Passes & Canyons Blog

There's still plenty of snow but that's no reason not to ride.

Saturday was the first good day to ride in March so of course I did. I hadn’t seen the extended forecast, however, which says that it was just the first of a string of even nicer days. That’s OK. It’s not as if I regret having been out on the bikes. And now I get to look forward to probably riding to work on Tuesday and Wednesday (assuming I go to work both those days, which is not certain).

I had just filled the tank on the Suzuki the last time I rode it, so it didn’t need anything, but both the Honda and the Kawasaki were down a bit on fuel. Of course, in winter, when you ride less, it’s best to keep the tank close to full, with some fuel stabilizer mixed in, so whereas I might not have filled both of them, in this case I did. You know, go ride and then plan your route so you’re coming by the gas pumps on your way home.

Do you love the way gas prices have dropped? I filled both tanks for a total of $13.50. Heck, not that long ago I was paying that much to fill just the tank on the Honda. And the Kawi has the big tank. Gotta love it.

I know we’ve all read about how lower gas prices are not an across-the-board good thing, because some folks in the oil and gas industry are getting laid off. I’m sorry for them, but they have to be aware that they’re in a boom and bust industry. I’m a contractor and it’s the same with me. When the economy starts choking, contractors are the first to be cut loose. You know that going in. It’s how the system works.

For the rest of us, in regard to gas prices, I love feeling annoyed when I have to pay some outrageous price higher than $2.00 a gallon. Highway robbery! It’s so easy to forget that just a little while ago we were paying more than $3.50 a gallon.

So the news reports say that truck sales are up now that gas prices are down, and people are driving more. Prices will inevitably rise as demand picks up. You won’t see me buying a truck, though. You will see me riding my bikes more and more as the weather improves. And the price of gas will have no influence on that whatsoever.

Biker Quote for Today

I ride because it lets my soul out to play.

Yeah, aren't you glad you weren't coming the other direction right at this moment!

It’s been quite a while so I figured it was time to see what weird stuff people have encountered on the road lately. This is from an Adventure Riders thread. Weirdness ahead.

• We pulled out of the restaurant and headed down the road with a little bit of on-coming traffic. One of those vehicles was a small pickup truck (think the old Rangers or Toyotas) with a canoe on a top rack and tied to each bumper. As we closed on the truck, the rope on the rear bumper came loose, the canoe lifted off the rack, came down on our side of the truck and swung out across our lane, sweeping the road. Not much of a shoulder on those country roads so we all headed for the ditch. I don’t remember anyone getting hurt but I do remember having to pull a couple of those bikes back up on the pavement.
• Two traffic barrels with the ST1300. I thought I was being clever… just a tad too fast for the maneuver. I got to look like a jackass in front of a bunch of stopped traffic. Had to stop about a mile down the road to re-attach my mirror housings.
• Whilst riding through some of the most beautiful New Zealand scenery early one winters morning just out of Queenstown a sheep fell from an 40-50 foot cliff and landed on my handle bars sending me an my new Suzuki GT750 down the road. I didn’t have a clue what happened but a following driver reported it as she saw the lot. Damage was surprising minimal to the bike as the sheep some how fell under the bike and literally wore itself out protecting my bike.
• While riding down an icy back road at 45 mph on my 125 Honda following a snowmobile his track broke and came out and up right at my head. I ducked and it just barely cleared my head. He crashed in a ditch, no brakes!
• Almost got decapitated once by a slab of ice 7 feet wide by 18 feet long that slid off the roof of a bread truck.
• My dad was giving a guy a ride one time, and a bird was flying across the road… He yelled duck! And then pasted himself to the tank. The guy on the back, he was looking straight up trying to find the duck… Took him right off the bike. Just a little bird – imagine what a flying turkey could do!
• Big fat buzzard at 60mph. It blasted about $500 worth of lights right of my bike. Stupid jerk buzzard.
• 17 yrs old…driving home from work on the QEW in Burlington, ON….averaging around 125km/h on my ’78 CB750F Super sport….pickup in front of me hits a bump and an empty 5 gal bucket goes straight up out of his box and tumbles end over end in the air and takes me full in the chest…. felt like I got hit with a 2×4 across the ribs…kept on trucking and now have a bucket sitting straight up on my gas tank against my chest between my arms…wtf??…. took the next offramp and threw it in the ditch….a few bruises…
• A green heron, from behind. I was riding my KTM along the edge of a corn field. There was some tall grass and a small stream on my right. He bolted out of the stream, then turned and headed in the same direction as me, but I overtook him and he landed in my lap. I’m still not sure who was more surprised. He donated a few feathers, squawked a bit and then thundered off.
• Many Moons Ago I Decided to race a small (3ft) kangaroo hopping parallel to a dirt road I was riding. When we got to about 30mph he decided to hop on to my tank! WTF for a moment there we were eye ball to eye ball. Not wearing the right cloths he gashed my leg as we crashed, he left me to ride my bike into the ground.

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OK, those last three have some interesting similarities. Strange stuff.

And now I have a quote that I also pulled out of this thread.

Biker Quote for Today

When it comes to deciding to hit or avoid animals, the rule is if you can eat it all in one sitting then hit, if multiple then try to avoid.

Somebody's in for a heck of good time.

You know this is going to be a long shot, but hey, someone has to win, right? Might be you.

Alan passed this along to me. Seems Harley-Davidson is having a contest where the winner gets to ride a Harley they provide through Europe for two months, all expenses paid. They want you to tell everyone about your ride and at the end they’ll give you 25,000 euros and you get to keep the bike. How totally sweet would that be?

And yeah, like I said, your chances of being picked, or mine, are pretty dang slim but you cannot win if you do not play.

Here’s a bit of what H-D has to say about your entry:

Sounds good doesn’t it?

Think you’ve got what it takes? Send your application to discovermore@harley-davidson.com and tell us:

• A bit about yourself and why you want the job
• The dream ride you’d like to do in Europe
• Your passion for motorcycle riding
• What makes you the right candidate

A great way to tell us your story is to upload a short video online (send us the YouTube link) that tells us exactly why you are the best person for the job, but how you submit your application is completely up to you! Just remember to also share links to your social media profiles with your submission.

If you’re interested you have until March 20 to get your entry in. Of course they want you to promote the whole thing on your social media venues. It’s all about advertising, and doing so pretty inexpensively. That’s how things work these days. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.

Biker Quote for Today

I don’t always ride my Harley, but when I do I take my tools and cellphone.