Passes & Canyons Blog

Roy (at right) had warned our very cute waitress that she was going to be dealing with a bunch of ugly old men. Look at those guys!

We knew Saturday was going to be a cold day to ride but, as Roy said, you just need the right gear. And apparently nine of us in the RMMRC felt we had the right gear because there we were out riding on this very cold morning.

Judy, who had gotten up before me, warned me that the temperature was having a hard time breaking 40 and I checked the RMMRC Meetup site to see if perhaps the ride had been canceled. Nope. In fact, messages on the site within the last couple hours made it clear it was still on. OK, this would be a day to wear all my cold weather gear. Good thing I had just recharged the batteries for my heated gloves.

And it was cold. At first my Honda CB750 Custom didn’t seem to want to turn over but then it caught and fired up. I got over to where we were meeting and it was a good crowd. And by the time I got there it was clear that while it was darn cold, my electric vest and my riding pants with the liner in, and everything else I wore for warmth would do just fine. All right! Great day for a ride!

We were headed for lunch at Rosie’s Diner in Monument so of course we headed . . . southeast. We went out Parker Road and just south of the Pinery turned east on Bayou Gulch Road to Flintwood Road. From there we followed a circuitous route that I quickly recognized as having been the route we first rode the last time Tim had planned a Mystery Ride. (It was called “Roy’s Mystery Ride” but Tim was the one who actually mapped it out.)

This route led us to Elizabeth and then further south on another circuitous route through Elbert. We were headed for the Palmer Divide and gaining elevation, so it was getting cooler and cooler. I had my heated gloves on the lowest setting so as to extend the battery life as much as possible. My hands were a bit cool but that was fine; they would have been ice cubes otherwise.

A little south of Elbert I was a bit surprised to encounter another sizeable group of bikers going the other direction on this cold day and way off the usual beaten track country road. Good for you guys. Guess we’re not the only ones.

We did finally turn west and then a little later cut back north. It was at this point that the question I had had was answered: where are the high winds that had been predicted? Apparently they had been at our back all this time. Now they were in our face.

We cut on west again and came to Monument. Time for lunch. Ride to eat, eat to ride, you know. We had a super cute waitress who did a great job and we had a good meal. John, on his first time riding with the group, kept everyone interested showing us pictures of his numerous very old motorcycles. There was probably a lot of motorcycle envy going on at that table.

By the time we were ready to roll again the weather had done a significant change. It had to be 15 degrees warmer and full sunshine. Fabulous day for a motorcycle ride! We headed north on CO105 up to Sedalia, at which point the group started to splinter as each rider chose his own route home. I got home with a new 130 miles on my odometer. Now if we can only do this a few more times before the year is out.

Biker Quote for Today

No such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.

You talk about a fast pace, these guys were screaming up the Squaw Pass road.

I went recently with the RMMRC on a fall color ride and Ralf was the leader and organizer. I know Ralf and I’ve ridden with Ralf. And I know Ralf is very much a go-fast kind of guy.

Sure enough, we hadn’t gone all that far and the folks ahead of me were moving at a clip I just was not all that comfortable with. I can ride fast when I choose to but frequently I just don’t choose to. So I just went my own pace and that was fine. Ralf had been very clear that he would not turn off the road we were on without waiting for everyone to catch up so no one would get lost.

One of the folks ahead of me, though, was Maynard. Maynard kept up with Ralf but when we stopped for a couple minutes in Conifer he spoke up, saying that he felt the pace to that point had been a bit excessive. Good for you Maynard, it’s good to speak up and let your opinion be known. Ralf replied that he didn’t feel the pace had been all that fast but he asked how the rest of us felt. I spoke up and said I agreed with Maynard but that I knew beforehand that Ralf was fast and I had just made up my mind to ride my own ride, and if I got behind, I was OK with that.

I will note, however, that there was one particular curve where I went into it too hot and did some emergency hard braking. And I wasn’t even trying to keep up.

No one else said they thought the pace had been all that excessive, although of course some of them had been behind me.

