Passes & Canyons Blog

We might have parked a little tighter if we had realized this lot was going to soon be jammed with bikes.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Pikes Peak more beautiful than it was on Saturday. Between the fresh coat of snow and the perfect light and clouds I couldn’t stop looking at it.

Which made it kind of nice that we were riding in that direction and it came into view repeatedly.

There were 11 of us on this RMMRC ride and while Saturday was not as warm as forecast it was an OK day to ride if you were geared for it. I wore my electric vest and was mighty glad I did, but I left my heated gloves at home, which was a mistake. Some day I’ll learn to put them in my bag so I’ll have them if I decide I want them. But I’m a slow learner.

I want to make the point to all of you who are involved with motorcycle groups that are struggling for membership: The RMMRC has recently gone from its own website to using Meet-Up for its site and its communications. This has been a huge success. We get more riders on the rides and while I don’t know how many, if any, have joined so far I have to believe that some of them will. Especially those who keep showing up on the rides.

Our destination was Monument, to a restaurant (La Casa Fiesta) I was not familiar with, but that grossly understates the situation. You know what I learned? Monument is a real town. All I had ever seen of it was the road down from Palmer Lake to the I-25 interchange. Guess what? If you go a few blocks west from the interstate there is a real town there, with downtown, shops, restaurants–the whole shebang. Who knew?

Getting there without riding all the same roads you’ve been on countless times could be an issue. However, leading the group was Tim, who I have to say is the one person I know who knows the roads south and east of Denver better than me. I’m sure for much of the group this was their first time on nearly all these roads. For me, I had been on most of them but there were at least a few that I have never been on. What fun!

We had quite a mixed contingent of bikes. There were three Hondas, two or three Beemers, a couple Kawasakis, one Spyder, and I’m not sure what else. On the way down I got behind a woman on a sportbike that had an obnoxious exhaust going “Bra-a-a-a-a-t, bra-a-a-a-a-t” the whole way. I made sure to put several people between us on the ride home.

When we got to the restaurant we wondered if it was open because the large parking lot was completely empty. It was open, and starting about 15 minutes later they started arriving. First there was a group of 30 bikes that pulled in. And more kept coming. By the time we were leaving the lot was completely full, with only a couple cars and probably 50 bikes.

We had a good meal (I do recommend La Casa Fiesta) and Roy did his thing, pitching the Meet-Up folks on the club and telling everyone about our upcoming rides. Then we headed north on CO 105 and everyone split off at their appropriate turns and we all went home. Heck, by the time I got home it was actually kind of warm.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if over half the pictures you take have your bike in it.

Parked across the street from Patty Ann’s.

I went for a ride with the RMMRC Friday and leading the group was Tim. Now, I’m terrible with names, and after being a member of the group for about three years I still probably only know about six or seven peoples’ names. But I think I’ll remember Tim because he is really short, so my mnemonic device to remember his is “Tiny Tim.” You don’t have to mention that to him.

It was supposed to be a beautiful November day but starting out it was overcast and cooler than expected. I dressed warmly and was glad I did. Love that electric vest.

The intent was just a simple ride out to Kiowa to have a late breakfast at Patty Ann’s. I’ve eaten at Patty Ann’s several times and they have great food. If you’re out that way–or if you want to head that way just to eat there–Patty Ann’s gets my hearty recommendation. They have terrific green chile and with everything else smothered in green chile it probably really doesn’t matter what that everything else is.

So the discussion was on the route to get there. The easy and direct–and boringly familiar–route would be to go out Parker Road to Franktown and turn east. That was suggested but Tim didn’t like that idea. He took the lead.

We worked our way southeast, zigging and zagging as you have to do with straight roads on a grid, but we came to a spot where I think everyone expected to go east and Tim headed west. That tipped me off. A couple years ago Roy had staged a mystery ride and we ended up out in these parts. Tim had helped Roy plan that ride. I suspected we were about to take a portion of that ride again.

When we made a left turn at a particular spot I knew I was right. From that point on all the way to Elizabeth we followed the mystery ride route. And it was a lot more interesting than just Parker to Franktown and east.

Kiowa, Patty Ann’s, and the food did its job and we were ready to leave. What route? Again, Tim had no intention of retracing our steps. So he led us along some other roads out here.

What this all told me was Tim must be a kindred soul to me because while I would guess most of the guys had little idea exactly where they were, I pretty much knew every bit of it. You see, I go out there and ride around on these roads exploring quite a bit. And I had just been out here in the past week. These were several of the same roads I was on just days before.

I guess I’m not the only one who loves to explore.

Biker Quote for Today

I got my own reasons why I do what I do. I like to ride motorcycles. She likes it too. — Alan Jackson

Looking for some folks to ride with? Try the RMMRC.

As the OFMC continues to shrink–after years of growing–it is starting to look more and more like I made a good choice to join the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Association (RMMRC). The OFMC continues to ride but we are back down to just three guys this year, same as when we started more than 25 years ago.

So it’s good to have another group to ride with.

So what rides are on the RMMRC agenda this year? There is an events page and here’s what is coming up.

Capulin Volcano Ride — May 25 and May 26. Two-day ride from Denver to visit Capulin Volcano National Monument in northeast New Mexico. We will stay overnight in Trinidad, CO. Capulin Volcano was formed approximately 60,000 years ago from four lava flows which formed the nearly perfectly-shaped cinder cone that rises over 1,000 feet above the surrounding landscape. A road winds around the cone to the top of the volcano.

