Archive for the ‘Colorado motorcycle rides’ Category

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Watching The City Grow

Monday, April 13th, 2026


Yeah, that’s the bike but it’s not the setting it was supposed to be.

When I go for a ride I generally head out of town. The thing is, as the years pass it takes longer and longer to get out of town. What that means, though, is that I see it happening as the city grows.

I went out Sunday (funny how I never have to specify what bike I was on any more) and headed out to the southeast. My only destination starting out was Tagawa Gardens where I wanted to see if they had something I wanted to wrap up some landscaping we just had done out front. Might as well make this ride productive as well an enjoyable. They didn’t have what I was looking for but a lady there suggested a way I could handle the situation with materials on hand. Good suggestion–thanks.

Now where to? I was on Parker Road so I just kept going to Parker. Through Parker and then I took a right onto Hess Road, heading west. Hess is far enough south that it’s still largely undeveloped along there, particularly on the south side of the road. That won’t last. Check back in two years, unless we have a recession and the housing industry tanks. Then maybe three or four years.

Oh, and I might mention, it was a beautiful, sunny, warm spring day. Great day to be out riding. As usual I was over-dressed but never felt too warm except once when I was stuck going slow. Certainly never turned the electric vest on. But I was wearing it.

As I was approaching I-25 I came upon some huge earth-moving operation. This is new. The road is rising to meet the interstate and along the north side there was this large retaining wall. Hmm?

I got a little higher and there was a completely flat, broad expanse, with another retaining wall rising up at the other end. The cut the hill away at the high end, used that dirt as fill at the low end, with the two walls to hold it all in place. What the heck are they doing here? You could fit a high school onto that flat.

They are also realigning the road that I intended to go north on, just before reaching I-25. So I missed it and had to do a U-turn to get back to the new turn. Crossed the area being altered on a temporary bit of pavement and a really interesting perspective. I stopped and got off and shot a couple photos.

It was a good shot. The bike parked in the middle of what had been the road, with barriers behind it, asphalt suspended in midair behind the barriers, and off behind that a good bit of the construction project visible. The sun was so bright I had a hard time seeing the image on the screen but I trusted the camera would do its work just fine. Except that when I got home and tried to take a look they were not there. How did I screw that up?

From there it was the usual roads home. But they’re nice roads, basically frontage roads along I-25 and pretty, with the mass and mess of the interstate in clear view right over there.

So–a good ride.

Biker Quote for Today

Riding a motorcycle is like tasting freedom with every breath.

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Earliest Ever First Ride In The Hills

Thursday, March 19th, 2026


Stopped along the Peak-to-Peak.

With Denver looking at record highs it was a certainty that the RMMRC would be doing a ride. I was going to go, then I wasn’t, and then I did. I’ll tell you that story later.

The high for Wednesday was supposed to be in the 80s. In March! I still dressed warmly because you never know how much cooler it will be at higher elevations.

The plan was to ride up to the Peak-to-Peak highway, to Estes Park for lunch. I headed out and it was still a bit cool so I turned on the electric vest. When I got out to C-470 by Morrison the winds were extreme. The presence of the foothills and the hogback blocks and rechannels the wind and sometimes out there it gets fierce. It was fierce Wednesday morning. I knew, though, that once we got into the canyon we’d be more protected.

Six of us gathered at the Conoco in Golden, with one more expected. He didn’t show and we left at the designated time. This group is serious about departing when we say we intend to. We went up Golden Gate Canyon to get to the Peak-to-Peak.

Golden Gate Canyon was lousy with sand. It may have been the worst I’ve ever seen. But we got up to the Peak-to-Peak and it was completely clean. Mike, who was leading the ride, had spoken before we left about potential hazards. Sand and gravel, possibly black ice but more likely not, with probable wet corners. Of course deer. He was right. There was no ice or snow near the road but melting snow off the road drained across in places.

The wind had abated in the canyon and up on the Peak-to-Peak it was just normal. It really is that wall of rock of the foothills and the hogback. Nice. Didn’t really want to have to deal with that all the way to Estes.

It was definitely cooler in the high country and I was glad I dressed warmly. But it was a beautiful day and except for the bare deciduous trees you might have thought it was summer.

We stopped at the road down to Jamestown to say good-bye to one rider. Guess he had other things to do. Then on to Estes.

The place we intended to have lunch was not open on Wednesdays. Oops. We’ll go somewhere else. We needed to do a U-turn and while I’m normally quite good at that, sometimes my coordination is off. It was off and I dropped the bike. Dang. I was unhurt but as I rode off to where we had chosen to go I realized my left foot peg had broken off. Have you ever ridden having to free-shift? Normally you just rock your foot up on the peg to upshift but now I had to grope to find the lever and flip it up or down. But I found I could rest my foot on the portion of the bracket that did not break off.

Just as we were parking who should ride up but Gray, the guy who hadn’t shown up at the meeting place. He had gotten the time wrong, so he just came up on his own. It was just by chance that he found us. So we were back to six.

