Passes & Canyons Blog

I mentioned that we are looking at our latest first snow of the season ever–sooner or later–and here is an indication of what it’s like. I went riding Tuesday, November 4, starting out with a clean visor. By the time I got home I needed to clean the visor because it was all smeared with bug guts. That’s right. I hit not one but a whole bunch of bugs . . . in November. And the biggest and fattest one was less than a mile from the highest point I got to on this ride. Crazy.

Tuesday was supposed to be quite warm but cloudy, while Wednesday was to be a bit cooler but sunny and clear. I figured Wednesday might be the better day to ride but when my Tuesday appointment got canceled I figured I might as well ride both days. So I set out and got about half a block when I realized I had intended to clean my visor. Oh well, I’ll do that some time when I stop. But then I realized I also had intended to check my air pressure. Fine, I was just half a block from home, I turned around.

I definitely needed air, as I was sure I would, and it was nice to have a clean visor. Because I was heading straight on into the mountains, I blasted west on Hampden/US 285, and went up past the Tiny Town exit to the North Turkey Creek Road turn-off. The idea was to complete the ride I started the day before, the route I plan to lead an RMMRC ride on.

Only a short way up Turkey Creek I came to High Drive and made the right. With some very tight turns on the way up (10 mph recommended), this road goes up into an area of woods, lined with houses, many quite large. The road goes up and over and then comes down just outside of Evergreen, where it meets CR 73 coming up from Conifer. It was great. From the moment I got off US 285 till the time I came down into Evergreen I never had a single other vehicle in front or in back of me. And just a few going the other direction. Nice, leisurely riding.

So that completed my planned route, except that I’m figuring to take the group down from Evergreen to a restaurant in Kittredge for lunch. But I didn’t want to go that way this day so I hooked a left and took Evergreen Parkway over to Bergen Park and then went left on CR 45, which brings you out to I-70 up near the top of Floyd Hill. I didn’t want to get on the interstate so I stayed on old US 40, which is essentially a frontage road for the interstate along this stretch, and then down the steep back side of Floyd Hill into Clear Creek Canyon and US 6.

At the junction I went right, to go down Clear Creek to meet up with the Peak to Peak Highway. It had been quite warm all this while, with no sign of the clouds that had been predicted, but down in the bottom of this steep canyon it quickly got very cold. Time to flip on the electric vest.

At the Peak to Peak I went left, toward Black Hawk. Considered stopping for lunch but didn’t. Oh, and so, all this way I had periodically been wiping smeared bugs off my visor. Weird.

I cruised up through Black Hawk and kept going, on up to the turn-off from the Peak to Peak down Golden Gate Canyon. And it was along here I hit the big guy. Now I really needed to clean my visor. The ride down Golden Gate Canyon was pretty much as it always is. Some traffic but not a lot, and several nice stretches with lots of small curves that you can easily straighten out with a bike. That’s always fun.

Then I hit Golden, turned south on CO 93 down to 285 and then east to home. I’m loving this. After being off the bike for so long this is just sweet.

Biker Quote for Today

100 reasons not to date a biker: 74. Doubling the speed limit ain’t no thing.

To say that there were a lot of motorcycles out on Saturday would be a gross understatement. With temperatures in the 80s Denver set a new record high for the date. Meanwhile, not just motorcyclists but hikers, bicyclists, ATVers and everyone else was out in full force. This included the RMMRC.

Six of us gathered at the Phillips 66 in Morrison, along with about 30-40 other bikers in numerous groups. In an inauspicious start to the ride, Charley, who has recently had surgery and has trouble getting his leg over the saddle, ended up pushing the bike over and falling with it. With all these bikers around a swarm immediately gathered and got him and bike back up. He was unhurt and fortunately this was not a portent of ills to follow on the ride.

We headed north on CO 93 out of Golden, across Rocky Flats, to the south end of Boulder. Boulder is this huge blot on a rider’s route. There’s no good way to get through it and getting around it is limited by the fact of mountains on the west side. Fortunately what you can do at the El Dorado Springs intersection is go east a short distance and then turn north on Cherryvale Road. This takes you a good ways north up past Baseline Reservoir to where you go east on Baseline Road and then you follow a zig-zag pattern up through the less heavily developed portions of east Boulder.

