Passes & Canyons Blog

After five years riding with the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club (RMMRC) I recently went on my first extended ride. All the others have just been day rides. Meanwhile, I’ve been going on week-long rides with the OFMC for more than 30 years. I figure a comparison of the two groups might be in order.

Some sharp contrasts come readily to mind. For one, the OFMC has gotten to be just one long ride and at best two day rides each year. Meanwhile, I can’t even count the number of rides I’ve been on with the RMMRC just this year. A lot. That’s why I joined the RMMRC.

Concern about safety is another sharp difference. To come on an RMMRC ride you must wear a helmet, and we always ride in staggered formation. In the OFMC no one is going to tell you you have to wear a helmet, although in later years none of us would even consider riding without one. The early years were a very different story.

As for staggered formation, the OFMC response to that would be “What’s that?” This had been a bit of an issue for awhile, with some of us lobbying for it while others responded with “don’t tell me how to ride.” I resolved the issue for myself by primarily riding sweep. Otherwise, I would try to make sure not to have Randy riding right behind me. Randy seemed to get target fixated on the rear tire of whoever was in front of him, and you’d check your mirror and there he was barely 25 feet right behind you. I was not grief-stricken when Randy chose to stop riding with us.

I have to say, though, that for awhile there was a guy like Randy in the RMMRC. And he was actually worse than Randy, a lot worse. It was suggested to me that maybe he had poor vision and that made sense. And maybe he had Lasik or cataract surgery because he no longer does that. What a relief.

Going on longer rides with the two groups has one very big difference. With the OFMC we know for sure how many will be coming and we divide motel reservations so each of us only needs to make one or two. Then we reserve rooms for the whole group. In the RMMRC it’s every man for himself. So if you’re going to be out for four nights, that’s four reservations each person has to make (unless you’re doubling up with someone else, which only a few people do). The difference here is probably that with the OFMC we’re friends outside of riding and I know that Bill or Dennis is not going to stiff me. With the RMMRC, these are people I see only for rides and with many of them I don’t even know their last names, much less where they live. Not that I would expect to get stiffed if someone decided at the last minute not to come, but it’s the difference between friends and folks you are friendly with.

One thing that seems to be true for both groups is that we mostly avoid talk of politics. There are people of differing opinions in both groups and there is no better way these days to tear a group apart than to get into pointless political arguments.

When it comes to hard riding, the RMMRC is definitely the high-miler club. There are members who are Iron Butt riders and it’s pretty much the norm to blast out 500 miles on the first day of a long ride in order to keep the days within the needs of people who have jobs. All OFMC riders are now retired and nobody is much into long days. A couple years ago I told the guys I could come up with a really nice route if they were willing to do a few long days. They said OK, and we had a nice ride, but afterward they told me they really don’t want to do long (350 miles in this case) days any more. Heck, with the RMMRC just recently we covered 400 miles going from Denver to Grand Junction via a wandering — and extremely scenic — route.

Inserted later: Now that points out one other important difference in the two groups. In the OFMC, if we get cold, we’ll stop and put on more gear. If our legs are getting stiff, we’ll stop and take a break. With the RMMRC it seems that once we get rolling we are going to continue rolling. These guys like to ride, not stop. Of course, with a group of any size, stopping requires time. One or two people can stop quickly and get going again, but with eight people it takes about four times as long. And you don’t cover lots of miles in a day if you’re stopping all the time.

Also, in later years the OFMC has decided we like to take it easy and have at least one non-riding day in the middle of the week. That has become our golf day. So we get to stay two nights in one spot and not have to pack up and head out every single day. I don’t think the RMMRC does anything like that. Maybe I’m wrong; I’ve only been on one long ride and that was just a four-day ride.

And then there’s this difference between the groups: the OFMC is and always has been just guys, while the RMMRC has women members. Not that it makes any noticeable difference.

Of course, the RMMRC has meetings and officers and all that. The OFMC is just a bunch of guys with motorcycles.

What else? That’s all I can think of right now. I enjoy riding with both and I’m glad I have both to ride with.

Biker Quote for Today

Sons of Alzheimer’s: Where’s my bike?

I was thinking I’d like to go to the Iron Butt Association’s “InterNational Meet” in Denver next week but I may be late to be getting press credentials. Just too busy these last few weeks. We’ll see.

