Passes & Canyons Blog

Nowhere in the bill is the Colorado Motorcycle Operator Safety Training (MOST) program mentioned specifically but Senate Bill 16-122 is all about MOST. It is scheduled to come up for first hearing on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in Senate Conference Room 352.

Colorado MOST program logo

Soon after Colorado eliminated its mandatory helmet law, quite a few years ago, the MOST program was created–with support of the motorcycling community–to lower the cost of getting riders trained. Better training = fewer crashes was, and still is, the thinking. And from the bikers’ perspective, the fewer crashes the less likelihood that the helmet law would be reinstated. The program is paid for by an extra fee all bikers pay when they get their plates each year and when they renew their drivers licenses.

Long story short, it worked for a good while but eventually it turned out that some rider training programs were decidedly below the acceptable level and the decision was made to institute oversight of the trainers. First the trainee reimbursement was decreased and then it was eliminated. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), which handles the MOST program announced that it would hire an outside agency to do the oversight, essentially using all the money we chip in to pay for that oversight.

There are a few issues here. Colorado motorcyclists agreed to pay these extra fees in order to lower the cost to trainees. Now their cost is not lowered one dime. The MOST legislation also states that no more than 15 percent of the money raised can be use for administration. Now effectively all of it is to be used for administration. So now motorcyclists will pay extra to ensure the quality of motorcycle rider training, while people driving cars do not pay anything extra to ensure the quality of driver training. The general consensus is that that is unfair to us and totally unacceptable.

So what would SB 16-122 do? I’m not a lawyer so I can only interpret this to the best of my ability but here goes. I’ll quote from the bill summary and offer my best understanding.

Section 1 requires the state auditor to conduct a risk-based performance audit of CDOT no later than June 30, 2018.

I really can’t explain this, other than to conjecture that it relates to what follows.

Section 2 limits CDOT’s existing authority to enter into a lease-purchase agreement that requires total payments exceeding $500,000 without specific prior authorization by a bill enacted by the general assembly to lease-purchase agreements for the lease and purchase of personal property only.

This appears directly aimed at the CDOT plan to bring in outside oversight. That contract would run about $800,000 so CDOT would not be able to move ahead on this front without legislative OK.

Section 3 requires CDOT:
! To close each transportation project and release any money budgeted for the project as quickly as feasible and within one year following the substantial completion of the project unless a pending legal claim related to the project or an unusual circumstance beyond the control of CDOT unavoidably requires a longer time to close the project;
! To report on its public website within 2 weeks of a competitively bid transportation contract award, the identity of the winning bidder, the amount of the winning bid, and whether or not the bid awarded was the low bid, and, if not, why CDOT chose the bid over a lower bid;
! To annually report to the transportation commission regarding the percentages and total amount of money budgeted and expended during the preceding fiscal year for payments to private sector contractors for work on transportation projects and total transportation project costs for projects completed by CDOT employees, including indirect cost recoveries and employee salaries; and
! On or after July 1, 2016, and on and after July 1 of each year thereafter, to report to the transportation legislation review committee regarding amendments made to the statewide transportation improvement plan that were adopted during the most recently ended fiscal year and that added or deleted a project from the plan or modified the funding priority of any project included in the plan. The report must include an explanation of the reasons for each reported policy amendment and administrative action amendment.

There seems to be a number of things going on here. In one case it appears to be making it clear that if a decision is ultimately made to eliminate the MOST program, the state will not be able to continue assessing us the fees we now pay to support it. The second items appears to speak to concerns that the proposed awarding of this contract to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation was not fairly handled. Third, it would require CDOT to tell the legislature what it is spending MOST money on so that if more than 15 percent is going for administration that will be very clear. And fourth, it would require CDOT to get legislative OK in the future if other sweeping changes are proposed.

If someone wants to offer a clearer explanation I urge you to do so in a comment to this post.

So anyway, this is what will be going on Tuesday down at the Capitol. Bruce Downs, ABATE state coordinator, told me he will be there to testify and I’m sure there will be others as well. I’ll be observing, and will have a follow-up report afterward.

Biker Quote for Today

When I drag my elbow it’s part of the crash.

Catching myself in the mirror as I set out on my first GoPro ride.

Our street is snowed in again but there were a few days there when I was able to get out, and I did. One thing high on my list was to try out the new GoPro Hero4 camera I got for Christmas. I stuck the mount on the top of my helmet, let it sit for a day, and then went for a spin. Nothing much, just out and over the Cherry Creek Dam and then back. So much to learn about using this thing.

For one thing, unlike any other camera, the GoPro does not have a viewfinder. The only way you can see what the camera is seeing is to install the GoPro app on your smartphone and then sync the phone and camera via bluetooth. Of course, all I had was a little flip-phone so I ended up going out and buying a smartphone. Technology is like that: you get something new and you have to upgrade other stuff in order to use it.

