Passes & Canyons Blog

The forecast in a couple days is for freezing weather but Sunday was very nice. I was not the only motorcyclist out on the road. Not by a long shot.

I fired up the Honda and headed out. First thing I needed gas so I stopped at my usual nearby station. I did the thing with the credit card and selected the grade of gas I wanted and as I lifted the hose out of the slot gas started pouring out. The trigger thing you squeeze to get the gas flowing had been left in the locked-on position when it was put back in the slot. I don’t know if this was just chance–it has never happened before–or it was some jerk’s malicious trick. But there was gas splashed across the ground and over a good bit of my bike.

Heading west on Hampden I soon passed another bike going the other way, with the guy doing big swerves, slaloming. I thought, he has a new tire and is scuffing it up. That reminded me that, oh yeah, I have a new tire and I need to be scuffing it up. (If you read my previous post just stay with me.) So I started doing that a little, too.

I turned north on C-470, just to the Morrison exit, went into Morrison and then north again on Hog Back Road (CO 93), which runs up past Red Rocks. Then just past I-70 I turned west on old US 40, which runs alongside I-70 into the mountains. So nice not to be on the slab.

On this stretch of road you have two stop signs, at I-70 intersections, to accommodate people getting on or off the highway. Then there’s a third stop and if you keep going you have to get onto I-70 briefly. I got on I-70 and then off again quickly at Evergreen Parkway, then made the right to head back to I-70 and across it to resume US 40.

US 40 wanders further away from I-70 here but you can sometimes see it up above and to the left. As I started drawing near again I was surprised to see three feed lots alongside 40. These may have been there and I just haven’t noticed but they presumably never had livestock in them. This day two of them were full — of bison. Wow. OK. Didn’t expect that.

There are a couple more stop signs along this stretch, except there weren’t. I got to the first one and it was gone, replaced by a roundabout. This is very new, and I do approve. It has always been an annoyance to have to stop when there was usually nobody to stop for.

And then as I reached the top of Floyd Hill, where there has always been one more stop sign, it was gone, too, replaced by a very large and more complex roundabout and bypass around the whole mess if you’re staying on 40. I definitely like that!

Heading down the back side of Floyd Hill I could see some of the work they’re doing to straighten out I-70 at the bottom where it bends into Clear Creek Canyon. But even yet there doesn’t seem to be much to see other than some widening. I met US 6 at the bottom of the hill and turned left to get on westbound I-70 again and then the construction really became evident. The entire stretch between the junction and Idaho Springs is one big construction zone. There are interstate lanes you have known forever that are closed and new ones that didn’t exist before. And all kinds of lane shifts. Good to get past all this.

I stopped at the park in Idaho Springs to use the facilities and the dangling cord of my electric vest reminded me that I had forgotten to plug it in before leaving home. I had noticed it right away and when I stopped at a red light I put the bike in neutral in order to use both hands to plug it in but there was nothing to plug it into. Has it been like this ever since I had this bike in for service back in the spring? Is the plug there, just tucked under the seat? I’d have to check on this later.

Well, this stop at the park was later and I looked and could not see the plug anywhere. If it’s under the seat that’s no problem except on this old bike removing the seat is a major pain, not like the modern key release seats of motorcycles today. That was an answer I would have to come up with later. I hoped it would not be too chilly up on top of Squaw Pass, where I was headed.

From Idaho Springs I headed up toward Squaw Pass, on what I guess is now called Mount Blue Sky Highway rather than Squaw Pass Road. The road runs up Chicago Creek and then makes a sharp left and starts climbing. It was at that point that I was at about 50 miles on this new tire, so that meant the center was well scuffed but the edges not so much. That was about to change. I passed a sign that read “Steep grades and sharp curves next 7 miles.” Oh, please don’t throw me in that briar patch.

And then it dawned on me, hey you idiot, you’re on the Honda, not the V-Strom. You got the new tire on the V-Strom. Heck, the rear tire on this bike is probably going to need to be replaced soon. That scuffing you’ve been doing was pointless. Doh.

Fine. So I headed up Squaw Pass and yeah, it got darn chilly up there. How chilly? There was snow on the ground, the first I’ve seen this fall. That’s how chilly. If I’d had the option of turning on the electric vest you can bet I would have. Oh well, better to figure this out today than some really cold day later when I’ll really need the warmth.

