Passes & Canyons Blog

Nick up by Estes Park on his last visit here.

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

That’s a line from John Lennon and it’s always been one of my favorites because it’s just so true.

I’ve been a perfect example of that myself this summer. I had all kinds of riding plans that have had to be canceled due to my crash.

But it is by no means just me. I mentioned last week that I planned to do a post on SolidRide, a new motorcycle rental and tours outfit here in Colorado. But I intended to do the post after having met with Eric, the main guy at SolidRide, and having gone for a ride with him. I went ahead and put the post up without doing those things because of my neurologist’s orders not to drive for 12 weeks.

So after I put the post up I emailed Eric to let him know it was up, and I told him why I had skipped ahead on my intention. Well, Eric replied that he, too, was out of commission. He has suffered a herniated disc. Ouch. That has got to put a crimp in your riding. So much for many of Eric’s plans, too, I presume.

And then there’s Nick. I had mentioned that Nick was coming out and we had intended to do a ride that would include the Million Dollar Highway. My crash disrupted that plan but Nick decided to come out anyway and do the ride on his own. Nope.

Nick was supposed to be heading out last week, to arrive here on Saturday. But on Thursday I got a text from him saying that his lady friend had a medical issue and would need an MRI and probably surgery on her neck. He expected this to delay his departure to perhaps Tuesday. Later he confirmed his intention to leave Chicago on Tuesday.

Then on Monday he texted to say she had received the results of her MRI and it was not good. So another delay of unknown length. That was followed by another text saying “This is far more serious than I ever imagined.” Trip canceled.

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

True words, John.

Biker Quote for Today

Motorcycling is this therapeutic, beautiful mode of transportation where you attach yourself to this machine and it becomes part of you.

Dennis and me at the Blue Mesa Reservoir.

After a day off the bikes we were ready to ride again. Today’s destination: Durango.

Another early start had us riding in the cool of the morning along Blue Mountain Reservoir and on to Montrose. By Montrose it was hot and time to peel off some clothes. Heading south we passed through Colona and thought about stopping and calling John, who lives up in the hills nearby, but didn’t figure we should. John is one of the OFMC founders but he has health issues and is no longer riding. Those same health issues have him and Cheryl happily isolating way out here away from the virus. We didn’t think he would even want to come down and meet us in Colona so we didn’t even suggest it.

As we approached Ouray the sky ahead was ugly up ahead but we figured we’d keep going until we needed to suit up. We headed up Red Mountain Pass and it wasn’t looking bad but finally Dennis decided to pull over. We geared up and before we were ready to roll again the rain was falling. Good timing Dennis. But it never rained hard and we could have done without the gear.

It didn’t amount to much, however, and was totally stopped by the time we reached Silverton. Silverton, in case you are unaware, is a mandatory ice cream stop. And we’re nothing if not law-abiding bikers. Silverton was crowded but most people were wearing masks even out on the street. Clearly we were not the only ones who were determined not to let a microorganism spoil their vacation.

The sky was looking ugly again as we got ready to leave so we put the rain gear back on but once again it could have been left off.

The cruise on down to Durango was uneventful, other than Bill’s failure to notice as Dennis tried repeatedly to get him to pull off so we could shuck our now hot extra layers. Finally he and I just pulled off and figured Bill would notice we weren’t behind him. Rolling again we soon came on Bill, who had taken the opportunity to shed his own gear.

“Was there a problem,” he asked me.

“Dennis wanted to stop and take stuff off but you didn’t notice his signals to you.”

“He should have pulled around me and pulled off.”

“Tell that to him.”

We really do have some signals agreed upon but they don’t work if the person in the lead is not paying attention.

By the time we got to our motel, however, Bill was glad to have gotten that stuff off beforehand. It was hot! What changeable weather we have in Colorado.

Biker Quote for Today

Top 10 signs that a computer is owned by a Harley rider: 06. — Password is “WillieG”

Cruising into Ouray.

We took off from Silver City this morning in the cool and made good time. We went through some nice farming and ranching land and then got into the Apache National Forest and went up and down and winding around through some beautiful country. And it stayed cool. Early in the day we stopped at a tiny little place and found they had ice cream so 10 a.m. was ice cream hour on this day.

Then we continued north and ran into more chip seal. This road was not all twisty like the one the day before but the chip seal went much longer. It’s about 38 miles from Apache Creek to Quemado and we hit the chip seal after about 5 miles. This was where the work was going on where the overlay was the freshest. It got progressively better–more embedded with less loose stuff–as we went along and toward Quemado it had even been swept, although none of it had been striped yet. I explained that while planning the route I had consulted Chipseal.gov to find where all the work was planned so I could route us through as much as possible (wink). Dennis noted that I had done a fine job in that regard.

By lunch, though, it was hot and the land was still nice but not as nice. These New Mexico highways have 55 mph speed limits and, in the lead, I generally ran at about 65. But later in the day, on a highway with zero traffic, I kicked it up to 75-80 just to burn through these very straight miles. We reached Gallup and found our hotel and kicked back with some beers.

Friggs was feeling amazingly good this morning, considering his crash yesterday. He had expected at least a sore shoulder but didn’t even have that. It’s pretty amazing. The one really telling image though is his helmet. This top quality, expensive helmet is absolute trash, though he will wear it home. All you need to do is look at the side of the helmet and then think about the side of his face and there is nothing at all to be said. No words can ever say as much as that image.

Leaving Gallup the next day we had a long, straight, relatively uninteresting ride north to Shiprock. Yes there are some big rocks around here sticking up hundreds of feet from flat ground but the area is mostly flat and very brown and barren. Then east to Aztec and north to Durango. It gets prettier as soon as you get into Colorado and I was surprised to find that it is only 33 miles from Aztec to Durango.

North out of Durango it gets dramatically beautiful quickly. Up to Silverton over Molas Pass and then to Ouray over Red Mountain Pass. The Million Dollar Highway. There was construction in places on U.S. 550, so at times it was pretty slow going. Of course, if you were behind Friggs—which I was—it was all slow going. After his crash the other day, Friggs is spooked and not at all confident on the mountain curves.

Then there were the idiots. We got behind a tanker truck over Red Mountain Pass and traffic piled up behind us. We’re not crazy, nor did we have any reason to rush, so no problem. But several idiots sped past us and then proceeded to pass the truck on blind curves with double yellow lines. If someone had been coming the other way there would have been slaughter. It was only luck that kept everyone alive. What is wrong with people?

Reaching Ouray, our day’s destination, we found our motel and awaited the arrival of OFMC co-founder John, who was missing his first ride in our 30-year history. Health issues have forced John to give up riding but he lives just a few miles north of Ouray so he came to join us for the night. The first thing Friggs did when John arrived was to tell him about his crash and how he has decided to give up riding after we get home. This was the first time Friggs had stated such an intention, though I had wondered if he was having thoughts of that sort.

In discussion, however, John mentioned that he had thought about continuing to come along, in his truck, but didn’t think driving alone was all that appealing. But if Friggs would like to ride with him then by golly, the two of them could be right back with the group again next year. Friggs jumped at that suggestion so that may well be the way we go next year.

Biker Quote for Today

Motorcycles: more spacious than a car.