Colorado Riders Thread

[Misfit]

Thanks for the reminders Dick. I had a blast. Looking forward to more. 

[MarkT]

FYI.  New pure gas station in Elizabeth.  The Murphy's just E of Walmart.  Each multi-pump has 5 choices one being 87 octane no ethanol.  Price is good too.  Right now $2.47.  Regular 85 octane with ethanol $2.09 for comparison - $0.02 cheaper than the Safeway a block away, which is selling 87 octane with ethanol at $2.35 right now.  Yeah they are partnered with Walmart.  That's a bad thing for me but the pure gas means I'll make an exception - offsets supporting the Evil Empire.  This is also the closest station to my house.  Gonna have to burn up all my ethanol gas in cans and small engines and replenish here, as well as always gassing all our vehicles with their pure gas.

The next closest pure gas station (per pure-gas.org) to me is quite a ways away in Aurora, inconvenient.

[MarkT]

Batch'n it to Inzane this year.  June is calling it a "boys vacation" and she's doing family trip instead.  Lookin to share a room at Ground Zero.  I'm booking a dbl-queen room for Sun - Thus night 6/10-15.  Current rate is $99/night includes breakfast.  Anybody batch'n want to share this room?  Thx. Can PM or post here or email valkstuff@horseapple.com.  Please respond soon if you want to share - I'll wait a short time for Colorado riders then open the invitation at the Inzane thread to all.

OK I have the room.  Dbl queen beds. Checkin starts 3pm Sunday, depart Friday.  Can ride with a small group or ride alone if schedules require - like DDT I'm good with that.  I will probably want to detour on the return ride to L.P. Michigan to take the ferry across the lake to WI & visit my kids. Not set in stone yet.

[MarkT]

Anybody want to get together at the buffet on some nice Saturday?  Gettin the itch to reconnect with some old faces and new if we have any.  Maybe set it up when a Sat is within the weather forecast - might even ride!  Might also be good to wait for the flu to subside a bit.  We caught some sickness from the close people last year.  Or in light of that, maybe a different, less crowded venue.  Ideas?

[Brewer]

Hey Mark, Interested in a gathering, my work schedule is a bit nuts right now but will make it if I can.
Cheers

[Misfit]

When and where? 

[Tailgate Tommy]

What Damon said

[MarkT]

I'm concerned about the flu and close quarters with contagious people.  It seems so many in our society have no concern about bringing sickness to others and this flu is a killer. Not to mention one can be a carrier w/o symptoms. When I used to fly for work I got sick every time I rode on a 757 which recycles air more than other planes. And I got sick last time at the Golden Corral when we were sardined with that group that had sickness.  We don't get much exposure to help resistance anymore, w/o kids and working at home.

However a buffet works well with a large group.  Seems GC packs the tables close, at least in the group room. We had another buffet in Parker but they are closed now.

There's a Country Buffet at 7475 Park Meadows in Lone Tree.  That's the first exit west of 25/470 interchange.



Also, like to get close enough to the day so it's in the weather forecast.  Maybe we can get a nice enough day for some to ride.

[Valk-Obsessed]

I'm up for that.  Sadly I work Saturdays, so wouldn't be able to make anything until after 7pm.  Unless Sunday is an option.

[Moofner]

Awww man did I miss the buffet? Time to start frequenting the forums again and pay attention to this thread. Been focusing on my VW Baja and letting the Valkyries rest through the winter (with a weekly startup). I'd love a group ride.

[MarkT]

OK guys.  We got a great new restaurant in a good place, great parking, and GREAT BRISKET.  They have a nice room we can use, they can handle 20 folks or so.  They prefer us to ride in on an afternoon before the evening crowd shows up.  Jamie (cute part owner) suggests between 2-5 on a Sat - evening diners start showing up around 5.  They are happy to have us.  Gotta tell ya, their brisket is on par with 3B's in Gunnison.  Here's my plate tonight. Price is $15, drinks $2.50 (just soft drinks now, liquor / beer license pending.) Ate this twice this week and I'm so glad we have great smoked brisket locally now.  Already ate the salad:



Again, this is a new business.  So far they are doing very well - lots of kudos on the local Nextdoor forum.

They are located just East of Hwy 86 & 83, the crossroads in Franktown.  1/4mi. E, turn left and left again immediately.  Drive past the post office, it's halfway down the row of shops on the right.  Good midpoint location between N & S folks.  And of course really close for us but I would ride a long ways for this brisket.

Here's the menu.  They are expanding it, doesn't show the latest stuff including the SMOKED BRISKET.