The consensus was as I had suggested, that everyone should just ride their own ride, and we went on. Ralf gave no indication he felt he ought to slow down, and he reiterated that he would not let anyone get separated at a turn. Whether it was for this reason or just because he often does this (he does, and he may have planned this from the start), Maynard peeled off from the ride a bit later when we got to Evergreen and headed off on his own.

But this is a real issue, and it’s one everyone needs to think out on their own. Some people just like to ride faster than others. If a group you ride with always goes faster than you like, then maybe you need to find another group. Alternatively, you could take the role of leader and then lead at the pace you feel comfortable with.

I’m personally not a go-fast guy, to the point that on the recent OFMC trip Bruce asked at one point why we so frequently would ride at five miles below the limit. We just like to take our time and enjoy the ride. Bruce said he had never ridden with a group that didn’t generally go as fast as they could. Or at least go the speed limit.

However, there are several people in the RMMRC who lead a lot of the rides who are go-fast guys. If you go on many rides with this group you are going to find yourself in this situation. And I have. Many times. And I just ride my own ride. If someone wants to go faster they can go around me and catch up with the group ahead.

No one should out-ride their own abilities. Safety is more important than conforming with the group. If you’re not comfortable, slow down. The life you save may be your own.

Biker Quote for Today

So today I went on a motorcycle ride and I forgot to post a picture on Instagram about it. Then I remembered I was too busy riding my motorcycle.

Ralf picked a nice spot going up Witter Gulch Road to pull over and shoot some photos.

Kudos to Ralf for laying out a really nice route. On the Sunday before Columbus Day a group of RMMRC riders went up in the hills to take advantage of a perfect fall day. Ralf not only picked a good route, he included one road that perhaps none of the rest of us had ever been on. I always love that.

We met out by C-470 and Ken Caryl Avenue and headed out under the highway and then around on Valley Road to reach Deer Creek Canyon. We ran up Deer Creek to where it ends at South Turkey Creek Road and went left, following that road around to where it meets US 285 at Conifer. We quickly got off 285 at Barkley Road to reach CR73, which runs north from Conifer to Evergreen.

I was hoping Ralf was planning to jog right/left and get onto Shadow Mountain Drive and take that nice route and he did. Shadow Mountain becomes Brook Forest Road and rejoins CR73 just south of Evergreen but Ralf had other ideas in mind. About halfway along Brook Forest we turned right onto Blue Creek Road and this was a new one for me and probably most or all of the others. Cool. I love being introduced to new roads.

Blue Creek ended up leading us back to CR73 just a little south of the Marshdale area where we headed east on North Turkey Creek Road, back to and under US 285 and onto South Turkey Creek Road not far from where we had hit it previously. This time we went north, past Tiny Town, and again met up with 285. Ralf pulled over.

The thing we needed to know here, he told us, was that we needed to get on 285 just for a moment and then turn left up Parmalee Gulch. So wait for a break in traffic and then immediately get to the left lane and prepare to turn. That was a good thing to make sure everyone understood.

So we headed up Parmalee Gulch, up and over to Kittredge, and then caught Bear Creek Road up to Evergreen. We went through the main town area and turned to go past the lake and then on up Upper Bear Creek Road past all the swanky homes to Witter Gulch Road. This is a favorite as it climbs steeply and is full of tight turns, leading up to where it meets the Squaw Pass Road.

At the Squaw Pass Road we turned west, over the pass and down past Echo Lake and eventually down to Idaho Springs. Time for lunch. Past time for lunch. We ate at Smokin’ Yards BBQ, which was a good place. New for me.

At lunch we talked intentions. Ralf had figured to take I-70 the short distance down to the Central City Parkway and then down to Black Hawk and over on the Peak-to-Peak Highway to go down Golden Gate Canyon. But one couple said they were just going to jump on I-70 and blast home, and I said I figured to get on old US 40 and take it back down. Then the other two women in the group, who had found they both live in Aurora, agreed they would head home together, which left only Ralf and Bruce to go the rest of the way on Ralf’s route.

