Passes & Canyons Blog

Stopping on top of Wolf Creek Pass. Guess what? It was cold.

If there was one thing that became abundantly clear to me on this recent RMMRC Colorado Cruise was that if you are riding in the high country, summer is over.

I very foolishly wore my mesh jacket and I intended to find the liner but forgot it, and that was quite a mistake. Every time we got up high–which was frequently–I was cold because that cold air just cut through that mesh. That’s what they’re for, to give you nice ventilation on hot days. But these were not hot days. So why was I wearing mesh? Idiot.

I did finally think to use my rain jacket as a wind breaker and should have done so a lot sooner. Sometimes your brain works better than other times.

At the same time, it’s not cold yet down here on the prairie. Shortly after getting home I took the Honda out for a ride and, having gotten plenty chilled again and again on the last trip, I pulled on leather AND a sweatshirt, and for good measure, my winter gloves. Out I went and gosh, who coulda thunk it, I was way too hot. I mean, heck, it was all of 80 degrees or more. But my brain was still back on top of Cottonwood Pass and Red Mountain Pass and you know, you can never be too cautious.

Yes you can.

So here’s a little simple, very obvious advice. At this time of year, if you’re going up high, dress for cold. If you’re staying down low, and the temperature is above 75, expect warmth. How difficult is that? I don’t know, apparently for some of us (me) it’s not as simple as you might think. Maybe some day I’ll figure it out.

Biker Quote for Today

Why motorcycles are better than women: The rashes you get from motorcycles go away without those painful penicillin shots.

This time of year makes for some fabulous rides.

Riding a motorcycle is not like driving a car. Have you noticed that?

For instance, no one ever mentions to you how they headed out in their car and discovered it was a lot warmer or cooler than they expected and therefore they were way too hot or way too cool. They just took care of it with the AC or the heater and didn’t give it another thought.

Not so those of us on two wheels. And there is no more likely time to get that surprise than at the changing of the seasons, like right now.

Until this week, the last several times I’ve been out on my bikes I have consistently underestimated how chilly it was going to be. I’m not stupid, though, and I have a few years of experience under my belt, so I was carrying along the warmer gear to compensate.

And riding in cool weather is pretty energizing. The term “cool, brisk fall days” speaks to a reality. It’s very cool (yes, double meaning) actually.

Then there was last Tuesday. The forecast was for one more warm day followed by serious, serious cold. As in a low of 14 degrees. That’s cold! I figured I’d better take advantage so off I went on the Concours. The thermometer said 75 so, after being surprised by the cool recently, I overdressed for the warmth. You can always remove layers.

Boy did I overdress. To the point where I was roasting. So I stopped and shed a layer, right? No, that would have been too easy, too intelligent.

I wanted a convenient place to stop. And it’s amazing how when you want something specific you never seem to find it. At any time I could have turned off onto a side street, stopped and de-layered, and turned around and gotten back on the main road. But that would not have been convenient.

I finally remembered that my jacket has vents so I opened the ones in front, and that helped some. I groped in back but could not locate the rear vents or that would have helped even more.

So finally I ended up back home and oh golly, how glad I was to rip some layers off.

As I said, you never hear stories like this from people driving cars, do you. But I’ll bet that nearly every one of you could tell some similar story about riding your motorcycle. Riding a motorcycle is not like driving a car.

Biker Quote for Today

Riding motorcycles helps clear the cobwebs from my mind; if I ride long enough I get to kill some of the spiders.

If you can ride in this I ought to be able to get down my street.

I seem to be really bad about this. I had every intention of going to the Last Brass Monkey Run. The fact it was cold was a plus because that meant I’d get to really test out my new electric gloves. But just as has happened in the past, my plans did not work out.

The problem is the weather. We had snow quite awhile ago now but it has been cold and colder and our street is still a sheet of snow and ice. There was no way in the world I was going to ride my bike down that street. Heck, I slip and slide on it in my car. And I don’t know about you but the idea of going to a motorcycle run in a car just doesn’t cut it.

So once again, my plans fell through.

Now it’s going to get interesting, though. Tomorrow is January 1 and that means I have 31 days to at least get in one ride on each bike. I never miss a month ever and you would think this would not be a problem. But hey, if it doesn’t at least warm up enough to melt that snow and ice on the street, it could be a problem.

It’s way too early to be getting worried, but you better believe the first chance I get to get out I’ll jump on it. At this time of year you’d better not snooze or the chances are very good you will lose.

So Friday is supposed to be 40 degrees, the only day this week higher than the 30s. Maybe Saturday will be the day. (I’ll be at work on Friday so that won’t be a day to ride.) Time to start keeping fingers crossed.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
A motorcycling year in pictures – 2012

Biker Quote for Today

Don’t stop riding until you get to the crash , you might save it!

My Honda in the King Soopers parking lot in Aspen Park.

What a gorgeous day Sunday. I rode the Kawi to the ABATE meeting and then in the afternoon I took off on the Honda for a real ride. Time to give that battery a good charge.

It was so nice that the mountains called. I knew as I went up in elevation the temperature was going to drop but I was dressed warmly and had my electric vest on. Upward!

I cruised up through Morrison to Idledale, to Kittredge, and on to Evergreen. Lots of bikes on the road. Lots of bikes parked in Morrison and Evergreen.

And yes, it got cooler. It didn’t take long for me to be glad I had the electric vest on. It was sunny, but with the sun low in the south, the canyon was mostly in shadow. And the higher I went, the lower the mercury dipped.

By the time I reached Evergreen it was getting cloudy. I had wanted to stop but didn’t. You know how you have intentions and yet sometimes you never act on them. That was me. I turned south on Highway 73, the road to where I would meet U.S. 285 at Conifer. Now I was getting cold, especially my hands. I realized the time had come to switch to my winter riding gloves and I wished I had done so already. By the time I reached Conifer I was starting to wonder if my vest had stopped working; I was that cold.

So I cruised on down to Aspen Park and pulled off to get something hot to hold and drink. There’s a Starbucks in the King Soopers there and that was just the ticket. Feeling reasonably warm again, I rolled on back down the hill. By the time I got back to the city it was a comfortable temp again but I kept the vest turned on anyway. Felt good. And yes, it was still working.

The moral of the story, or lesson or whatever: It’s that time of year. I probably won’t be riding into the mountains again until sometime next year. And I really do need to get some electric gloves on my hands, sooner rather than later. Judy said she’d get me some for Christmas, and if I tell her specifically what I want she won’t wait for Christmas. I had forgotten to do that. No more forgetting.

But oh man, what a great day to be out for a ride. After doing all this riding this past summer I haven’t been on the bikes all that much this fall. And now I’ve started a job, for the first time in more than three years. I’m back at the point where when I occasionally go for a ride it hits me that, “Hey, this is really fun! I should do this more!” From here on it’s all about the weather.

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Women motorcyclist research project seeks participants

Biker Quote for Today

The world belongs to those who can laugh at it.