First Day On Four-Day Colorado Ride

September 24th, 2026


On top of Skyline Drive.

Nick and I headed out on a four-day clock-wise loop ride through Colorado, getting on the road about 9 a.m. We headed out US 285 up to Pine Junction and then turned south. Our first stop of the day was at Deckers. There were maybe 8 other bikes there at the time but in less than five minutes another dozen or so came pouring in. Looked like a good day to ride.

We were set up with Cardo communicators and on the “Public” frequency so we were curious if we’d pick up anyone else’s conversation but we did not. There were a bunch of Cardos on those helmets, though.

We continued south to Woodland Park, passing through the burn area of the Hayman Fire 25 years ago. For the first time I noticed the new growth finally looking like it was really getting established. So 25 years to come back from the fire.

At Woodland Park we turned west to Divide, then south to Cripple Creek. Just a very few aspens starting to turn color at this point. Our interest was not in Cripple Creek itself, though I’m sure Nick was interested to see the place because it is pretty picturesque, but we really just wanted to go through it and on south further. That’s a really nice ride in case you’ve never done it.

As we hooked up with CO 9 and then US 50 we headed on into Canon City. My first eye-opener of the trip for Nick was Skyline Drive. He was not expecting it and was a bit unsure, telling me he found it “slightly unnerving.” Guardrails? I don’t need no stinkin’ guardrails.

After lunch in Canon City we continued to Florence, then south on CO 67. Now we were getting into an area I have certainly been through numerous times but where I am not totally acquainted with all the roads. I had looked at the map beforehand but that’s not always enough. We got to where 67 meets CO 96 and I took the right. I believed this was the correct route but Nick is one of those guy who has every gadget and he was looking at his GPS. We were headed for Walsenburg that day and his GPS was telling him to go the other way.

We cruised a bit–me unsure and him arguing for the other direction–and eventually we turned back. We got past where we had gotten on this road, went further, and the terrain was not looking like mountains at all, it was looking like the prairie. I asked Nick where his GPS showed this road taking us and he said straight to Pueblo. Pueblo?! No! We do not want to go to Pueblo. We stopped and I checked the map and sure enough, I was right in the first place. So we turned around again, riding one particular stretch of this road for the third time. Good thing we’re not going far today.

Following 96 south we got behind a guy in a pick-up who was going slow. And he kept going slower. And slower. Nick offered that he was probably slowing down to let us get past him. That was fine, and courteous of him, but we were in a stretch full of blind curves. I don’t care how slow you’re going, I’m not passing you on a blind curve. We finally did get around him, and then turned south again on CO 165.

The next eye-opener of the trip came up soon enough, Bishop Castle. Nick handles his bike well at speed but he is one of those folks who absolutely hate gravel. That’s one thing that made our turning around and turning around again particularly troublesome because he insisted on doing so on pavement–and pavement wasn’t necessarily available in those places. I told him he had no choice, we were stopping here and there was no pavement. But I picked a spot where we could pull right off the road, arc around, and stop with our noses to the road just a couple feet away. He didn’t like it but he went along with me.

Nick perplexed me several times on this ride. We walked up to Bishop Castle but being an Easterner (Chicago) he was feeling the altitude and had no inclination to go in the castle or climb up into any of the turrets. Instead, he pulled out his phone and spent 10 minutes reading about . . . the Hayman Fire. I finally slapped him on the shoulder and asked, “We’re standing at the base of Bishop Castle. Why are you reading about the Hayman Fire?” His response: “I’m just compulsive.”

Heading out from Bishop Castle we did not check first to see that our communicators were talking to each other and it turned out they weren’t. No matter, we don’t have far to go and we both know where we’re going.

Good thing because coming into Colorado City there is a turn-off, a short-cut, that takes you to join I-25 further south. But it is not well marked. I went past it but with no communicators Nick could not tell me that his GPS was saying to take this turn. I saw him waving in my mirror and turning so I went back, expecting to find him waiting for me there. He was not.

I didn’t know for certain this was where he turned so I checked Google Maps. Google Maps told me the cut-off was a little further back so I went there. Turned down this road and it quickly became gravel. This was the second of three times recently when Google Maps has sent me on wild goose chases. I turned around again and this time just headed on into Colorado City and I-25.

I blasted south on I-25, got to Walsenburg, and the motel was right there. Nick was in the lobby but informed me they did not have a reservation for tonight under my name. What? It turns out I screwed up making the reservation and booked it for a week later. Fortunately the lady at the desk was able to straighten it all out and we got our room.

OK, first day is in the books. We had our share of screw-ups. But hey, we’re out riding.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if the only time you’ve thrown up is when you’ve had the flu or just had too many veggie fajitas.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Motorcycle Gear, motorcycle touring | No Comments »

Final 2 Of 10 Threats To Motorcycling

September 21st, 2026


E-bikes: Threat or promise?