Here's the front door so you know you're there:



OK so waddaya say, we watch the weather, and have our winter meetup there on a nice Saturday, say 2 o'clock or so and we can ride, have a good meetup, and ride home before it gets too dark/cold?

[Brewer]

Interested, my weekends are currently hit and miss.

[Misfit]

That's the where. Just need the when. Thanks. 

[MarkT]

Depends on weather so we can ride - if folks want to do that.  I'll watch the forecasts, decide on Mon if the following Sat is good.  Schedule if it is, then have it then whether or not it remains good.  An afternoon event 3 o'clock or earlier should get us back home by 6, before dark and cold.

[Misfit]

I believe we move to daylight savings time next weekend. More evening light for the working rider. 

[Tailgate Tommy]

And us northerners.

[MarkT]

Doesn't look optimal if we want to try to ride this Sat.  Forecast in the 40's and weather coming in.  I suggest wait a week, let the time change this weekend for more light later in the day and another chance for better weather. 

[Tailgate Tommy]

Doesn't look optimal if we want to try to ride this Sat.  Forecast in the 40's and weather coming in.  I suggest wait a week, let the time change this weekend for more light later in the day and another chance for better weather. 

Seems like a good plan!

[Moofner]

Awesome, will keep a lookout for a set date. I'm free next weekend.

[MarkT]

Too far out to be sure, but Ch. 4 forecast says 55° with rain all weekend.  Beautiful, in the 60's until then.  Figures.  ARGHH!

[DDT (12)]

MarkT, et al,

Are y'all still considering this ride? That brisket sammich sure looks tempting!!!    I'm heading for Gallup for a day or two, and it would be sort of in the hood, if y'all wouldn't be too opposed to an interloper dropping in on ya...???  

DDT

P.S. Don't know about your local forecasts, but TWC and Accuweather are looking a bit better each day, so...  

[DenverDave]

I'm in for Saturday, 20% chance of rain later in the day. Haven't been for a ride since December and some good BBQ sounds like a good reason to get back in the saddle.  



Only a 45 min ride for me.

Dave

[MarkT]

Weather looks good for Sat.  Ch 7 says low 60's and cloudy - no rain until Sun.  So let's DO THIS!

Just called Jamie.  She says with St Patrick's Day being Saturday, they will be serving SMOKED CORNED BEEF and have beer this one day (they normally don't have beer yet, but the exception is for the holiday).  They always have soft drinks, iced tea. We get the group room.

Let's go for THREE 0'CLOCK so we can ride in, have the gathering, and be able to ride home before dark!

And the PLUS - you'll have an excuse to stop by another day for the brisket!

Bruce - love to see you! 

Location - as mentioned above, the Chardcore Grill, at

7517 E Hwy 86 Unit A Franktown, CO.  Again, from the crossroads light, Hwy 86 & 83, a quarter mile east, turn N and turn left again immediately.  Go past the post office a couple hundred yards, it's in the middle of the buildings row.

[Brewer]

Hey Mark or other folks in the area. Was that location the Frontera Grill before the smokehouse? Either way I am in for Saturday and will try to bring another rider or two.

I might ride south on 85 / 105 into Monument, then north on 83 for food.

[MarkT]

I don't recall the name of the restaurant that was there before.  I ate there a few times.  It was OK but they didn't have excellent brisket like Chardcore does.  BTW I asked Jamie if they would have brisket Sat as well if we want it - but she says they are tying up the smoker with the corned beef due to the holiday so no.  I am excited to taste what they do with the corned beef!

[Jess from VA]

I love me some corned beef.

But hold the cooked cabbage, that stuff causes nuclear gas emissions and is unsafe to eat indoors. (or to trust getting back on the bike for a ride home)

[MarkT]

One of my favorite meals!  Some folks call it "New England boiled dinner".  I don't know how Chardcore will cook it up.  When I make it, it's corned beef brisket with boiled cabbage, potatos, onions, carrots and lots of spices in a big pot! Doesn't get the gas going too bad with me but TMI!   I understand Chardcore is using the smoker to make it so this should be interesting.  If it's fabulous and I expect it will be, I might rip off their recipe!  I have the same smoker.

BTW June has been after me to get going on smoking brisket - but then I say, if we have it at home, how special will it be to go to Chardcore?

Oh, BTW #2:  While you're here, ride 7 miles E to the Murphy station right before Elizabeth - they have midgrade pure gas, NO ETHANOL!  At competitive prices.  Bungee a gas can on your luggage rack!

[Tailgate Tommy]

Oh man!! Can't wait!!

