcyclist Association in 1929 in operation continuously ever since. Joel said they’re really intent on making sure they hit the 100-year mark, whether ice racing is in the mix or not.

Oh yeah, ice racing. So what’s the deal?

Well, it seems the owner of the Rainbow Falls property decided he wasn’t being paid enough for hosting this series of events and so he asked for more this season. A lot more. Joel said they had been paying close to $2,000 per week between lease and percentage of the gate but this year he wanted $3,000 and 10 percent of the gate. And just as killing the goose that lays the golden eggs does not work to your advantage, this increase has been met with zero income. It just doesn’t work to operate at a loss, Joel noted, also pointing out that everyone doing all the work this thing requires are volunteers.

So they’re looking for another venue but so far have not found anything. They need either a lake or some large enough area that could be prepped and then flooded. But that latter would require a lot of water and where do you get that and for what price? As for lakes, anything that is part of the Denver water system is off limits.

There is a lake down at Lake George and that town seems interested in having the races move there but nothing much has happened so far on that possibility. At Georgetown Lake they already host four-wheeled ice racing but that means those folks already have dibs on the better part of the season and it is hard to know way back in October what condition the ice will be in come March. And you can’t just decide to hold races next week, you have to arrange for things like insurance, having an ambulance on the premises, providing porta-potties, and all that other stuff that you and I, just showing up for a day of fun, assume will be there.

Meanwhile, Harry’s Roamers is continuing to hold its meetings and plan a bunch of rides, and if someone has a lake they’d like to rent out for a few weekends in the middle of winter–something up in the hills where you can count of cold and the ice being solid–Joel or anybody in the club would love to hear from you.

Biker Quote for Today

“Riding a race bike is an art – a thing that you do because you feel something inside.” – Valentino Rossi

You really can’t believe the way these racers scream around the frozen track until you see them do it. We saw them today and it was great!

My wife, Judy, and I went to the Harry’s Roamers Motorcycle Club ice races at Rainbow Falls Park, which is off CO 67 between Deckers and Woodland Park. A frozen lake provides the track. It was pretty dang cold but the racing was hot! Well, at least some of it.

You have to figure, with classes ranging from pros to toddlers, not all the racing was hot. But if, like Judy, you swoon over cute kids you would have loved these tiny tots on their tiny bikes. In some cases you could probably run and keep up with the leader, providing you didn’t slip and fall on your butt on the ice.

The top racers, on the other hand, were amazing. They have sheet metal screws drilled into their tires to provide traction and it must really do the job. I haven’t even seen lean angles like that at dirt tracks.

There was a real variety, too. Besides the two-wheelers, there was also three- and four-wheel ATV racing, and also the third-wheel guys. These third wheels were basically motorcycles with a large third wheel set up like an outrigger. And then there were also the guys on two wheels who don’t use studs in their tires. Don’t ask me how they stay up.

The whole thing was a lot of fun, it took much longer to get there from Denver than we expected, and it was biting cold, at least early on. If you go be sure to get an early start and dress very warmly.

The club will be holding four more race days this season, on Jan. 11, Jan. 18, Jan. 25, and Feb. 8. There’s an $8 gate fee, with kids under 12 free. You can buy food and drinks but be prepared to pay very high prices. Better to take something along.

This was a lot of fun. I strongly recommend it. Enjoy.

Biker Quote for Today

Go fast and aim for where the trees aren’t.