Passes & Canyons Blog

Don’t get me wrong, I like riding out to Patty Ann’s in Kiowa for breakfast but the RMMRC has been going there an awful lot since the weather got cold and the mountain roads got icy. So it was nice on Tuesday–a beautiful, warm March day–to go somewhere else.

That somewhere else was Bruce’s, up in Severance. So, where the heck is Severance you might ask. If you figure that Windsor is just about in the middle of the Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley triangle, Severance is just a bit northeast of Windsor. Which is to say, a little east-southeast of Fort Collins. OK, glad we got that settled. Here’s a map.

Now, one of the big reasons the RMMRC doesn’t go north of Denver a lot is that most of us are on the south side and getting through or around the city is no fun. But Bob led us onto I-225 north, up Pena Boulevard and off at Tower Road, which wasn’t too painful. From Tower Road we turned west on 120th and then north on Sable into Brighton. Then north on Weld County Road 27 to Fort Lupton, west on CO 42, then a whole bunch of lefts and rights that took us to Severance.

Severance isn’t much of a town, and Bruce’s seems to be the happening place. We sat out on their semi-enclosed patio and had a really good lunch. Apparently the food is known to be pretty darn good there, although none of us indulged in their specialty, which is rocky mountain oysters. I had the Buffalo chicken sandwich and it was very good.

After lunch we had a lot of choices on how to get home but Bob had a good plan in mind. The real question, again, is how to avoid all the nasty city traffic. What we did was go straight west out of Severance, which took us into Fort Collins but out of town on the road that runs up to Horsetooth Reservoir. That brought us around to Masonville, where we headed south to meet US 34 as it heads up toward Estes Park. We only jogged right then left to get on the road up past Carter Lake and then back onto the flatlands.

Some small county roads and some zig-zagging brought us south around Longmont, down to Niwot, and then more of same brought us past the east end of Boulder, across US 36 on Cherryvale Road, and then south on CO 93 to Morrison, at which point everyone went their own separate ways.

This was a really terrific day of riding–new roads, a new place to eat, and a heck of a good job avoiding the worst traffic areas. Heck, we may have to go north more often. I mean, I’m thinking about Jerry D’s in Dacono . . .

Biker Quote for Today

Challenge yourself daily! Ride the mountains! Hug the curves! Live free!

I thought the RMMRC had decided to suspend all group rides until the peak of the virus had passed so I was surprised to get an email from the Meetup page about a ride two Wednesdays ago. So I went riding.

It was no big deal, just another run out to Patty Ann’s in Kiowa for brunch. But on a nice day Patty Ann’s is a good place to gather. They have a large patio out back where we can sit not too close together in the open air. And they have really good food.

We were surprised when we got there to see that they have installed tents to shelter you from the weather and to maintain separation between different parties. That didn’t really suit us, though. First off, it was a little cool and we wanted the sun. Secondly, whereas a family might sit together in one tent, close to each other but no one else, we wanted to maintain distance amongst ourselves. So we moved two tables out into an open area to meet our wishes. And then of course we moved them back before we left.

So the RMMRC is going through some realignment these days. Robert, this year’s president, has moved to Panama so that spot needed filling. Robert was also one of the most active organizers of rides so other people need to step up.

Roy, one of the founders of the club, takes a personal interest in seeing it continue so he has personally taken to urging greater involvement of other members, which definitely means he has turned some of his focus on me. Every time we talk he urges me to offer any ideas for rides that I might have. And I do have an idea I intend to offer.

In the case of this ride he threw out the question of who wanted to lead. As he scanned the group his eyes lit on me and he said, “How about you, Ken?” Bob, who often leads, said he would do it but he only knows one boring route. I said I knew a different road. So I lead the ride down to Kiowa. It was a simple route, just out Parker Road (CO 83) to Bayou Gulch Road, just south of the south entrance to the Pinery, which leads to Flintwood Road, which we took south to CO 86 and then east to Kiowa.

