Passes & Canyons Blog

Even a brief stop at Tiny Town to get this shot helped my backside feel better.

With four days left before we are to leave on this RMMRC ride my butt is better but not great so I took another ride to see just how bad–or good–it was. Verdict: I still don’t know.

I had taken a ride about a week earlier and that time I had barely gone a block or two and was already uncomfortable. I made it for about 35 minutes that day. This time it actually felt just fine at first, but after about a mile I felt the discomfort creeping in. But that’s a big improvement.

It was a blazing hot day so I wanted to head up into the hills. I meandered my way through the southwest suburbs heading toward Deer Creek Canyon. But then, heading south on Kipling, the bike died. Please, no!

I was on the Honda and I stopped at a traffic light but when I started to move again it just died. I pressed the starter button and it fired up but as soon as I let out the clutch it died again. I was in the middle of the intersection at this point so I paddle-walked the rest of the way across, coming to a stop next to the median.

As I said, it was blazing hot and I had visions of being stuck there in the heat with no shade anywhere, waiting for a tow truck. But I’m not stupid, or new at this, and it occurred to me that this was kind of like running out of gas. Now, the trip meter only read 68 miles and this bike generally goes to Reserve at about 125 miles. But it had been in the shop and I had not filled the tank since I’d had it back so who knows how totally off that 68 might be. I flipped to Reserve, pressed the starter, and it fired up. Yahoo! Next stop the nearest gas station.

I got to the canyon and by now the discomfort was starting to worry me. I’d never go 250 miles in a day like this. But then suddenly it was like second wind, where the burning just kind of went away. I felt fine again. Nice.

Nevertheless, as I continued further up the canyon a bit came creeping back again. It was my intention to crest out of the canyon and down to Turkey Creek Road, where I would go right. I decided to stop at Tiny Town both to get a photo and to see how much good it did to just get off the bike for a few minutes.

I got my picture and even that few minutes off the bike did a lot of good. Then I got onto US 285 coming back down out of the hills and continuing east to home. Along the way it was getting pretty uncomfortable again so I decided to shift my position on the seat. It isn’t sitting per se that is uncomfortable, it is sitting for very long in the same position. And yes, shifting around made a big difference.

Then as I got back into town I made a point to stand up every time I got stopped at a red light. That helped, too. Altogether, this time I was out for an hour and a half and I did not feel as bad as I had after 35 minutes a few days before. I decided I now put my odds of going on this ride at 70-30, versus the 50-50 I had set it at previously. But just four more days.

When I got home I found that Alberto, my presumed roommate on this ride, had texted me asking for an update. I guess Alberto is a glass half empty kind of guy because he asked if I was still a no-go. Looking at 50-50 I had never considered myself a no-go. Surely I would get better each day–the question was how much better I would get, how fast. I was just waiting to see if I would feel sufficiently better. But now I told him 70-30.

He asked for a definite decision by Tuesday evening. Money is apparently an issue and he said if I’m not coming he isn’t going to pay those hotel bills by himself and will cancel and not go either. And of course he needs to cancel far enough in advance not to be charged. So I guess I’ll be making a definite decision on Tuesday, after riding again on Monday and then Tuesday.

My best guess at this point would be a go. I just may not ride with the rest of the group all the time, stopping whenever I feel the need to regardless of what they do. Plus, I’ll be on the V-Strom and that bike is designed to be ridden standing up, so I may stand up a lot.

Biker Quote for Today

Any day is a good day to leave some miles behind.

A portion of the RMMRC upcoming rides page.

If you’re like me and the your main riding group of buddies (in my case the OFMC) doesn’t do as many rides as you might like to do, joining a public group can solve that issue. For me, that came a number of years ago in the form of the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club (RMMRC). Nowadays I ride a lot more with the RMMRC than I do with the OFMC.