Figured I ought to finish this up. In May American Motorcyclist magazine published a piece on the “10 Biggest Threats to Motorcycling” and I’ve been running through them. Here are numbers 9 and 10.

Distracted Driving
Do I really need to explain this? We’ve all seen the danger, and some of us have suffered the consequences, when people look at their cellphones when they should be paying attention to the road. And other than pedestrians or bicyclists there is no one out there more vulnerable than us. What really matters here is the fix for the problem.

Per the AMA, the way to go is for more states to pass legislation increasing penalties for distracted driving. They do not specifically cite use of cellphones; rather, they focus on all modes of distracted driving. That makes sense. You’re just as badly hurt if the driver was searching for something in a purse as you would be if there was a cellphone involved.

Also, “the AMA supports the prominent placement of signage that notifies roadway users that the state provides specific sanctions for those convicted of moving violations while operating a motor vehicle in a distracted or inattentive manner.”

Does that really go far enough? Probably not, but until all states get on this bandwagon I guess we ought to at least focus on making these basic approaches universal.

E-Bikes, Bad Behavior & Unintended Regulations
I see I’m not the only one who has been harping on the issues with the proliferation of power-assisted bicycles and small electric bikes. Additionally, after writing about this topic a few times I recently received emails from folks associated with Bicycle Colorado, asking me to join with them in addressing the issue because they see it as a threat as well. As one of their emails said, they support the increased options for mobility but “their rapid rise has outpaced the safety measures needed to keep everyone protected.”

The concern the AMA raises is primarily unintended or unfair regulation that might group motorcyclists in with all these (mostly) kids who are riding recklessly and creating the issue. But the AMA is also concerned about their safety, at least to the extent that any two-wheeled crash involving a motor reflects badly on motorcycling.

The fix, says the AMA, “starts with responsible, law-abiding motorcyclists having a strong incentive to promote good behavior and call out conduct that harms the reputation of the riding community as a whole.” They call for education and training for e-bikers, and also for “targeted, well-informed regulation rather than broad sweeping restrictions. The big first step there will be to clearly define what mode of vehicle is what and then focus legislation specifically on that mode that is at issue.

————–

OK. Those are the major threats, at least in the eyes of the AMA. Whatever each of us can do individually can only help. And if you don’t do anything, and later see your rights getting trampled on, look first in the mirror for one culprit.

Biker Quote for Today

Pretty stoked to be on a bike right now.

Tags: ,
Posted in American Motorcyclist Association, motorcycle clubs | No Comments »

A Beloved Honda Pacific Coast

September 17th, 2026


I saw this guy up on top of Cottonwood Pass.

When I first started riding motorcycles for real–as opposed to once in a while as a kid–John was receiving copies of various motorcycle magazines from the wife of a friend of his who had died. John would read them and pass them along to me.

One of the very first magazines I ever saw was Rider magazine with a picture of the brand new Honda Pacific Coast on the cover. That cover really struck me, such an unusual bike, and while I have no recollection of so many Rider covers over all these years, I still remember that one clearly.

The Pacific Coast was a dud for Honda. It was really not much more than a glorified scooter and at 800cc it was universally agreed to be seriously underpowered. You saw a few for a few years and then they just pretty much disappeared.

I saw one last week. Nick and I were up on top of Cottonwood Pass and this guy came in and parked. I said oh my gosh and went to have a look.

Nice guy. Loves the heck out of that bike. He told me he bought this one used (not his first) about two years ago and it had 20,000 miles on it then. It now has 89,000. He loves that bike.

He hasn’t had a bit of trouble with it but there is one difficulty I’m familiar with. It’s almost impossible to find the right tires for it. I had a 1999 Kawasaki Concours for 25 years and in later years the only tires I could find of the right size cost me about $250 apiece. If I could find them. So at the suggestion of Jungle, who had a nearly identical Concours, I took to running tires that were not what Kawasaki intended. That is, Kawasaki wanted radials and I was running bias-ply. You know what? They worked just fine.

So now the guy–I didn’t ask his name–was headed down to Arizona. Decided to come through Colorado and the mountains on his way. Stopped on top of Cottonwood just long enough to take a break and then he was off again.

Got more miles to put on this baby.

Biker Quote for Today

To me it doesn’t matter whether it’s raining or the sun is shining or whatever: as long as I’m riding a bike I know I’m the luckiest guy in the world.

Tags: ,
Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Honda motorcycles, motorcycle touring, vintage motorcycles | No Comments »

Last Day Ride Before The Four-Day Trip

September 14th, 2026


I finally got to try this place in Kittredge when Nick and I stopped there on a Sunday ride.

It was Sunday of Labor Day weekend with Nick and me set to take off on Monday for a four-day ride. Let’s get in one more.