Over the pass and heading down the other side I came up behind a couple on bikes. She was in the lead and they were not riding at all aggressively. I just tucked in behind. Then we came to a blind right-hand turn that surprised in how sharp it suddenly became. I know I had to grab a bit of brake unexpectedly.

I had the impression that this was a couple, him an experienced rider, her just learning. This curve may have alarmed her because just a short ways ahead she spotted a place to pull over and did. Or maybe she was just being courteous, figuring I wanted to go faster. I’ll never know.

From there it was just down to Evergreen Parkway, the leftward jog to pick up Kerr Gulch Road, to Kittredge, and then down to Morrison and on home. What a nice day’s ride! Big cold coming on Tuesday.

Biker Quote for Today

All a gal needs is a little black dress and a big bad bike.

The RMMRC planned a fall color ride last week so of course I went along. Gathering at the Phillips 66 in Morrison the group was huge. There were at least 14 bikes plus two cars. Wow. Big group, I mentioned to Dave. Yeah, he said, too big.

We headed up Bear Creek Canyon to Evergreen, through town and out the west side on Upper Bear Creek Road to the Witter Gulch Road, which is a really steep climb with super-tight switchbacks near the top. A fun motorcycle road, in other words. At the top you come to CO 103, the Squaw Pass road, which we took left, over the pass, past Echo Lake, and down to Idaho Springs.

It was a really nice day to be riding in the hills, a little cool but I had on full cold weather gear and could not have been more comfortable. But there was not much color to be seen on the way up. That was no surprise to me because Judy and I had just been up to Estes Park, over Trail Ridge Road, and down to Grand Lake the week before and we didn’t see much color then either, and now another week had passed. Mostly the green was just turning brown.

From Idaho Springs we took old US 6 up to Georgetown, where we had a lunch stop planned. Arriving, we found the restaurant closed. Someone had checked with the visitor center and they had pointed us to a brewpub on the east edge of town by the lake. Presumably that was where we were going to go.

Roy asked me to help him push back off this gravel parking area we were on and I did, so I was the very last to leave this first restaurant. I knew where this brew pub was, though, because I had seen it coming into town. As I headed back that way I soon started seeing members of our group coming back toward town, apparently having gone not far enough and thinking they had missed the place. I waved at them to go the way I was headed. Then at the roundabout off I-70 I saw others pulling into a restaurant right there. I waved to them as well but nobody seemed to be following me.

I rode on out to the brew pub and pulled out my phone. Meanwhile, a couple from the group did show up but did not stick around. The only phone number I had was Dave so I called him and told him where I was and that the place was open and there were people inside eating. He told me the place by the roundabout didn’t even open for another 15 minutes and he would tell some of the others but meanwhile he was coming out to join me. A few minutes later he did, no one else did, and we went in to eat. It turned out later that Dave is diabetic and he was nearing a blood sugar crisis so he just needed food, NOW!

So it was kind of pleasant just the two of us. It gave us a chance to talk and get a little better acquainted. I’ve known Dave for about five years now but in a group setting you often don’t have a chance to really get to know people. One on one you do.

After lunch Dave asked if I intended to rejoin the group. I had planned to but he noted that what with finding a place to eat and then getting such a big group served they were not likely to be ready to ride for maybe another hour. He was just going to go on over Guanella Pass without them. Besides, Dave is a go-fast guy and he had not enjoyed the sedate pace you have to take with such a large group.

I went with Dave. At first there was a lot of traffic going up Guanella but apparently a lot of people were planning to hike and every time we passed a trailhead the numbers thinned so soon we were cruising along comfortably. And what a beautiful day! But not much color. Oh well, I’ve seen yellow leaves before.

Over the top and then we pulled out at a view area to get a few photos, such as the one above. Just then in pulled John, another RMMRC member, in his car with his wife, out to see the leaves. Fun. Oh, and there was a bit more color over on the south side of the pass.

So we cruised on down to Grant, picked up US 40 back to town and split up when the time came. It really was a much more pleasant ride just the two of us. I hope the rest of those folks found a good place to eat.