Well, you can, too. At this moment the RMMRC has four multi-day rides planned and posted on the site. Club membership only costs $12 a year and all sign-up is handled through MeetUp.com. Here’s a quick run-through.

2024 BMW National Rally — While officially a BMW rally, in reality all makes are welcome. The RMMRC does this rally most years because so many club members do ride BMWs but it’s really just an excuse to go somewhere. The plan is only to spend about half a day at the actual rally.

The group going will be leaving Denver on Monday, June 10, and returning on Thursday, June 20. Each day’s ride will be in the 300 to 350 mile range.

Colorado Scenic Highways — I’m going to be going on this ride, which leaves on Thursday, June 27 and returns on Sunday, June 30. The three overnight destinations are Crested Butte, Grand Junction, and Durango. Then the only long day’s ride is coming home from Durango.

Glacier & Banff National Parks — This trip will run from Monday, August 5, to Friday, August 16. It’s kind of a skinny loop so that means no actual back-tracking, which is nice. Sometimes on these rides you have little choice but to return on at least some of the roads you went out on. I won’t be going on this ride, partly because it doesn’t work with my schedule and partly because I did a very similar ride a few years ago. About the only place we didn’t get to on that trip that this trip will hit is Calgary. I’m sure it’s going to be a really good ride.

Colorado 4-Corners Tour — This is a 4-day, 3-night tour starting from and returning to Morrison. Total tour is just over 1,000 miles with daily mileage between 250-340 miles. The stops are Walsenberg, Farmington, and Ridgway. Departure is Thursday, September 19, and return is Sunday, September 22.

So hey! Not getting in enough riding? Here’s your chance. You’d be very welcome. What are you waiting for?

Biker Quote for Today

You are not alone bro, your bike is with you.

Looking down into Clear Creek Canyon from near the top of the incline up and out of the canyon.

Roy called and said the weather was going to be good–we’re doing a ride. I showed up.

Roy didn’t. He got sick and dropped out but there were four of us who made it. As I walked to the group Bob asked me how I would feel about a change in plans. Instead of riding south and having lunch in Monument, how about joining some folks from the BMW Motorcycle Club of Colorado on a ride they’re doing? Apparently he had spoken with Sarah, who is now a member of that club but used to be a member of the RMMRC, and she had planned a ride starting in Morrison and heading up to Nederland for lunch via a meandering route. Sure, that’s fine with me.

We headed on over to the Phillips 66 at Morrison and oh my gosh, what a lot of people! Yes it was good to see Sarah and Sean but I was a bit skeptical of such a large group. I like rides with maybe seven at most. This looked like about 30.

Sarah was smart, she said we were going to break into two groups and she also listed several restaurants in Nederland that we might individually consider. Good plan. Having 30 people show up unannounced at any restaurant is generally going to be a bad idea and it would guarantee a very long lunch break.

So we started taking off and really, I couldn’t tell where group one ended and group two began. In fact, right off the bat we were getting broken into smaller groups because pulling out of the gas station we had to filter in amongst other traffic on the road. That struck me as just fine.

We rode into Morrison and then took the road that runs up past Red Rocks on the east and I found myself following two guys with one of our guys behind me. We went up under I-70 and down to US 6 going around Golden and got to a red light at the mouth to Clear Creek Canyon. I thought for sure that Sarah had said she planned to go up Clear Creek but the two guys ahead were in the straight-ahead lane, not the left-turn lane. This is where I decided to chuck the whole group ride thing.

I pulled into the left-turn lane and Lindsey pulled in behind me. The guy I had been following motioned for straight ahead but when the arrow came on I pulled ahead, turned left, and left them to go their own way, with Lindsey behind me. I figured that with that many people it not only made sense to disperse among the restaurants, it made sense to each go by whatever route you chose. Besides, I wasn’t anywhere close to hungry so having lunch in Nederland didn’t even appeal to me. What Lindsey was going to do I didn’t know.