That’s fine. We all had a good ride and a good day. See you all next time.

Biker Quote for Today

Petrol Sexual: Suck, squish, bang, blow.

This isn’t a recent picture but it’s a mass of the critters that were bombarding us on this ride.

The tumbleweeds were out in full force Sunday when eight RMMRC riders headed out to Patty Ann’s in Kiowa for a lunch ride. The weather has been great but the forecasts are for cold very soon and high winds immediately. They weren’t kidding.

As we headed east on a variety of roads the wind was blasting out of the south and tumbleweeds were blowing across the road like a mass migration. I felt like I was riding rather skillfully as I managed to get to Kiowa without hitting a single one but when we left a big one nailed me right away. OK, some skill, a bit of luck, too.

The wind was killer. I was on the V-Strom, which is my smallest and lightest bike, and we were getting pushed all around. With all its body work my Concours is like a sail but at least it weighs a lot more and so it is more stable. At times this wind had me leaning so far to my right that it felt like the wind might just blow my wheels out from underneath me. But it didn’t.

What it really reminded me of was heading out from Patty Ann’s the first morning of the Great River Road trip we did this summer. Heading southeast out of Limon that day on US 287 we hit such powerful winds that I rode for about 50 miles with the only thing visible in my left mirror being my chest; that was how far I was leaned over.

It also reminded me of a technique I discovered one day riding out this same road, CO86. On that day the wind was out of the north, not that that matters. What mattered was that I was struggling to keep that bike going where I wanted it to go and at one point, for whatever reason, I left go of the grip with my left hand. Suddenly controlling the bike was a lot easier.

The nearest I can figure is that when I was holding on with two hands my hands were working in opposition to each other. It certainly wasn’t a conscious effort but it was a strain and a struggle; once I let go with one hand, control was easy. I wasn’t fighting against myself. I’ve tried this many times since that day and it works every time.

An interesting aside: having figured this out I thought it was worth sharing so I sent a letter to one of the motorcycle magazines so they could pass it along to their readers. I never heard anything and they never printed my letter so I have to suspect they thought I was talking crazy but I’m not. It really works. Try it for yourself and you’ll see.

We headed out after lunch but original plans to take a roundabout route home got dumped because the wind was just blowing so hard and it was obvious the front over the mountains was coming our way. Everyone decided they just wanted to head home. So we did. But it was good to get out for one more ride before the bad weather arrives.

Biker Quote for Today

I thought of that while riding my motorcycle.

Getting ready to ride in Morrison.

After two days of rain it seems our heat wave has been broken. That meant that Wednesday was a great day for a ride. And there were 13 riders who showed up for the RMMRC excursion who seemed to agree.

Heading out early, I felt it wise to wear a sweatshirt under my mesh jacket. I didn’t regret that, and later in the day I was actually wishing I had an additional layer. That’s how cool it was.

We gathered in Morrison and headed up Bear Creek Canyon to and through Evergreen. At the Evergreen reservoir we left the highway and continued on up the canyon on Upper Bear Creek Road to Witter Gulch Road. Then it was up, up, up till we reached the Squaw Pass road. I had to wonder how some of these new guys were doing on this very technical road as they dropped well out of sight behind me, but everyone made it to the top.

From there we turned east down to Evergreen Parkway and got separated by cars along the way. When those eight of us in front got through the traffic signal, the five behind did not. That might not have mattered but we very quickly then turned off Evergreen Parkway at CR65, which runs northwest to cross I-70 and connect with old U.S. 40 just on the eastern downslope of Floyd Hill. Gray, who was leading, had said he would stop at turns so no one would get lost but he didn’t, nor did anyone else. As the last one in the eight I did stop, but I was afraid I would not be particularly visible as the others came along.

My fear was well founded. They came roaring along and went straight on through the intersection, never even noticing me though I was waving to get their attention. I waited a few minutes to see if they had spotted me at least and would come back but no one showed so I slowly headed along, pulling over a couple times to let cars past me. Finally I sped up to try to catch the others.