Then on the way back we didn’t want to take the same route in reverse so someone suggested we go back to just past Flintwood, like about 100 feet past Flintwood, and take that road, Deerfield Road, to Russellville Road to CO 83. Somehow I got designated to lead again, so I did.

In all there was nothing at all extraordinary about this day’s ride. But it was a heck of a nice day to be out on a motorcycle and clearly the transition to new leadership is underway for the RMMRC. I’m happy to do my part.

Biker Quote for Today

Just one more motorcycle . . . I promise.

Wednesday seemed like it would be a great day to ride, so Roy planned a fall color RMMRC ride up the Peak-to-Peak. As I headed out, though, going west on Hampden, I couldn’t even see the foothills. Either I was heading into a serious rainstorm or a ginormous cloud of smoke.

I assumed it was smoke from the forest fires, and counted on that because I did not have my rain gear with me. As I got further west I started smelling the smoke, so that question was answered.

As I approached C-470 I could see that the smoke was much much thicker to the north, where I still couldn’t see the foothills, versus the south where I could see the hills. Not good, considering that we were heading north.

When I got to the meeting place I immediately asked Roy if he had a Plan B. He said of course he did, but he apparently didn’t hear the “B” portion because he proceeded to detail the route originally set. That is, he definitely had a plan. Not a Plan B. I asked about the smoke but he didn’t think it was of any concern.

We headed up the Golden Gate Canyon road and I wondered if, as we got higher, the smoke would either clear or perhaps the wind would be blowing up there and chasing it away. In the meantime, it was killing my sinuses and I coughed constantly.

Up on the Peak-to-Peak it was better than down below but not good. But it wasn’t terrible. We headed north and whenever we came to places where we went down, such as coming into Rollinsville and Nederland, you could see the denser smoke in the lower areas and you could sure smell it as we came down.

Just past the turn-off to Ward we turned left to go up into Brainard Lake Recreation Area, our destination. I was a little surprised but the fact is I had never been there. It’s a really nice ride up to the lake and very pretty once you get up there. More importantly, we really seemed to finally shed the smoke as we climbed this little bit higher.

So we got up there and had the lunches we had brought and the sky was blue and sunny and it was beautiful. How nice. You couldn’t have asked for better. And the place was busy. Don’t all these people have jobs to go to? Apparently not. We didn’t.

Heading down it was startling how quickly we hit smoke again. We hadn’t even made it back to the ranger building where you pay your entry fee when it started looking and smelling smoky. And then by the time we were back down to the Peak-to-Peak we were right back in it.

From there we scattered. There are so many ways to get down from there. Some of us went down through Ward through Left Hand Canyon. Others headed for Coal Creek Canyon. Others, who knows?

Riding down Left Hand Canyon I realized I had only been this way a few times, not like the dozens or hundreds of times I’ve ridden the other canyons coming up to the Peak-to-Peak. It’s a nice ride and I realized I ought to be adding this canyon to my “The Peak-to-Peak Highway and Adjoining Canyons” page. Something else to add to my to-do list.

Biker Quote for Today

Top 10 signs that a computer is owned by a Harley rider: 02. — The keyboard is mounted at the level of the user’s chin and his seat tilts backward — ape-hanger keyboard!

Kudos to Bob for planning and leading an RMMRC ride that went well off the beaten track and introduced me to roads close to town that I had never known existed. One over-riding aspect of this route was the demonstration of just how fully built out the hills west of Denver are. I had heard before that if you flew in a small airplane above the foothills you would see that there are people everywhere. This ride really proved that out.

We started out from Morrison, jumping on C-470 briefly to get over to U.S. 285 heading southwest. Very shortly we turned off at the Tiny Town exit onto Turkey Creek Road. Just past where Deer Creek Canyon Road runs off to the left we made a right turn that took us up into the heavily developed (relatively speaking) area between Turkey Creek Road and 285. Following a variety of local roads we looped through the area and ended up back on Turkey Creek Road probably only a mile or so from where we got off. But in the interim we would around through a very nice area on some nice roads. With houses all along the way.