We had a very nice ride up Clear Creek Canyon and when we got to Black Hawk I pulled over, as did Lindsey. I told him I had no interest in lunch in Nederland and really didn’t know quite where I intended to ride. He agreed, saying he had a friend in the area that he was thinking of just dropping in on. So we parted ways and I first ducked into a casino to throw away some money and then got back on the bike wondering where to go.

I decided to go back down the canyon to where US 6 splits off to the left (as you’re coming up the canyon) on its way to Idaho Springs. Just 100 feet or so on the Black Hawk side of that intersection is where Douglas Mountain Drive goes steeply, twisting and turning up and over, through a high elevation community, and then steeply down into Golden Gate Canyon on the other side. This is a really nice ride.

So I took that and came down into Golden Gate Canyon, turned right to head on down the canyon and came back out on CO 93 just about a mile from where I had turned up Clear Creek Canyon. Then I just headed home. Nice day, nice ride. Nice not to be in a huge group.

Biker Quote for Today

Life may not be about your motorcycle, but it sure can help you get through it.

An earlier RMMRC ride.

How hard is it to just throw warmer gear into the top bag just in case you need it? Too hard apparently as I did it again: opted not to wear or take my heated gloves because I didn’t think I’d need them.

The RMMRC was doing a breakfast run on Friday and I knew it was supposed to be cooler than the day before. But it still seemed like such a nice day. Hah! By the time I got to the gathering spot I was already wishing I had my heated gloves. Oh well.

There were seven of us and I thought we were heading to Elizabeth but I guess I was confused. We met on the south side of Parker and took Hilltop Road out to Singing Hills Road (County Road 166) and turned east to . . . somewhere. I’m not sure what road we went south on but we got to the edge of Kiowa and turned south on Elbert Road. Then south to and through Elbert on down to US 24. At this point we were down outside of Colorado Springs.

At Falcon we took Stapleton Road over to Meridian Road to Omelets Etc.

Man, was I cold! I had my electric vest on but even it wasn’t doing the job completely. And for the first time ever I was very conscious of a breeze coming through the zippers on my upper chest vents on my jacket. I wanted to make a point to stuff those vents with napkins while at the restaurant but of course I forgot.

But the food was good, as was the service, and the prices made you think this was five years ago.

Mercifully, by the time we were leaving it had gotten at least a little warmer. We headed north on a variety of roads through the Black Forest area up to CO 105, which we took over to Monument, and then north to Sedalia still on 105. At Sedalia it was time to scatter, each in his own direction. A good ride all in all but next time I really do need to throw my heated gloves into my tank bag. Of course, then I won’t need them.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker when you go down and the only thing you ask is how’s my bike.

Getting ready to ride to Bennett.

The early part of this week has been great riding weather, with bad weather coming soon, so of course I was out taking advantage of it.

On Monday I took the V-Strom out and ran the regular errands I carry out each month. Not a lot of miles so I’ve got to get back out on this one again this month if I want to turn over the next 1,000 on the odometer. I’m still about 70 miles away. Maybe today after I finish this post. The weather is supposed to hit tomorrow.

On Tuesday I went out on the Concours for a longer run. I’m still waiting to get the bike in to Rowdy Rocket Garage to get this vacuum issue fixed so I’m still contending with the fact that the engine races like crazy every time I pull the clutch in to shift. I’ve started figuring out how to adapt to the problem at other times. For instance, if I’m coming to a stop I just let the bike slow down a lot before I finally pull in the clutch and downshift. Normally you would be concerned about stalling but this bike is not going to stall. In fact, much of the time I can let go of the throttle just as if I had cruise control on and the bike just keeps going.

This ride just strengthened my resolve that yes, I am going to sell this bike at some point and replace it with something newer and lighter. It just isn’t all that much fun to ride when I’m constantly having to pay attention to this problem. And yes, once I am finally able to have the problem addressed it will eliminate this negative condition but I’m past that. My mind is made up to move on. I was talking to Bruce yesterday and he was saying just go ahead and sell the bike as it is and take whatever you can get. But I don’t think I could find any buyer at this time of year so I’d like to have it fixed so I can enjoy riding it in the next few months before I sell it. At least if it’s not going to cost too much.

