Archive for the ‘Colorado motorcycle rides’ Category

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A Movie You May Be Interested In

Monday, May 16th, 2016
A Story Worth Living

The trailer for A Story Worth Living.

Alan sent me a note with a link to this movie, and after watching the trailer I decided I definitely want to see it. You may be interested, too.

The movie is A Story Worth Living. Here’s how BMW Motorrad International describes it:

When John Eldredge and his three sons planned an eight-day, 1,600 kilometre adventure ride across the scenic roads and trails of Colorado, U.S.A., their first stumbling block was a distinct lack of off-road riding experience. The next step was to acquire the required bikes. With the details sorted, their adventure of a lifetime swiftly became the start of a lifetime of adventure.

OK, that’s fine but is it really all that good? Who knows. All I have is the trailer, which you ought to watch, but which I’ll describe a little.

These guys got their inspiration from that Ewan Mcgregor thing, “Long Way Round.” So they decided they wanted to do something like that. Only problem was they had no dirt riding experience. As one of the guys said, “I am wildly unprepared for this.”

This, in this case, is a ride through Colorado, presumably–I am guessing–on the Colorado Backcountry Discovery Route. Or something like it. And they’re a bit scared that something bad could happen. And apparently something did. I assume no one died.

So what I really wonder is, how do you go about filming a trip like this, making it into a professional quality movie, and then getting it booked into a variety of theaters for a one-showing special engagement? However it works, they did, and it is showing this Thursday night at these theaters in Colorado.

I’ve got my tickets for the Greenwood Plaza 12. Maybe I’ll see you there.

Biker Quote for Today

The brave don’t live forever . . . the cautious don’t live at all.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides | 3 Comments »

Examiner Resurrection: DNC Riders: The Best One-Day Motorcycle Ride From Denver

Thursday, April 21st, 2016

That title dates this old Examiner post: back in 2008 when the Democratic National Convention came to Denver. It’s still a great ride.

You ride motorcycles. And you’re coming to Colorado for the Democratic National Convention. There has to be a way to combine the two.

Map of day ride out of Denver

The route.

No problem. All you need is one day and a motorcycle. I’ve got the route and I can direct you to the folks who have the bikes.

(Big hint for the two-wheels challenged: This route makes a great ride in a car, too.)

Need to rent a bike? Check out these rentals:

Colorado Tourbike Rentals and Sales
Eagle Rider of Denver
Mile High Harley-Davidson

There are others. These are just the ones with websites. For others and their phone numbers, see this listing (Definitely see this listing–the info above is very incomplete–KB, 2016).

OK. Now you’ve got a bike, where do you go?

Funny you should ask. I just happen to have a terrific route mapped out for you. The starting point is in Golden. I won’t try to tell you how to get there because I don’t know where you’re coming from. Ask the folks you rent from how to get to Golden. It’s west of Denver, at the foot of the mountains.

You’ll be going up high so be sure to bring warm clothes. It can snow any day of the year at 14,000 feet. And plan on taking most of the day. It may only be 250 miles but you’ll be moving at a very leisurely pace.

The road you want going out of Golden is U.S. 6. Check the map. This road heads up Clear Creek Canyon so you’re immediately into some beautiful, winding roads. Take Clear Creek up to the turnoff to Blackhawk, which is CO 119. This puts you on what is called the Peak to Peak Highway. It’s actually pieces of several highways so just remember you want to continue north until you reach Estes Park.

From Blackhawk, CO 119 winds north along high ridges to Nederland. At Nederland you continue north on CO 72, which ends at the intersection with CO 7. Right would take you to Lyons. Left takes you to Estes Park. Go left.

At Estes Park you want to catch westbound U.S. 34. If you’ve been enjoying yourself already — and you should have been — get ready for the really good stuff. You’re headed up over Trail Ridge Road. Trail Ridge is the highest through road in the United States. Eight miles of this road is above 11,000 feet. Take your time; there’s a lot to see.

Coming down off Trail Ridge you reach Grand Lake. This is a really nice little mountain town and worth a stop. Lunch perhaps. Then continue on 34 to Granby, where you’ll pick up U.S. 40 eastbound. A few miles and you’ll reach Winter Park and then start the ascent over Berthoud Pass. This is another good one.

Just past Empire you will meet I-70. Go east a few miles to Idaho Springs and get off at the second exit, for CO 103. You’re now on your way to Squaw Pass, but we have a little diversion for you before you get to the pass.

As you wind your way up the pass you’ll pass a lake and then see the turnoff for CO 5. This road, the highest paved road in the U.s., takes you to the top of Mount Evans, one of Colorado’s 14ers. (Those are mountains over 14,000 feet.) There is a $3 fee for motorcycles. It’s worth it. Don’t be in a hurry. You can’t pass on this road. You want to take it slow. Otherwise you have no business being here.