That’s what we did, got into Niwot intending to go west on Niwot Road, but got to the Longmont Diagonal and found the road closed for construction. This put us on the Diagonal headed toward Longmont. With some more bobbing and weaving we finally reached CO 66 and were able to turn west to Lyons, our lunch stop. At Smokin’ Dave’s we found two more folks waiting for us. We got seated and ordered and in walked Bruce. The group keeps growing.

After lunch we headed up to the Peak-to-Peak Highway via CO 7, the South Saint Vrain road. This road had been closed for a really long time, including the last time we had been up this way but it is now finally open to traffic again. Nice.

So we took that southwest to meet up with CO 72, the first stretch at the north end of the Peak-to-Peak. It was starting to cook in the city but up on the Peak-to-Peak it was actually a bit chilly. I had started with a couple layer I didn’t need, had removed them, and now would have welcomed at least one of those back. But it wasn’t bad.

Motorcycles were everywhere. Every trailhead we passed had cars overflowing the parking areas. Bicyclists were everywhere. This was a day to be outside!

We headed south, with intentions of going back down via Golden Gate Canyon. However, at Nederland, with Bob leading, he missed the correct turn off the Nederland roundabout and we found ourselves headed down Boulder Canyon, right into the heart of Boulder. I had considered making the right turn and splitting off from the group but I didn’t. I figured what the heck, I ride Golden Gate a lot and almost never take Boulder Canyon. It will be a change of pace.

Of course Boulder was its usual horrible mess. Some of us managed to stay together and head south on 93 but bit by bit we got separated so by the time I got back to Morrison I was alone and just headed on home. And I was roasting. Really glad I had not put another layer back on, and wishing I could remove another layer, but not wanting to stop.

So. Good ride. Great day for a ride. And as for scuffing up my new front tire on my V-Strom, mission accomplished. What more can you ask for?

Biker Quote for Today

“Cyclists see considerably more of this beautiful world than any other class of citizens.” – Dr. K.K. Doty

Over the years I have received numerous requests from folks coming to Colorado to ride, asking me for recommendations on a route. I’m always happy to oblige and each one is different, with different parameters of what they want, how long they have . . . that kind of stuff.

The most recent is from Kevin in Indiana. He said he and a buddy have ridden many of the unpaved passes throughout the state by now they want to come on street bikes with their wives and do the pavement. Rather than the hub and spoke riding they have done out of Frisco and Crested Butte, Kevin asked for “an epic continuous trip” for his buddy’s 60th birthday.

Here’s what I sent him.

OK Kevin, I have something mapped out. A couple days are a bit over 250 but under 300. Obviously you can make any changes you see fit.

Figuring on you starting in Denver you can go north to Loveland, up the Big Thompson Canyon to Estes Park, over Trail Ridge Road to Granby and then take US 40 on to Kremmling for the night. This is shorter than 250 but with Trail Ridge Road you’ll definitely want to be making stops. You will need to make a reservation to get into Rocky Mountain National Park. The less busy entrance is the Fall River Road entrance. Park entrance differs if you want to see the park or just go through. I believe they allow people passing through in without reservations both early and late. You’ll see plenty of the park just going through. If you don’t make a reservation you might want to spend the night in Estes so you’ll be right there to go through early. That’s what my wife and I did last year.

(As an alternative to Loveland and the Big Thompson you could go up any number of passes to the Peak-to-Peak Highway and take it north to Estes.)

From Kremmling take US 40 west a bit further and turn onto CO 134 over Gore Pass. At Toponas go south to Wolcott and I-70, then east to the Minturn exit and take Tennessee Pass to Leadville, then a bit further south to Twin Lakes and go over Independence Pass through Aspen and down to Carbondale. From Carbondale take CO 133 over McClure Pass down to Hotchkiss for the night.

From Hotchkiss go west on CO 133 to CO 65 through Cedaredge and over the Grand Mesa. When the road forks north of Mesa stay on 65 (left fork) on to I-70. Take I-70 to Fruita then take the road south through Colorado National Monument, on Rim Rock Drive. Exiting the south end of the monument find your way to US 50 south and go maybe 8 miles to Whitewater. Take CO 141 west toward Gateway, then south to Telluride. This is the Unaweep Tabeguache Scenic Byway. Spend the night in Telluride.

From Telluride go over Lizard Head Pass down to Cortez, US 160 east to Durango, then US 550 north over Red Mountain Pass (the Million Dollar Highway) to Montrose, then east on US 50 to Gunnison. Overnight in Gunnison.