[Moofner]

I'm in. Will be on the new Valk since the old one is down for maintenance.

Not so sure on that corned beef, but at least the company will be fun!

[MarkT]

They are doing their part to celebrate St Patrick's Day - so their big special has to be the corned beef. They have great burgers too, all the time.  We'll just have to hit them again since they promise to have that great brisket all the time - except this holiday.

[DDT (12)]

I'm getting excited! I'm with Jess, though, on the risks associated with ingesting cabbage... I'm gonna give it a go, but... it would probably be a good idea for me to ride 'sweep' or even solo afterward!!! Last time I ate that stuff, I had some really quirky dreams the following evening... wonder if this outing might produce another spooky story...? Whatever, I'm really looking forward to it! Thanks for allowing me to join in...

DDT

P.S. No brisket the day we'll be there... I may have to hang around to give it another look-see the following week! Anybody else thinking along these lines...?

[MarkT]

Hey Bruce!  I'm always up for their fabulous brisket! 

[DDT (12)]

Mark!

I had a hunch you might be interested!!!     Could be just the two of us, but there ain't no flies on that notion... We can discuss particulars Sat'dy. It'll be good to see y'all again, see ya there.    

DDT

[Tailgate Tommy]

I'm looking forward to it!

[MarkT]

Great day at the Chardcore!  Good turnout too.  Thanks to all who came.  Sorry didn't get any pics but maybe Bruce will post if he can get connected.  Lookin forward to a brisket feed there soon!

[Brewer]

Good to see everyone that made it.

[Misfit]

I had a great time. Was lucky enough to spend the whole day with my buddy Dick. Did some wrenching in the am and met up with a gaggle of good friends in the afternoon. Rode back to town with Dick, Ron, Bruce, George, and Deja for pie! Good day indeed. Congrats again on the retirement Tommy and it was good to see Denver Dave out and about also. Dick, Bruce and I are headed out for breakfast here in a few minutes. Looks to be the start of another good day. 

[DarkSideR]

It's painful missing rides and then hearing about it. My bikes apart and bags are still in the paint shop.

Glad you all had a good ride.

Next time...

[Tailgate Tommy]

It was a great time!

[MarkT]

Yesterday some of us were talking about guns and I mentioned I'm in the Ben Lomond Gun Club which is 33 mi E of Franktown off of Hwy 86, 5 miles S on cnty 105.  There's a Plasmacam cut-out metal sign clearly marking the turn.  There are over a dozen ranges out there on the 560 acre shooting facility, covering .22, pistol, high powered rifle, shotgun, and archery.  Presently the hi-power range is out to 600 yds but this season they are adding a 1,000yd range.  They have a lot of organized competitions and fun shoots.  They are setting up sanctioned long range rifle competition matches.  Already have steel challenge matches.  I built two thousand-yd rifles I haven't shot there yet, and just picked up a Weatherby 300 win mag with Leupold VX3 3.5-10X50 scope, factory guaranteed 1.5 MOA on which I fully floated the barrel and installed a Timney trigger - I'm expecting < 1 MOA.  FYI that was Chris Kyle's preferred sniper round up to 1,000 yd when he would switch to an AI .338 Lapua magnum.  Love to have that one but it's really spendy around $10k and so are the cartridges.

I don't get any benefit if you join - no discounts etc for me.  However you can be my guest and shoot with me if you want to check it out.

Anywho, BLGC has a large membership, chapters in Calhan, Colorado Springs, Elizabeth, Franktown, Littleton, and Tri-Lakes; with monthly meetings - I usually don't bother - attendance not required.  Members can shoot at the range anytime, sunrise-sunset, and shoot anything up to and including 50BMG. Membership in the NRA is required - they want members to support 2A and the NRA is the biggest protector of those rights. BLGC membership is inexpensive - annual family dues is now $120 and is pro-rated if you join after January.  Very reasonable.

To join, it might be easiest to drop in on one of the chapter meetings.  Franktown's is this coming Tues at 7pm at the fire station just S of the 83-86 intersection. You can even join the NRA at that meeting if you aren't already a member.  Or just do it online.  The other chapters meetings are given at https://www.blgc.org/main-2/chapters/

The club's web site is https://www.blgc.org/  The range looks like this:




From the blgc.org website, the history page at https://www.blgc.org/club-history/

In 1947 a group of men in Palmer Lake, Colorado formed the Palmer Lake Shooters, an informal group of fellows who were bonded together by that mutual respect for firearms. In the years that followed many of the members, busy with their lives and families, either lost interest, moved away or otherwise dropped out and eventually the club became a distant albeit fond memory in the minds of those who were still alive to remember it.
In 1982 there still burned an ember in the hearts of two former members who still remembered what it was like to socialize around guns and shooting. Two men, Lowell Stanley and Duane Hanson met in April of that year in a store owned by Herb Bache in Palmer Lake and agreed to resurrect the club and try to recover those lost values. At first, they met weekly, in the evenings, around a pot of coffee at the then new Village Inn in Monument, Colorado. After many long evenings pounding out bylaws, structure and incorporation paperwork, their labors bore fruit and the Palmer Lake Shooters, now renamed the Ben Lomond Gun Club was born again.