Regardless, the IBA is going to be meeting here. They came to Denver a couple years ago and apparently liked it so much they’re coming back. I have several friends who are IBA members and I suspect they may be going.

So what do they do at an IBA gathering? Well, since you asked, here’s a listing of at least some of the event:

• Ride the Rockies & Informal Lunch at BeauJeau’s in Idaho Springs
• Route & Ride with the Big Dawgs – Win a paid spot in the 2013 IBR – Routing Competition for the first 50 riders with multiday rally experience – Wednesday August 15th
• Rallying 101 – 3 part seminar for Rally Rookies. Learn rally basics in a real world format hosted by Iron Butt Rally Veterans. Open to 50 first time rallyists. Wednesday August 15th
• — Rally Basics: Routing seminar with IBR Vet Brian Roberts & Rally Photo Tips with IBA Photographer Steve Hobart; Wednesday August 15
• — 10 hour rally with Rallymasters Terry & Lynda Lahman and 1999 IBR winner George Barnes; Thursday August 16, 4am – 1pm
• — Scoring Table Survival Techniques – real world scoring using IBR scorers Thursday August 16, 1-4pm
• Iron Butt Association Scorer Certification Class – Thursday, August 16 9:00 – 11:30 am
• Cop Cones Competition – Friday, August 17, 4:30pm
• Fix A Flat Class – A hands on seminar taught by Brian Roberts, Thursday, August 16, 1-4 pm

Back by popular demand – Great program of spouse activities hosted by Paula Behm

Now, if that all sounds interesting but you’re not registered you may be out of luck. The website says slots are limited and they sell out quickly. Still, if you’re interested in becoming an Iron Butt rider, I’d be willing to be that if you hang out at the Denver Marriott Tech Center you’ll find lots of people more than happy to answer any questions you might have. Heck, maybe I’ll just do that myself. Who needs a press pass?

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Biker Quote for Today

Ride for the soul!

I’ve been up-front about my disinclination to even try doing an Iron Butt ride but Dan Leffert has managed to plant a seed. (That’s Dan in the picture. Notice that Iron Butt pin on his hat.)

The Iron Butt Association (IBA), of course, is a group of motorcyclists who have ridden 1,000 miles in 24 hours. Their slogan is “World’s Toughest Riders.”

The longest rides I’ve ever done have been around 500 miles, and I’ve done that three times. They were doable but I had no desire whatsoever to continue and cover that same distance again all in the same day.

I mentioned that fact in a recent post here, “What I Want to Do: Motorcycle Bucket Lists,” where Dan, an Iron Butt rider himself, read it. He tells me he made a note to contact me and see if he might change my mind. Then my editor at RumBum.com asked me to do a profile on an Iron Butt rider so, long story short, I posted a note on the IBA forum where Dan saw it and gave me a call.

Dan and I met on Saturday and talked. The story that will come out of that will presumably be posted on Rum Bum on Feb. 9, unless my editor does something unexpected, which happens. What I want to tell you now, though, is what that headline above suggests. Dan got to me, just a little. He’s made me start thinking about it.

Turns out Dan is helping organize an Iron Butt event here in Colorado in September. For beginners, they’ll be doing a three-pointed star ride that will start in Denver, go south to Trinidad, back to Denver, west to Grand Junction, back to Denver, then northeast to Brush, and back once again to Denver.

That’s a lot of riding in one day. I’ve ridden from Denver to Grand Junction and the reverse, but never both in the same day. That alone looks like a lot to me. But what makes this at least a tiny bit appealing is that I could try it and go to Trinidad and if, when I got back to Denver I didn’t want to go any further I could just stop.

One thing that has put me off in the past is the idea that if I started a ride, once I was a few hundred miles from home, if I wanted to chuck the idea, I’d be stuck riding at least another few hundred miles to get back home. The star route eliminates that issue.

Now suppose I went to Trinidad and back and then headed for Grand Junction. That would, all by itself, be the longest day’s ride I’ve ever done. But I have a brother who lives in Grand Junction so if I got there and just didn’t want to ride any further I would have a place to spend the night. And if I did go back to Denver, once again, I could call it off at that point.

But I suspect that if I made it that far it would be hard to resist the relatively short run out to Brush and back to Denver to make it complete.

So I don’t know. I’m still very skeptical, but Dan got the seed planted. We’ll see. I’ve got till September to make up my mind.

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Biker Quote for Today

It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end. — Ursula K. Le Guin