From Gunnison, run back a few miles to the Blue Mesa Reservoir and turn south on CO 149 through Lake City over Slumgullion Pass, through Creede and down to South Fork. Take US 160 west over Wolf Creek Pass to Pagosa Springs, then turn south on US 84 down into New Mexico to Chama. Go northeast from Chama over Cumbres and La Manga Passes on CO 17 up to Antonito, then US 285 north to Alamosa. Spend the night in Alamosa.

From Alamosa you have several options to get back to Denver. You can just take CO 17 north to pick up US 285 and follow that all the way to Denver. Or you can take US 160 east over La Veta Pass to Walsenburg, then go right back west and north out of Walsenburg on CO 69 to Westcliffe, then east on CO 96 on to Pueblo or up to Florence, to Penrose, and on to Colorado Springs.Or make your way to Canon City and then, because you guys are comfortable on gravel, take Phantom Canyon Road (CR 67) up to Cripple Creek, CR 61 up to Divide, pick up US 24, and take that to Woodland Park. At Woodland Park you can either continue on US 24 to Colorado Springs or go north on CO 67 through Deckers to Pine to US 285 southwest of Conifer. Then take 285 on into Denver.

This would be a heck of a good ride. Pick and choose what you like.

Besides being a nice guy and mapping this out for Kevin and his crew, I’ve done myself a favor here. First off, I got this blog post out of it. At this time of year it is harder than during the summer to keep coming up with blog ideas. But I may make it a triple. I figure this might well be a good basis for planning the 2025 OFMC trip. The 2024 trip is already planned but I might incorporate a lot of this for 2025. Also, I’ve been thinking for a long time about putting a ride together for the RMMRC. This might also go a long way toward that plan. We’ll just have to see what develops.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if your only scoot has been a Knucklehead & you don’t even know what that is.

While off on this year’s OFMC trip I got a text pretty much out of the blue from Nick, someone I’ve known since I was 16 but who I had only seen twice in the past 50 years. He is, however, a closer friend of my brother, who lives in Grand Junction, and Nick was considering coming out to see Rick. Rick, however, does not ride motorcycles and I do, so Nick thought it would be nice to bring his bike out (from Chicago) and go riding with me. Nick rides a BMW R1250 RS.

So he did. The plan was for him to come first to Denver, from where we would do a few day rides, then go to Junction to hang with Rick for a few days. Then he would come back here and he and I would do a three-day ride.

Nick got in on Sunday and we headed out on Monday. I didn’t want to do anything really long but I didn’t want to short-change him either so I figured it would be a good day’s ride to go up to the Peak-to-Peak and ride to Estes Park, then home down one of the canyons and back south on CO 93.

We headed out of town on Hampden/US 285 and up to Golden and then turned up Clear Creek Canyon. It was a beautiful day up on the Peak-to-Peak and we had a nice cruise. Stopping for lunch in Nederland Nick informed me for the first time that he was really feeling the dryness and that he would like to stop frequently to drink some water. I suggested he drink Gatorade rather than water. This would be a constant issue the whole time we spent riding together.

We got to Estes Park and turned down the road running down the North St. Vrain (US 36), stopping for about the third time this day for road construction. There was a lot of road construction going on. Down in Lyons we pulled over in the town park for a break. By now Nick was telling me he was getting pretty worn out. OK. I had had the impression he was used to going a lot of miles in a day; maybe not. And again, he was dying for water. Why wasn’t I drinking lots of water, was I just used to this climate? That would be a “Yep.”

And then of course we ran into more road construction on US 36 heading south from Lyons to Boulder. At this stop we were right by another guy on a bike and this guy was something to see. Wearing a shirt all open all the way down both sides, he was sun-burned in a major way. You can see the strip down his side in the photo. I wouldn’t have wanted to be him later when that started really hurting!

We went straight through Boulder on Broadway and that was an experience. The north end of Boulder has gone through incredible changes since the last time I was there. It used to be all light industrial and now it’s all condos and apartments. Huge change.

On south on 93 across Rocky Flats and back to Golden. Then back east on Hampden and oh man, it was a blazing hot day and we were going slow in late afternoon traffic and we just roasted–a recurring theme over the next few days. Back at our house Nick said he was just wiped out. OK, I really think you need to be drinking Gatorade. And we’ll see how tomorrow’s ride goes.

