Passes & Canyons Blog

You may recall that I did a whole series of posts awhile back called “New Zealand Rides the Rockies,” mapping out the routes that a bunch of kiwi riders were planning for this summer.

Well, I got an email from Steve, the organizer, the other day and the trip is off for this year. The current global economic debacle is to blame. Steve still hopes to do the trip, but he says it will be 2010 at the earliest.

I sure know how that goes, having been out of work myself for most of 2008, and only recently getting back to work and putting my finances in good order.

Nevertheless, it was interesting how I came to email Steve last week. It seems that Dirk, a biker who read this blog, is planning a riding trip in New Zealand and had been trying to find out about good roads down there. He tried reaching some motorcycle clubs but got no answer so he contacted me, asking to be put in touch with the guys I knew. I did, and Steve replied with his news.

Oh well. We were looking forward to hosting Steve and his buddies, but we’ll be just as happy to see them in 2010, if that works out.

Biker Quote for Today

When life throws me a curve I will lean into it!

You really can’t believe the way these racers scream around the frozen track until you see them do it. We saw them today and it was great!

My wife, Judy, and I went to the Harry’s Roamers Motorcycle Club ice races at Rainbow Falls Park, which is off CO 67 between Deckers and Woodland Park. A frozen lake provides the track. It was pretty dang cold but the racing was hot! Well, at least some of it.

You have to figure, with classes ranging from pros to toddlers, not all the racing was hot. But if, like Judy, you swoon over cute kids you would have loved these tiny tots on their tiny bikes. In some cases you could probably run and keep up with the leader, providing you didn’t slip and fall on your butt on the ice.

The top racers, on the other hand, were amazing. They have sheet metal screws drilled into their tires to provide traction and it must really do the job. I haven’t even seen lean angles like that at dirt tracks.

There was a real variety, too. Besides the two-wheelers, there was also three- and four-wheel ATV racing, and also the third-wheel guys. These third wheels were basically motorcycles with a large third wheel set up like an outrigger. And then there were also the guys on two wheels who don’t use studs in their tires. Don’t ask me how they stay up.

The whole thing was a lot of fun, it took much longer to get there from Denver than we expected, and it was biting cold, at least early on. If you go be sure to get an early start and dress very warmly.

The club will be holding four more race days this season, on Jan. 11, Jan. 18, Jan. 25, and Feb. 8. There’s an $8 gate fee, with kids under 12 free. You can buy food and drinks but be prepared to pay very high prices. Better to take something along.

This was a lot of fun. I strongly recommend it. Enjoy.

Biker Quote for Today

Go fast and aim for where the trees aren’t.

I wondered for a long time if I was going to manage to get in more miles on my bikes last year than on my car. Well, it’s January 1, 2009 and I have the answer: Not quite.

My total overall mileage was 9,810 miles. That splits almost equally between two wheels and four wheels, but four wheels ended up with a 132-mile edge. Car: 4,971. Bikes: 4,839.

How does that compare with what I set as goals a year ago? In that regard I’m looking really good. Here’s what I said: “For 2008 I’m going to shoot for 2,500 again on the Kawi, I’ll really push and try to also log 1,000 miles on the Honda, and I will try this time to keep the car to under 11,000.”

In fact, I put 2,265 miles on the Concours and 2,574 miles on the Honda. Clearly I was wildly successful keeping the car under 11,000 considering I only drove it 4,971 miles. Being out of work much of the year made that easy.

So, what about 2009? What goals am I setting?

Well, I’m working again, and this time the job is much closer to home, only 4 miles away. That means that even if I ride a bike much of the time it won’t come out to that many miles. My previous job was 23 miles away.

I’m going to set 5,000 as the low goal for the car, the idea with it being to keep the number down. For the Kawi I’ll shoot for 2,000, and then 1,500 for the CB750. I’ll definitely be taking the Kawi on the OFMC trip this year, so 2,000 should be easy. I’ll need to choose the Honda deliberately on numerous occasions to make 1,500 with it.

I know these aren’t big numbers but hey, I just don’t drive that much. Did you drive less than 10,000 miles last year? I don’t think many people do.

So, have a good year riding and, as always, keep the rubber side down.

Biker Quote for Today

If you ride like there’s no tomorrow, there won’t be.