Passes & Canyons Blog

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

The weather has been good and I’ve now ridden four days in a row, December 30, December 31, January 1, and January 2. Yay Colorado.

I already mentioned my the rides on the last two days of last year, but then we were on to a new month and as always I intend to ride each of my bikes every month. And at this time of year you can’t count on the weather so if it’s sunny on the first of the month I’m out there.

So I got out on both the Honda and the Suzuki on January 1 but the Kawi is an issue. On December 30 I was finally able to get it in to Rowdy Rocket Garage to get this throttle issue addressed. So now I’m at their mercy in terms of getting the work done and at the mercy of the weather come the time when the work is done. Suppose Mark has it done on January 30 but on January 29 we have two feet of snow? Good-bye January ride on the Kawi.

I thought I had the solution on January 2. When I was out riding the day before I passed by the shop and my bike was still sitting there in the driveway, right by the street. Of course, being New Year’s Day I figured there was no one there working so I couldn’t do anything. But the following day I figured I could go by, pop in and tell Mark I just wanted to take the Kawi for a spin and bring it right back, and ta-da! January ride in the books.

But I went by the next day and now my bike had been moved right up by the door to the shop as if perhaps they are planning to get on it right away. And it’s not the simplest thing maneuvering in that area. So I just rode right on by. Now I’ve got my fingers crossed.

Meanwhile, I saw a good number of other folks out on bikes these last few days. People around here really do get it that if you want to ride at this time of year you have to take your opportunities when they present themselves.

But now the Stock Show is less than a week away, and we all know about Stock Show weather. Brrr.

Biker Quote for Today

Yes dude, I can go faster than you!

I knew Saturday, January 4, was supposed to be an extremely warm day, the kind that is perfect for motorcycle riding. There was just one problem. Our street was still iced in, especially in several spots where big trees shade the road and protect the ice. Would I be able to get out or would I be totally frustrated watching a terrific riding day slip by?

Thursday and Friday had been moderately warm, in the mid 40s. Saturday was projected to hit 58. By sundown on Friday there was still way too much ice on our street.

I checked it out. If there had been just a spot or two where I would have had to coast over, say, 5 feet of ice, I would have been inclined to do it. But those big trees were leaving areas where it was more like 25 feet of ice, and more than just one. Going out I might have been able to roll on over, with no throttle because it is downhill. But coming back would have meant higher speed or throttle to get back over those spots. I was leery.

So in the early part of the day I went about my normal routine. That includes walking to the gym, around the other side of our block. Coming home I saw that that side of the block was still unpassable. I showered and had lunch and then took a walk down our side of the block to check the ice there.

Holy smokes! The way was totally clear! And it wasn’t just a narrow pathway, a huge wide swath had just opened up. Thank you Mr. Sun! I headed home to gear up.

I chose the V-Strom for my first ride of the year. The ride was nothing of any particular note; I just headed south, and south, and south, until I turned east, and then turned north for home again. But it was a beautiful day. I wore my electric vest but had no need to turn it on. I kept my visor cracked the whole time and my face never came close to getting cold.

And there were a lot of other bikes out. Plenty. Heck, who wouldn’t want to go out on a day like this? I even saw a convertible with the top down.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love living in Colorado? This is why.

Biker Quote for Today

Why motorcycles are better than men: If your motorcycle doesn’t look good, you can paint it or get better parts.

I ride my motorcycles all year round, but it’s not that hard because I live in Colorado. We always have a lot of warm days no matter what month it is so I just pick and choose when I’ll ride. But what about if you live some place way north, such as Duluth, Minnesota? My map shows me that Duluth is about 100 miles south of the Canadian border, and right on the shore of Lake Superior. Or perhaps more significantly, about 450 miles north of Denver.

And what if, living in Duluth, you were to ride to work all winter long, not just the occasional warm day? I’m not talking just sub-freezing days, I’m talking sub-zero days. Well, they did it.

They who?

They, in this case, as a bunch of employees of Aerostich, a company well know in motorcycling circles as manufacturers of riding suits, jackets, pants, and other items. And the company is headquartered in Duluth. What a natural marketing pitch, to use their own products and then ride all winter.

But wait, there’s more. All this riding was done on a Zero electric motorcycle. Now, common sense tells us that batteries don’t work so well in really, really cold environments. Will a Zero even run in sub-zero weather?

So anyway, Aerostich and Zero got together and decided to do a test. Test the Aerostich riding gear and the Zero motorcycle against the really cold weather of northern Minnesota. And then they released a book telling about the experience. That book is Zero Below Zero: Electric Motorcycle Everyday Commuting All Winter in Duluth Minnesota. Alan picked this book up somewhere and thought–rightly–that I might be interested in giving it a read. I would definitely recommend it to you–it’s pretty interesting.

First off, they made a bunch of mods on the bike, a Zero FX, such as embedding studs in the tires to give traction on icy streets. Aerostich also created a custom heated jacket for the Zero battery, but then the practice was to park it outside all the time. Sure, keeping it in your garage would be reasonable, but they wanted to push the thing, so park it outside–always.

How did it go? They did it. They rode the thing all winter, through snow and over ice and in weather far colder than any I’ve ever ridden in. And they loved it.

OK, I could make this post twice as long by going into a lot of detail and quoting from the book, but I’ll decline that temptation. If you want to know more, read the book. It only costs $10. And yes, it’s great marketing for both companies but consider, if these companies’ products made this possible and enjoyable, perhaps their products deserve recognition. I know I’m intrigued with this Aerostich “Warmbib” that several of the riders said they loved.

Now, this book is not going to inspire me to ride in all weather because I don’t have studs in my tires, nor do I anticipate putting any in. But it’s good to know that I really could if I wanted to. Pretty cool.

Biker Quote for Today

It’s always Ride O’Clock.