Biker Quote for Today

You are not alone when your bike is with you.

Nick and I were getting ready to head out from the Meeker Hotel on the last day of our three-day trip and I couldn’t find my cell phone. Twice in the six days Nick and I spent riding together he couldn’t find his but in both cases he finally found it in a pants pocket. He had new riding pants and kept putting it there rather than his usual spot, in his jacket pocket. But that was not my situation.

I had Nick try calling me but we didn’t hear a ring. We went out to the bikes and tried again and still didn’t hear anything. I had looked absolutely everywhere. Did I leave it at the restaurant in Hotchkiss the day before? Thinking it through, I remembered that I had–as I always do–texted Judy the night before to let her know we had arrived safely. So I definitely didn’t leave it in Hotchkiss. So if I had it here in Meeker I must have . . . left it . . . and I turned around to look at the bench in front of the Meeker Hotel, where Nick and I had sat for a while the night before . . . and there it was, on the bench. Relief!

So we left Meeker headed north to Craig, turned east on US 40 to Hayden to the 20-Mile Road, down to Oak Creek, to Toponas, over Gore Pass, and US 40 the rest of the way to Empire. We stopped for ice cream and I asked Nick what route he wanted to take, Squaw Pass being the longest and I-70 being the shortest. This whole trip to Colorado Nick had been tiring out easily, seemingly connected to dehydration. I urged him to drink Gatorade but mostly he drank water. A lot of water. He did seem to have gotten acclimated a good bit though, because despite this much longer ride than the first few days, he chose Squaw Pass.

So we went that way. I-70 from Empire to Idaho Springs and then south over Squaw pass on CO 103. I pulled over at a view point up on the pass and Nick said he was really glad I had, he had just gotten stung in the face. I also found a dead bee on my seat. We must have gone through a swarm. But he rides with his visor up and I don’t. I was glad in this case that I don’t.

Rather than take CO 103 down to Evergreen Parkway I led us down the Witter Gulch Road to the west side of Evergreen. This is a really steep road with super tight switchbacks that I thought he might enjoy, but when I asked him later what he thought of Witter Gulch he was only concerned with doing something for his sting and never commented on the road. Oh well. I can see how pain can distract you from enjoying a road you would otherwise be thrilled to be riding. Too bad.

And then again, as had been the case on two of our previous rides, the last slog across Hampden during rush hour was the worst, congested and really hot. That’s really the worst thing about living on the east side of town. Bill’s place, on the other hand, backs up onto CO 93 and he looks out his back window on the foothills. I have to ride 20 minutes to get to his starting point. But we bore up to the heat–again. I’m so glad that hot spell is finally gone. And Nick’s gone, too, headed back to Chicago.

Biker Quote for Today

You only have one life to ride.

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.

When the temperatures are consistently in the high 90s there is one thing you can do to escape: take a motorcycle ride in the mountains. We did.

The Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club (RMMRC) tries to have rides going on nearly every week. The week before we did the Peak-to-Peak and the canyons running down from it. This time we overlapped that route but tended more to the south.

Six of us met in Golden and headed up Golden Gate Canyon. The temps heading up weren’t cool but it sure wasn’t 95 either. One note, there is a stretch with quite a bit of sand on the road. Be careful.

We reached the Peak-to-Peak and headed south to Black Hawk, then turned up toward Central City. We passed through Central City and took Central City Parkway over to I-70. Now it was pretty darn comfortable.

At I-70 we hopped over to Idaho Springs where we stopped for lunch. The place we were heading for was no longer in business so we went downtown. The place we had in mind there had no indoor seating but had one big table with a big umbrella outside. The heat outside would have been intolerable but the umbrella made all the difference. A couple thousand feet of elevation helped a lot, too.

From Idaho Springs we headed up and over Squaw Pass. Now we got some real elevation and some cloud cover, too. Nice.

The Squaw Pass road is one of those that separates the aggressive riders from the not-so-much guys. It has a lot of twists and turns and a lot of very tight turns, often posted at 15 or 20 mph. I was perfectly having them blast ahead just as fast as they liked. I’m in no hurry.