At that time, the Palmer Lake town fathers embraced the club and not only granted an annual lease on property for a shooting range but allowed the club to hold its monthly meetings in the Town Hall. In the years that followed they built a very nice range and grew to several hundred members, mostly from the Colorado Springs area.

By 1990, even the small town of Palmer Lake was affected by the antigun agenda and not only was the now politically incorrect Ben Lomond Gun Club not welcome at the town hall, the town council refused to renew the lease on the shooting range for 1991. The evil gun lovers were being banished from the community and driven into the hills where they were no longer a threat to women, small children and neighborhood dogs. At long last, peace was restored to Palmer Lake.

Realizing that the only permanent solution to the location for their shooting range was to ultimately own the land upon which it resides, the club leaders set about the task of finding a suitable location for a new range. Hopefully there would be enough money in the club coffers to purchase a site where property values had not yet been impacted by the population explosion and skyrocketing costs of land in the Colorado Front Range. In June of 1991, after many months of searching and heated debates among the members, the club finally purchased a 560 acre cattle ranch 4 miles North of Ramah, Colorado. That's about half way between US24 and Colorado Highway 86 on Elbert County Road 105. Although the treasury was several thousand dollars short of paying for the land, the club sold bonds and a limited number of life memberships to its members to raise capital. The final amount needed was obtained from the late Lt.Col. William B. (Bill) Watson, USMC ret., who gave the club a private mortgage. At last, the Ben Lomond Gun Club had a home for its range at the Ben Lomond Ranch.

The turmoil surrounding the loss of the Palmer Lake range, the subsequent search and selection of the new facility and the relocation of the monthly meeting place to various locations in an around Colorado Springs extracted a heavy toll on membership. With about a third of its members left, land rich and cash poor, the club set about the task of building and paying for its new facility and rebuilding its member base. With much hard work and long hours, the members managed to plant hundreds of trees, build miles of terraces, three dams, over three miles of roads, multiple pistol berms, high power rifle ranges and a three story sporting clays tower. They restored one ranch house to a clubhouse and restored a second ranch house to caretaker's quarters. By November of 1996 they doubled their membership, paid off all mortgages and bonds, and owned the property outright with no debts and nearly $25,000 in the bank.

Never intending the facility to be an unsupervised plinking area, the leaders of Ben Lomond soon realized that the overhead for the facility and eventual staff could not be met with a few hundred members. It would require several hundred or even a few thousand members to generate enough use and revenue to fully staff and run the Ranch. Moreover, the club did not want to restrict its membership to the Colorado Springs area choosing instead to accept members from anywhere in Colorado. This decision greatly affected the structure of the club because eventually the demographics of the club would mimic the demographics of the area from which it draws and the base of the club would shift from Colorado Springs to the South Denver area in much the same way as it had shifted earlier from Palmer Lake to Colorado Springs. Obviously, the Colorado Springs members were justifiably not to excited about losing their club to Denver.

This reality, coupled with the logistics of finding a place for regular meetings of several hundred members and the long distances some would have to travel to attend meetings resulted in the restructuring of the club into individual chapters, effective January 1, 1998. Now members could meet with their neighbors within a few minutes of their homes in groups of a few dozen people, which could more easily be accommodated. The added bonus, however, was that these chapters could field shooting teams in competition with each other and they might be able to return to those times when folks used firearms for fun and social interaction.

Today, the Ben Lomond Gun Club is a family of over a thousand Members who attend regularly monthly meetings at Chapters in Calhan, Colorado Springs, Elizabeth, Franktown, Littleton, and Monument.

So, if you are looking for a place to shoot, visit the Ben Lomond Ranch as our guest. If you are looking for some friends with whom to socialize and participate in your favorite shooting sport visit your nearest Chapter and join Ben Lomond Gun Club. If you are looking for a reason to get involved, how about helping to restore those lost values by doing what you can to insure that when the Torch of Freedom is passed to the next generation it is burning as bright as it was when it was handed to us.