After lunch Bruce took a look at my absent peg and suggested we might move the buddy peg up to the front. He got the buddy peg off but it is not identical to the main peg and didn’t quite fit. With some jerry-rigging and duct tape, though, he worked out a kludge and I had a workable peg again. Thanks Bruce.

We started back, with plans to go down Coal Creek Canyon rather than Golden Gate Canyon, which we had come up on. Along the way we got behind a slow-moving car. Mike, who was leading, is a go-fast guy, so of course he passed. So did the rest of us, except Gray, who was in the rear. I kept watching but though he had plenty of opportunities to pass he never did. Guess he was happy just cruising on his own. So now we were five again.

We had only seen a couple riders on our way to Estes but coming back there were a lot of them out. Who’s going to pass up such a nice day?

I feared Coal Creek Canyon would be just as bad with sand as Golden Gate but in fact it was just as clear as the Peak-to-Peak. What’s with Golden Gate?

We got down to CO 93 along the foothills and the hogback and mercifully the winds had abated. And boy was it getting warm. I unzipped my jacket and my sweatshirt under it. Tipped my visor up to get more airflow through my helmet.

People started peeling off and eventually I was by myself and made my way home. When I got there Judy informed me she had taken the cats to the vet herself. Big oops! I had totally forgotten I was supposed to do that.

Biker Quote for Today

“It’s all part of my spirituality, as the wind softly kisses my face, and the world travels beneath me.” — Jess “Chief” Brynjulson

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club | 3 Comments »

Where To Go On A Warm, Sunny Day?

Thursday, March 12th, 2026

Get out and ride on these nice days.

I told Judy on Monday that we will have to move.

It was a warm, sunny day and I was going to go ride but where to? We have lived in this house for 30 years; just had our 30-year anniversary of moving in a few days ago. What road in any direction have I not ridden countless times?

I headed out looping past Cherry Creek State Park and continued south on Peoria, Broncos Parkway to Chambers and then south on Chambers. I was still wondering where to go but I had just read in this morning’s Denver Post about a proposed housing development where Chambers intersects Crowfoot Valley Road. I had just written about this newly opened section of Chambers and I had assumed that with all that area now much more accessible there would inevitably be a lot more development, and soon.

Well, the article in the paper was about a group of neighboring homeowners who oppose this new development. As in “I’m on board, pull up the ladder.” A woman who was the main organizer of this opposition was quoted as saying that she could see no benefit at all to the folks who live around there of having these homes go in. Gosh, do you suppose someone who lived in that area before her development was built might have said the same thing?

So I was curious to take a look at the area the article was talking about and all I had to do was stay on Chambers. And my memory was correct. There is new development everywhere around here. There are so many homes that were not there three years ago. Anyone who thinks this is not going to continue is a bit out of touch with reality.

Anyway, with curiosity satisfied, I decided I would turn onto Crowfoot Valley Road and see just how close this new intersection is to Castle Rock. OK, that question got answered. Now I guess I’ll just keep going across I-25 over to US 85 and up on the west side of town. So basically, I headed southeast quite a ways and then looped around the south end of the metro area and came up on the west side. That’s a loop I’ve considered doing any number of times but never had before. Now I have.

US 85 eventually turns into Santa Fe and I took that north to Belleview, turned east on Belleview, and home. Nothing exciting but a nice ride on a nice day for riding. And boy did I see a lot of other bikes out, too. I’m not the only one who can’t resist. Who doesn’t want to resist. Why the heck would I resist the urge to ride on a nice day?

Biker Quote for Today

A true biker knows that roads are meant to be explored, not just traveled.

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Avoiding Parker Road Entirely

Thursday, February 26th, 2026

The weather on Tuesday was fabulous and I would have ridden but Roy called to say there would be an RMMRC ride out to Kiowa, to Patty Ann’s, on Wednesday, so I changed my plans.

Google Maps already has this new Chambers Road  extension even though it has just opened.

On Wednesday, along with three other guys from the RMMRC, we met up at Performance Cycle and headed south. Dave was leading and he took a common route, heading south on Clinton, then Inverness Drive West, to where we got on Liberty Boulevard, which loops around the south end of Centennial Airport. Then south on Peoria to Ridgegate Parkway where we headed east to Chambers, and then south.

It was then that the surprise came. We came up to Hess Road and the extension past Hess, which they had been working on for some time, was now open and we went straight. I had assumed this was going to be just an entrance into the new housing development that was going up there but boy was I wrong!

A full-blown four-lane semi-expressway now continues south from Hess, and then Chambers bends around to the southeast, crosses Crowfoot Valley Road (which runs diagonally between Parker and Castle Rock), and becomes Bayou Gulch Road, which I knew connected with Parker Road (CO 83) south of the Pinery.

Holy smokes! This newly opened stretch is in fact kind of a beltway through the southeastern part of the metro area that now allows you to get out town without going anywhere near Parker Road except where you cross it on Bayou Gulch Road. This is fabulous!

