Passes & Canyons Blog

Ever ridden here? You could. (Google Maps)

I got wind of this trip that is being planned just before I went to this month’s meeting of the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club. I was very interested. Until I heard the dates. Count me out, guys.

As currently scheduled, the day after the guys and I leave on the annual OFMC trip, whichever of the RMMRC folks who end up going will board a plane and fly to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where they will rent motorcycles and do a two-week trip around Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick. Does that sound like a killer trip? I sure thought so and I was definitely planning to go.

But we’ve already got the OFMC trip planned, scheduled, and reservations made. Sadly, I will not be going to Canada.

You could, though. You may not be an RMMRC member but you could be easily enough. You just join on Meetup for $12 a year and you’re in.

Make no mistake, this is going to be an expensive trip. The airfare is expected to run around $500–not bad. But plan on the bikes costing around $150 per day. Figure 12 days with the bikes and that comes to $1,800. Figure hotel rooms, double-occupancy, to run maybe half that, or $900. Then there’s food and gas and all the extras–maybe figure another $800. These are just rough figures but that rough figure comes to about $4,000. Still interested? Do it. I sure would. That money’s not going to do me any good when I’m dead. And what a trip.

Or This One
OK, maybe that trip doesn’t work for you. Here’s another one the group is planning, and I do hope to be able to do this one.

With dates not yet set, this trip would head northwest to Idaho and Oregon. Dubbed the Columbia River Gorge Tour, the western-most point of this 10-day ride is to be The Dalles, in Oregon. The stops each night, in order, will be Vernal, Utah; Idaho Falls, Idaho; Missoula, Montana; Enterprise, Idaho; The Dalles, Oregon; John Day, Oregon; Boise, Idaho; Ogden, Utah; Steamboat Springs, Colorado; and home.

Now there are a couple days there that would be a lot of riding, though none so long as several we did on last year’s Great River Road trip. But there is one–and only one–400-mile day. So it’s doable.

And presuming I do go on this ride I plan to very much ride my own ride. I learned on the Great River Road trip that many of these guys like to go long distances without stops, and that is not my style of riding. I’ll be starting out with them in the morning but as soon as I want to make a stop–to stretch my legs, get some photographs, visit an interesting spot–I will say “see you later” and be off on my own. Anyone else on the trip who is more into my kind of easy-going riding would be welcome to join me.

To that end, really, I’m thinking I need to set up my own RMMRC ride and offer it on the website to all who are interested, specifying that this is not a bust-your-butt ride, we’re going to be doing shorter days with plenty of stops. I just have to figure out where to go. Any suggestion?

Biker Quote for Today

Life is like a motorcycle ride. Sometimes it is high speed on the highways, and sometimes it is low speed on rural roads full of potholes. You have to complete it bumps and all.

Running up alongside the Mississippi River on one of my 2022 trips.

Every year after the first of January I look at my mileage for the year just ended. I did pretty well in 2022; rode the motorcycles more and put exactly 12 more miles on my car than I did in 2021.

First the car, because that’s my primary basis of comparison. I drove my car all of 2,506 miles. I wasn’t far off that with the Concours and well beyond it on the V-Strom. Nowhere close with the Honda, though.

The Honda only got ridden 729 in 2022. That’s down from 1,086 the year before. Which is a bit surprising to me considering that I thought I was trying to make a deliberate point of riding it regularly. Oh well, I’ll do better in 2023. And I’m also going to put some money into some work this good old bike is in need of.

The Concours had a better year than the CB750: 2,354 miles. That is up from 2,002 miles in 2021 and, as I said, almost as much as the car. Just 152 miles shy of the car. The Kawi got to go on the OFMC trip so it got a lot of miles off that one.

The champion this time around was the V-Strom. I rode that bike 3,866 miles in 2022. It got to go on the RMMRC Great River Road Ride and that was a good long jaunt. I hadn’t planned it that way. I was going to ride the Concours but had to make a last minute change when I discovered the valve stem on one of its tires was totally rotted away. It’s good to have more than one motorcycle.

