Posts Tagged ‘RMMRC’

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Cardo Update Should Make Connecting Easier

Thursday, September 3rd, 2026


My Cardo communicator on my helmet.

Cardo, the maker of helmet communications devices, has issued an update that they say will make connecting easier. Lord knows something like that is needed. I’ve used four different helmet communicator systems and the hardest thing about each of them has been getting connected. I haven’t had a chance yet to try this out but I’m looking forward to doing so.

The really interesting thing about it is they now have a “Public” mode where you just automatically connect with anyone in range who also has their Cardo set for Public. You might be riding along and hear some strange voice saying “Hey, you on that V-Strom, watch out for a speed trap two miles ahead.” Or “Hi. Hope you’re having a good ride.”

Plus, the way you set up a private group and connect everyone has gotten easier.

I saw an article on this upgrade on Adventure Rider and clicked through to see what it was about. The article had a video Cardo put out that explains the upgrade so I watched that. It looked simple so I pulled up the app on my phone and grabbed my communicator.

When I opened the app it told me an upgrade was available so I said go ahead and do it. Once I upgraded the app the video said to link the phone and the device, and when I did that the firmware on the device was automatically upgraded. Couldn’t have been simpler.

I was pretty tickled to do all this and know about this because I was getting together with some of the guys in the RMMRC the next day and I would tip them off about this. As it turned out, none of them had heard about it yet so that felt good to be the bearer of good tidings.

At this breakfast get-together only Dave and Gene and I had ridden and we decided to go for an impromptu ride afterward, plus they were going to be leaving for a bike tour in the Alps in a few days, so they wanted to be sure they had their Cardos connected. I figured while they were getting connected I would link in, too.

But ignorance triumphed again. We all have had these Cardos for a couple years now and we almost never succeed in getting everyone linked in. Oftentimes we have to reacquaint ourselves with the operation of the devices. In this case I tried to turn mine on and could not. I had just charged it the day before but I concluded I had not properly shut it off and it had run dead overnight.

In fact, as I learned later when I pulled out the manual, I was not properly turning it on. The device has three buttons, one on the left as you look at it and two on the right, one above the other. I was pressing the button at left and the top button. No. You need to press the one at left and the lower button. Duh. Maybe I’ll remember that now.

So we went for that ride and I’m sure they were talking along the way but I was just cruising along in my own world. Not a bad place to be but not what I had intended.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to the next time we ride and seeing if it really is going to be so much easier. I sure hope so.

Biker Quote for Today

I know I ride like a girl, so try and keep up.

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Posted in motorcycle clubs, Motorcycle Gear, motorcycle helmets, Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club | No Comments »

An Impromptu Ride

Monday, August 24th, 2026


Stopped at Daniels Park with the RMMRC on an earlier ride.

A bunch of the guys from the RMMRC were getting together just for breakfast down in Parker the other day so I figured I’d ride. The forecast was calling for another record hot day but in the morning it would be bearable.

Bob was there. It was good to see him. This was the first time I’ve seen him since I heard he had to give up riding entirely due to health issues. Pretty sad. He said, “It happens in the best of families.”

Dave and Gene were both there and they both rode. They’re getting ready to leave very soon for an Edelweiss Tours ride through the Alps. They wanted to make sure they had their communicators synced up and working properly.

After we ate, and after they got the communicators working, someone said, “So you want to go for a ride?” We were all game.

Gene suggested doing Guanella Pass, which would have gotten us out of the oncoming heat, but Dave didn’t have the time. Other things on his agenda for the afternoon. No, let’s just do a loop down through Salida, to Palmer Lake, and back over to CO 83 and up through Franktown. A ride we’ve all done all or part of a hundred times but what the heck.

I didn’t think about it until we were moving but it would have been a courtesy for me to have texted Judy two words: impromptu ride. But we have our phones set up to track each other so I knew when I didn’t get home when she expected me she would look and see that I was obviously out on a ride. She did.

