Passes & Canyons Blog

How long before Quincy out east here will be smothered in houses and commercial development? 10 years? 20? I remember when County Line Road looked like this.

We had the winter solstice the other day, which means winter is officially begun. To me that means it’s time to ride. I don’t ever put my bikes away.

We’ve been having such a mild December so far that I’ve been riding quite a bit. In fact, if I can get in just a few more days on the Honda I may actually manage to get its yearly mileage up over 1,000. I’m already well past the number of miles I put on that bike last year. It has been three years since I’ve managed to get 1,000 on that bike and honestly, I’m not expecting to this year, but if the weather stays good and I’m not too busy with other things I just might.

I knocked off 100 miles on Sunday. It was cool but I started off smart this time, with the electric vest turned on and the heated gloves set at level 2 right from the start. It was very cloudy and that makes a huge difference in how warm it feels but I was very comfortable the whole time.

My plan, such as it was, was to pick up where I left off last time, getting down to Hilltop Road and then south on Flintwood Road to reach CO 86 east of Franktown. I worked my way over to Potomac and then took it a long way south to where it currently hits a T intersection at Hess Road. I say “currently” because they are building some new housing development on the south side of Hess and while not open yet, the road continuing south is already there.

I turned east on Hess, crossed Parker Road, and picked up Hilltop, which eventually angled off to the southeast while Flintwood headed straight south. Approaching CO 86 I had no plans. Right (west) to Franktown and then . . . ? Or left (east) toward and Elizabeth and then . . . ?

I turned east. Cruised out to Elizabeth and then turned south on County Road 17/21. As I was riding along I thought about a road out this way that goes east to who knows where that I’ve thought many times about checking out. Maybe today was that day. I’m not really sure where that road is, however, I just know it when I see it. I know it’s down this way somewhere.

Well, the road I was on bends around and comes out to County Road 25 just maybe half a mile north of Elbert. OK, that road I was thinking of is definitely south of Elbert and I was not going to go all that way today. Oh well. Instead of turning south and going through Elbert I turned north and headed up toward Kiowa.

Coming into Kiowa I was interested to see if there were any bikes I recognized parked outside of Patty Ann’s. If there was I would stop and go in and probably have lunch. But there was only one and I didn’t recognize it so I went on past and turned north on the Kiowa-Bennett Road.

A good ways before you get to Bennett, though, you reach Quincy, which is the only paved road back to town from this area. I stopped for a break at the intersection and then headed back toward town. About the time I reached Parker Road there by Cherry Creek State Park I noticed my left hand was feeling a bit chilly. My heated gloves use batteries and one of the original batteries had died some time ago. I had bought a replacement but now the other original seems to be dying. Gonna need another battery soon.

From Parker it was just a straight shot home. Winter will take its shots at me later but for now I laughed in its face.

Biker Quote for Today

“Where will you go?” asked Cinda. Now, there was a question without a good answer. — Jon Robertson

This isn’t a recent picture but it’s a mass of the critters that were bombarding us on this ride.

The tumbleweeds were out in full force Sunday when eight RMMRC riders headed out to Patty Ann’s in Kiowa for a lunch ride. The weather has been great but the forecasts are for cold very soon and high winds immediately. They weren’t kidding.

As we headed east on a variety of roads the wind was blasting out of the south and tumbleweeds were blowing across the road like a mass migration. I felt like I was riding rather skillfully as I managed to get to Kiowa without hitting a single one but when we left a big one nailed me right away. OK, some skill, a bit of luck, too.

The wind was killer. I was on the V-Strom, which is my smallest and lightest bike, and we were getting pushed all around. With all its body work my Concours is like a sail but at least it weighs a lot more and so it is more stable. At times this wind had me leaning so far to my right that it felt like the wind might just blow my wheels out from underneath me. But it didn’t.

What it really reminded me of was heading out from Patty Ann’s the first morning of the Great River Road trip we did this summer. Heading southeast out of Limon that day on US 287 we hit such powerful winds that I rode for about 50 miles with the only thing visible in my left mirror being my chest; that was how far I was leaned over.

It also reminded me of a technique I discovered one day riding out this same road, CO86. On that day the wind was out of the north, not that that matters. What mattered was that I was struggling to keep that bike going where I wanted it to go and at one point, for whatever reason, I left go of the grip with my left hand. Suddenly controlling the bike was a lot easier.

The nearest I can figure is that when I was holding on with two hands my hands were working in opposition to each other. It certainly wasn’t a conscious effort but it was a strain and a struggle; once I let go with one hand, control was easy. I wasn’t fighting against myself. I’ve tried this many times since that day and it works every time.

An interesting aside: having figured this out I thought it was worth sharing so I sent a letter to one of the motorcycle magazines so they could pass it along to their readers. I never heard anything and they never printed my letter so I have to suspect they thought I was talking crazy but I’m not. It really works. Try it for yourself and you’ll see.