The first obvious spot for the main group to wait would have been where CR65 hits U.S. 40 but they weren’t there. I deduced that it was more likely that they were heading up Floyd Hill to drop down on the other side into Clear Creek Canyon and U.S. 6. I headed that direction and there at the top they were pulled over waiting. Gene came back and asked me about the others, then passed that info along. Nothing much to now but keep going and figure they knew the destination.

So down we went into the canyon, to where U.S. 6 branches off from the Peak-to-Peak Highway and there we went toward Black Hawk just a short distance before taking the sharp right turn to take us up Douglas Mountain Drive.

This is a terrific road and now that it’s nearly completely paved, though very roughly at points, it should be a must for anyone out for some fun riding. Up and over the top and then we dropped down into Golden Gate Canyon. We turned east to come out at Golden and then on to our lunch spot. No sign there of the other guys so we went on in and got tables. Then five minutes later there they were.

Turns out, they knew they had lost us so they pulled over to confer. Bruce had a pretty good idea of the planned route so he led and they pretty much followed the same route we did. If we had stopped at some point, even for a few minutes, they probably would have caught up with us. So all was well. And what a great day for a ride! And what a good route.

Taking a break on an RMMRC ride.

I don’t want to give the impression that this blog is primarily focused on the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club (RMMRC), but the fact is the group has figured in most of my recent posts. I expect to get back to a more normal rotation of subjects now but there’s one big factor in this: the RMMRC does a lot of rides.

If you’re going to join a motorcycle club it’s not abnormal to assume you are doing so because you want folks to go riding with. And from what I hear, in a lot of cases that simply isn’t the case. They get together, have meetings, do some social events, but do they go riding a lot? A whole lot? In many cases, no. With the RMMRC the answer is a resounding yes. And I go on a lot of them. That alone means I’ll always write about the group frequently.

Before Covid it was a standing thing that every (other? my memory is not clear) Wednesday we’d get together for breakfast and then go ride somewhere. If someone came with an idea for where to ride that was great. If not, we’d figure something out. Then Covid hit and going to restaurants was not an option.

Well folks, the weekly breakfast ride is back. In discussion at the July meeting a good core of the group decided to just start doing this every week again. Bruce suggested a breakfast place near him, the Full House Sports Bar and Grill, at 4272 South Broadway in Englewood. He told us they had a really nice early bird breakfast for just $5 and then we could just take off from there. (A quick note: yes, this is a bar but it’s just accepted that none of us are going to be doing any drinking at this time.)

So the following Wednesday that’s just what we did. Now, the bartender was embarrassed to have to tell us that just as of that day the early bird special had gone up to $7 but that’s still a bargain. Plus they have a surprisingly large menu with other interesting options.

Then the next week we ended up meeting somewhere else on Thursday rather than Wednesday. I’m not sure what that’s about and as I’m writing this I’m not certain that the day or eatery are set or not. But the point is, it is a weekly thing and all you really need to do is consult the website to find out when and where. Then come and have breakfast and go riding. If you do, I’ll see you there.

Of course, the group also does a bunch of longer rides as well. The east coast and west coast are frequent destinations. So if you are really looking to do some riding, come. Join us.

Biker Quote for Today

Turn on your own thunder.

With the RMMRC on top of Independence Pass.

I’ve discussed the camaraderie of riding motorcycles a number of times recently and then events prompt additional thoughts.

As I’ve said, I was struck on this recent RMMRC Great River Road ride by how little social interaction there was among the group once we got to out stop for the night. That surprised me and initially I thought it was just the contrast with the OFMC, where we spend all the time doing stuff together till it’s time to turn in.

But then the morning we took the ride up Coal Creek and then over Douglas Mountain Drive we got together beforehand for breakfast. And at breakfast it occurred to me that this is where there is always a lot of camaraderie–before the ride. Then, a week later when we did the ride up Golden Gate Canyon and then over Squaw Pass Roy called me to tell me several guys were meeting at his house to ride out to Golden. The plan was kickstands up at 9:45 but they were leaving Roy’s at 8:30. Why so early?

