Passes & Canyons Blog

Stopped briefly at Tiny Town. It was such a warm day I shed a layer here.

With temps in the 70s there was no question of riding or not, it was just: Where to?

There comes a time each year when you can simply no longer go into the hills but at the moment Denver is a few days away from setting a new record for the latest first snow of the season. I figured I’d take advantage of it.

That only narrowed the question somewhat. But I guess I’m a bit stubborn. When I took off on my fateful ride on June 29 it was my intention to go over the route I intended to lead the RMMRC on soon after. On my first ride after the crash, but before surgery, I rode to the place on that planned route where the crash occurred. Now, on only my third ride since the crash I wanted to do what I set out to do that day. Who knows, if the weather holds I might yet lead that ride in the next week or two.

The day was warm, skies were blue, and I headed out. Great day to be on the bike. I went down to Belleview and turned west. When I came to Santa Fe, where the crash had occurred, I could have gone south on Santa Fe as I intended that day, but the thought of getting into that left turn lane and just sitting there again somehow did not appeal to me so I continued west on Belleview. At Lowell I turned south.

At Mineral I turned west again to Wadsworth and then south. Stopped at a red light at Ken Caryl Avenue I saw on the other side, headed north of Wadsworth, a guy on a Honda about as old as my bike. No jacket, no gloves, no helmet. OK, I hope you got home safely and do so again and again.

South of C-470 I made the right turn to go up Deer Creek Canyon. Lots of guys on bikes but many, many people on bicycles. That kind of day. I’m not a go-fast kind of guy so I took my time winding up the canyon on Deer Creek Canyon Road and then made the left onto South Deer Creek Road. This road winds around and climbs, ultimately coming out to US 285 at Conifer, changing names a couple times along the way.

After a short while I spotted three guys on Harleys behind me. I figured I was slowing them down but I had no inclination to speed up because, for one thing, this stretch was newly repaved and there was a good bit of loose gravel on the road, especially on the curves. They’re just going to have to be patient. They were, but the first open stretch we got to they blasted past. And in just another couple minutes two guys on Beemers came blasting past me too. Have fun; I’m just not in a hurry.

I wasn’t headed to Conifer; I turned north at Oehlmann Park Road. This road goes up and over a hill with a lot of homes, with terrific views in some places. Steep road going up and going down on the other side. Great riding. I’d hate to live there in the winter.

It comes out on the other side at South Turkey Creek Road, which runs parallel to US 285 between Tiny Town and just east of Conifer. I turned toward Tiny Town. A bit before Tiny Town there is a place where you can go left onto North Turkey Creek Road. That’s my route for this planned ride but for this day I decided I’d had enough and continued on to Tiny Town, got on US 285, and headed home. It’s supposed to cool off Monday but then be warm again all week. I figure I’ll just come back and do the second half in a few days.

You’ve got to love this weather. And considering that I missed the whole summer you can believe I am.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if you try to act like a biker.

Making a stop to check the map while mistakenly headed up Parmalee Gulch.

After my previous ride up Deer Creek Canyon, where I noticed for the first time the road labeled Oehlmann Park Road, I was interested in seeing that road. I had a hunch it went up onto a hill where there are a lot of homes and some confusing streets. If I was right this was where Bob had taken us one day on an RMMRC ride where it seemed he got lost and we ended up going back down and out the way we came in. I wanted to find out.

Assuming I was correct about that, I knew it could get confusing coming from the Turkey Creek Road side. A look at the map shows a bowl of spaghetti where one wrong turn could get you way off track. But coming from the other side, the Pleasant Park Road side, the confusion looked less likely. That was my route.

So again I went west across town, to the road up Deer Creek Canyon, again turning south on Deer Creek Road, to Oehlmann Park Road. The fun begins.

I have to tell you, I really don’t understand people who live up in areas like this. It’s beautiful for sure, but with the steep hills and 180-degree switchbacks I encountered, driving this road would be horrible at best when icy in the winter. In the meantime, in the summer on a motorcycle, they were terrific.

And yes, I was correct about this being where we had been before. I recognized a couple spots and saw where we had gone astray last time. Now, looking at the map shows that even if you do get off on a wrong street, if you keep going you’ll usually end up back on the main road–but you’ll be on gravel until you do.

So anyway, there is one road up there named City View Drive and oh my gosh, what a terrific view toward the city! It really would be a nice place to live as long as you just don’t go home all winter.

Coming down the other side I found myself running along with a guy on a bicycle. I passed him when it was safe but then all the way down he just kept right up with me. Then we both turned north on Turkey Creek Road and still he kept up with me for quite awhile till I eventually left him behind.

In the meantime, looking at the map before I set off that morning I happened to notice another road I’d never paid attention to before. I was going to be taking County Road 64 up from where it ran off from US 285, going up to CR 73, which goes into Evergreen. This road, High Drive, looked to be a shorter route going to Evergreen. And most importantly, I’d never been on it. Time to address that deficiency.

But first I had to get screwed up. There are three places to access US 285 from Turkey Creek Road: on the west where it comes out just east of Conifer, in the middle by the Twin Peaks Tavern, and at the north end just beyond Tiny Town. I was thinking I needed the road going across 285 north of Tiny Town so that’s where I headed. But then I found myself going up through Indian Hills to the Parmalee Gulch area and that was just wrong. Time to stop and look it up on Google Maps on my phone.

Sure enough, I needed North Turkey Creek Road, the one going past the tavern. No problem. By then I wasn’t sure I remembered the name of the road, but I was thinking High. And then, too late to make the turn, I saw the sign for High Drive. Now I had to turn around–not easy on a narrow, winding canyon road with no shoulder.

I finally found a place to do it safely and turned back. This time I made the turn onto High Drive. Another first time road!

As with Oehlmann Park Road, right away I found myself on steep hills and switchbacks. Cool. I just followed the road all around, seeing all kinds of both fancy, expensive homes and cheap little bungalows that now must be worth a million dollars. And I was wondering where this came out in Evergreen.

When I did get to Evergreen I still wasn’t sure where I was, until I found myself at the main intersection in the old part of town and realized I had come out onto CR73 just half a mile south of there. The road I had come out on by now was no longer High Drive, but Little Cub Creek Road. Cool. Now I know.

So was I just going to head on home down Bear Creek Canyon? You know, roads look different going the opposite direction. I turned around and went right back the way I came. Then it was just US 285 all the way home.

I love exploring. And it didn’t hurt that it was an absolutely perfect fall day.

Biker Quote for Today

“I Can Speak To My Soul Only When The Two Of Us Are Off Exploring Deserts Or Cities Or Mountains Or Roads!” -– Paulo Coelho