Archive for the ‘Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club’ Category

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First Ride In The Hills For 2011

Thursday, April 8th, 2021

At the Pantry in Green Mountain Falls.

With temperatures getting into the 80s it was inevitable that the RMMRC would be taking a ride. Sure enough, I got the call from Roy. We’d be heading up toward Woodland Park.

Now, at first I thought he had said Winter Park and I was thinking that was pretty ambitious this early in the year. Then it hit me that, oh no, he must have said Woodland Park. Sure enough.

So there were six of us who gathered Monday morning, four BMWs, a Honda, and me on my V-Strom. We took off out Parker Road and down to Colorado Springs on CO 83, a short jaunt on I-25 before getting off and cruising through Garden of the Gods, and then west on U.S. 24. I hoped we would stop at least briefly at Garden of the Gods because I really would have liked to have gotten a picture there of the rocks with the bikes in the foreground. But we didn’t.

The destination this day was not Woodland Park, as might have been expected, but Green Mountain Falls. So where the heck is Green Mountain Falls? Who has ever even heard of Green Mountain Falls?

Turns out, it is right off U.S. 24, along a road that runs parallel to the highway. If you’re on 24 and you see the Rocky Top Motel & Campground you’re passing by Green Mountain Falls right now.

It’s worth a stop. We ate at The Pantry and it’s a really nice place. They have a lot of outdoor seating, which on this gorgeous warm day was just what we wanted, and the food was darn good. I have a suspicion we’ll be going back to this place in the future.

After lunch we continued on to Woodland Park and turned north on CO 67 up through Deckers to Pine and caught U.S. 285 at Pine Junction, then turned toward home. Along the way there were two things of note.

First, I was very interested to see that there are finally young trees popping up all over where that big Hayman Fire burned such a large area some years ago. I was starting to wonder if the area would ever turn green again but the young trees are now finally getting big enough that you can see them from the road. Nice.

And second, no surprise at this time of year but something to be aware of, there was a lot of gravel on the road, particularly north of Deckers. Ride carefully.

One thing we did not encounter was snow. Not just not on the road but almost none to be seen anywhere except a little bit in some deeper shadows. Winter is over.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if your trailer has more miles on it than your bike.

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Motorcycles And The Sharing Economy

Monday, March 22nd, 2021

The RMMRC stopped at Carter Lake after leaving Severance.

The RMMRC rode up to Bruce’s in Severance a few weeks ago and while there we got in a conversation with our waitress.

It turns out she and her guy ride motorcycles and they were planning a trip in a couple weeks, going to Florida to visit family. While there they planned to rent a bike and cruise over to Daytona for Daytona Bike Week. But, oh man, the regular rental places were in full mercenary mode.

In addition to the usual high price of about $175 a day, they wanted more because it was Bike Week and they knew they could get it. As in an extra $500. It was kind of like when I went to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. We got there a week before the official start to the event and ate every morning inexpensively at this particular restaurant. One morning we showed up and there was a new menu with all the same items but double the price. We asked why and the waitress told us, “Oh, that’s our carnival menu.”

No surprise then that these folks were not inclined to pay that much. She’s working in a restaurant in Severance, for Pete’s sake, they’re not wealthy. But they found an alternative: Riders Share.

I’ve written recently about Riders Share but I have never used the service or known anyone who has. But there she was. And presumably it worked out well for them. They had some nice cruiser bike lined up and as I recall it was going to cost them just around $100 a day for five days, with insurance included. You can’t beat that with a stick.

I’ve always found this concept interesting and seductive. I have three motorcycles. Why not make a little extra cash by renting them out on occasion? But that’s where you get into issues.

For instance, I have a 1980 Honda CB750 Custom. It’s an old bike, and not worth a whole lot. But hey! It’s the first motorcycle I ever bought. It was a dream come true, and I still love that bike. Sure, insurance would cover the financial loss if something happened to it but this bike is irreplaceable. It has so much emotion tied up in it. Exactly how horrible would I feel if someone else smashed it beyond redemption?

Well, what about my 1999 Kawasaki Concours? I don’t have the emotional attachment to this bike that I do with the Honda. And from time to time I have seen basically identical bikes in excellent condition for sale for essentially peanuts. The same is true for my 2006 Suzuki V-Strom 650. I love the bike but it could be replaced.

So for me it now gets to the question of what’s the point? There were a lot of years when I was scraping by and a bit of extra cash now and then would have been extremely helpful. But I’m retired now, and I’m doing fine financially. As I have said many times, if I needed more money I would not have retired. So no, I don’t think I’ll be listing my bikes for rent.

On the other hand, I do like having a bike to ride when I go somewhere, but I really don’t like the high prices the big companies charge. Something like Riders Share seems to me to be the perfect way to go. By the way, there is another company doing the same thing, called Twisted Road. If you’re planning a trip and want a bike to ride you might think seriously about checking out what is available on both these sites. I sure would.

Biker Quote for Today

Motorcycles are not all about speed. It is a feeling, and emotion, but also my therapy.