Continuing south and west on Turkey Creek Road we then turned off to the south on Hilldale Drive and into another area of houses. Here, though, the road climbed and we ended up on what is aptly named City View Drive. The city and the plains are clearly visible from up here, as is U.S. 285 off to the north.

This is where things got a bit out of kilter. Looking at the map today I see what I think must have been Bob’s planned route. If you make the right turns–GPS probably your best bet–you can work your way over to Pleasant Park Road and back onto 285 at Conifer. Bob’s GPS was not serving him well. We made several wrong turns, ended up on dirt roads and generally groped our way until we found our way back to where we had turned off Turkey Creek Road.

But we were still seeing some roads and some views we had never seen before. I had no complaint. I was on my Concours, which generally hates gravel, but in fact it really hates loose gravel. Because this was hard-packed dirt I had no problem.

Besides the demonstration of just how full the hills are of homes I was also struck by how very many people we saw out walking, either on their own or walking their dogs, along these roads. They were everywhere and for the most part they were very friendly and waved–and in one case even cheered– as we went by. I suspect they don’t get many motorcycle groups cruising through their neighborhoods.

We then followed Turkey Creek Road to where it terminates back at U.S. 285 over by Meyer Ranch Open Space Park. That ended the first segment of this ride and the other segments warrant their own space so I’ll save them for later blog posts following this one. There is one other thing I want to mention here, though.

This was a fairly lengthy ride altogether. Bob had promised “111 miles, 1 million curves” and that really gives you an idea of what this ride was like. With that kind of promo I knew I would be most comfortable on the V-Strom but I had not yet ridden the Concours in September so despite knowing the V would be the better bike for the ride, I rode the Connie.

That was OK because I’m a pretty skillful rider and I had no problem maneuvering that big bike through the many switchbacks and tight curves we traversed. To my surprise, though, by the time I got home I was exhausted. Riding a motorcycle is not a passive activity the way that driving a car can be, and hours of steering a big bike through serious twisties adds up to significant effort. I got home just in time to go to my appointment at the gym and by the time I was walking home from the gym I found myself stopping every place I found shade to rest. I was tired!

Biker Quote for Today

Top 10 signs that a computer is owned by a Harley rider: 03. — Expansion slots have Genuine Harley-Davidson bike parts installed in them.

I went riding with the RMMRC last week and Bob led us on an interesting ride. What made it particularly interesting for me was that it was almost exactly the ride I set out to lead the group on recently except in reverse.

On both rides we went over Guanella Pass. In the first instance we went out U.S. 285 to Grant and over to Georgetown. This time we went Georgetown to Grant. The first time, when we stopped on top of the pass I said I could lead the group back to Denver with barely a couple miles of interstate. Everyone liked that idea so I took the lead.

Then a funny thing happened at Idaho Springs: everyone else peeled off and went their own way. OK, not what I expected.

So there we were last week at Morrison. Apparently the plan to go over Guanella had been agreed upon and I was unaware of that. I just followed as Bob led us up past Red Rocks and then turned west on U.S. 40. Great, I like that road. We went up to Genesee, where you have to get on I-70, and a few miles later took the exit for Evergreen Parkway.

At this point I was thinking Bob was either doing my route in reverse or else we were headed up Squaw Pass. But he surprised me by turning right onto Soda Creek Road at Bergen Park. Interesting. I’d never been on that road.

It was a good road, although it turned to gravel after a few miles. Still, it was extremely good gravel and I was on the Honda CB750 and that’s a go-anywhere bike so that was fine. A few miles further and we went under the interstate and came out onto U.S. 40 again. So now I was wondering–and I still don’t know the answer–if he intended to come this way or if he missed the turn he intended, the one on my route, back at the Evergreen Parkway turnoff that would have put us back on 40 right away.

