Big Group Riding — Nope
Looking down into Clear Creek Canyon from near the top of the incline up and out of the canyon.
Roy called and said the weather was going to be good–we’re doing a ride. I showed up.
Roy didn’t. He got sick and dropped out but there were four of us who made it. As I walked to the group Bob asked me how I would feel about a change in plans. Instead of riding south and having lunch in Monument, how about joining some folks from the BMW Motorcycle Club of Colorado on a ride they’re doing? Apparently he had spoken with Sarah, who is now a member of that club but used to be a member of the RMMRC, and she had planned a ride starting in Morrison and heading up to Nederland for lunch via a meandering route. Sure, that’s fine with me.
We headed on over to the Phillips 66 at Morrison and oh my gosh, what a lot of people! Yes it was good to see Sarah and Sean but I was a bit skeptical of such a large group. I like rides with maybe seven at most. This looked like about 30.
Sarah was smart, she said we were going to break into two groups and she also listed several restaurants in Nederland that we might individually consider. Good plan. Having 30 people show up unannounced at any restaurant is generally going to be a bad idea and it would guarantee a very long lunch break.
So we started taking off and really, I couldn’t tell where group one ended and group two began. In fact, right off the bat we were getting broken into smaller groups because pulling out of the gas station we had to filter in amongst other traffic on the road. That struck me as just fine.
We rode into Morrison and then took the road that runs up past Red Rocks on the east and I found myself following two guys with one of our guys behind me. We went up under I-70 and down to US 6 going around Golden and got to a red light at the mouth to Clear Creek Canyon. I thought for sure that Sarah had said she planned to go up Clear Creek but the two guys ahead were in the straight-ahead lane, not the left-turn lane. This is where I decided to chuck the whole group ride thing.
I pulled into the left-turn lane and Lindsey pulled in behind me. The guy I had been following motioned for straight ahead but when the arrow came on I pulled ahead, turned left, and left them to go their own way, with Lindsey behind me. I figured that with that many people it not only made sense to disperse among the restaurants, it made sense to each go by whatever route you chose. Besides, I wasn’t anywhere close to hungry so having lunch in Nederland didn’t even appeal to me. What Lindsey was going to do I didn’t know.
We had a very nice ride up Clear Creek Canyon and when we got to Black Hawk I pulled over, as did Lindsey. I told him I had no interest in lunch in Nederland and really didn’t know quite where I intended to ride. He agreed, saying he had a friend in the area that he was thinking of just dropping in on. So we parted ways and I first ducked into a casino to throw away some money and then got back on the bike wondering where to go.
I decided to go back down the canyon to where US 6 splits off to the left (as you’re coming up the canyon) on its way to Idaho Springs. Just 100 feet or so on the Black Hawk side of that intersection is where Douglas Mountain Drive goes steeply, twisting and turning up and over, through a high elevation community, and then steeply down into Golden Gate Canyon on the other side. This is a really nice ride.
So I took that and came down into Golden Gate Canyon, turned right to head on down the canyon and came back out on CO 93 just about a mile from where I had turned up Clear Creek Canyon. Then I just headed home. Nice day, nice ride. Nice not to be in a huge group.
Biker Quote for Today
Life may not be about your motorcycle, but it sure can help you get through it.