We headed down to Hess Road and took Hess around the Rueter-Hess Reservoir, across I-25, and onto Castle Pines Parkway. Oh my gosh what a lot of work they’re doing on that road. They appear to be putting in a median the entire way and completely reconstructing the westbound lanes. Slow going.

At Daniels Park we headed south to pick up US 85, then a jog to the right to Salida. Then through Salida to pick up CO 105. This road runs along the face of the foothills and is a favorite for bikers. On summer weekends there’s a constant stream of motorcycles in both directions. On this Friday we had it mostly to ourselves.

The heat was building but as long as we kept moving it didn’t get bad. Other than occasional traffic lights we did not stop.

At Palmer Lake we turned east on Palmer Divide Road. That’s an arrow-straight road that crosses back over I-25 to hit CO 83 coming up from Colorado Springs. To my surprise, Gene turned onto northbound I-25, but I stayed with Dave. I didn’t want to get on the slab. What’s with Gene?

Dave and I cruised on up past Castlewood Canyon State Park, to Franktown, and on to his turn-off at Bayou Gulch Road. Then it was just me cruising on home. A nice ride but by the time I got home I was very pleased to feel the coolness of the swamp cooler at work. And we did set another record high.

Biker Quote for Today

Nothing matters at 90 miles an hour, nothing matters at all.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Day Rides, Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club | 1 Comment »

I’m Convinced I Want A Bigger Bike

Thursday, July 16th, 2026


A stop on the recent Utah trip.

I’m down to only one motorcycle now and it’s the smallest one I have ever owned. This Suzuki V-Strom is a 650cc machine and it has done very well by me. That said, this recent trip to Utah convinced me that having something just a bit bigger and more powerful is desirable.

On the way out we blasted across Colorado on I-70 and the guys up front were running about 10 miles per hour above the limit. The limit is 75. So my V-Strom was working hard. I kept up, there’s never any issue about that. But it was working.

Then we got into Utah and the speed limit went up to 80. So we were doing 90. Or more. Now that little 650 was working hard. But I was keeping up.

Later in this trip we climbed some pretty high mountains, often on some particularly steep roads. That was when I really felt it. There were a couple times when I wasn’t sure we were going to keep up. I had to shift way down low to get the oomph to make those climbs. That was when it really gelled in my head that yes, I do want a bigger bike.

Not a lot bigger. I really don’t miss my old Concours. It was 1000cc and it weighed a whole lot. It had the power to carry that weight and on the highway it cruised just as smooth as glass. It was a nice highway bike. But oh man, at slow speeds in a parking lot you better not let it lean too far or there’s nothing on this planet that you can do to keep it from dropping.

So I’ve looked around a bit in recent years and I have identified the Yamaha Tracer 9 as just about the ideal bike. It’s 800cc and weighs around 450 pounds. That’s almost exactly the same as my V-Strom. The Connie weighed 600 pounds.

Weight is not the only thing; there’s also handling. But weight influences handling, particularly at very slow speeds. I’ve mentioned before how when the RMMRC went on a New Mexico/Arizona trip a few years ago I watched all these other guys wrestling their big machines around these tight curves, and meanwhile, on my V-Strom, I was dancing.

But I hate the idea of buying a motorcycle without having ridden one at least once. Last summer I heard that the Yamaha dealer in Cheyenne was hosting a demo days event. I had it on my calendar and a sure thing. Then, a drunk driver altered all my plans for the summer.

There was no Cheyenne demo days event listed on the Yamaha site this year but there was one set for Boise. OK, that would mean a road trip. That works. But then we ended up going to Alaska at that same time. We got home and I looked again, thinking I might need to go on a long trip. But apparently these events get added during the summer. And it turned out there was a demo days at a Denver dealership . . . the day we left for Alaska. Dang!

But then, oh my gosh, there it was: Cheyenne. The very next week. I’m going. And that’s the answer to the question you may have had, why was he going to Cheyenne?

Biker Quote for Today

I couldn’t find the right man, so I settled for a motorcycle. I’ve never been so happy.