Then on Wednesday the RMMRC took a ride out to Bennett for lunch. I rode the CB750.

There were eight of us on this beautiful, warm, sunny day. We headed out down Parker Road, then east on Quincy and out into the country. There are not a lot of options on roads to take going out where we were headed so we just rode the straight out to where we turned north on County Road 129, jogged east and then north under I-70, and reached our destination, the High Plains Diner. We had never been there before and I was favorably impressed. The food was good–nothing spectacular–at very reasonable prices. I would not hesitate to go there again.

Heading out after the meal we didn’t have a lot of choices. We could go back the way we came or we could go east about a mile and take the Kiowa-Bennett Road south. Heading west without going south didn’t offer any attractive options, although I guess we could have gone east on US 30 to Watkins and then south on Watkins Road. We took the Kiowa-Bennett Road.

Two of us were inclined to go on all the way to Kiowa and then turn west but the other six decided just to go south as far as Quincy and then retrace our route there. So we did, then home. But man, it was a great day to be out on a bike.

Biker Quote for Today

One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.

That place across the street, just to the right of the stop sign, is where we intended to eat. But no dice on this ride.

As I have remarked previously, I’ve seen yellow leaves before, so going for a fall color ride for me is more about the riding than the color. But if it’s a really nice show of color I certainly appreciate it. Well, apparently the place to go for color this fall was the southern part of Colorado, not the northern part.

Last week the RMMRC did one more fall color ride, this time down to Victor and Cripple Creek. It was a much smaller (seven) and therefore more comfortable group that headed south from Lincoln Avenue down Daniels Park Road, over to Sedalia, and down CO 105 to Monument and then I-25 into Colorado Springs.

We stopped just before turning onto US 24 to shed some layers, though it seemed odd to be taking layers off just as we were about to climb. But I did take off my sweatshirt knowing I could always turn on my electric vest if I needed to. I needed to, and as the temperature dropped as we climbed I soon wished I had left the sweatshirt on. Follow your instincts, not the crowd.

We took US 24 to Divide and turned south on CO 67, but took the fork to the left toward Victor (Teller County Road 821) rather than going into Cripple Creek. The plan was to have lunch in Victor. However, we got to the intended restaurant only to find it closed. This was the second Wednesday in a row that we got somewhere for lunch and found the restaurant closed. Note to all: Any time you plan a lunch ride, call the restaurant first to make sure they’re going to be open.

Meanwhile, backing up, the fall colors along CO 67 were by far the best I’ve seen all year. This is where you needed to go to see fall color. It was definitely beautiful. An unexpected treat.

In the middle of the week there apparently are not very many restaurants open in Victor so we had little choice but to cruise on over to Cripple Creek. But I wondered because I’ve been in Cripple Creek quite a few times and I’ve never identified any particularly good places to eat, unless you want to do some fine dining place in the evening and pay $40 or more for your meal–not what we look for in a lunch stop.

We did see one place, however, that looked like it might be good so that’s where we headed. Funny thing: I can’t remember the name of the place and I stroll down the street on Google Earth and the images are all old, there’s a lot of construction going on, and I can’t find the place. Sorry, I’d like to recommend it because I ordered a pulled pork sandwich and it was one of the best I’ve ever had. Also, Tom ordered an avocado toast and said it was exceptional. It’s on the north side of the street, at the western part of where the street is elevated on one side. If you’ve been to Cripple Creek you know what I mean.

Gearing up before leaving Cripple Creek I was putting my sweatshirt back on and mentioned to Roy how I had thought it odd to remove layers before going up. He said he had that same thought and he did not take anything off. Yeah. Follow your instincts, not the crowd.

