What a surprising weekend this turned out to be! The weather forecast for our area when the weekend began was for snow and cold temperatures. Fortunately for us, the weather forecasters were wrong; turns out Sunday afternoon was bright, sunny and close to fifty degrees. When my buddy Kyler texted me Sunday morning to see if I wanted to go to the Bijou at about one o’clock to ride, I jumped all over it. I sent out another text to see who else wanted to go, and four other people showed up besides Kyler and me. In the group were myself, my brother Brad, buddy Mark, buddy Jason and his son Jaxon - all on dirt bikes; Kyler was the lone ATV rider. A good time was had by all on this surprisingly mild January day.

Loading Up

After a quick trip to the gas station to fill one of my five gallon gas cans with 91 octane fuel for the Big Red Pig, I went to the motorcycle garage to arouse the bike from its winter’s nap. I turned on the fuel valve, opened the choke and gave the kick starter a few tries. It did not start, as it has been pretty cold in that garage for the past couple of months. In order to help it warm up, I decided to simply set it in the sun for a few minutes while I did some other chores. After about ten minutes of lounging in the driveway, soaking up the bright sunny January day, it started right up! Now that I knew the pig was going to run, it was time to get loaded.

While the bike was idling, I put my gear bag with my motorcycle helmet, boots and other protective riding apparel into the back of the pickup truck. I also loaded the aforementioned gas can, a few tools and a lawn chair. This day, I was traveling light, since the Bijou is only about four miles from home. I didn’t take the usual extra tubes, air compressor and tire irons to the Bijou; if I have problems, I would usually just head home to make necessary repairs. However, as it turned out later, I would have the need for my tire tools.

The Ride

I was the first to arrive at the riding spot; I wanted to be there a little early since because I wear knee braces, it takes me a little longer to dress for the ride. By the time the others began to arrive, I was dressed and had the Big Red Pig unloaded. While the other guys were getting ready, I got the motor started. Then Jason came to me and asked if I had my air compressor because Jaxon had a flat front motorcycle tire. I told him I did not have the compressor along; however, I did have some CO2 cartridges in my pack that we could use to pressurize the low tire. That seemed do the trick, and it made it through the afternoon.

We never went on one large group ride; we paired off and went for short rides instead. The Bijou is a smaller, private riding area; most of the area can be seen from the parking zone. So what everyone would do is make a loop through the sand, over the whoops, up the hills and down the ravines. Then we would all convene back at camp to talk about the trail conditions and how much fun we were having. I remember the comment that I made most often was how happy I was to be out in the warm winter sun. After the first couple of loops, guys started to leave for one reason or another; Kyler and I were the last ones to leave just before sundown. We were the two that brought everyone together on this day, so it was only fitting that we be the last ones to leave.

The Bijou is a somewhat sandy riding spot; it has some nice loamy dirt on the hills and in the ravines. The conditions on this day were excellent, since there was still  moisture leftover in the ground from some pre-Christmas snow. The moisture provided for excellent grip in the corners - I really never felt the rear tire sliding. The only problem with grip that I had was on one very sandy trail; at times during the year this trail is actually a river. My motorcycle tires were just not right for the sand; they are made for intermediate to rocky terrain. I just did not have any control on this particular trail; I am not complaining, but the bike is just not set up for the sand.

Conclusion

What a great day! I know I can speak for myself and possibly the others who were there on this day; we all had a good time. Most would think that January in Colorado would not be a good time or place to ride OHVS; however, we live in a part of Colorado which does not get as much snow as the mountains. Days like this are not at all unusual; every winter we can usually get in a few weekend days of riding. Though we do still have many winter days in front of us, it is nice to sneak in some riding here and there over the long winter months. This day gave us a little taste of what’s to come in the warmer months. We may only be a couple of months away from loading up the camper and the motorcycle trailer to hit the mountain or desert trails for some epic riding. I can’t wait!

James Parker