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Posted in Kawasaki, motorcycle clubs, Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom, Yamaha motorcycles | No Comments »

Pre-Riding Comes Through Again

Monday, June 29th, 2026


It seems the worst of the flooding damage was on the road that is part of my planned route.

I wrote about pre-riding a route you plan to lead a group ride on just a few weeks ago. Well, it seems there’s a very good reason not to do that pre-ride too far in advance. Conditions change.

We just got back from two weeks in Alaska. We flew from Juneau to Seattle and needed to change planes in Seattle. We found right away that our flight was delayed a bit more than an hour. As it turned out, the plane to Denver was coming from Denver and they were delayed more than an hour from taking off. It seems there was a bit of a weather event. We never did learn much about it because it was all over by the time we did get home.

We’ve been home a week now and it occurred to me that if I intend to lead this ride that I’ve been planning since before I got hit head-on exactly one year ago, this is really when I should do it. I was leaning toward posting the ride on the RMMRC site Saturday and meanwhile I was catching up on all the emails that piled up while I was gone.

Surprise, surprise! I came across a new item saying there was extensive flooding in Evergreen and Kittredge, connected to the tornado that shut down the airport. Roads were completely blocked. And my route for this ride goes right through Evergreen and Kittredge. I figured Sunday I’d better take a ride up there and check it out before posting the ride.

So I did. As I headed up Colorado 74 out of Morrison I thought I ought to see a warning sign if the road was closed ahead, and there was no such sign. That’s positive. You go through Idledale before you reach Kittredge and there was a sign just outside of Idledale but I didn’t see it in time to read it, so no help. But that said to be cautious.

I got into Kittredge and the first thing I noticed was that the restaurant I planned to stop at for lunch on this ride seemed to be closed. It is right beside the creek so that was foreboding. I’d have to check on that. Then I got to the west end of Kittredge and where the creek crosses under the road it was obvious what had happened. There was an area to the side where a lot of logs and stumps were piled up, obviously from a clean-up effort, and the bridge abutment still had a lot of the same packed against it. But the road was open, albeit with a good bit of gravel remaining.


It appears they will be reopened in time for us.

On to Evergreen. Everything looked pretty good in Evergreen, though when I reached the fork where one way goes north and the other south, my route being south, I made that turn and it was clear they were not done cleaning up from flooding right there. But it was not bad. On south about a tenth of a mile and you get to the turn-off up Little Cub Creek Road–my route–and then the flooding became extremely evident.

Mostly it was where the stream had come out of its banks and left gravel–a lot of gravel–on the road. Then a little further along I came to a spot where at first I thought the road had been carried away altogether. I turned around and stopped to shoot that picture above. On closer inspection I could see that the adjoining road had been nearly washed away and all that rock and soil was covering the road I was on. It’s all passable but don’t try screaming down this road on a motorcycle. No problem as long as you know what to expect.

At this point I headed back the way I came and in Kittredge I stopped to check out the restaurant. They had a sign on the door saying that due to the flooding they were closed over the weekend but would reopen right away.

OK, I guess I can lead this ride. Now I just have to get it posted.

Biker Quote for Today

Cause one day you are gonna say that today was bumping. We’re living on the edge and my motorcycle’s speeding. It is what it is and this is how I’m feeling. — Charles Smith

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Day Rides, motorcycle clubs, Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club | 1 Comment »

Communicators–Nice If We Knew How To Use Them

Monday, June 22nd, 2026


My Cardo communicator on my helmet.

I did this Utah ride with the RMMRC guys and I was looking forward to having us all connected via our Cardo communicators. I told myself that before I left on this trip I ought to pull mine out and charge it and also refresh myself on how to operate it. I did charge it but I did not refresh. You know, someone else will be the main guy and he will know how to do it and all that.

Yeah, right. I got over to Morrison, where we were assembling, in plenty of time to get connected, and everyone there was asking, “How do we connect these things?” Oh great. I had the user guide on my phone so I called it up and was looking at it but it seems the process is open to interpretation. Does this mean this, or does it mean that?