We had already done a ride over Guanella Pass and another over Squaw Pass, and I didn’t want to go out on US 285 because that would be the way we would be heading out the next day. But I pulled up a map and the idea came together.

We headed west across town on Belleview till we came to Santa Fe and as we sat waiting for the turn signal I told Nick this was the exact spot last year on June 29, at about this time on a Sunday morning–like now–that that guy ran head-on into me. Not sure how that made him feel sitting there.

We got onto C-470 briefly, then off at Wadsworth and turned up Deer Creek Canyon Road. We turned south on Deer Creek Road, up that canyon until we climbed out of it. Along the way another rider going the other direction tapped his helmet, which I took to be a warning. I’m accustomed to having someone tap the top of their helmet to indicate cops ahead but this guy tapped the side of his helmet. Nevertheless we slowed down and paid close attention. Sure enough, we came around a bend and there were a whole bunch of folks on those wheeled foot platforms that you use the way you would use cross-country skis on snow. We skirted carefully around them.

We continued to Oehlmann Park Road, which goes steeply up into a mountain community and then steeply down the other side. On the other side we picked up Turkey Creek Road to meet US 285. A short run on that took us into Conifer where we got off and caught Barkley Road to CR 73. Another quick jog and we turned up Shadow Mountain Drive.

This road makes a scenic meander around to the west of Evergreen, coming into Evergreen past some very pricey homes. You pay for all that scenery. In Evergreen I feared we would encounter some street festival blocking our route but I was mistaken. Thankfully. We cruised on through and down to Kittredge.

In Kittredge we stopped for lunch at the place we had stopped recently on an RMMRC ride I led where this was my planned lunch stop. Unlike that ride, this time they were open. Pretty decent food at the Switchback Smokehouse.

Leaving Kittredge we turned up Parmalee Gulch Road over to pick up US 285. And now, after just a short ride, we faced getting home across town on a hot day. But hey! It was Sunday of Labor Day weekend. There was no traffic. It was great. We blasted. It was still hot but hot is not so bad when you’re moving.

Biker Quote for Today

“Tourists and locals are watching from sidewalk cafés. Non-racers. The emptiness of those lives shocks me.” — Tim Krabbé

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Day Rides | No Comments »

Never Took This Road This Direction Before

September 10th, 2026


Up at the turn-off from Squaw Pass to go up Mount Blue Sky.

Nick and I headed out for our second ride of his visit, this time on Friday of the Labor Day weekend. No way was I going to take us out I-70.

Again in the cool of the morning we crossed town on Hampden/US 285 and turned north on CO 93 just up to the turn onto CO 46, the road up Golden Gate Canyon. As expected, almost no traffic up here. Yes!

We cruised up to the Peak-to-Peak Highway and turned south on CO 119 to run down to Black Hawk. At Black Hawk we turned up the road to Central City. Through Central City to pick up the Central City Parkway, which we would take over to I-70.

The Central City Parkway was a greenfields road project financed by the casinos with the intention of bringing gamblers more easily to the casinos. It’s up high and it’s two-lane divided highway full of sweepers.

Approaching I-70 we could see the road below and it was choked with traffic leaving the city for an early start on the holiday. Just as I knew it would be. Fortunately, we only needed to get on it for less than two miles and then we got off at Idaho Springs. From the middle of Idaho Springs we crossed the highway and headed up CO 103, up past Echo Lake on the road to Squaw Pass. More nice road and great weather. Who could ask for better?

Just past Echo Lake it was time to make a decision. Nick had some interest in going up to the top of Mount Blue Sky (formerly Mount Evans). The issue was the cost. They have a toll gate at the bottom of the road and even for a motorcycle is would cost $17. Do we both want to ride to the top, just to look around a few minutes and come right back down? Are we $17 dollars interested?

We had been sort of riding with a couple on another bike since Idaho Springs. They must have been thinking the same thing. We all pulled off into this parking lot by the entrance and Nick and I decided no, so we got back on the bikes and took off. A bit later the couple on the other bike passed us going over Squaw Pass. Decision made on both counts. If you want to do Mount Blue Sky, do it in a car where the whole car load goes up for the one price.

So Squaw Pass is a nice ride and it brings you back down to the Evergreen Parkway where we faced another decision. Going left we could get back to I-70 just for a short distance and then get off and take old US 40 back down to CO 93. Or we could go left a very short distance and turn down Kerr Gulch and go through a nice wooded area and end up back at Kittredge. Or, and this is what we did, we could go right into Evergreen but then turn up Little Bear Cub Creek Road up and over to Turkey Creek Road.

I was particularly interested in this because while I have been over this road several times coming to Evergreen, I had never been on it going the other way. This would be a first.

