Games motorcyclists play: Tag-O-Rama

I was hooked from the start. "Charleetho," on the Adventure Riders forum, posted a message initiating a game of Tag-O-Rama along the Colorado Front Range. For those of you who don't know:

• The Front Range is that first set of hills rising up from the prairie, where Colorado goes vertical. Cities such as Denver, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, and others are said to be "along the Front Range."
• Tag-O-Rama . . . well, that's what this article is about, so read on.

Charleetho offered five rules for play:

#1 - Find the tag and reproduce the photo (as best as possible). The first person to post a found tag gets to place the next tag. If you get a tag, but somebody else posts their picture first, you lose.

#2 - Take the tag to a new location, get the photo and post it here. Give a few hints so the next person can figure out where the tag is located. Try to place the tags in interesting locations, maybe a bit of history that can be found down some nice twisties.

#3 - Tag must be a) findable and b) may be placed on a dirt road if a street bike can make it. Maintained gravel is OK, but make sure to let folks know that gravel is required to get to your tag. We don't want to exclude those who don't like to get dirty.

#4 - File photos are NOT permitted. You gotta ride to play this game.

#5 - Your bike has to be in the TAG picture.

When Charleetho posted the first photo to the thread the game was on. It started out easy, with his BMW parked in front of a vintage motorcycle museum in downtown Denver. The post was at 4:30 in the afternoon, on Dec. 24, but that didn't deter "mountain eagle" from jumping on his bike. He posted his tag with his KTM in it at 2:36 a.m. on Dec. 25. mountain eagle presumably then spent Christmas Day with his family before heading back out on Dec. 26 to set the next tag. His clue: "In the Barrio, Hipsters stroll near to where Furry things are loved."

OK, now we're getting tougher. Within two hours, however, Charleetho had snatched the tag back and was off with it again. He headed southeast of Denver to Castlewood Canyon State Park where he shot his bike with the old dam in the background. I was itching to get in on this thing, as were a lot of other guys, but although we easily recognized the dam, we also knew it was down a gravel road and we had just had four inches of snow. The tag might sit for a few days.

Weatherus interruptus

In fact, the tag stalled for two weeks until we could get out riding again, with "Mac" picking it up. About two hours later "NoBull" posted that, "Mac you beat me to it, the wife and I went down there this morning to get the tag. Like you said it was a little snowy just after the last parking lot. I guess we shouldn't have stopped for lunch on the way home. Good job."

Since then the tag has moved nearly every day, sometimes two or three times in a day. It headed south to the Colorado Springs area where it stayed for a couple weeks  ("Geek": Somebody bring it north!)

The tag did finally make its way north again and I was checking back on the forum constantly all day long hoping for a chance to chase after it. Finally I saw my opening. "Olas" tagged a mural of an Alice in Wonderland scene, with the clue that, "So a few years ago the city in which this mural resides in tried to charge the owner of this building with a violation of a city code and wanted the murals to be taken down. The owners and employees took the city to court and won the case due to the fact that the murals fall under the category of free speech."

I knew I'd seen that mural but couldn't remember where. Quicly I Googled "Colorado mural code violation" and found a case listed on the Colorado Bar Association website talking about a mural in Englewood along South Broadway. That was enough for me, I jumped on the Kawi and headed out. I didn't know exactly where it was but was sure I could find it.

I reached Broadway and turned north, figuring it to be in that several blocks of shops. No dice. I turned south and went a couple miles and there it was! I pulled in, got my shot, and went looking for a Starbucks. With many of the players using smart phones to upload their tag shots instantly, I figured I didn't have time to ride home and do it. I had brought my laptop with me and all I needed was wi-fi.

Gotta move fast

I found a Starbucks and hustled in and sat down without ordering anything. As I worked hurriedly to download the picture from my camera and upload it to the site, the old line "the hurrieder I go the behinder I get" took control as I clicked the wrong buttons and made a mess of things I normally do with no problem. But I got it up and I got the tag! Yahoo! Now I could sit back and order a cafe mocha.

I left Starbucks and headed out to the next tag I had in mind, an old mill in downtown Littleton that has been converted to a  brew pub. I got the shot and turned the bike toward home. At home I uploaded the shot with this clue: "Get a big lift in Smallville, and quench your thirst while you're there." OK, so it's a mill, not a grain elevator like I was thinking. So sue me.

Well, exactly 16 minutes later, "Bada boom!" "Wasser" had grabbed the tag.

Geek: holy crap.. 16 minutes?

Wasser: Kind of easy when the tag is less than a 1/2 mile from where you work.

And so it continues. Tag-O-Rama has hit the Front Range via Adventure Riders. Now once the weather gets a bit warmer we can leave the Front Range and head into the mountains. This is fun. I've put a direct link to the thread on my desktop. Just waiting . . .