Passes & Canyons Blog

Motorcyclist are all bound together by a brotherhood tie through their love of the sport, and what difference does it make what make of machine he rides as long as he belongs to the clan. – Walter Davidson, 1920

Is it just me? And if there are others of you like me, is it just us, doing this to ourselves?

What I’m talking about is the feeling I got when I went over to Mile High Harley-Davidson last weekend for their Charity Bug Run & Summer Kick-Off Party. Of course I wasn’t on a Harley. I don’t own a Harley. But that wasn’t a big deal. Once I got off the bike no one knew what bike I rode in on. Plus, I had camouflage–I wore a Harley-Davidson cap I’ve had for years.

No, what I’m talking about is how I just felt out of place among all the heavily leathered, heavily tattooed, pony-tailed guys who fit the old Harley rider stereotype. I mean, we all know that many Harley riders these days are doctors, lawyers, and other well-to-do professionals. But I didn’t see many of them there. Maybe those people have little interest in coming to the dealership for events like this.

Again, it may very well just be me doing this to myself. No one looked askance at me. No one treated me rudely or as if I had no business being there. Heck, nobody really paid any attention to me at all. But I felt very stongly like I did not belong there. And consequently, I didn’t stay around very long.

It was totally different a week earlier when I went up to the Concours Owners Group rally in Frisco. Of course, I do own a Connie and I rode it up there so that had to make a difference. But once again, off the bike, it still didn’t matter. These were a bunch of guys who I could identify with, who I felt at home with. I stuck around a long time.

I don’t have any negative feelings about the Harley guys. I don’t have any tattoos but I have had a pony-tail and I do have leathers. Heck, I know most of these guys are just regular joes with families and mortgages like the rest of us. And I’ve never had any kind of confrontation whatsoever with any of them. So why did I feel so out of place? I don’t know. It disturbs me.

Biker Quote for Today

Sooner or later opinions fade, and the name on the tank matters not. I think that happens somewhere between 4th and 5th gear.

Did you know this? I didn’t. Heck, if you’d asked me I’d have had to admit I couldn’t even name the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. But I know it now. That’s her in the photo.

So Mary Peters has been making some news lately, and raising some hackles. In her efforts to promote motorcycle safety she is accused of ignoring the law that prohibits federal bureaucrats from lobbying for or against specific state laws. In the June 2008 issue of American Motorcyclist, the publication of the American Motorcyclist Association, they have this to say:

But that doesn’t appear to be stopping Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, who told U.S. senators and representatives she wanted to lobby states to divert federal money away from motorcycle safety training and awareness programs and instead push for mandated helmet use.

Here’s my take on this. She crashed on her Harley and escaped serious injury thanks in part to her helmet. Now she’s a helmet evangelist. I’ve seen this before. About 15 years ago there was a young woman who suffered a head injury when the guy she was riding with hit the median on Orchard Road while going about 70 miles an hour. This was the first time she had ever been on a motorcycle but she told reporters from her hospital bed that she intended to devote her life to making helmet usage mandatory for all motorcyclists all the time. The difference between that young woman and Mary Peters is that Mary Peters is in a position to do something about her convictions.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with advocating helmet usage. There is something wrong, however, with becoming focused so totally on helmets that you dismiss other, equally important safety factors. “Divert federal money away from motorcycle safety training and awareness programs”? I’ve made the point before that wearing a helmet is not a be-all and end-all in motorcycle safety. In the report I was discussing it said that “About 42 percent of riders killed were not wearing helmets.” And I responded that what that means then is that 58 percent were wearing helmets — and they were killed anyway.

That’s why I believe that diverting funds from motorcycle safety training to mandating helmets is wrong-headed. We all need to wear helmets at times; some of us wear them all the time. We should all also take an occasional refresher training course. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation and ABATE have expanded their offerings lately due to demand. What we don’t need is some bureaucrat, even one who rides, cutting training funds.

Oh, and by the way, if the law says bureaucrats can’t legally lobby for or against specific state laws, I suggest the Secretary of Transportation ought to obey the law.

Update
I’ve written three follow-up posts on this subject:
Revisiting Mary Peters, Biker and DOT Secretary
Follow-up on Mary Peters, Secretary of US DOT
DOT Sec. Mary Peters Good for Bikers, Wrong on One Priority

Biker Quote for Today

Everyone crashes. Some get back on. Some don’t. Some can’t.

I have a new title. I am the official National Motorcycle Examiner. That means that in addition to the three blog postings I do here each week, I am now making three posts each week to Examiner.com, writing about . . . motorcycles!

Who or what the heck (you may ask) is Examiner.com? I can answer that question.

The San Francisco Examiner is an old, established newspaper in San Francisco. In recent years it has gone through a series of transformation, which you can read about here on Wikipedia.