Back down to Evergreen Parkway and a right toward Evergreen, and then we skirted around the town via Meadow Drive. If you aren’t familiar with avoiding downtown by using Meadow Drive you ought to look it up. I can’t believe I went so many years and never knew about it.

Then we headed down to Kittredge but turned up Myers Gulch Road, which becomes Parmalee Gulch Road, bringing us out onto US 285. That just allowed us to stay in the hills a little bit longer.

And then we came down out of the hills expecting to get hit by a blast of heat but instead, as soon as we rolled out onto the flatlands we hit a rain shower. Not enough to get soaked, just enough to cool things off. I was on the Concours, which has a great fairing, so I hardly got wet at all. And the rain kept up until we got nearly to Federal. From there it was just a short cruise the rest of the way home and what little wet I had picked up just had time to evaporate–read: cool me off–by the time I was home.

I love it when everything goes in your favor.

Biker Quote for Today

The joy of riding a motorcycle is out of this world. The thrill of riding in the hills and mountains is an opiatic addiction.

As many times as I have ridden the Squaw Pass road I never noticed this one paved road heading off to the south. But now I’ve got to tell you about it.

I was riding with Bob and Robert, the Go Fast Buddies, on an RMMRC Wednesday impromptu ride. Bob proposed Witter Gulch, Robert said that sounded good, and I said I didn’t know Witter Gulch. Apparently that road connects to the Squaw Pass road but Dave wasn’t sure he could spot the turn-off. Then let’s go up it, Robert suggested. Just take the turn by the lake in Evergreen. OK, that will work.

So we got to Evergreen and the turn and Bob kept straight. Robert had been trying to signal Dave that this was the turn but now he just raised his arm, palm up, signaling “Well, OK.”

I guess Dave figured he could find the turn and wanted to go down, not up. We turned onto the Squaw Pass road and at a point where the road curves to the right there was a road to the left and he took it. We followed. This was indeed Witter Gulch Road.

And what a road! Holy crap! You can see in that Google Maps image above how it is one switchback after another. It make sense. The Squaw Pass road at that point runs along a ridge and anything in either direction could only be down. A lot.

Down we went. This is a good road, with excellent pavement. But you’re never going to get up much speed. I hope and presume that Bob was scanning the road ahead because at each switchback he late apexed to the point of going way over into the oncoming lane, while Robert and I just slowed down enough to stay in our lane.

Then there was the point where my attention flagged for an instant and I realized I was scary close to the edge of the road at a point where beyond the asphalt there was only air. OK, put all other thoughts aside until you get down where it’s more level. Dummy.

We got down to Upper Bear Creek Road and now the road followed the creek. There were obviously expensive houses along Witter Gulch Road all the way but now we were into one of those areas where you look around and wonder where in the world all these people got all this money. Ten of me together couldn’t buy one of these houses.

We pulled off at the Evergreen Country Club and agreed it was time to head home. Then on down along Bear Creek to Morrison and off in our separate directions. Thanks for the tip, Bob. I’ll be going back to that road. And I may need to point it out on the website.

Biker Quote for Today

Vinyl Tension-o-meter. Using a vernier caliper you measure the amount of seat vinyl you have sucked into a ridge by rapid contraction of your butt cheeks as the result of a near accident. Also referred to as “pucker factor.”

I got a different perspective on the concept of “ride your own ride” on the Old Bike Ride Sunday. Normally that idea is that you should ride in the manner you are comfortable and not try to keep up with someone going faster, especially if you are not comfortable with that speed.

Here’s a different take: Start off on the ride whenever you feel like it; you don’t need to start with the group. Then, do whatever section or sections of the ride you wish and blow off the others. This went on a lot on this ride.

It was a smaller group than I expected at the starting point in Golden. I’d guess there were about 35 people hanging around. Getting started, one person would take off, then maybe a group of three, then a few minutes later another single, another single, a group of two . . . OK, everyone knows where we’re going–just get there at your own pace. The first leg was up Lookout Mountain. Slow going with a lot of bicycles intermixed with the motorcycles and the cars.

Then we got to the first stop, up at Buffalo Bill’s grave site, and there were only about 20 people. Apparently a fair number of people just come to say hello and look at the bikes, but have no intention of actually doing the ride.