First thing I had to do was figure out where to mount the camera. I’ve seen these guys with the cameras sticking up on top of their helmets and that has always struck me as stupid looking. I was thinking of attaching it on the chin piece of my helmet but when I scoped it out I found that that would have had the camera angle looking right through the windshield on all three bikes. Not gonna do that.

Long story short, I put it on top of the helmet. But I also stuck another mount on the fairing of my Concours. That won’t have the benefit of being able to point the camera at a specific point, the way I can with in my helmet, but it should have its own benefits. But on this first ride I just stuck it on top of the helmet. Then I synced up the phone and camera, adjusted the angle, and was ready to ride.

Of course, before I could get going I managed to nudge the camera and knock it out of alignment, and rather than go through the whole hassle of syncing things back up again and readjusting I just nudged it back a bit and hoped that was good enough. If you view the video you’ll see that in fact it’s still pointed down a bit too much. Oh well, I’ll get the hang of it.

Afterward I viewed the video and decided which parts to cut out and which to keep and then used the software that GoPro provides to make a few more adjustments. When you’re ready it lets you pick what venue you’re going to post it on (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) and I figured it would then optimize it specifically for that venue. I chose YouTube and I’ve got to say, if it optimized it it’s hard to tell. This is an 8 minute clip and it is taking about 171 minutes to upload to YouTube. That’s right, “taking,” because while I’m writing this it’s still uploading. There has got to be some way to upload something without it taking anywhere near that long. As I said, I have a lot to figure out.

OK, hours later, I found I was uploading the wrong file. Probably the raw video file, not the edited MP4 file I should have been. Once I figured this out the upload took seven minutes and processing afterward took another eight.

So anyway, here it is, my first GoPro video. Nothing special, just a short ride, but it’s my first.

Biker Quote for Today

I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn’t work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness. — Emo Philips

Not from this year but you know this scene repeats itself every year.

By now everyone has heard about the confrontation between the Mongols and the Iron Order MC at the motorcycle expo over the weekend. One person died and several were injured. Everything is still sketchy but parts of the story are emerging.

I was planning to go to the expo this year but completely forgot about it. The first reminder I got was the Sunday paper informing me of the shooting and that there would be no Sunday at the show.

It’s very interesting that this was between a one-percenter MC and a cop MC. My first thought was that it might have been over the Iron Order patch, which is the typical three-piece thing with a Colorado rocker. ABATE of Colorado has revised its logo to avoid friction with the clubs but I can easily see a police MC refusing to kowtow to the one-percenters. But that was the Sons of Silence pushing ABATE, not the Mongols. I don’t have a clear take on the whole scene but a quick check shows that the Mongols have the Colorado rocker, too, so do those two battle it out? And would the Mongols have taken on the Iron Order over their rocker? I have no idea; just speculation.

I do have this, though: a report from Jerry Pokorny who was there when this all went down.

After the “doo doo” hit the ventilation system just after noon all the bad biker gang types bailed out of the Expo and well riddance I might add. Actually it had the effect of making the even a lot more pleasant for us 99%ers who are the good guys just wanting to walk around and enjoy the show.

I think the promoters have a problem since the gangs use this as a gathering place and have been showing up in larger numbers the last few years. In the past the gangs would walk around in small groups of two or three and pass other rival gangs with no issues but last couple years they have come in force and pick an area where the stay bunched together just watching the crowd like the expect something to go down at any moment.

Just after I purchased my ticket for entry, a continuous stream of at least 150 Banditos just marched in 3-4 abreast (big nasty looking surly beasts) and entered with out making any effort to pay (like us legit suckers). The poor door attendants were not about to try to stop them and I don’t blame them – it’s a good way to get beat up bad. I suspect the promoters are “looking the other way” since the small contingent of uniformed Denver police on site would have been like the few brave soles who defended our embassy in Benghazi so nobody called the cops to intercept them.

Next year they might have to institute a “no colors allowed” policy and use metal detectors for screening the entrance for weapons but that is not going to help the popularity of the event. And if they have still open today (Sunday) it would probably be the best (safest) time to attend since they will have security on high alert.

Pity the few have to spoil it for the many. I wonder if these kinds of activities could be construed (and prosecuted) as “Acts of Terror”? Just a thought . . .

That part about the Bandidos is interesting. I was there a few years ago and saw that steady stream of Bandidos coming in en masse. I wasn’t at the entrance to see if they were paying and that never crossed my mind. Do expos in other cities deal with these kinds of issues? It all reminds me of why I haven’t been much interested in the show the last few years.

Biker Quote for Today

More evil. Not so much Knievel.