Altogether that adds up 6,949 miles on motorcycles in 2022, versus 2,506 in my car. I may not put really big miles on any of my vehicles the way a lot of people do but by gosh, I do most of my getting around on the bikes. I kind of like it that way.

Biker Quote for Today

I love being on my bike, but I don’t consider that a sport: it’s too pleasant.

Some top bags have better mounts than others. Apparently, this one is not so good.

If, by the time you read this, it is cold and snowy outside you’ll know why we went riding yesterday. The forecast high was in the 60s and a day later we are supposed to be looking at nasty stuff. Five RMMRC riders answered the call.

Stepping outside in the morning it was warm but quite breezy. I knew this would be an all-the-winter-gear-day. It was definitely brisk riding over to the meeting spot, and nobody took their helmets off while we waited to see who else would arrive.

The route was simple enough: down Parker Road, turn off onto Russellville Road and do that loop, then back to CO83, south to CO105 over to Monument, for lunch at Rosie’s. The ride was uneventful except when Charlie pulled over because his top bag, which he had strapped onto the seat behind him rather than on its mount, started coming loose. OK, that didn’t work. But the dang thing is kind of wobbly on its actual mount so he figured it was worth trying something different.

Rosie’s was busy so we had to wait a bit and then got seated and ordered. The food is always good at Rosie’s, and the staff is always overworked, but the waitresses we have had have all been extremely nice. It probably doesn’t hurt that Roy goes out of his way to be friendly and nice with them, figuring their job is plenty hard, let’s try to make it a little nicer.

As expected, by the time we came out the temperature was up another 10 degrees or so and there were no clouds. A gorgeous day to ride. And we were not the only ones who thought so. As we headed north out of Monument toward Sedalia on CO105 I counted no fewer than 50 other bikes heading south. Not a big pack, just a lot of twos and threes and fours. This was a day to ride.

Now tomorrow can come as nasty as it likes, we got in a really good December ride.

Biker Quote for Today

No road is too long as long as you have good riding companions.

Roy (at right) had warned our very cute waitress that she was going to be dealing with a bunch of ugly old men. Look at those guys!

We knew Saturday was going to be a cold day to ride but, as Roy said, you just need the right gear. And apparently nine of us in the RMMRC felt we had the right gear because there we were out riding on this very cold morning.

Judy, who had gotten up before me, warned me that the temperature was having a hard time breaking 40 and I checked the RMMRC Meetup site to see if perhaps the ride had been canceled. Nope. In fact, messages on the site within the last couple hours made it clear it was still on. OK, this would be a day to wear all my cold weather gear. Good thing I had just recharged the batteries for my heated gloves.

And it was cold. At first my Honda CB750 Custom didn’t seem to want to turn over but then it caught and fired up. I got over to where we were meeting and it was a good crowd. And by the time I got there it was clear that while it was darn cold, my electric vest and my riding pants with the liner in, and everything else I wore for warmth would do just fine. All right! Great day for a ride!

We were headed for lunch at Rosie’s Diner in Monument so of course we headed . . . southeast. We went out Parker Road and just south of the Pinery turned east on Bayou Gulch Road to Flintwood Road. From there we followed a circuitous route that I quickly recognized as having been the route we first rode the last time Tim had planned a Mystery Ride. (It was called “Roy’s Mystery Ride” but Tim was the one who actually mapped it out.)

This route led us to Elizabeth and then further south on another circuitous route through Elbert. We were headed for the Palmer Divide and gaining elevation, so it was getting cooler and cooler. I had my heated gloves on the lowest setting so as to extend the battery life as much as possible. My hands were a bit cool but that was fine; they would have been ice cubes otherwise.

A little south of Elbert I was a bit surprised to encounter another sizeable group of bikers going the other direction on this cold day and way off the usual beaten track country road. Good for you guys. Guess we’re not the only ones.

We did finally turn west and then a little later cut back north. It was at this point that the question I had had was answered: where are the high winds that had been predicted? Apparently they had been at our back all this time. Now they were in our face.

We cut on west again and came to Monument. Time for lunch. Ride to eat, eat to ride, you know. We had a super cute waitress who did a great job and we had a good meal. John, on his first time riding with the group, kept everyone interested showing us pictures of his numerous very old motorcycles. There was probably a lot of motorcycle envy going on at that table.

