Weekend Rides

March 22, 2009
Fort Collins, CO

The first weekend of Spring in Colorado brought warmer than average temperatures. Every motorcycle in Colorado was on the road. We would have been hard-pressed to drive the space of a mile without seeing a fellow biker. Count among us every convertible (yes, tops down) and classic car not to mention all other two, three and four wheel vehicles. The foothills were swarming with people trying to shake off cabin fever and make the best of a weekend before Ol' Man Winter returns.

Saturday Morning, as soon as the temperature hit near 50, we were out and ready to roll. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the leaves on the trees were unfurling and The Ride was humming at the end of the drive. We were eager to put some miles between us and the garage.

We rode in a southerly direction, down the country lanes that dissect this area, eventually ending up near Johnson's Corner which seemed like a logical stop for a cup of coffee and a bite to eat. I've mentioned Johnson's corner before. It's one of the few really good stops along I-25 and if you are headed into Wyoming without a planned stop elsewhere (there's not much else) it is a must. They are known for their giant cinnamon rolls. Below is a picture... served warm, dripping in glaze with a side of whipped butter. That's a dinner plate it is sitting on, not a saucer. And the best part, it is priced at $2.49!

We rode on the east side of I-25 for a little while. It was dusty and many of the farmers and ranchers were burning off winter's brush in the drainage ditches and the fields. We rode through some of the smoke... cough, cough, sneeze, sneeze. Soon I was saying, head south, then west. We can ride on the flat lands any day. OK, says Tim. We took Hwy 66 straight into Lyons, commonly known as the Gateway to the Rockies. Now there are many drives that will get you into the mountains, all of them great, but few match the ride due west into Lyons. It is one of the best views of Longs Peak from the Front Range. Longs Peak, a fourteener, sits near the heart of Rocky Mountain National Park. There are two canyon rides from Lyons that will get you to the peak-to-peak Highway and/or Estes Park. That's why Lyons is a biker favorite. As usual, we stopped at the park for a cup of coffee and to stretch our legs. Lyons is also the home of the very popular Red Hill Motorcycles, known as one of the best custom and performance shops in the Rocky Mountain area.

The next leg of our journey found us heading south on the North Foothills Hwy (aka Hwy 36/93) toward Boulder. In between is a biker stop, called the Rocky Flats Lounge, that has sort of an interesting history. Boulder is a busy town. If you go straight through on Broadway, you will pass downtown Boulder, the square known as Pearl Street Mall and the University of Colorado. We rarely stop in Boulder - too many people (or should I say liberals). Boulder politics are well - different. That's being abnormally polite, on my part. We passed one of the many picket corners where a couple of young men with apparently no imagination about how to spend a weekend in glorious Colorado were picketing - picketing. Yes, that's what I said. I read on a banner as we were passing through that 2009 marks Boulder's 150th anniversary, which really doesn't mean that much to us, other than we'll need to check for events before the next time we swing through there. The traffic is a nightmare on a normal day and the considerable foot traffic has the right of way. Boulder Canyon will also get you up to Nederland and the peak-to-peak highway or down from it but the canyon drive is really steep, with plenty of tight curves and lots of traffic. Boulder Falls is about 7 or 8 miles west of town on the canyon drive.

Probably the best thing about the Boulder area is the ever-changing view of the rocky-faced mountains know as the Flatirons. The Flatirons were named by pioneer women after the flat, metal irons used to press their clothes.

As I say, we rarely stop in Boulder and this time was no exception. We rode straight on through to Golden. In Golden, we saw paragliders or sky surfers around Lookout Mountain. Apparently, the thermals in this area make for great gliding. It is rare to go through Golden without seeing them. Lookout Mountain is home to many antennas (a source of contention with the locals) and Buffalo Bill's grave site and a Wild West Museum. The view of Denver from this vantage point is spectacular. Golden is also home to Coors Brewery. Our ride took us through Golden to the southern outskirts of Denver (Arvada and Lakewood). This is our old stomping grounds, having lived in Littleton and Lakewood for several years, and we would have lingered at some of our old haunts but the skies began to change rather rapidly. We stopped for gas and ice cream before meandering our way back to Fort Collins. We managed to make a whole day out of 200 miles and just over a tank of gas. We finished out the day, by parking The Ride and hopping in the Tahoe for a short drive to Serious Texas BBQ. We opted for four wheels so we could have a beer with our BBQ. Again, we do not drink and ride.

Sunday morning, the weather was better (much warmer). Sadly, this is the only picture of Sunday's ride, as the batteries in the camera died and I could not find replacements at the one store open in the canyon. I know, lack of planning. Yesterday we rode in leather jackets. Today, we lit out in lighter jackets. We knew high winds were forecast so the sooner we got out, the better. We rode up the Poudre Canyon to the Stove Prairie cut-off. The Poudre River was low as we have yet to get runoff from the mountain snow melt. The ride was fine. We were itching to go further up the canyon, but we saved it for another day, later in the year. The Stove Prairie cutoff is on the high side of Rist Canyon. Stove Prairie is the oldest (established 1896), operating one room school (K-6) in Colorado. It has expanded a bit and has a current enrollment of something like 40-50 kids. The road had not improved since we rode the lower side of the canyon a few weeks ago. There was still too much pea gravel on the road, but no ice this time. No matter, we took it slow and easy into Masonville where we stopped for a stretch.

We rode back into Fort Collins around the south side of Horsetooth Reservoir, and decided to stop at the house for a bite of lunch. This was a longer than scheduled break because we visited with our neighbors, the Browns who had just returned home from their Spring Break vacation at Disney World in Florida. We have Harley-Davidson shirts from Orlando, Florida now. Kool!

After our break, we headed out once more but we didn't stay out long, or venture very far as the wicked winds had arrived and we could see the snow clouds building over the mountains. It wasn't long before the clouds were rolling down the foothills. With the way the weather looks, it will be a week or so before we're out on The Ride again.

I cannot remember when we have had so much fun riding the roads of Colorado. We have been up and down lots of roads, from one end of the state to another in our cages (4 wheel vehicles), but it is different now, in ways I cannot begin to adequately describe. We are discovering anew why we came here and why we stayed.

The haze from smoke, smog and cloud this weekend didn't allow for great pictures, and we can't wait for it to green up here in Colorado but here's a slide show of our rambles on Saturday.