We only managed to get Tom and Gene connected so Tom was leading the ride and Gene rode sweep. It’ll do. We’ll get this all figured out tonight in Green River. Meanwhile, during the course of the day I needed to let Tom know I needed a gas stop so I used old fashioned hand gestures to give the word to Gene to pass up to Tom. Hey, it worked.

That evening in Lindsay’s suite (he didn’t request it; they just gave it to him) we were sitting there with the door open so anyone walking down the hall could glance in and see these weird guys sitting around wearing motorcycle helmets. There were five of us and with some effort we finally got four connected, but the fifth just was not happening. I was the fifth. I didn’t like that situation.

We decided to try again from the start and once again we only got four connected. This time I was in but Dave was out. Dave did not like that situation.

But we were out of ideas so for this whole ride Dave was not in communication while all the rest of us were. Probably more than anyone else, I empathized with him deeply. That could have been me. But not deeply enough to offer to swap communicators with him.

Since getting home I have re-read the user guide again and I think I do understand what our issue was. We really need to get this figured out. Like, maybe get together to get it done before we’re actually leaving on the trip.

Biker Quote for Today

Bikers don’t need a crowd; we ride alone but together.

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Posted in motorcycle clubs, Motorcycle Gear, motorcycle touring, Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club | No Comments »

Making The Most Of The Ride Home

Thursday, June 18th, 2026


At a pull-out going up Independence Pass.

Day 5 was the last day of our RMMRC 5-day Utah ride. It could have been a quick blast east on I-70 but there was no way we were going to do that. Heck, we were in Basalt, which is right next door to Aspen, which is the gateway to . . . Independence Pass. One of Colorado’s real gems. Which direction do you suppose we went?

We heard from a cabinetmaker staying at our hotel that the morning commute into Aspen is killer. Because no one who does any of the hard work in Aspen can afford to live in Aspen. But either because we started a little later in the morning–9 a.m.–or because it was Saturday, we had no issue with traffic. That’s a win.

There’s no way in the world they’ll ever be able to build a bypass around Aspen so we had to go right through the middle of town. Not a win, but that’s life. Then we were out in the open, heading up the pass. And there was very little traffic this early in the day. That’s a win.

There are a couple places along the road going up the west side of Independence where it narrows down to one lane. I was riding sweep and as we came around a bend in one of these one-lane stretches I joked on the intercom that we should stop here for a group picture. Gene, in the lead, said OK. I came around the bend then and saw there was a pull-out right there and everyone was pulling in. Had to laugh about that one.

Of course, then as we left the pull-out I forgot to plug my electric vest back in so it was going to be a cold ride up to the summit. Dang. I knew it was totally unsafe to try to plug that thing in while riding but I still considered it. I thought if I secured the the female connector between my leg and the tank that maybe, on a straighter stretch, I might be able to insert the male connector. The opportunity came and I made a feeble attempt but clearly it was not going to work, and I was not willing to risk my life to avoid being cold for half an hour. When we stopped at the top I made absolutely certain to plug in before we headed down.

That was a good thing, because on the east side of the pass there was a ferocious wind blowing and that wind was cold! It didn’t really get warm until we were almost to Buena Vista. But oh hey, Independence Pass was its usual gorgeous self. What a nice ride.

We didn’t stop in Buena Vista. Too early for lunch and a couple guys had said they did not plan to do a lunch stop. Usually about the time we get onto US 285 headed back down the hill it’s time for the group to dissolve as the horses head back to the stable. Amazingly, this time that did not happen.

Dave and Lindsay told us as we made our final stop at Johnson Village that they intended to peel off on US 24 at Antero Junction, where you come down the hill into South Park. They did and then Tom and Gene and I stayed together all the rest of the way into town. The two of them finally got separated from me coming across town when I caught a red light they got through. Then it was home and this really good trip came to an end.

Biker Quote for Today

The road is a mirror; it reflects who I truly am.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, motorcycle clubs, Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club | No Comments »

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