Passes & Canyons Blog

Along the Switzerland Trail.

It was blazing hot on the prairie Tuesday but could not have been a more perfect day to be riding in the mountains. Fortunately, I was riding in the mountains.

Meeting up with Ron Coleman, of Western Dual Sport Motorcycles Adventures, we took off on a couple of the bikes he has for rent. Ron was on his BMW F800GS and I was on his Suzuki DR 650. Ron also rents out five Suzuki 650 V-Stroms and one 1000 V-Strom.

I’m still not the most experienced dual-sport rider so I was glad to have a decent gravel road, going up Sunshine Canyon, to get accustomed to the gravel. In the meantime, it was extremely interesting to see this area and how it has changed since the devastating fire that swept through here two years ago, especially in light of how hazy the sky was due to the High Park fire still burning a bit to the north.

About the time I felt reasonably comfortable on the gravel we turned off onto a segment of the Switzerland Trail and oh boy, I felt like a total beginner again. I didn’t push myself to keep right on Ron’s tail but I’d have to say I was pushing harder than I should have been. At one point I hit a patch of loose stones about the size of bricks and lost control. I careened to one side, certain I was going to crash, but corrected, only to over-correct, and careen off in the other direction, certain once again that I was going down.

After about five of those backs and forths I miraculously managed to get stabilized and was still upright. At about that time I was thinking how, as much as I want a dual-sport bike so I can explore the gravel roads that are so plentiful in Colorado, I really don’t have an interest in doing these really rough ones. It just wasn’t fun!

So we rode on and it was a beautiful day to be out in the woods, up in the hills, and I didn’t have any more close calls. After awhile we turned back and this time I was in the lead because I wanted to shoot some photos and wanted to be in a position to stop and get set up before Ron rode on into the shots. This was when I saw it really had been a ride-your-own-ride situation. Taking it nice and easy because I was focused on looking for a spot to shoot, I had no trouble at all on that rough road. And that was pleasant because that told me I can ride off onto these tougher roads as long as do it at my pace.

Back at the main road we crossed it and followed the trail on the other side to a place called Mt. Alto. This is a spot where a hotel once stood, though all that remains of it now is the stone fireplace. It’s a vary nice spot, though, and there are now picnic benches for people who want to come up and use the place.

After lunch in Nederland we got on the Peak-to-Peak Highway to Rollinsville and then headed up toward Rollins Pass. This dirt road we were on was one of the best I have ever seen. It goes up to the Moffett Tunnel, so maybe the railroad maintains it, I don’t know. But it was so good I wouldn’t hesitate to take my Concours on it and that’s really saying something.

About a mile from the tunnel, though, we took a sharp right turn and headed up the much rougher Rollins Pass road. I was over this road once, more than 30 years ago, in a jeep but had no recollection of it at all. It was kind of rough. But you know what, by this time I was feeling much more confident on the rough stuff so we just cruised along. Contrary to my thoughts from the morning, I was perfectly happy to be on some rough stuff. A challenge is a good thing, and when you meet that challenge successfully you feel good.

We didn’t go all the way to the top but it was a good ride and some good scenery. Then it was time to head back down and scoot back to Boulder.

Cool and comfortable as it had been up in the hills, it was blazing hot down in Boulder, really emphasizing how nice it had been to be riding up somewhere higher all day. Yeah, for Ron and me it was business. This is what we do. Dang, someone has to do it so I guess we’re both pretty happy that those someones are us.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Spending a day on a Suzuki DR 650

Biker Quote for Today

Sometimes wheelies happen.

I rode up to Loveland the other day with my friend Randy and his neighbor, Donny, to Northern Colorado Euro Motorcycles, where BMW had come in with a truckload of bikes to offer demo rides. I’ve never had much opportunity to ride any BMW bikes, other than a K1300GT I test rode last fall in Keystone, so I was pleased at this opportunity.

The four bikes I rode were very different and my thoughts on them are comparably different. The one I really loved was the R1200RT, a touring bike that was just about as sweet as you could ask for. In fact, it was such a nice bike it’s hard to think of anything to say about it other than it was just a great bike. I will mention, though, that it was just a little odd, at least in my experience, because the mirrors were below the handlebar, so you look down to see them and in the top of the mirror you see your hands. Very odd, but I’m sure you’d get used to it.

I also rode the dual sport F800GS. I haven’t done much dual sport riding and this was by far the tallest bike I’ve ever gotten on. There was no way I could push up off the sidestand other than to throw my weight that direction and count on catching myself on the other side before going over. At stops I either slid off on one side or barely touched ground on both sides on my tiptoes. But that’s nothing uncommon for a bike that needs deep suspension.

The thing about this test ride, however, was that it was on the pavement. If a dual sport bike is in the middle between street and dirt, this one is biased toward the dirt, and we didn’t get to go there with them. As it was, I felt very much that that was where it belonged, and that I didn’t much care for riding it on the pavement.

The next bike was also a half-and-half bike, the F800ST, with the ST referring to sport touring. (That’s me on the F800ST in the picture, which Randy shot.) This bike puts the “sport” into “sport touring.” As nearly perfect as it might have been for me and my preferred style of riding, the pegs were so high that there was no way I could ride this thing all day without my knees being in agony. It has great power and is fun to ride and if you’re less than 5’6″ it could be your dream bike. If you’re taller, however, forget it.

My final ride of the day was the all-out sport bike, the S1000RR. A bit of a disclaimer here: I’ve never ridden a sport bike before, and now I know why. With the high pegs and the low grips, I was perfectly set up to play leap-frog, and there’s no way I am going to ride in that position for long. For those who like those kinds of bikes, I suspect you would love this one. I know I didn’t ride it anywhere close to its capabilities. I just wanted to see what it was like to ride a sport bike, plus I wanted to compare it to the F800ST, which itself seems so biased to the sport side of its own equation.

So that’s just a quick run-through. I’ll go into more detail sometime soon on Examiner.

Biker Quote for Today

Just because I am a BMW apologist, doesn’t mean I have to be snarky.