Fort Collins is a university town of about a hundred and sixty thousand people at the foot of the Rockies in northern Colorado, with Colorado State University at its heart and a well-preserved Old Town of brick buildings, trees and fountains. It is a famously bicycle-friendly place, and also a famous place for beer: New Belgium, Odell and dozens of smaller breweries started here, and the craft beer scene is serious. It has a relaxed, outdoorsy feel, and a motorcycle is very much at home.
The town began as a military camp on the Cache la Poudre River in the 1860s, and the name of the river tells its own story: French trappers in the 1820s are said to have buried a cache of gunpowder along its banks during a snowstorm, hence Cache la Poudre, hide the powder. The river rises high in the mountains of Rocky Mountain National Park and runs down through a rugged canyon, and it is Colorado's only designated Wild and Scenic River. It is a lively stream, with rapids that are popular for rafting in early summer.
The Cache la Poudre Scenic Byway begins here and follows Highway 14 up the canyon, with the river rushing beside the road. The ride is a delight, with tight bends, rocky walls and forest, and plenty of pull-outs along the river. Traffic can be heavy on summer weekends, with rafters, fishermen and cyclists, and rockfalls and flash floods occasionally close the road. After the canyon, the road climbs through pine and aspen to Cameron Pass, at over ten thousand feet, and then drops into the broad, empty bowl of North Park.
Everything you need is available in Fort Collins, including fuel, food and repair shops, and the town is a good place to spend the night before the ride. Services up the canyon are few, with a couple of small stores and lodges, so be sure to fill up. Mornings are cool and clear, and thunderstorms build in the afternoon, so aim to cross the pass early. Autumn colour, with golden aspen in late September, is the highlight of the year. Winter snow can close the pass.