We headed straight up to Divide, then east to Woodland Park and then turned north on CO 67 up toward Deckers. Heading toward Divide the sky to the north was starting to look ugly. But where we were it was blue sky and sunshine. OK, enjoy it while you’ve got it.

Heading north out of Woodland Park rain was threatening and soon it was falling. But we rode through it for about a minute and came out on the other side and once again it was blue sky and sunshine. Nice. Up through Deckers and Buffalo Creek to US 285 at Pine Junction and we turned east. Oh boy. Now off to the east the sky didn’t just look threatening, it was black. But there was one spot of lightness on the horizon right exactly where I knew we were headed and I’ll be danged if our luck didn’t hold.

We got all the way to Denver, and I crossed the city on US 285/Hampden and just as I crossed I-25, now two miles from home, it finally started to rain. But even that stopped before I covered those two miles. What a nice day to be out riding! Maybe one of the last really good days we’re going to have for a while.

Biker Quote for Today

If motorcycle riding were a job, I would be the most hardworking employee.

There was a little more color on the south side of Guanella Pass but not a lot.

The RMMRC planned a fall color ride last week so of course I went along. Gathering at the Phillips 66 in Morrison the group was huge. There were at least 14 bikes plus two cars. Wow. Big group, I mentioned to Dave. Yeah, he said, too big.

We headed up Bear Creek Canyon to Evergreen, through town and out the west side on Upper Bear Creek Road to the Witter Gulch Road, which is a really steep climb with super-tight switchbacks near the top. A fun motorcycle road, in other words. At the top you come to CO 103, the Squaw Pass road, which we took left, over the pass, past Echo Lake, and down to Idaho Springs.

It was a really nice day to be riding in the hills, a little cool but I had on full cold weather gear and could not have been more comfortable. But there was not much color to be seen on the way up. That was no surprise to me because Judy and I had just been up to Estes Park, over Trail Ridge Road, and down to Grand Lake the week before and we didn’t see much color then either, and now another week had passed. Mostly the green was just turning brown.

From Idaho Springs we took old US 6 up to Georgetown, where we had a lunch stop planned. Arriving, we found the restaurant closed. Someone had checked with the visitor center and they had pointed us to a brewpub on the east edge of town by the lake. Presumably that was where we were going to go.

Roy asked me to help him push back off this gravel parking area we were on and I did, so I was the very last to leave this first restaurant. I knew where this brew pub was, though, because I had seen it coming into town. As I headed back that way I soon started seeing members of our group coming back toward town, apparently having gone not far enough and thinking they had missed the place. I waved at them to go the way I was headed. Then at the roundabout off I-70 I saw others pulling into a restaurant right there. I waved to them as well but nobody seemed to be following me.

I rode on out to the brew pub and pulled out my phone. Meanwhile, a couple from the group did show up but did not stick around. The only phone number I had was Dave so I called him and told him where I was and that the place was open and there were people inside eating. He told me the place by the roundabout didn’t even open for another 15 minutes and he would tell some of the others but meanwhile he was coming out to join me. A few minutes later he did, no one else did, and we went in to eat. It turned out later that Dave is diabetic and he was nearing a blood sugar crisis so he just needed food, NOW!

So it was kind of pleasant just the two of us. It gave us a chance to talk and get a little better acquainted. I’ve known Dave for about five years now but in a group setting you often don’t have a chance to really get to know people. One on one you do.

After lunch Dave asked if I intended to rejoin the group. I had planned to but he noted that what with finding a place to eat and then getting such a big group served they were not likely to be ready to ride for maybe another hour. He was just going to go on over Guanella Pass without them. Besides, Dave is a go-fast guy and he had not enjoyed the sedate pace you have to take with such a large group.

I went with Dave. At first there was a lot of traffic going up Guanella but apparently a lot of people were planning to hike and every time we passed a trailhead the numbers thinned so soon we were cruising along comfortably. And what a beautiful day! But not much color. Oh well, I’ve seen yellow leaves before.