It dawned on me that getting there early and hanging out is . . . drumroll . . . camaraderie.

So there’s plenty of camaraderie in the RMMRC–at least on the day rides. Either before the ride or in the middle if we stop for lunch. But it’s a whole different dynamic on long runs, or at least on the one long run I’ve done with the group.

The key came to me at lunch on this day when talk turned to a long ride some of the guys are thinking about for August. They want to do a trip to Oregon and the Columbia River Gorge. There and all the way home in eight days. Eight days. Oh my gosh, that’s a lot of hard riding. And that’s the key.

If you get up early each morning so you can burn up hundreds and hundreds of miles, you get to your day’s destination, have dinner, and people are ready to go to bed. With the OFMC we don’t do these long days, we often reach our destination as early as 2 or 3 p.m. and we’re not exhausted. This gives us time and energy to swim in the motel pool, stroll around and find an ice cream shop, have a beer or two, then have dinner, and kick back with another beer.

Now, Judy and I are planning a trip to the Pacific Northwest in the next few weeks so I definitely won’t be going along on a ride right back to Oregon soon after we get home. But I can just see how this whole thing will play out. They’ll get up early, ride hard and long, and hang it up early. On the whole trip. All the camaraderie will come at the meals–not in the evening.

Now I’m totally convinced that if I want to do any RMMRC rides on the terms I prefer I’m going to have to be the one to organize them, and I’m going to have to make the point to anyone interested that this is a different kind of ride. And in the meantime I’ll just stick to doing day rides. We have a really good time on the day rides.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if you complained about the “smell and fumes” near the back of your last group ride.

A rider on Squaw Pass.

When the temperatures are consistently in the high 90s there is one thing you can do to escape: take a motorcycle ride in the mountains. We did.

The Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club (RMMRC) tries to have rides going on nearly every week. The week before we did the Peak-to-Peak and the canyons running down from it. This time we overlapped that route but tended more to the south.

Six of us met in Golden and headed up Golden Gate Canyon. The temps heading up weren’t cool but it sure wasn’t 95 either. One note, there is a stretch with quite a bit of sand on the road. Be careful.

We reached the Peak-to-Peak and headed south to Black Hawk, then turned up toward Central City. We passed through Central City and took Central City Parkway over to I-70. Now it was pretty darn comfortable.

At I-70 we hopped over to Idaho Springs where we stopped for lunch. The place we were heading for was no longer in business so we went downtown. The place we had in mind there had no indoor seating but had one big table with a big umbrella outside. The heat outside would have been intolerable but the umbrella made all the difference. A couple thousand feet of elevation helped a lot, too.

From Idaho Springs we headed up and over Squaw Pass. Now we got some real elevation and some cloud cover, too. Nice.

The Squaw Pass road is one of those that separates the aggressive riders from the not-so-much guys. It has a lot of twists and turns and a lot of very tight turns, often posted at 15 or 20 mph. I was perfectly having them blast ahead just as fast as they liked. I’m in no hurry.

Back down to Evergreen Parkway and a right toward Evergreen, and then we skirted around the town via Meadow Drive. If you aren’t familiar with avoiding downtown by using Meadow Drive you ought to look it up. I can’t believe I went so many years and never knew about it.

Then we headed down to Kittredge but turned up Myers Gulch Road, which becomes Parmalee Gulch Road, bringing us out onto US 285. That just allowed us to stay in the hills a little bit longer.

And then we came down out of the hills expecting to get hit by a blast of heat but instead, as soon as we rolled out onto the flatlands we hit a rain shower. Not enough to get soaked, just enough to cool things off. I was on the Concours, which has a great fairing, so I hardly got wet at all. And the rain kept up until we got nearly to Federal. From there it was just a short cruise the rest of the way home and what little wet I had picked up just had time to evaporate–read: cool me off–by the time I was home.

I love it when everything goes in your favor.

Biker Quote for Today

The joy of riding a motorcycle is out of this world. The thrill of riding in the hills and mountains is an opiatic addiction.