By the time we were ready to roll again the weather had done a significant change. It had to be 15 degrees warmer and full sunshine. Fabulous day for a motorcycle ride! We headed north on CO105 up to Sedalia, at which point the group started to splinter as each rider chose his own route home. I got home with a new 130 miles on my odometer. Now if we can only do this a few more times before the year is out.

Biker Quote for Today

No such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.

You talk about a fast pace, these guys were screaming up the Squaw Pass road.

I went recently with the RMMRC on a fall color ride and Ralf was the leader and organizer. I know Ralf and I’ve ridden with Ralf. And I know Ralf is very much a go-fast kind of guy.

Sure enough, we hadn’t gone all that far and the folks ahead of me were moving at a clip I just was not all that comfortable with. I can ride fast when I choose to but frequently I just don’t choose to. So I just went my own pace and that was fine. Ralf had been very clear that he would not turn off the road we were on without waiting for everyone to catch up so no one would get lost.

One of the folks ahead of me, though, was Maynard. Maynard kept up with Ralf but when we stopped for a couple minutes in Conifer he spoke up, saying that he felt the pace to that point had been a bit excessive. Good for you Maynard, it’s good to speak up and let your opinion be known. Ralf replied that he didn’t feel the pace had been all that fast but he asked how the rest of us felt. I spoke up and said I agreed with Maynard but that I knew beforehand that Ralf was fast and I had just made up my mind to ride my own ride, and if I got behind, I was OK with that.

I will note, however, that there was one particular curve where I went into it too hot and did some emergency hard braking. And I wasn’t even trying to keep up.

No one else said they thought the pace had been all that excessive, although of course some of them had been behind me.

The consensus was as I had suggested, that everyone should just ride their own ride, and we went on. Ralf gave no indication he felt he ought to slow down, and he reiterated that he would not let anyone get separated at a turn. Whether it was for this reason or just because he often does this (he does, and he may have planned this from the start), Maynard peeled off from the ride a bit later when we got to Evergreen and headed off on his own.

But this is a real issue, and it’s one everyone needs to think out on their own. Some people just like to ride faster than others. If a group you ride with always goes faster than you like, then maybe you need to find another group. Alternatively, you could take the role of leader and then lead at the pace you feel comfortable with.

I’m personally not a go-fast guy, to the point that on the recent OFMC trip Bruce asked at one point why we so frequently would ride at five miles below the limit. We just like to take our time and enjoy the ride. Bruce said he had never ridden with a group that didn’t generally go as fast as they could. Or at least go the speed limit.

However, there are several people in the RMMRC who lead a lot of the rides who are go-fast guys. If you go on many rides with this group you are going to find yourself in this situation. And I have. Many times. And I just ride my own ride. If someone wants to go faster they can go around me and catch up with the group ahead.

No one should out-ride their own abilities. Safety is more important than conforming with the group. If you’re not comfortable, slow down. The life you save may be your own.

Biker Quote for Today

So today I went on a motorcycle ride and I forgot to post a picture on Instagram about it. Then I remembered I was too busy riding my motorcycle.

Ralf picked a nice spot going up Witter Gulch Road to pull over and shoot some photos.

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.

This isn’t a recent picture but it’s a mass of the critters that were bombarding us on this ride.

The tumbleweeds were out in full force Sunday when eight RMMRC riders headed out to Patty Ann’s in Kiowa for a lunch ride. The weather has been great but the forecasts are for cold very soon and high winds immediately. They weren’t kidding.

As we headed east on a variety of roads the wind was blasting out of the south and tumbleweeds were blowing across the road like a mass migration. I felt like I was riding rather skillfully as I managed to get to Kiowa without hitting a single one but when we left a big one nailed me right away. OK, some skill, a bit of luck, too.

The wind was killer. I was on the V-Strom, which is my smallest and lightest bike, and we were getting pushed all around. With all its body work my Concours is like a sail but at least it weighs a lot more and so it is more stable. At times this wind had me leaning so far to my right that it felt like the wind might just blow my wheels out from underneath me. But it didn’t.

