Passes & Canyons Blog

The OFMC, back in 2005, when there were more of us.

I’m going to do something here I’ve never done before. I’m putting out for the public the link to the OFMC website. For 15 years or for however long I’ve been doing these stories of our rides I have kept this site private, for members only. But I figure now, what the heck.

It’s fairly crude and pretty basic. I created this site at the same time I built the overall Motorcycle Colorado website, but the Motorcycle Colorado site has had a total make-over and the OFMC site has not.

Of course, we started these trips long before I ever imagined the concept of a website. What the heck is an internet? So first thing I had to do was recreate all the earlier trips. And for some trips, despite my best efforts, I have been totally unable to come up with any photographs. So I did the best I could.

The way it’s set up should be pretty self-explanatory. The home page introduces the guys and below is a list of all the trips with links to their pages. The list of the guys is way out of date, too. At this point only Bill and Dennis and I continue doing these trips. Everyone else except Ray has stopped riding, and Ray was never a core member, he just came along a couple times for parts of the rides.

I probably ought to prepare you for the photos from the first trip. We were new at this and had a lot to learn about packing and gear and generally preparing for a ride. So when Bill and John and I stopped for the night at Rifle Gap State Park, and saw there was a stream to go swimming in, we did not have swimsuits. So you’ve got pictures of overweight, middle-aged men in their underwear. I’m sure John would be especially embarrassed to see that I’m making this public. Too bad, John.

Of course, back then I was shooting with a film camera, so all these old images had to be scanned in. You can tell if you go chronologically just when I got my first digital camera.

So it’s been fun. We’ve taken this annual trip 32 times now. And at least a few of us aren’t done yet.

Biker Quote for Today

100 reasons not to date a biker: 12. We invite our biker friends over

That arced part at the bottom that reads "NO CLUB" is the rocker.

Let’s see if you understand what I’m referring to here.

You have a group of people who tell everyone else that regardless of whether or not they believe the same as they do, the others must follow the laws of this group’s beliefs or else they’ll do them bodily injury, perhaps even kill them.

Does that make you think of Muslim extremists and Shariah law? I’m betting that if you’re like most non-Muslim Americans the answer is yes. Maybe even if you are a Muslim American. I’m not saying that is an accurate description of what ISIS and Al-Qaeda are all about but I think that’s a fair statement of how most of us see it.

So what if I told you what I’m really here to talk about is a motorcycle “club”?

On the OFMC trip this past summer Ray was complaining that the Sons of Silence had made his VFW group of riders take the “Colorado” rockers off their patches. “Made” them do it. How can they make you do that, I asked him. Why don’t you just tell them to go take a flying leap? Ray never really answered that question but I think we all know the answer.

Now I was just at my ABATE of Colorado District 10 meeting on Sunday and it turns out the Sons had approached ABATE saying that ABATE cannot use the word “Colorado” on any patches it produces. Never mind it’s part of the group’s name. It seems in their minds that they own Colorado and no one else can lay claim to it.

Telling us about his meeting with two “club” representatives, ABATE of Colorado State Coordinator Bruce Downs said, and I paraphrase: Whether you agree with them or not, it’s their belief system. You put a territory name on a rocker and you’re saying you own that territory. There have been people who have died over this. That’s not what we’re about. I’m not going there. We came to a mutual understanding.

Did somebody say Shariah law? Oh, yeah, I did. Now, no one said anything about physical retaliation but Bruce’s remark about people having died over this issue makes it clear that such things can and have happened and that fact is always in the back of your mind. It leads to self-censorship. It leads to groups like ABATE and Ray’s VFW group giving in no matter how vehemently they despise doing so. And I agree totally with Bruce. This is not what we’re about. There are more important issues ABATE needs to address. It’s not worth anyone getting hurt.

Now here’s a funny thing. Bruce said this applies only to patches, and only to three-part patches, with a top rocker, middle, and bottom rocker. If you’re silk-screening onto a T-shirt it’s OK for ABATE of Colorado to call itself ABATE of Colorado.

I thought Judy summed it up well. When I told her about all this she remarked that it’s like a bunch of dogs going around marking their territory. Some people need to grow up. And I guess if the University of Colorado decides to produce patches they had better just call themselves the University. Because the Sons own Colorado.

Biker Quote for Today

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but dirt bikes break them better.