When you reach the parking area at the top you’ll still have about 150 feet to climb on foot to get to the peak. After that it’s all the way back down and you know, roads look totally different going the other direction so it’s like you get a two-for-one deal.

Back at CO 103 again, continue east to Bergen Park and CO 74. Follow this to I-70 and take the road east back to Denver. It’s perfectly acceptable to smile a lot as you return your rental.

Biker Quote for Today

Two wheels, one engine, no limits.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Examiner Resurrection | No Comments »

First Peak-to-Peak Ride For 2016

Monday, April 18th, 2016
Motorcycle along the Peak-to-Peak highway

Along the Peak-to-Peak.

Friday was hazy so the temperature never got up to what had been forecast but it was still nice enough I decided it was time to head for the hills.

I make it a point to just stay out of the hills all winter because even when it’s nice down here on the flatlands it can be cold and icy up there. Of course, if you ride on three wheels like Dom Chang then it doesn’t matter. I don’t, so it does.

I took the V-Strom up Clear Creek Canyon and it was a great day to be out. I didn’t wear any electrics because I figured it was warm enough I wouldn’t need them. That has been a mistake at times in the past but I was confident this time. Traffic was light and I didn’t have anybody behind me. I like not having anybody behind me on roads like that. And the people in front of me were making good time, no laggards.

Reaching Black Hawk it was still warm and I had not even seen snow in the shady areas. A little past Black Hawk and that all changed. Now the shady areas on the north-facing slopes had a lot of snow and the temperature dropped about 10 degrees. My legs were getting chilly because all I had there was jeans; on top I had layers.

All the way up Clear Creek Canyon and along the Peak-to-Peak the road was completely clear–no ice, no sand. But by the time I got to where the road down through Golden Gate Canyon peels off from the Peak-to-Peak there was snow everywhere (except on the road) and even cooler temps. I was looking forward to heading down.

And then there was sand in several places on the Golden Gate Canyon road. You’re definitely going to want to take it easy if you go up that road any time soon.

But what a great day it was to be riding up in the hills, nevertheless. Did you know the roads up there have a lot of curves? I’ve been riding down on the prairie the last few months and you don’t see near as many of those down here. Wonder why?

It was especially fun, too, being on the V-Strom. That bike is light and agile and you just zip around those curves. My other bikes are both heavier and just don’t have that feel to them. If I was in a place where I could only have one bike I could have the V and be plenty happy. But I’m glad I’m not in that place.

And then I was getting back near out of the canyon and I passed a guy on a Ural sidecar rig going the other way. I can’t help but wonder, was that you, Dom?

Biker Quote for Today

Meditation doesn’t mean you have to sit still.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, V-Strom | 1 Comment »

Examiner Resurrection: Cripple Creek To Salida, The Long (And Really Nice!) Way

Thursday, April 14th, 2016

This is another resurrection of a post on Examiner.com that has been removed due to upgraded, incompatible technology.

Cripple Creek To Salida map

Our route.

We took a particularly nice ride last Saturday, and while I wouldn’t expect anyone else to take the exact same ride, I want to offer it here so you can consider pieces of it whenever it might work for you.

We started out from Cripple Creek, where we had ridden to the previous day. Most people just take the main road in to Cripple Creek from the north, Colorado 67 from Divide and then county road 61. What you may not realize is that there is another road that heads northwest out of the town, toward either Guffey or Parkdale. This is county road 1 and we took it as far as the intersection of county roads 12 (to Guffey) and 11. We took 11. This brought us out on Colorado 9 a little north of where that road hits U.S. 50 at Parkdale.

At U.S. 50 we headed west just a short distance to where you see the turn-off to the south access to the Royal Gorge. This was a left turn onto county road 3. This little road winds and climbs through some beautiful country. It’s a tiny, narrow little strip of asphalt and there is almost no traffic on it at all, and it comes out on the south side of the Royal Gorge Bridge. Now, to continue without backtracking you’ll have to pay the entrance fee to the Royal Gorge, which is $23 per person, but if you’ve never been there you really ought to go see it once, and there’s no better route than this one. And heck, if you ask for a motorcycle discount you might get one. We did.

So we crossed the bridge and got back on U.S. 50 headed for Canon City. Just before reaching the town we took the turn-off to go up and over Skyline Drive, which is this gorgeous little one-lane, one-way road along the crest of the hogback on the west end of town. No charge and a fabulous ride. Coming down at the other end you drop right into town.