Doesn’t matter, I was glad to be shown a new road. And looking at the map I see there is another road just a mile farther along that also runs over to 40 from Evergreen Parkway. That’s Jefferson County Road 65 and it looks like it may be paved all the way. Now I want to go ride that and find out.

So we were back on U.S. 40, running alongside I-70 for the most part, and we took that up Floyd Hill and down to where it meets U.S. 6 coming up out of Clear Creek Canyon. We turned left and got onto I-70 just up to Idaho Springs. Now I was figuring again that we were doing Squaw Pass, only coming west to east rather than east to west.

But no, Bob led us back onto U.S. 6 at the west end of town and we followed that road all the way to Georgetown. Except for that jog over Soda Creek Road this was exactly my route in reverse, and we clearly were doing Guanella.

And we did. It was a clear, beautiful day up on top and then it was the same old ride from Grant back to town. My only complaint about living in Denver all these years is that so many of these roads we ride, such as U.S. 285, are roads I have done hundreds and hundreds of times. Fine, I’ll quit complaining. It could be so much worse. And I have not done Guanella hundreds of times. Only a couple dozen.

Did I ever mention I used to know Byron Guanella, the guy this pass is named for? That’s a story for another day, although not a particularly interesting one.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if you encourage your kids to go to the Motorcycle Mechanic’s Institute instead of college.

How odd is it to say I was glad while riding Wednesday that I was dressed warmly enough? I mean, the daily highs the last week or more have been in the upper 90s and I’ve been riding with my mesh jacket and only a sleeveless t-shirt underneath.

Wednesday was different. I didn’t know how different until I stepped out to get the bike ready. It was chilly–Chilly!–and looked like rain to the west. I opted to wear a sweatshirt under the jacket along with the t-shirt.

That proved to be the perfect combination. It was quite cool riding but very comfortable. After such beastly heat it was a wonderful day to ride.

So this was one of the usual Wednesday RMMRC rides. I met the group over at the pancake house. Several of the regulars were there but not going on the ride. Of those riding, only Dave was familiar to me. One other was a long-time member who I’m not familiar with and the rest were new folks, brought in by the Meetup.org posting. I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: Meetup is a great way to bring new members to your club. Once the RMMRC switched from its old website to Meetup there has been an explosion of new members.

The ride was nothing special, just the standard loop through Monument. South through Sedalia to Palmer Lake and Monument and then over east to CO 83 and back north to the city. All the socializing was beforehand in the pancake house. But the riding was sweet, so cool, after such heat. And we never got rained on.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if you buy bikes as investments.

It was almost hot in Denver Wednesday morning so I selected a mesh jacket, although I left the liner in. I was taking the CB750 and didn’t want to carry the bags so I didn’t have anywhere to put a sweatshirt or anything. It’s a very warm day, right?

Meeting up with the RMMRC there were 10 of us, five Hondas, two Beemers, a Triumph, a Harley, and a Can-Am Spyder. I was sweating standing around waiting to roll. Let’s go to the hills.

Several of the folks reported large numbers of cops out with radar and sure enough we saw a few. A good day to take it easy but that’s not the nature of Bob or Robert, who took turns leading this day. Fortunately no tickets but my 1980 CB has a governor on it and its top speed is 85, and I’ve only hit that speed once in all these years. I had that thing cranked full throttle much of the day.

We went out US 285 to Pine Junction and turned south. Stopped for a break and a snack at Deckers. That was interesting. There were quite a few people around and almost nobody was wearing a mask. The woman clerking the store was, though.

While we were there three guys came in on two big Harleys and a big Beemer. They swung around into their desired position as easy as can be and I said to myself they have got to be motorcycle cops. Almost no one but motorcycle cops handle big bikes that well. I started walking over but before I got there I saw the Colorado State Patrol insignias on their bikes and my question was answered.

We continued on down to Woodland Park and turned west on US 24. At Lake George we turned north to Tarryall Reservoir. We stopped at a parking lot with an outhouse and many of us made use of that facility. When it was my turn I went in and could not believe my eyes. This has got to be, hands down, the nastiest outhouse I have seen in my life. Plus, the door doesn’t close.