We headed out after lunch but original plans to take a roundabout route home got dumped because the wind was just blowing so hard and it was obvious the front over the mountains was coming our way. Everyone decided they just wanted to head home. So we did. But it was good to get out for one more ride before the bad weather arrives.

Biker Quote for Today

I thought of that while riding my motorcycle.

Ain’t it grand that February 7 can be a perfect day to ride!

February 7 and temps in the 60s. Clear and sunny. What a perfect day for a ride. I got a notice of an impromptu ride with some members of the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club (RMMRC) and I went.

While the RMMRC sponsors numerous planned rides during the year, for those who can head out on short notice in the middle of the week there are additional “hey, let’s go for a ride–now!” opportunities. If anything, I’ve figured these are more likely to be to my interest than some of the others. I have the availability and I have the inclination.

So we met up at Performance Cycle, just off Dry Creek Road, at 9:30. It surprised me how busy and unpleasant I-25 still was at that time of the morning. There were eight of us altogether, mounted on three Kawasakis and five beemers (I believe–not completely sure of the fifth).

The initial plan had been to head up toward Palmer Lake but a couple of us had things going on later that conflicted. We both said we’d just peel off when the time came but the guys organizing this ride put their heads together and came up with an alternate run. We headed out to Kiowa.

As I’ve learned, if you go south and east out of Denver you get into some really pretty country down along the Palmer Divide. Kiowa is south and east of Denver. And I had been out to Kiowa last year and found a really nice place to eat, Patty Ann’s. Turns out I’m not the only one who knows this place because Patty Ann’s was our destination.

Being as how this was my first group ride with the RMMRC I was interested to see what it would be like. I know the group puts a strong emphasis on safety but I also know some groups carry it a bit too far, at least by my estimation. That was not the case here; it was just a ride with a bunch of guys who rode intelligently, and safely. Totally comfortable.

I’m new to this group so I’m still getting acquainted and learning names. This late breakfast (early lunch, for me) was a really good time to get further acquainted with some folks and I have to say they seemed like a really nice bunch of guys. We ate and shot the bull and told riding stories. But mostly we talked about the upcoming RMMRC rides this year. Recruitment efforts were directed at the new guy. No problem, guys, I’m definitely going to be joining you on the rides I can.

The food was eaten but the talking was not done when I needed to leave to get home to meet with a contractor who was coming over to spec out some remodeling work we want done. I said my good-byes and headed out. And it was still a perfect day to ride.

You can sign me up for that kind of thing any time. In fact, there is another impromptu ride already planned for tomorrow. Supposed to be a high in the 70s. Hot diggety!

Biker Quote for Today

No one hates winter like someone who has a motorcycle sitting in the garage.

I strongly recommend Patty Ann's Cafe in Kiowa.

We’ve had such great weather that I suspect even people who normally put their bikes away for the winter have been out riding. I suspect riding is even possible in the mountains, whereas I normally don’t ever go up there at this time of year. Maybe I’ll give it a shot soon but so far I’ve stuck to the flatlands.

That means going out on the prairie if you’re going to go more than just around the neighborhood, so I headed out east on Jewell, which has become my go-to route out of town. It turns to gravel just east of Gun Club Road but it’s good, hard-packed gravel, and besides, I was on the Honda, which does OK on gravel.

I reached the T intersection at Watkins Road and turned south to Quincy, another T intersection. I had been at that point numerous times, going both directions, but had never gone further east on Quincy. It was time.

I didn’t know what to expect–I was just exploring. But I figured if I found a place to turn south I could work my way to Kiowa or Elizabeth. I just didn’t know how far I’d have to go before I would find that road south.

I came to Tom Bay Road (ever heard of that?) and it looked possible but after I made the turn I saw it went to dirt right away and the dirt didn’t look all that great. So I continued east on Quincy. Next came Brick-Center Road and I didn’t even try that one. Someday I suspect these will be as familiar–and paved–as Gun Club Road, Tower Road, and all those. But not yet.

Then I hit Kiowa-Bennett Road and I knew that was my baby. South I went. Not too much out here but a few clusters of mini-mansions and a lot of farming and grazing land. But pretty, in a prairie kind of way.

I got to Kiowa and was glad I was going the direction I was on this route. If I had come out on CO 86 looking to turn north I might have missed it. There’s no big intersection or anything; it just looks like any other street in this small town. But it does seem to be a somewhat common route for motorcycles. I passed a fair number going the other direction. I’m guessing they gather at the Stagecoach in Franktown and head east, then north, before turning back west to town. The opposite of what I was doing.

At this point I was ready for lunch and Kiowa had a selection of places to eat. Patty Ann’s Cafe had a sign saying “Bikers Welcome” so I went in there. What a good choice! It appears that all their food is prepared from scratch and it has real flavor. I just got a bowl of soup but it was no little bowl. It had to have been at least twice as much as most restaurants serve as a bowl. Plus, it came with fresh-baked biscuits. Yum!

From there it was back west through Elizabeth to Franktown. Then north on CO 83 through Parker and back to Denver. What a great day to be out on the bike.

Biker Quote for Today

She said “the bike or me.” Decision made.