Riding Ducati’s Inaugural Giro Alpino in Colorado

[Hugh Janus]

Riding in the Rocky Mountains at Ducati’s inaugural Giro Alpino. (Gregor Halenda/)

Last year, somewhere in the Adirondack Mountains, heading to my home in the Finger Lakes in Upstate New York, I had that sudden urge familiar to motorcyclists: to point the compass west, ignore responsibilities at home, and just keep riding. I imagined going to the far side of the US map, passing the well-worn creases bisecting nearby states until the ink fades from green to brown and the Rocky Mountains appear as a jumble of shapes and colors.

My flight of fancy was inspired in the moment—tempted, more like—as usual, by a Ducati. This time I was aboard a brand-new Multistrada V4 S. Fast, comfortable, and refined, the latest Multistrada would be just about perfect for a long trip west, I thought.

Colorado riding. (Gregor Halenda/)

With two young children at home, heading west on a whim is, well, less a whim and more like neglect, so when I made it home, I shut the garage door on the fantasy and that was that. Or so I thought.

A year later, I was thrilled to be invited by Ducati to the inaugural Giro Alpino, a 300-mile tour through the Rockies exclusively for Multistrada owners. Not that there weren’t warnings.

“October 1 in Colorado, you say?” my friend said when I told him the plan. “You’d better hope it doesn’t snow. One time I rode up Pikes Peak in the sunshine with the vents on my jacket wide open, and rode down in a total blizzard. We’re talking: can’t-see-the-brake-lights-in-front-of-you, bone chillingly cold, winter-without-Christmas kind of weather. You’d better pack your long underwear and winter riding gloves.”

I rolled my eyes and didn’t give it a second thought. It was only October, after all, and as a motorcyclist living in the northeast, I know a thing or two about mercurial weather patterns.

Beaver Run Resort in Breckenridge, Colorado. (Gregor Halenda/)

I suppose it should have come as no surprise, then, that on the morning of October 1, standing in the parking lot of the Beaver Run Resort in Breckenridge, Colorado, the temperature was 32 degrees and there was snow on the mountains.

Gathered around Ducati’s bright red semitrailer, 40 Multistradas of various generations were covered in frost. Riders fumbled for keys stashed in Gore-Tex jackets only to discover their ignitions had frozen solid overnight. There was nothing dire in the forecast so I took it as part of the adventure. Besides, I’d always figured Colorado would look its best with at least a little snow.

A host of Multistradas preparing to ride. (Gregor Halenda/)

To begin the ride, Ducati VP of Marketing Phil Read Jr. led the way, while Jason Chinnock, CEO of Ducati North America, took up the rear. Chinnock, who grew up in Colorado, devised the route and was enthusiastic about sharing these roads which he’s ridden innumerable times.

I positioned myself right behind PRJR, thinking I’d let him find the patches of ice first. Of course, as the son of a seven-time Grand Prix world champion, he’d probably slip and slide gracefully over the slick stuff, while I, the son of a veterinarian, would hit the proverbial kitty litter. Best not to dwell on such things.

What the road lacked in grip, it made up for with dramatic scenery. Heading south on Route 9 toward Hoosier Ridge, an iron gray sky weighed heavily on dark pines. In the snowy stillness their boughs of pure white seemed cast of marble. As we climbed higher, wood smoke from chimneys hung lazily in the thinning air and the Multi’s thermometer flashed 30 degrees.

A heated grip and heated seat kind of day. (Gregor Halenda/)

The cold always enhances a motorcyclist’s sense of exposure, but with heated grips, a heated seat, and smooth airflow, the Multi V4 balances it with a feeling of imperviousness.

While I’m accustomed to riding in the cold, I knew that not everyone in the group was equally misfortunate. I couldn’t help but spare a thought for Perry and Mercy from Southern California, who I met over breakfast at the lodge. Perry just bought his Multistrada V4 and had ridden it all of 15 miles—hopefully long enough to figure out the location of the heated grip button—before loading it on a trailer and heading to Breckenridge. Not only was the Multi his first Ducati, but he’d only gotten back into riding recently. Here he was riding on slick unfamiliar roads, two-up with Mercy on a brand-new motorcycle. Not fainthearted, these two.

As the sun came out, the sky’s intense blue was etched with ethereal clouds that cast dim shadows across the snow-covered peaks of the front range. I turned down the heated grips, just as our procession of Multis reached the old gold mining town of Fairplay, population 724. Having never been to Colorado before, I didn’t expect that it would feel so, well, Western. Sparsely populated towns have preserved their frontier charm: Saloons with false front architecture seem straight from a Hollywood set, and log-built general stores that sell beads and trinkets dot main streets. On the way to Breckenridge I even saw a herd of bison.