What it really reminded me of was heading out from Patty Ann’s the first morning of the Great River Road trip we did this summer. Heading southeast out of Limon that day on US 287 we hit such powerful winds that I rode for about 50 miles with the only thing visible in my left mirror being my chest; that was how far I was leaned over.

It also reminded me of a technique I discovered one day riding out this same road, CO86. On that day the wind was out of the north, not that that matters. What mattered was that I was struggling to keep that bike going where I wanted it to go and at one point, for whatever reason, I left go of the grip with my left hand. Suddenly controlling the bike was a lot easier.

The nearest I can figure is that when I was holding on with two hands my hands were working in opposition to each other. It certainly wasn’t a conscious effort but it was a strain and a struggle; once I let go with one hand, control was easy. I wasn’t fighting against myself. I’ve tried this many times since that day and it works every time.

An interesting aside: having figured this out I thought it was worth sharing so I sent a letter to one of the motorcycle magazines so they could pass it along to their readers. I never heard anything and they never printed my letter so I have to suspect they thought I was talking crazy but I’m not. It really works. Try it for yourself and you’ll see.

We headed out after lunch but original plans to take a roundabout route home got dumped because the wind was just blowing so hard and it was obvious the front over the mountains was coming our way. Everyone decided they just wanted to head home. So we did. But it was good to get out for one more ride before the bad weather arrives.

Biker Quote for Today

I thought of that while riding my motorcycle.

Getting ready to ride in Morrison.

After two days of rain it seems our heat wave has been broken. That meant that Wednesday was a great day for a ride. And there were 13 riders who showed up for the RMMRC excursion who seemed to agree.

Heading out early, I felt it wise to wear a sweatshirt under my mesh jacket. I didn’t regret that, and later in the day I was actually wishing I had an additional layer. That’s how cool it was.

We gathered in Morrison and headed up Bear Creek Canyon to and through Evergreen. At the Evergreen reservoir we left the highway and continued on up the canyon on Upper Bear Creek Road to Witter Gulch Road. Then it was up, up, up till we reached the Squaw Pass road. I had to wonder how some of these new guys were doing on this very technical road as they dropped well out of sight behind me, but everyone made it to the top.

From there we turned east down to Evergreen Parkway and got separated by cars along the way. When those eight of us in front got through the traffic signal, the five behind did not. That might not have mattered but we very quickly then turned off Evergreen Parkway at CR65, which runs northwest to cross I-70 and connect with old U.S. 40 just on the eastern downslope of Floyd Hill. Gray, who was leading, had said he would stop at turns so no one would get lost but he didn’t, nor did anyone else. As the last one in the eight I did stop, but I was afraid I would not be particularly visible as the others came along.

My fear was well founded. They came roaring along and went straight on through the intersection, never even noticing me though I was waving to get their attention. I waited a few minutes to see if they had spotted me at least and would come back but no one showed so I slowly headed along, pulling over a couple times to let cars past me. Finally I sped up to try to catch the others.

The first obvious spot for the main group to wait would have been where CR65 hits U.S. 40 but they weren’t there. I deduced that it was more likely that they were heading up Floyd Hill to drop down on the other side into Clear Creek Canyon and U.S. 6. I headed that direction and there at the top they were pulled over waiting. Gene came back and asked me about the others, then passed that info along. Nothing much to now but keep going and figure they knew the destination.

So down we went into the canyon, to where U.S. 6 branches off from the Peak-to-Peak Highway and there we went toward Black Hawk just a short distance before taking the sharp right turn to take us up Douglas Mountain Drive.

This is a terrific road and now that it’s nearly completely paved, though very roughly at points, it should be a must for anyone out for some fun riding. Up and over the top and then we dropped down into Golden Gate Canyon. We turned east to come out at Golden and then on to our lunch spot. No sign there of the other guys so we went on in and got tables. Then five minutes later there they were.

Turns out, they knew they had lost us so they pulled over to confer. Bruce had a pretty good idea of the planned route so he led and they pretty much followed the same route we did. If we had stopped at some point, even for a few minutes, they probably would have caught up with us. So all was well. And what a great day for a ride! And what a good route.