BMW MOA Rally Ride – and so much more! — June 9 through June 20. Join us for all (or parts) of this 12-day ride that will include the 2019 BMW MOA Rally in Lebanon, TN and tours of the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham, AL, the Corvette Factory and Museum in Bowling Green, KY, and Hannigan Motorsports in Murray, KY. We will visit 8 states outside of Colorado and ride approximately 3,050 miles.

Rocky Mountain National Park and Walden loop — July 13. This will be a long, all-day ride traversing Rocky Mountain National Park on US-34W from Loveland to Granby, riding CO-125N from Granby to Walden, and CO-14E from Walden to Fort Collins. US-34/Trailridge Road, CO-125 and CO-14 are perennial favorites for Colorado riders and offer an abundant supply of curves, elevation changes, and scenery. In fact, this route has been named one of the top motorcycle rides in the US for 2019. Assuming a start and finish near I-25 and 136th, the ride will total approximately 335 miles.

Ride Colorado – A 4-Day Scenic Tour — August 9 through 12. This will be a tremendous 4-day tour of southwestern Colorado, featuring lots of twisties and awesome scenery EACH day! Approximately 1,254 total miles.

Fall Colors Ride – See Fall Colors in the Rocky Mountains — September 28 and 29. Join us for a 2-day weekend ride. We will spend Saturday night in Steamboat Springs.

Of course, to participate in an RMMRC ride you have to join the group. It’s $25 for a one-year membership and if you’re looking for folks to ride with I strongly recommend it. There are monthly meetings that frequently have interesting programs and if you’re free, there are impromptu rides going on any time the weather permits.

Let’s go for a ride, hey?

Biker Quote for Today

If you can’t buy happiness, explain motorcycles and beer.

Sara goes over group riding protocols before we take off.

I joined with other members of the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club (RMMRC) Saturday on the Pie Ride. For those motorcyclists who live by the slogan, “Ride to Eat, Eat to Ride,” this is the perfect event.

We met at a bakery where the first pie of the day was quiche. I’m not sure very many of us actually got quiche but that was the theme setter. There were eight bikes plus we picked up another rider who just happened to be there having breakfast.

Getting underway, we ran up Bear Creek from Morrison to Evergreen but this was not a good thing. Evergreen was holding its annual rodeo and they had a parade through town and all traffic was shunted to the north around downtown. Then, when we came out on Evergreen Parkway, the road into town there was also blocked so we could not get to the road that runs from Evergreen to Conifer as we had intended.

Thank you Evergreen, I guess it wouldn’t have been possible to have posted a sign coming up the canyon that the road ahead was closed. We ended up taking Evergreen Parkway to I-70 back down to C-470 and finally took U.S. 285 into the hills toward Conifer.

At Pine Junction we turned south and made our first pit stop at Deckers. By this point we had lost three bikes so the group was smaller. The barest sprinkling of rain cooled us down nicely and it started coming down harder just as we pulled into Woodland Park, where we were stopping for lunch. The second pie of the day: pizza.

I’m sure not one of us needed to eat more after lunch but just 25 miles further heading west from Woodland Park we came to Florissant, to a very nicely converted old house that is now a restaurant. We had been pumped up by stories of how good the forest berry pie was, and Sara had called ahead to let them know we were coming so they would not have run out by the time we got there. Sadly, the lady said she had just pulled the latest pie out of the oven and it would need time to cool, so no forest berry pie for us.

I got the peach instead and the peaches were clearly fresh but not quite ripe and the pie had not been baked long enough to soften them up. So I was disappointed.

We continued west to Lake George where we turned up Highway 77 which runs up to Jefferson, in South Park. There we caught U.S. 285 and turned east back to town. I hadn’t expected it to be an all-day ride but it was nearly 6 o’clock by the time I was home. Ah well, a good ride. And more pie than you can shake a stick at.

Biker Quote for Today

The best way for guys to communicate is just don’t talk to each other for nine hours. That’s why I like long motorcycle rides. It’s a great way for guys to socialize and not socialize. — Justin Theroux

Oh, how I want to be on the road again.

I’m still not riding yet, due to my surgery, but that doesn’t mean you can’t. And if you lack people to ride with I definitely recommend the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club (RMMRC) because this very active group has a lot of fun and interesting rides planned.

The riding season starts early with this group so there are several trips that have already happened. Let’s go through what’s coming up.

The big trip this year is the Northwest Passage Tour, June 2-16, approximately 4,700 miles: We will be riding from Denver north through Wyoming, Montana, and Alberta then to British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah and back into Colorado.

Flaming Gorge Camping Weekend, June 22-24.

Full Mountain Loop, June 30, approximately 285 miles and four mountain passes (Berthod, Gore, Vail, and Loveland).

Taylor Canyon Camping Ride, July 6-8.

Autumn Southwest Ruins Ride, October 6-11: This 6 day fall colors ride will take us through the central and southern Rockies to the SW canyons, south into New Mexico’s Rio Grande Rift valley, around the Valles Caldera, and northwest to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

There are other events planned, too, as well as spur-of-the-moment impromptu rides you can ask to be notified of as they happen. One of these days you’re going to see me on one of these but that’s still a ways in the future. I’m getting to the frustration point where I feel absolutely fine but any strenuous activity at all reminds me big time that I’m still in recovery. Heart surgery will do that to you.

Biker Quote for Today

Leave it all behind and just ride.