The main summer ride for many of us in Colorado the past four years has been the "Ride the Divide", a four-day, 1200-mile event planned by Mark Folsom and Jeff Hoskin. The route goes from Steamboat Springs to Pagosa Springs (or vice versa in odd years) and includes fourteen passes over the Continental Divide and some of the nicest scenery in Colorado. Probably around fifty people have participated in the ride over the past four years. This report contains my observations of the event and highlights the best motorcycling sections, the scenery, and some of the comaraderie we've been able to share on a longer ride. I've included the road numbers so you can follow along on a map and have noted the elevations of the passes because the big numbers all correspond with fun, curvy roads and great scenery. Maybe it will encourage you to set aside some time and money to join us next July.

This year the RtD started in Steamboat Springs, one of my favorite mountain towns. Just getting there makes for a good ride. Ed Shaw and I rode up together from the Denver area. We went up I-70 to Silverthorne, along the Blue River to Kremmling, then headed west on CO-134. On the forty some miles of CO-134 there were almost no cars on the road as it climbed Gore Pass (9527'). We did have to slow for the cattle on the road, including one bull who refused to move from our lane. There is almost no development in that area so I slowed for the scenery too. After Gore Pass we headed on north along the Yampa River to Steamboat.

On Wednesday morning we joined up with the rest of this year's crew of about 36 riders. Many were friends from previous RtD's who had ridden in from Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. Some were on their first RtD, having traveled from Nebraska, California, and British Columbia. Several of the folks had come from riding the Reasonable and Prudent rally in Montana. The bikes included a ZX-11, CBR1000s, a CBR900RR, ST1100s, BMWs, Concours, a KDM850, a V-Max, and a Harley. Mark's association with the Motorcycle Roadracing Association attracts some very good riders, folks who have a lot of enthusiasm for two-wheeled touring at various speeds on different kinds of cycles.

We started the RtD heading south on US-40 and the sweeping turns up to Rabbit Ears Pass (#1, 9426'). Quick or slower it was fun to be part of the train of motorcycles zooming through the turns and the scenery. Before long we were at Muddy Pass (#2, 8772') and on our way to Kremmling and Hot Sulphur Springs. At the junction of CO-125 everyone stopped to gather the group back together and to swap howdies. Then it was on north along Willow Creek on one of the best motorcycling roads in the state. Great pavement, sweeping turns, no big surprises, more beautiful Colorado scenery. At Willow Creek Pass (#3, 9621') or at the country store in Rand there was another stop for motorcycle talk and grins. For some the long run across North Park into Walden was a chance to clear the carbs out a little. At Walden some of us stopped for lunch before turning east on CO-14 for the run up to Cameron Pass (10,276') and then down one of the most scenic rides in Colorado through the Poudre River Canyon. It's not uncommon to have to slow for big horn sheep along the way, although this time we only slowed for road construction and motorhomes and some the tight twisties in the canyon.

Just north of Fort Collins we gathered back together and followed Nick Ninja down some back roads along Horsetooth Reservoir and through Masonville. Needless to say, behind a ZX-11, the 17 bike string ran a little on the high side of normal. More grins inside helmets. At US-34 we got into a little rain as we headed up Big Thompson Canyon to Estes Park, our first overnight. Some folks stayed in motels and some in nearby Forest Service campgrounds. Dave Clark, from Arizona, and I camped at the KOA just like we did two years previously. The common meeting place for everyone was along main street for sight seeing and eating.

Thursday morning we met at the Stanley Hotel and got to know more folks while we waited. Warren Celum hooked up with us to include one day of RtD as part of his trip from southern California to Fort Collins and back. It seems like there is always some common ground to share with someone on the RtD, and with Warren it was his and my common background with Campus Crusade for Christ. With Erick and Carol Egger who rode up from Fort Collins too, it was CSU. Erick has been a veterinary professor at CSU where my son is studying animal science. Erick is a quick, smooth rider that you can learn from if you follow him for long and Carol, besides being a neat lady, is a great sport for riding along behind him. I also met Jerry Layman who works in Valley, Nebraska, near where my brother-in-law lives. New friends, old friends.

Day two of RtD started with a ride through Rocky Mountain National Park with its high point of 12,183' and its crossing of the Divide at Milner Pass (#4, 10,758'). Beautiful scenery was a given. After traveling through there in a car many times, I'm always amazed at how much fun it is on a motorcycle. You can even ride in the right wheel tracks on the shelf road portions for some great views down into the valleys below. You do have to watch your speed though as tickets are federal offenses in the Park and you may not be as fortunate to talk your way out of a mandatory court appearance as did our female V-Max pilot. She, being from British Columbia, sweetly claimed ignorance of the difference between MPH and kilometers per hour and escaped with a minor fine.