We took off from there but soon there was no group at all, just a bunch of bikes moving at different speeds and few in view either behind or in front of you. This leg was over to I-70, a short hop to Evergreen Parkway, and then a right onto CO 103 over Squaw Pass, past Echo Lake. We pulled in at the next stop, Echo Lake Lodge, with people straggling in over 10 or 15 minutes, even though we had all left the last stop at roughly the same time.

Then, just a few minutes after I got there, about half the group headed out again. The remainder had no intention of going anywhere for at least another 15 minutes.

We continued on CO 103 down to Idaho Springs, hopped on I-70 a few miles to U.S. 6 going down Clear Creek Canyon. The group was heading on up to Nederland for lunch but I had no inclination to go to Nederland so I went down the canyon, back to Golden and on home. So I joined in the ethic of riding my own ride.

But it was a really nice day to be out riding. This was my first ride into the hills of 2019 and boy, was I glad I wore my electric vest and my winter gloves. Going over Squaw Pass was cold! And the ground was still almost completely covered with snow, although the road itself was clear and dry, with not even the expected sand you usually see at the end of winter.

And finally, on my third try, I took part in the Old Bike Ride 17.

Biker Quote for Today

An old motorcycle is like an onion, the more layers you peel back the more your eyes water.

For my third ride since I won the Battle Back to the Bike, I headed out to Morrison, up 93 to I-70 and then got on old U.S. 40 going up Mount Vernon Canyon, right alongside I-70, at least for awhile. I had been up this way earlier this year but wanted to explore more.

For starters, once you get up to the buffalo overlook exit from I-70, it appears U.S. 40 merges at least for a few miles with I-70. But where does the road go on either side at that exit? I figured I’d find out.

First I went to the south side. The road to the left seemed to go into a housing development; I turned right. Right away there was a sign announcing Genesee Mountain Park, one of Denver’s mountain parks. Have I ever been here before? And does this road go anywhere beyond the park? Time to find out.

Things started looking familiar very quickly and I concluded I had indeed been here before, but it was either 40 years ago or perhaps only 30 years ago. So it was like a first visit.

The road climbed its way up Genesee Mountain to picnic areas, with signs for a trail, but then came to an end. Second question answered. Gonna have to backtrack. Heading back down I was surprised to look off to my right, to the east, and there was the Sleeper house. In case you’re unacquainted, this is a futuristic-looking house that was featured in an old Woody Allen movie, titled not surprisingly, “Sleeper.” But there it was, down below me, over on the crest of the next ridge. I’ve only ever seen it from I-70.

So back down to I-70 and across. Where does the road go over there? Does it go through to somewhere? I only remembered that I had been that way once before, also around 40 years ago, when my friends Jerry and Diane got married up there.

It didn’t take long. In about a tenth of a mile the road curved around to the left and there was the church they were married in. And beyond that there was a dirt road going to the left, a road into another housing development to the right, and a gate into a private property straight ahead. No choice but the interstate.

I passed the first exit on the slab, the Chief Hosa exit, and got off at the Evergreen Parkway exit. Crossing the interstate, I took the first right and was back on old U.S. 40. Now the highway curved far away from I-70 through some really pretty country. And I encountered a surprising number of bikers who also know of this road. It does come back to I-70 going up the east side of Floyd Hill and then loops down to meet U.S. 6 at the mouth of Clear Creek Canyon. I turned left, with 6 feeding onto I-70 and took that up to Idaho Springs.

At Idaho Springs I turned up Chicago Creek on CO 103 to go over Squaw Pass. It wasn’t long, however, when I smelled smoke and then noticed that the air around me was filled with a blue haze. Clearly there was a forest fire somewhere. Was it ahead of me on my route? I continued, assuming that they would have the road blocked if that were the case. As the road climbed toward Echo Lake I got a more expansive view and could see there was smoke filling the air for miles around. I learned later it was a fire over by Silverthorne.

Now the riding got really nice, and considering the hot weather down on the plains, it was very nice to find myself chilly.

Eventually, of course, I ended up down at Evergreen Parkway, took that to Evergreen and down to Morrison and back home. About 130 miles and a really nice down out on the bike. I love when that happens.

Biker Quote for Today

Do not look back. You’re not going that way.