As I said, Dave was leading and he lives out there just off of Bayou Gulch Road on the east side of Parker Road, and he knew all about this for some time, I guess. He said they had been eagerly awaiting its opening and they are so glad it finally is. Wow, so am I.

So the rest of the ride was good. As we often do, we took Bayou Gulch on to where it hits Flintwood Road and then took that south to CO 86, then east to Kiowa. Had a good breakfast at Patty Ann’s–as always–and then headed back via the same route so I got to see it again and get a better idea of this new road.

I like this. I can tell I’m going to be riding this road a lot in the future.

Biker Quote for Today

Riding a motorcycle is like living life in high definition.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club | 1 Comment »

Errands Become Exploration

Monday, January 5th, 2026

Is this shot in January? July? Who knows, this is one reason why we love living in Colorado.

It’s so much about the weather this time of year. On Sunday it was about 70 degrees and the forecast was for progressively cooler all week. It only made sense to get in my first (and you never know, maybe last) ride of January. I had a couple errands I needed to run and when possible I like to do them on a bike rather than in a car.

My first stop was Swallow Hill Music. That meant heading west on Hampden and then north on Downing to Yale, then west to Swallow Hill.

I was in no hurry and when I’m poking along I like to look more closely at the neighborhoods as I cruise along. There on Downing was the first interesting thing I spotted. There was a house with an exterior of brick up to about waist height and then wood up from there. And they had painted the brick turquoise. Yeah, that will catch your eye.

The funny thing was it didn’t actually look terrible. The terrible it brought to mind was when, in 2024, Judy and I were on a road trip in the Midwest and we routed ourselves through Decatur, Illinois, because that was where my family lived when I was a senior in high school. We drove past our old house and could not believe it. This wood-siding house has been painted blue. Rough wood that had been stained dark brown–now bright blue. Ghastly! The turquoise brick is nowhere near as bad.

From Swallow Hill I headed north on Broadway as far as Mississippi, turned east, north on Logan to Alameda and east to University. Then north to 3rd and east to the wine store we always shop at. Nothing much of interest to be seen along this route.

From The Vineyard I continued east on 3rd to Colorado and then south. Normally I’ll take Colorado to I-25 and take that home. This time I decided to stay off the highway and turned southeast on Leetsdale. I had gone about 10 blocks when I came upon a scene that reminded me I had seen the news about this. There had been a big fire on the north side of Leetsdale, with a four-story apartment complex that was under construction reduced to a total ruin.

And the road was blocked. Nothing to do but follow the detour sign and go south. Well, along with everyone else, I was looking for a cross-street going east, but there was none. I turned into a condo complex and there was no exit except right back onto the street I had come in on. Continuing south you had no choice but to turn west. OK, this is called exploring. There was no choice but to follow that road all the way back to Cherry. I guess I know why I’ve never been into that neighborhood before.

The rest of the way home was no problem. So I got in a ride, ran two errands, and saw a few interesting sights. I’m fine with that as a first ride of 2026.

Biker Quote for Today

In a world full of followers, be a biker.

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Super Day For The Last Brass Monkey Run

Thursday, January 1st, 2026

You couldn’t ask for a nicer day for a December 31 ride.

Hey, this year (last year now) people actually got to ride to ABATE of Colorado‘s Last Brass Monkey Run. Always held on December 31 as the last ride of the year, it’s no surprise that many times riding is just not an option. But this year Denver came just one degree short of the record high and it was a warm, sunny day. Yahoo!

I headed west on the V-Strom and while it was warm and the streets were clear in east Denver, where I live, I wondered about out west by the foothills. Golden. But out there it was just as warm and the streets were just as clear. Considering we had a bit of snow just three days ago this had not been a certainty.

As always, it was good to see the folks. I used to attend my ABATE meetings each month but have not done so for a few years, so I only see folks at events like this. The Last Brass Monkey Run used to be an actual poker run but these days it is all held in one place so you get your sheet and then move from station to station picking up your cards. I did well. I got a full house, queens over nines. Could be good.

But no. It was best five of seven cards and both the first place winner and the second place winner had four of a kind. So much for my full house.

They also hand out door prizes. Last year my ticket was the absolute, very last one to be drawn. Think about it. Someone has to have the last ticket drawn, and last year that someone was me. You don’t get much to choose from when literally everyone else has already taken all the good stuff. This year I was still late in the draw but not the very last. I got a card game that we hope our seven-year-old grandson will like. That’s OK, you don’t go to these things looking to bring home a bounty. That’s just a bonus if you do.

Heading home I couldn’t help but notice as I pulled up at a red light that the guy to my left was on his phone. Illegal in Colorado these days. His lane moved faster than mine so I watched as he drifted out of his lane to the left. You dip. Hang up and drive!

But I got home safely and got out of 2025 alive. Obviously you did too. Congratulations to each of us. Here’s to an even better 2026.

Biker Quote for Today

Live Free and Ride

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Posted in ABATE, Biker Issues, Colorado motorcycle rides, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | 1 Comment »

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