From the Park we passed beautiful Grand Lake and Lake Granby on our way to US-40, Fraser, Winter Park, and Berthoud Pass (#5, 11,315'). There is a climbing lane up the Pass, making this another of the funnest motorcycle roads around. Two years ago I had left the gas stop at Winter Park ahead of the others and was enjoying my ride up the hill when I heard a bike hard on the gas down the hill from me somewhere. I knew it had to be Dan Sedelmeier, a genuine nice guy and class winner in MRA, on his FZR1000. I moved to the right lane and enjoyed watching him blast by me with his knee close to the ground on the switchback. The road over Berthoud Pass is fun no matter whether it is at MRA speeds or at something less. We were all going legal speeds downhill from there in Empire where the town cop is almost always on duty near the Hard Rock Cafe (a very old cafe named after mining, not music). From Empire we headed west on I-70 until we could turn off on US-6 and the ride across Loveland Pass (#6, 11,992'). At the bottom of the Pass we went by Lake Dillon and then stopped in Breckenridge at the Brewery, a traditional eating place on the RtD. There we had plenty of time to swap stories, talk with old friends, and make new ones.

After a good lunch we continued south on CO-9 across Hoosier Pass (#7, 11,541') to the old mining towns of Alma and Fairplay. We turned onto US-285 to cross South Park and Trout Creek Pass (9,346') on our way to Buena Vista. We followed US-24 along the Arkansas River to Leadville and then CO-91 up to Fremont Pass (#8, 11,318') and down to Copper Mountain. Then it was back on I-70 across Vail Pass (10,665') to Minturn and the second night's stop. The traditional hotel is the Eagle River Inn right by, you guessed it, the Eagle River. The traditional campground is about 8 miles south across Battle Mountain where nine of us shared a camp site and lots of laughs. Karl Zuercher had joined us from New Mexico by then for his fourth RtD and was showing off his GPS receiver and his ST1100 with its new paint and Acura badges. Three years previously I had shared the same campground with Jeff Hoskin and with Howard, who demonstrated the map software on the laptop PC he had hooked up to his Concours. Rugged camping with high tech equipment.

Day three started out not so well when my Concours that would start alright at 5400' wouldn't start in the early morning chill at 9000'. Jeff, Karl, Ed, and 4 year RtD'er Doug Lane from Aurora were the best friends a guy could have as they spent an hour helping me regap the park plugs and giving me a pull start to get going. Another one of those shared experiences often times missed on a day ride. I think I will adjust the valves and replace the plugs before the next ride though.

The day's ride on US-24 started by going past old Camp Hale where the 10th Mountain Division trained during WWII and then crossed Tennessee Pass (#9, 10,424') on its way to Leadville and breakfast at the Golden Burro Cafe. At Twin Lakes we went west on CO-82 on another of Colorado's most scenic roads up to Independence Pass (#10, 12,095'). On that stretch of road along a very pretty creek that is tumbling down the hill, Rick Hall hit a deer but fortunately didn't fall or get hurt. The deer wasn't as lucky. The west side of the Pass is scenic in a different way with very narrow sections that are sure more easily taken on a motorcycle than in a car. Mark Folsom and buddies zoomed past me there but I caught up with them in the heavy traffic of Aspen. After being almost traffic-free from Granby for a full day, it wasn't much fun riding through Aspen and down CO-82 to Carbondale. But at Carbondale we turned south on CO-133 for another of the most scenic roads in Colorado along the Crystal River (it looks green) though Redstone and by Marble. At the end of the valley the road climbs McClure Pass (8,755') and heads down to Paonia. This road, ridden the other way, is one of the best motorcycling roads around with plenty of fast sweepers. From Hotchkiss we went south on CO-92 to the north rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison where the road is nothing but turns as it follows the edges of the canyon. Another of the best motorcycle roads in the state. It finally ends at Blue Mesa Reservoir and joins US-50 for a sedate ride into Gunnison, and for a stop for new spark plugs. Then it was on across Monarch Pass (#11, 11,312') and to the night's stop at a Forest Service campground, a commercial campground, or the motels in Salida. I stayed at the commercial campground with its warm showers and a shady spot by the irrigation canal for changing plugs. Just like in previous years I was joined by Doug Lane and Karl Zuercher and also by Jeff Hoskin. After supper in town with Ed Shaw we passed the time with more motorcycle stories. A relaxing evening.

Copyright © 1997-2011 Randy Bishop
Last modified: December 7, 2011