The Giro Alpino happily coincided with peak color in Colorado. (Gregor Halenda/)

Turning north onto Route 285 out of Fairplay, we made our way to Guanella Pass. Crossing between Mounts Bierstadt and Evans, the narrow road wound past cascading brooks and through stands of aspens in golden regalia, a final encore of summer’s sun captured for a moment before being claimed by the earth. It wasn’t long until the pass would be closed for winter, so the road was crowded with Patagonia-clad hikers making the most of the sunshine, stomping to trailheads with trekking poles in hand, accompanied by panting trail-ready dogs with bandanas around their necks. The whole thing looked like a Subaru advertisement. Heaven only knows what the fleece army thought of us: 40 fast-looking, mostly red motorcycles crawling up the hill, stuck behind a single bicyclist in spandex.

Lunch in Granby, Colorado. (Gregor Halenda/)

As helmets came off for lunch in Granby, there wasn’t a discontented face to be seen. I pulled up a chair next to Brett and Kenton, two longtime riding buddies from Kelowna, British Columbia. Their trip took them across the Cascade mountains of Washington, around the Olympic Peninsula, down the Oregon coast to the PCH, across the Golden Gate bridge to Carmel, Monterey, and Big Sur, and then east to Breckenridge. They’d returned home—via Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Washington—with an additional 4,600 miles on their odometers. Seasoned motorcyclists both, and real gentlemen. We were strangers half an hour ago, but already they’d invited me to stay with them in British Columbia and show me the best of the region’s riding—as if I needed more fodder for daydreaming over the winter.

Interesting bunch, these Multistrada riders. Lots of very impressive CVs among these folks, but you’d never know it. And lots of enthusiasm for Ducatis and motorcycles in general. Great crowd with whom to rub shoulders and drag footpegs. (Gregor Halenda/)

In many ways, meeting up with new friends to ride Ducatis is the entire point of the Giro Alpino. At $350 a head, it’s no money maker for Ducati. In fact, the company subsidized the event. Chinnock says that the goal is to cultivate a sense of community, not just around the brand, but around the Multistrada family. Bringing riders together and creating experiences on two wheels creates community, and community creates culture. Rubbing shoulders with the honchos at Ducati NA makes riders feel a part of the story.

After lunch, the group split up to ride at their will or follow the google map of Chinnock’s route. With a smaller group of riders and plenty of open space, I really got to stretch the legs of the Multi V4. Last time Cycle World had one on the dyno it produced 144 hp, so at 10,000 feet, output is down to about 100 hp. Let’s just say we used that 100 hp to its best advantage.

Drying pavement. (Gregor Halenda/)

Despite a rapid pace, I reflected that we’d encountered every sort of geographical eminence imaginable, from peak and hillock to knoll and butte. As varied as the weather and the shades of the sky, Colorado offered a new kind of landscape to admire practically at every junction. It’d be a somewhat foreign place for an East Coaster except that the Western landscape is so deeply ingrained in American consciousness.

I was reminded of a line from John Williams’ great 1960 Western novel, Butcher’s Crossing, set in the foothills of the Rockies: “it seemed to him that the contours of the place flowed beneath his eyes, that his very gaze shaped what he saw, and in turn gave his own existence form and place. He could not think of himself outside of where he was.”

A short stretch of gravel. (Gregor Halenda/)

On a good motorcycle trip, in a place like this, one never wants to think of himself anywhere else. But on the best trips, one nearly ceases thinking all together. All that is is the moment and the place: the motorcycle, the road, the changeable sky and the mountains beyond.

With its 37,000-mile service intervals, and a host of high-tech rider aids and convenience features, the Multistrada V4 effectively grounds the rider in the moment but also inspires dreams that put them out of place. It’s designed to carry one on grand journeys, like it did for Brett and Kenton, and bring new experiences within reach, like it did for Perry and Mercy and a score of other riders.

I talked to a lot of Giro Alpino participants who said they’d never do a ride like this on their own—for starters, the cold and snow would have scared them off. That Ducati managed all the details meant they could just show up and ride. For seasoned tourers, it was an ideal destination to plug into the GPS and build a trip around. It’s safe to say that meeting Ducati NA brass and 40 other motorcyclists with similar inclinations is a far less flimsy excuse for a trip than what most of us normally conjure.

Peter Egan says, “You can always start a lively debate about the best state in the Union for riding motorcycles, but I suspect Colorado would make it into the top three for anyone who’s ever been there.” Egan knows best. (Gregor Halenda/)

It’s no wonder that last year, as I rode through the Eastern mountains I know so well, the Multistrada called me West. The many roads that led to the Giro Alpino carried kindred spirits on similar journeys of their own. It’s a waypoint on the map the Multistrada has drawn in every rider’s imagination—complete with good food, the best company, and unforgettable riding. Once there, we couldn’t think of ourselves outside of where we were—except, perhaps, at next year’s Giro.

Getting ready to set out in the morning. (Gregor Halenda/)

Gearbag

Helmet: Arai XD4

Jacket: Rev’It Defender 3 GTX

Pants: Rev’It Defender 3 GTX

Gloves: Rev’It Caliber

Boots: Rev’It Expedition GTX

Source

[Earache]

All of this occurred within 30 miles f my house - but I never saw any of'em. Bummer - wish I had.