I cannot begin to describe the filth but think about this: one of the women in our group used it. She told us she just straddled it and stood above it. But what, did she take her pants completely off? Ponder that one for awhile.

Continuing north we were also gaining altitude and it was getting cool. And I knew we still had to go up Kenosha Pass. I was hoping I wasn’t going to be cursing myself for foolishness. It did get darn chilly but once we got over the top of Kenosha and headed down it warmed up quickly.

We stopped in Bailey for gas and with eight of us now, and six pumps, some of us had to wait. Me. Just before one of us could claim it this young guy on a dirt bike rolled up to one of the pumps. I figured he would fill up quicker than the person on the opposite pump so I waited for him. Well, this guy finished filling his tank and whipped out his cell phone and started fiddling with it. Dude, are you totally clueless? Pull away from the dang pump and let someone else use it! Idiot.

From there it was just a straight shot back down the hill and home. A good day to ride, and the first long ride for me in a while.

Biker Quote for Today

Top 10 signs that a computer is owned by a Harley rider:
10. — The monitor & CPU have been repainted orange and black.

I’m torn over how to begin this post. I had been figuring on “We saw a lot of motorcycles up on the Peak to Peak Wednesday.” But then it started shifting toward “Holy smokes there were motorcycles everywhere on Wednesday.” Either way, as you can guess, I finally went on another ride with the RMMRC.

I had been persuaded not to ride for a while by the argument that it was selfish and inappropriate to risk injury at a time when emergency resources were overtaxed. But with things opening up a bit now, and no flooding of the emergency rooms, I figured that argument was no longer valid.

Apparently a lot of other people think the same way.

There were 10 of us in Wednesday’s group: five Hondas, two Beemers, a Concours, a V-Strom, and a Spyder. (Surprisingly, we must have seen about 10 other Spyders this day. That’s a lot.)

We headed out US 287 to C-470 to the Golden Gate Park road, up to the Peak to Peak, to CO 7 running down to Lyons. From Lyons the group scattered as each took their preferred way home.

It was a beautiful day to ride. Still a little cool up on the Peak to Peak, especially at higher altitudes, but never cold. The roads were clean with no ice and no sand. All in all: great.

As you can see in the photo above, at a stop in Nederland, we do take the distancing recommendation seriously.

One thing that has emerged as a real issue on these rides is that in so many places the restrooms are closed. We made a stop right where we hit the Peak to Peak and some of us guys used the woods but there were two women on this ride as well and they were kind of SOL. Maybe that will change now. I know the parking lots for the mountain parks we passed were all full of cars so you would think those restrooms ought to be open. Maybe they were; we didn’t try any of those.

So nothing of any note on the ride but on my way home there were two interesting encounters. I came down CO 93 to head east on US 287 and as I headed east I saw a guy on a bike going the other way who tapped the top of his helmet. Oh really, cops up ahead? Sure enough, there was the guy with the radar gun and two squad cars further down, one in wait and the other issuing a ticket. I hadn’t been going all that fast anyway but I was glad to have slowed down a couple mph so as to pass at a legal speed.

Then as I got into the section where 287 is more urban and has traffic signals I was pulling away as the light went green and heard this roar and some guy on a sport bike blasted past me going really fast. I watched him weave in and out of traffic, splitting lanes when he chose to, and he was gone. But then I caught up with him at the next red light. When that light went green he wheelied out and went blasting out of sight and I caught up with him again at the next red light. Maybe he was just having fun but if he thought he was going to get to his destination quicker I’ve got some news for him.

So yeah, riding is back. Maybe I’ll finally use enough gas that I need to fill up, and can take advantage of some of these incredibly low prices. The lowest I saw Wednesday was $1.39.9. Who would have believed that?!

Biker Quote for Today

100 Reasons not to date a motorcyclist: Speeding tickets.