They say a road looks entirely different going the other way and I would say this was not entirely different but it sure was different. It really does give you a different perspective. And through all of this we were successfully avoiding all the early holiday traffic.

You get down to Turkey Creek Road and it quickly brings you to US 285. Not a lot of choice here. So there we were coming back into town in the heat of the day and at rush hour. And once again it was miserable.

Once we got past Broadway and were now on city streets we were on a stretch I have wondered about for a long time. I know that going west on this road I always get in the right-most lane because it moves the fastest from Colorado Boulevard to Broadway. I have often looked at the right-most lane eastbound wondering if it also moved faster. Nick had tried that twice now and didn’t seem to gain anything but I figured OK, let’s try it.

Nope. It was just as slow as the other lanes. So when we got to Colorado, where that lane ends, I turned south on Colorado down to Quincy, which runs sedately through the wealthy Cherry Hills Village area. This is heavily patrolled so you can’t go fast but it’s prettier and there’s a heck of a lot less traffic. And from there we made it on home. Nice day’s ride. We’re toughening Nick up for this upcoming four-day ride. Those easterners think 150 miles is a long day’s ride. That doesn’t cut it out here.

Biker Quote for Today

Get a motorcycle. You will not regret it. If you live. — Mark Twain (sort of)

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Day Rides | No Comments »

Nice Day To Ride Guanella

September 7th, 2026


Nick fishes out another layer on top of Guanella Pass.

Nick is in town with his bike and we’re doing some riding. On Wednesday we rode Guanella Pass.

The great thing about going somewhere and riding with a local is that the local knows all the good roads, most of which you may have no idea exist. So I kicked around several ideas as to what route to take on this ride.

First thing, as always, is getting across town. I live just four blocks off US 285 so 285 is almost always the best way to start off. We headed out to Morrison and then turned up CO 74, up Bear Creek Canyon. At Kittredge we turned up Kerr Gulch in order to avoid the traffic and the busyness of downtown Evergreen. Plus, Kerr Gulch is really a nice ride.

Reaching Evergreen Parkway up by Bergen Park, we jogged just a couple miles over to take the road leading to either westbound I-70 or the overpass across I-70 to get on old US 40 up Mount Vernon Canyon. No surprise, we chose US 40. US 40 is the highway that I-70 replaced and while it wanders away from the slab most of the time, at other times it is basically an I-70 frontage road.

Cruising up through this area I was reminded of what I have seen repeatedly of late, the huge proliferation of dead pine trees. It has all appeared suddenly but it must have been happening for a while. Presumably these trees were fighting pine beetle infestations but with the drought this year they finally lost the battle. A lot of them. This place is a forest fire waiting to happen.

We ran up Floyd Hill alongside I-70 and then down the other side where, at the bottom, you have a great view of the really large highway project now under way to smooth out the sharp turn at the very bottom that has been a thorn in the side of highway planners for decades. At the bottom we turned left, fed onto old US 6, which fed onto I-70, and got off again at Idaho Springs. Time for a break and an explanation for Nick of what he had just seen.

We stayed off the slab, using US 6 to make our way up the canyon, to Georgetown, and then headed up Guanella Pass.

Guanella Pass is big for “leaf-peeping,” cruising the high country in the fall to see the leaves changing color. It gets pretty spectacular in places and this pass is a close-to-town favorite. It’s too early for any leaf-peeping just yet but I did note that just a few aspen were already turning. They say with the drought, though, that this year’s show is likely to be a bit subdued.

I was a bit chilly coming into Georgetown so I put on a sweatshirt while we were there and told Nick what I was doing and why. This is not my first rodeo. Nick figured he’d be fine. We hadn’t gone far up the pass at all when I was feeling very glad to have the extra layer. We stopped at the top and Nick pulled out an extra layer, too.

We cruised down the other side looking to have a bit of lunch in Grant but the food truck that usually sits where the pass road hits US 285 was not there. What was there was a row of A-frame cabins and another row of rectangular cabins with slanted roofs. None of that was there the last time I came this way. Turning toward Denver I pulled into the parking lot of the Shaggy Sheep cafe but as has happened every time I have thought to eat there it was closed. I just always come by on the wrong day of the week. So we rode on to Bailey and had lunch there.

Then it was on down 285 into town and back across town on 285. Right at the peak of the commute, with lots of stop and go and heavy traffic. This was not the 100-degree weather we had recently but we were still roasting. Nick knew where he was going now so he changed lanes to try to make a little better speed but again, not my first rodeo, and we got home with me right behind him.

So it was a short ride for me, a substantial ride for him, and the first step in getting him prepped for the four-day ride we’re doing right after Labor Day.

Biker Quote for Today

“Be at one with the universe. If you can’t do that, at least be at one with your bike.” ~ Lennard Zinn

Tags: ,
Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Day Rides | No Comments »

« Older Entries