Most recently, local Denver billionaire Phil Anschutz has purchased the Examiner and has started turning it into a national publication. One aspect of this is Examiner.com, with local home pages for cities across the country.

That’s where I come in. While the Examiner.com sites aggregate hard news feeds from other media, they enlist local experts (their term) to write about their passions. Ernie Tucker found me through this blog and asked me if I’d like to write for them. Oh, please don’t throw me in that briar patch! I said yes.

Now I won’t lie to you, I am indeed making some things do double duty on this blog and on Examiner.com. But so far I’ve only copied one item verbatim from one to the other. In a few other cases I have written about the same things but they were two distinct pieces. For the most part I really am writing six articles a week now instead of three.

So if you’re really interested in reading about motorcycles and motorcycling, and you like my stuff (thank you!), I urge you to become a regular visitor at Examiner.com.

Note, years later: Examiner is no longer in existence.

Biker Quote for Today

Enjoy the ride . . . the rest takes care of itself.

We’ve had a phenomenal winter for snowfall in the mountains and that has an impact on some of the best motorcycle roads in the state.

The good news is that Independence Pass, CO 82 between Twin Lakes and Aspen is finally open. From what I’ve heard, though, it is still subject to periodic closures depending on conditions. I’d check first before heading that way.

CO 5 to the top of Mount Evans is also open, as is the Pike’s Peak Highway, which goes to the top of that 14,110-foot mountain.

Trail Ridge Road, on the other hand, is still closed. The Colorado Department of Transportation says the closure is “between Milner Pass and Rainbow Curve due to adverse conditions.” They don’t say when it will be open.

A couple other passes that are still closed are only of interest if you’re the sort who doesn’t mind doing some dirt.

Kebler Pass, coming down from Crested Butte toward Paonia is still closed. You can get to Crested Butte on CO 135, which is paved, but the stretch over Kebler, County Road 12, is dirt.

Likewise, Cottonwood Pass is still closed. Again, you can get up the east side of Cottonwood from Buena Vista on a paved road. Just don’t think you’re going to get down the other side, whether you ride dirt or not.

We love the snowfall. The skiers had a good winter. Our reservoirs will be full this summer. But you’re going to have to be patient before you can ride some of these roads.

Biker Quote for Today

Ride often, ride well, have fun.

Well, OK, not quite. You might think that a rally for the folks who ride a bike that has been in production for nearly 20 years with only minor changes — very much like the old Volkswagen Beetle — would be a huge gathering.

In fact, approximately 250 Kawasaki Concours riders gathered this week in Frisco, CO, (no, Frisco is not short for San Francisco) for the Concours Owners Group 2008 National Rally. And unlike some rallies, nearly everyone rode their bikes to this event. No trailers for this group.

So, I have a Concours. I was there. I wasn’t there for very long, however. The rally started on Monday and I was starting a new job on Tuesday. Rats. So I cruised up on Monday just to say hi and shoot a few pictures.

Those Connie riders are an independent bunch, however, so efforts to get a lot of the bikes together in one place for a photo failed. Harry van der Laan, of Delfzijl, Netherlands, tried to set that up for me. Thanks just the same, Harry. Harry, by the way, is probably the Concours owner who came the farthest for the rally. He didn’t bring his bike all the way from Europe, though. He bought one here a couple years ago and stores it with Rick Hall, another local Connie rider, when he’s not here. He also makes it available to bikers from other countries who come here to ride. Nice guy.

So I had a nice ride in gorgeous weather while most folks were slaving at the office. And I did see more Connies in one place than I’ve ever seen before. And I met some nice folks.

Hey! That’s about got it covered. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?

Biker Quote for Today

There’s something ugly about a NEW bike on a trailer.

I’ve always figured I was pretty good on slow, tight turns on a big bike. Heck, I passed my original motorcycle driver’s license test on my CB750. I think most people borrow little 250s or something like that to take the riding test, but not me.

Well, I saw some guys perform on Sunday that did stuff I’ll never be able to do as long as I live. This event was the annual Top Gun Symposium of the Blue Knights Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club. All the contestants were motorcycle patrol officers riding their regular patrol bikes. Most were Harleys but there were also BMWs and Kawasaki Police Specials.

Take a look at this guy. That’s a heck of a tight turn and sharp lean angle and he’s probably going less than 5 mph. Can you do that? I can’t.

This guy wasn’t even the winner, or one of the top three winners. Altogether there were 39 officers competing from a number of different departments, with winners in three categories to correspond with the three makes of bike. The best of the best was named Top Gun. He was one of the guys on one of the Kawasakis.

All in all, it was a pretty good show, and it drew a nice crowd, mostly on bikes. What can I say? Heck, I was impressed.

Biker Quote for Today

A good rider has balance, judgment, and good timing. So does a good lover.