Over the top and then we pulled out at a view area to get a few photos, such as the one above. Just then in pulled John, another RMMRC member, in his car with his wife, out to see the leaves. Fun. Oh, and there was a bit more color over on the south side of the pass.

So we cruised on down to Grant, picked up US 40 back to town and split up when the time came. It really was a much more pleasant ride just the two of us. I hope the rest of those folks found a good place to eat.

Biker Quote for Today

You are not alone when your bike is with you.

That’s Roy, fourth from left, before our Saturday ride to celebrate his 92nd birthday. We can all wish we’ll still be riding when we’re 92.

On Saturday I rode out with other RMMRC members to a lunch down in Monument for Roy to celebrate his 92nd birthday. That’s right, Roy is 92 and he is still riding. Not just riding. In any given year he probably rides more miles than you do.

It’s no surprise that Roy is an inspiration an awful lot of us in the club. I know I want to be Roy some day. I always end these posts with a Biker Quote for Today and the most apropos of these would be “We don’t stop riding because we get old, we get old because we stop riding.”

This all ties in with an email exchange I’ve been having with Nick, who a couple weeks ago came out from Chicago with his BMW R1250RS. We did three day rides and then a three-day ride while he was here.

Nick had been reading this blog and saw that I was talking about maybe swapping my V-Strom and Concours for one bike that would be between them in size and capable of replacing them both. One bike I’ve identified as a possibility is the Yamaha Tracer. It seems that everyone who I mention this to is wildly enthusiastic about me making the swap. Which, frankly, makes me a little more hesitant.

Anyway, Nick emailed me last week and offered this thought:

I was thinking about your process for potentially getting a new bike. It is understandable you take a lot of time to pull the trigger. My question is what is your “riding life expectancy”? At some point in the not-too-distant future you will likely stop for one reason or another. (This is obvious to you I am sure).

I for one would encourage you to do it sooner rather than later. I am not sure how much longer I will ride but although my bike is expensive to maintain, it is pretty satisfying to ride. If going lighter makes sense, that Tracer seems like a decent bet. I think the GT version runs about 485 lbs wet, vs my 550 lbs with bags.

My reply sums up my current thinking pretty well:

As for riding life expectancy, just yesterday I went out with a bunch of guys for a lunch celebrating birthday 92 of Roy, the RMMRC president. Roy still probably rides more than you and me put together in any given year. I aspire to be Roy, as do many others in the group.

Realistically, I see no reason for me to give up riding any time soon. Having had my heart surgery, without which I would probably already be dead, I’m in extremely good, robust health. If my largest bike–currently my Concours–ever gets to be just too big and heavy I will move to something smaller. I could be riding that V-Strom for a long, long time.

So I’m in no hurry to pull the trigger. And while I have plenty of money, in terms of cash on hand this has been an expensive year. On Tuesday of this week I finally got my final crown on a new implant–the end of about an 11-month process. That tooth cost as much as a new motorcycle.

No, I’m not going to rush into anything. In about a year, if I’m still even thinking about it I may get more serious. Meanwhile, looking at the possibility of getting rid of any of the bikes I have has got me thinking more deeply about what I like about these bikes and why I got them in the first place. In fact, I’m already thinking that heck, I may end up replacing the Concours but I’ll probably not let go of the V-Strom. Stay with three bikes rather than cutting back to two.

It’s that kind of evolution of my thinking that leads me to move slowly.

So don’t expect to be reading anything here anytime soon about me and a new bike. But someday . . .

Meanwhile, yeah, I want to be Roy. I intend to be Roy. And then all these younger guys in that future RMMRC can aspire to be Ken.

Biker Quote for Today

“If you end up with a boring miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest, or some guy on television telling you how to do your s—, then you deserve it.” — Frank Zappa