Next we headed east to Florence on Colorado 115 and turned south at Florence on Colorado 67. Colorado 67 feeds into Colorado 96 and when we hit the junction of Colorado 165 we headed south on it to Bishop Castle. This one-man project stands probably 150 feet high and has towers and a smoke-breathing dragon, as well as all sorts of climbing and exploration possibilities. It’s totally unique and you really have to see it to comprehend it. It will blow your mind.

We backtracked on Colorado 165, rejoined Colorado 96, rejoined U.S. 50 at Cotopaxi, and rode on it to Salida for the night. As the crow flies we probably hadn’t gone 50 miles but it was a full day of riding, we saw some terrific sights, and we rode some terrific roads. How could it get any better than that?

Biker Quote for Today

The best path through life is the open road.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Examiner Resurrection | 1 Comment »

OFMC 2016 Trip Is Set

Thursday, March 17th, 2016
OFMC near Trail Ridge Road

Taking a road-side break on last year's OFMC trip.

We’re not taking off until July but when you travel with a large bunch of guys you have to plan ahead. Everyone has done their work making reservations so the 2016 OFMC trip is waiting to happen. Here’s the route.

First night will be Cripple Creek. This is a short run for the guys from the Denver area and not bad for John coming from Montrose. And these guys all like to make at least one gambling stop each year so this one comes right at the start.

Our self-appointed trip planner, John, had it in mind to do something very different this year, so when we leave Cripple Creek we will be heading east. All the way to La Junta. We’re riding the prairie!

From La Junta we head down to Santa Fe for two nights with golf intervening. That’s another common characteristic of these trips. It’s nice to spend two nights in one place once during the week.

We’ll leave Santa Fe and come back up to Colorado, to Durango, and then the next day west to Utah to Moab.

The last night will be the expensive one, at a vineyard inn in Palisade. Wine tasting and a concert in the courtyard included.

For John then it will be a short scoot back to Montrose and we’ll jump on the highway and blast back to Denver. Should be a good trip. We haven’t had a bad one yet. We’re all looking forward to July.

Biker Quote for Today

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A Ride On The Prairie

Thursday, March 3rd, 2016
Patty Ann's Cafe

I strongly recommend Patty Ann's Cafe in Kiowa.

We’ve had such great weather that I suspect even people who normally put their bikes away for the winter have been out riding. I suspect riding is even possible in the mountains, whereas I normally don’t ever go up there at this time of year. Maybe I’ll give it a shot soon but so far I’ve stuck to the flatlands.

That means going out on the prairie if you’re going to go more than just around the neighborhood, so I headed out east on Jewell, which has become my go-to route out of town. It turns to gravel just east of Gun Club Road but it’s good, hard-packed gravel, and besides, I was on the Honda, which does OK on gravel.

I reached the T intersection at Watkins Road and turned south to Quincy, another T intersection. I had been at that point numerous times, going both directions, but had never gone further east on Quincy. It was time.

I didn’t know what to expect–I was just exploring. But I figured if I found a place to turn south I could work my way to Kiowa or Elizabeth. I just didn’t know how far I’d have to go before I would find that road south.

I came to Tom Bay Road (ever heard of that?) and it looked possible but after I made the turn I saw it went to dirt right away and the dirt didn’t look all that great. So I continued east on Quincy. Next came Brick-Center Road and I didn’t even try that one. Someday I suspect these will be as familiar–and paved–as Gun Club Road, Tower Road, and all those. But not yet.

Then I hit Kiowa-Bennett Road and I knew that was my baby. South I went. Not too much out here but a few clusters of mini-mansions and a lot of farming and grazing land. But pretty, in a prairie kind of way.

I got to Kiowa and was glad I was going the direction I was on this route. If I had come out on CO 86 looking to turn north I might have missed it. There’s no big intersection or anything; it just looks like any other street in this small town. But it does seem to be a somewhat common route for motorcycles. I passed a fair number going the other direction. I’m guessing they gather at the Stagecoach in Franktown and head east, then north, before turning back west to town. The opposite of what I was doing.

At this point I was ready for lunch and Kiowa had a selection of places to eat. Patty Ann’s Cafe had a sign saying “Bikers Welcome” so I went in there. What a good choice! It appears that all their food is prepared from scratch and it has real flavor. I just got a bowl of soup but it was no little bowl. It had to have been at least twice as much as most restaurants serve as a bowl. Plus, it came with fresh-baked biscuits. Yum!

From there it was back west through Elizabeth to Franktown. Then north on CO 83 through Parker and back to Denver. What a great day to be out on the bike.

Biker Quote for Today

She said “the bike or me.” Decision made.

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