Passes & Canyons Blog

I don’t usually use images this large but it was necessary to show this route.

On the second day of this year’s OFMC trip we had to break a mold or two to get from point A to point B. We were in Alamosa, after originally planning to head from there into New Mexico. But a coronavirus closure in New Mexico forced a change. Our destination was now Cripple Creek.

Unfortunately, the easiest way to Cripple Creek from Alamosa would have had us retracing our ride from the day before, all the way up to Poncha Springs. That’s basically a long, straight shot up the San Luis Valley. We didn’t want to do that. But with the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness in the way, we had to go around. So we took the southern route.

That consisted of a blast to the east on U.S. 160 to Walsenburg, a short jog north to CO 69, and then a ride up through Gardner and Westcliffe to hit U.S. 50 just east of Cotopaxi. From there it was just a little ways east to where Fremont County Road 9 heads north, then county roads 11 and 1 as the back way into Cripple Creek.

We got an early start, in the cool of the morning, and it was a beautiful ride across the valley and up over La Veta Pass. There’s something almost magical about riding through the countryside as the day is dawning, and it was like that this morning.

At Walsenburg we needed gas and were amazed to find every gas station in town packed with vehicles lined up waiting their turn at the pumps. So we joined the queue. Then we found the not very well marked CO 69 right there where we got gas. OK. We had been pretty puzzled.

Heading north on 69 I soon realized that I had been here only once before and that was in about 2000 when Judy and I came this way on a ride with the Concours Owners Group. We hadn’t known going in that this group liked to do fun, 400 to 500 mile day rides. We didn’t go on many COG rides after that.

The terrain running up 69 was very similar to the area between Buena Vista and Salida: a broad valley, hills on both sides, and a bit arid.

We stopped for a break in Westcliffe and what a surprise that was. That little town seemingly in the middle of nowhere was very, very busy, mostly with RVs and campers with Texas plates. Who knew? I thought Lake City was the Colorado capital of Texas.

North from Westcliffe to U.S. 50 was getting into the hills and when we got on 50 we were on fresh, totally smooth pavement that is always nice. Then the back way into Cripple Creek is beautiful and very hilly and twisty. If you’ve never gone that way, either coming or going, you owe it to yourself to do so. Besides, there’s a whole lot less traffic than coming down to Cripple Creek from Divide.

So we were there in Cripple Creek on a Saturday night. You have never seen this town so empty ever since they opened up gambling. But we got a really nice room really cheap.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if you think that the Harley-Davidson plant should be one of the seven wonders of the world.

Heading out of Cripple Creek Saturday morning.

After all I did to make sure I got up to King Soopers at Aspen Park on time I left late and got there late. No matter, Bill and Friggs were much later. Something about a hellacious traffic jam.

No problem, we’re in no hurry. We cruised on south to Cripple Creek and were still the first to arrive. A beautiful day on the bikes and no rain.

John was next, and he was two hours later than us, coming from Montrose. And he got dumped on shortly before he arrived. And then not long afterward, Randy and Brett arrived, with Johnathon along just for the night in his pick-up. You see, the young guys are starting to fray. First it was John and Bill and me and then we added Bill’s brother and their brother-in-law and John’s son and Bill’s son and friends of theirs. Bill’s son Jason dropped away a couple years ago and now Johnathon, John’s son, has done the same. They both have young families and just worry about what might happen to them on their motorcycles to the detriment of those kids. And later Randy, Johnathon’s friend who has been with us a good many years, told us this year may be his last. So we seem to be getting back a lot closer to the core group.

So it was good to get everyone together and catch up, and everyonne had a change to get their gambling urges satisfied. Saturday morning was when the ride really got started.

We headed out of Cripple Creek along Teller County Road 1 and then south on TC Road 11 until it hit CO 9. That’s a really nice back route into and out of Cripple Creek, in case you’ve never been on it. CO 9 then brought us out to US 50 just west of Canon City; we headed east. By the time we got into Canon City it was already so blazing hot that it was time to stop in the park under some shade. Also time to imbibe lots of water and Gatorade to stave off dehydration. It was hot!

Then we blazed on out US 50 toward Pueblo, and on through, headed to La Junta, but before we got there it was highly desirable to stop in another park in Fowler to once again enjoy some shade. Temps were around 105.

A short jaunt took us the rest of the way to La Junta and we checked in the Hampton Inn. This is billed as the first OFMC luxury trip. Gone are the days of camping (long gone) and now also the days of Mom and Pop motels. These guys are just getting a bit too soft in their old age.

Now, as far as I’m concerned, there’s no reason to go all the way out to La Junta if you’re not even going to spend any time in La Junta, and the Hampton Inn was out of the highway just at the edge of town. So while three guys walked two blocks to eat dinner at Taco Bell, the other four of us decided to go to downtown, to Jodi’s, which came highly recommended. And we were in luck–there was a festival going on in town so there was a shuttle running that would take us there and pick us up, for a donation. I would have been fine with riding but the others didn’t want to so we took the shuttle.

A couple blocks from the motel Randy asked what a normal “donation” might be. Esther, the driver, informed us she gets $10 per person plus tips as we see fit. I almost told her to stop the car right there. She was taking us two miles and wanted $40 plus to do it?! But I bit my tongue hard and after we got out and she drove off we exploded. But we needed to get back to the motel after dinner so we were stuck.

Dinner at Jodi’s was mixed. Mine was fine, Randy didn’t like his, and Bret and Friggs were both OK with his. And the decision was made that we had no choice but to call Esther to take us back but she would only be getting a donation of $5 for the four of us. I guess a couple of the guys actually tipped her on the trip over so she was still ending up with $65 for taking us there and back. As we were riding back the most bizarre, extreme weather sprang up so that when we got to the motel we threw her $5 and jumped out of the cab and ran over to where we could see this amazing storm that was blowing in. What Esther thought of the $5 we didn’t know and didn’t care.

But what a storm!! First it was dirt, like from the Dust Bowl days. Wind so strong that a big dumpster went sailing through the parking lot and smashed against a building. Then the rain. Lordy did it rain! And then it all died away and we spent the rest of the evening hanging out in the motel lobby, drinking beer and solving the problems of the world.

The bike trip was off to a good start.

Biker Quote for Today

Why bikes are better than women: If your motorcycle is misaligned, you don’t have to discuss politics to correct it.