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A Non-Patty Ann’s RMMRC Ride

Thursday, March 4th, 2021

Stopped at construction in Masonville. It was amazing how many bikers were out on this fine Tuesday.

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!

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I Don’t Understand

Thursday, January 7th, 2021
V-Strom

Why is this bike giving me trouble?

Somebody clue me in here if you know something I don’t.

I went riding with the RMMRC Tuesday, the standard ride out to Kiowa to Patty Ann’s. Bob was leading, which is something he has done many times.

So we headed out Parker Road, which is about six lanes. We were in the left lane. Bob was in the lead, Kim was on her Spyder, Val came next on her KTM, and I was behind her.

We always ride in staggered formation and in my experience and understanding, the leader should take the left position and everyone following staggers, although with the Spyder you sometimes see those take the center, so whoever is behind them gets to choose either side.

So Bob settled in the right hand position. Huh? Kim did stagger to the left on her Spyder so Val was right and I was left. That was fine, but why was Bob to the right? Is there some protocol that on a multi-lane highway the leader takes the position where they can see clearly in the adjacent lane? Or something else like that that I’m not aware of?

Once we got onto the two-lane Bob took the spot on the left, and Kim shifted and the rest of us did, too. So what the heck was he doing on the right previously? Yes, of course–I should just ask him. I’m just hesitant to appear to be criticizing someone and there wasn’t any time he and I were alone together. Maybe I’ll have the chance some other time.

On another subject, my V-Strom crapped out on me that day. I was going to ride it and I geared up and rolled it out and it would not start. It ran fine the last time I rode it a couple weeks ago.

But it appeared to be completely out of gas. Completely. How does that happen, except if you have a leak. And there was a new drip spot on the garage floor underneath it, though not particularly big. Anyway, the engine would turn over briefly but it would not catch and then it would quit turning over.

I had just a little gas in a can and I put that in but that didn’t help. The way it would try and then die I thought maybe the battery was failing so I put it on a charge and the next day I got more gas. I put that in and then with plenty of gas and good charge I tried again. The very same things happened. Wow, now I really have no idea what the matter is, although whatever else it may be it does seem I have a gas leak.

I put some paper under the bike to catch the drip and see how much it really is dripping and I called Joel, my mechanic. I’ve been keeping Joel busy. I have three bikes and this is the third one I have turned over to him in the last six months. We’ll see. I’ll let you know.

Biker Quote for Today

Hobby is when you buy a new bike. Passion is when you keep the old one running.

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A December Ride With The RMMRC

Monday, December 21st, 2020
RMMRC On Guanella Pass

The RMMRC on top of Guanella Pass back when the weather was a little warmer.

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.

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Making My Own Fun

Thursday, November 19th, 2020
View from Lookout Mountain

Looking at the north end of Golden from the parking lot of Buffalo Bill’s grave.

We’ve had some really nice weather the last couple days so I had to go ride. Normally, with Wednesday forecast for a high around 72 there is no question there would have been an RMMRC ride. However, with the coronavirus flaring up in a big way, the RMMRC sent out a note earlier this week that for the time being all rides and events are suspended. I guess I’ll have to do this on my own.

It’s times like this when I get antsy to move somewhere else. I’ve been out on the plains way too much lately but going to the hills means riding half an hour across town both ways. It makes me jealous of Bill, who lives right alongside CO 93 running up from Golden to Boulder. He gets on his bike and he’s in the hills in five minutes.

But I did head west. I took Hampden/US 285 to C-470 and got off at Morrison. I was going to run up that road to Kittredge on CO 74 but just like the last time I tried that the road was closed. I figured the work they had been doing several weeks ago would be finished, but no. Wonder what they’re doing?

So I took the Hogback Road that runs up past Red Rocks, under I-70, and turned left onto old US 6 up through Mount Vernon Canyon. I wasn’t sure yet where I was headed but about this time I decided I’d take the turn-off over to Lookout Mountain and the Buffalo Bill grave site. That’s a nice road and you get several stunning views of the plains laid out below.

I stopped at Buffalo Bill’s to get that photo above and then headed on down. What I was already surprised at was how many other people on motorcycles had the same idea. Also, not a surprise, there were at least as many people on bicycles.

I started heading down and came up on a guy on a bicycle. I could have passed him but I’ve seen these folks on hills like this. I figured he’d actually want to go faster than I did. I was right. We neared the first sharp curve and he started scorching. Within seconds he was gone. I was in no hurry.

So I cruised on down, waving to any number of other bikers coming up, and then suddenly two bicyclists went blasting past me. Holy crap! I hadn’t been looking in my mirrors because what was there to look for? And I got passed one more time before I got to the bottom.

A note: the lower end of the Lookout Mountain road has been newly paved and they have added four speed bumps in the area where there are houses around.

I got down to CO 93 and one of the first things I saw was a motorcycle cop, and this guy was wearing just a short-sleeve shirt. I had a tee shirt, a flannel shirt, a vest, and my leather jacket. That’s how warm it was. Beautiful day in November.

Then from there I just headed home.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if you don’t go a day without wearing something that says “Harley Davidson.”

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