Biker Quote for Today

Put the love between your legs and enjoy the ride.

Where is that rain when you need it? Last week I was complaining about the rain going on and on and now I was getting really tired of all the smoke filling the air from those forest fires in Canada. At least if we had the rain it would wash that smoke out of the air. Then it occurred to me that that may have been exactly what was happening last week. Without that rain we may have been living in and breathing that smoke as we are now.

Anyway, I decided it was time to take my first ride of the year up in the hills. Certainly all the ice and snow are gone, though there could certainly be sand and gravel to contend with. Also, maybe if I got up higher I could get above the smoke. Let’s give it a shot.

I headed up Bear Creek from Morrison and took Kerr Gulch from Kittredge over to pick up Evergreen Parkway near I-70. Then I picked up US 40 running alongside the slab, up Floyd Hill and down to US 6 coming up out of Clear Creek Canyon. Just FYI, there’s a good bit of construction going on on US 40 along here.

Up on Floyd Hill I was definitely not above the smoke.

I took US 6 down to where it branches off from the Peak-to-Peak Highway and made the turn toward Black Hawk. Now I was climbing and somewhat to my surprise it started getting darn chilly. I had not put on all the layers I had with me because it was so warm but now when I got to Black Hawk I stopped and did put on my vest. I’m guessing the smoke is blocking the warmth of the sun from getting down to the ground.

Up and further up till I reached my highest point, where CO46 meets the Peak-to-Peak coming out of Golden Gate Canyon. At this point I could see through the smoke enough to see that above it all it was a clear, sunny day but you might need to be up on top of Mount Evans to really experience it. And then I plunged back down into the haze.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker when the wind in your hair and face makes you happier than a paycheck.

Kudos to Ralf for laying out a really nice route. On the Sunday before Columbus Day a group of RMMRC riders went up in the hills to take advantage of a perfect fall day. Ralf not only picked a good route, he included one road that perhaps none of the rest of us had ever been on. I always love that.

We met out by C-470 and Ken Caryl Avenue and headed out under the highway and then around on Valley Road to reach Deer Creek Canyon. We ran up Deer Creek to where it ends at South Turkey Creek Road and went left, following that road around to where it meets US 285 at Conifer. We quickly got off 285 at Barkley Road to reach CR73, which runs north from Conifer to Evergreen.

I was hoping Ralf was planning to jog right/left and get onto Shadow Mountain Drive and take that nice route and he did. Shadow Mountain becomes Brook Forest Road and rejoins CR73 just south of Evergreen but Ralf had other ideas in mind. About halfway along Brook Forest we turned right onto Blue Creek Road and this was a new one for me and probably most or all of the others. Cool. I love being introduced to new roads.

Blue Creek ended up leading us back to CR73 just a little south of the Marshdale area where we headed east on North Turkey Creek Road, back to and under US 285 and onto South Turkey Creek Road not far from where we had hit it previously. This time we went north, past Tiny Town, and again met up with 285. Ralf pulled over.

The thing we needed to know here, he told us, was that we needed to get on 285 just for a moment and then turn left up Parmalee Gulch. So wait for a break in traffic and then immediately get to the left lane and prepare to turn. That was a good thing to make sure everyone understood.

So we headed up Parmalee Gulch, up and over to Kittredge, and then caught Bear Creek Road up to Evergreen. We went through the main town area and turned to go past the lake and then on up Upper Bear Creek Road past all the swanky homes to Witter Gulch Road. This is a favorite as it climbs steeply and is full of tight turns, leading up to where it meets the Squaw Pass Road.

At the Squaw Pass Road we turned west, over the pass and down past Echo Lake and eventually down to Idaho Springs. Time for lunch. Past time for lunch. We ate at Smokin’ Yards BBQ, which was a good place. New for me.

At lunch we talked intentions. Ralf had figured to take I-70 the short distance down to the Central City Parkway and then down to Black Hawk and over on the Peak-to-Peak Highway to go down Golden Gate Canyon. But one couple said they were just going to jump on I-70 and blast home, and I said I figured to get on old US 40 and take it back down. Then the other two women in the group, who had found they both live in Aurora, agreed they would head home together, which left only Ralf and Bruce to go the rest of the way on Ralf’s route.

That’s fine. We all had a good ride and a good day. See you all next time.

Biker Quote for Today

Petrol Sexual: Suck, squish, bang, blow.