Passes & Canyons Blog

This experience was a real highlight, so I’m happy to run this as an Examiner Resurrection.

Rick Murray at the controls and me in the passenger spot.

“Grab this grip with your left hand and never let go.”

I figured that first bit of instruction was the most important of all. Especially when ignoring it could result in my hitting the pavement at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour.

I was going for a ride on a racing sidecar.

If you watch sidecar racers scream around the curves, often with the passenger hanging much of their body out of the car and inches from the ground, your first impulse is to say “Those guys are crazy.” Well, crazy or not, I wanted a piece of it and I was going to get it.

I went to the Bonneville Vintage GP and Concours last week with antique motorcycles on my mind but was quickly caught up in the excitement surrounding the sidecars that were also there racing, both vintage and Formula 1 and Formula 2. And as luck would have it, the sidecar guys love to take other folks on what they call “taxi rides” for a couple laps of the track. Where do I sign up?

So Rick Murray, with Team RGM, who would be taking me for a ride in his rig, was explaining to me what I should, and most importantly, should not do. As you move around from left to right to center, the right hand moves from grip to grip. But the left hand never moves from its grip. A lot of the rest I was told was forgotten as soon as we got out on the track but I did remember this.

Then Christine Blunck, with Subculture Racing, walked me through the entire track, showing me how to roll on my legs from left to center, where to brace my feet as I moved right, and what move to make on each turn in the track. She noted that sidecar passengers at times wish they were monkeys so they would have that tail, that fifth hand, to grab on with.

Wearing my own helmet and gloves and a borrowed leather suit, I was mounted and we were ready to roll out on the track. There would be one other taxi rider on the sidecar ahead of us. Let’s go.

Around the track we looped, through turns with evocative names such as “Gotcha,” “Mabey Y’ll Makit,” “Agony,” and “Ecstasy.” If I remembered anything Christine had told me about each turn it became moot as I quickly lost track of where we even were on the course. Initial thoughts of shifting left to right and back to left were dashed at the realization that, oh yeah, sometimes you have two lefts in a row, or two rights in a row. Guess I’d better pay attention to the track.

But even then it got confusing. I’d be figuring that I needed to be going right and I’d look ahead and the guy in the car in front of us was going left. Who was correct and who was confused? I know I was confused even if I was correct.

Of course, in all honesty, it didn’t matter if I screwed up. We were not going at full race speeds and Rick told me he could run the whole course at that speed with no problem regardless of what I did. And afterward I asked him if I screwed up and he just said, sort of noncommitally, that “You did fine.”

So we did the first lap and were well into the second when I heard the engine rev and felt us picking up speed. I knew Rick was opening it up to give me a taste of real race speeds and I hung on tight to enjoy the sensation. I have no doubt that my own personal land speed record was set at that moment.

Then we swept again through the clubhouse turn and into the pit lane and off the track to a stop. I stood up and realized I was breathing hard, not to mention feeling like I’d just had a work out. And I’m sure I was smiling. Here’s your leathers back, and thank you for the pin that reads, “I rode a racing sidecar.” Thank you, thank you, thank you. When can I do this again?

Biker Quote for Today

I have no interest in living a balanced life. I want a life of adventure.

Here’s the lock with the cable looped through my helmet and the handlebars. The locking carabiner dangles in between.

Having some way to secure your helmet to your bike when you park somewhere is essential. Sure, I know a lot of people leave their helmets with the bike, unsecured, and even I do that at times, but there are other times when I just don’t feel that trusting.

Years ago it seemed most bikes came with helmet locks as part of the bike. I know my 1980 Honda CB750 Custom has one. But then there’s my 1999 Kawasaki Concours: it has one but it is located such that it is essentially useless. Whose idea was that? No matter, I have long had a third-party helmet lock that has worked great.

I have not had a helmet lock for my 2006 Suzuki V-Strom 650. So when I was contacted by Big Pantha asking if I would be interested in testing and reviewing their helmet lock I jumped at the opportunity.

This device is really simplicity itself. It is rubber-coated cable with a loop at one end and attached to a locking carabiner at the other end. You run the cable through your helmet and around something on the bike and then connect the two ends with the carabiner. There is a combination lock element and once you have closed the carabiner you move the dials to secure it. When you’re ready to go you set the dials back to your combination and disconnect. As compact as it is, Big Pantha says the cable can be unwound to stretch as much as six feet.

As a former technical writer creating user guides I am a strong believer in the concept of reading the instructions. Nevertheless, this seemed so simple that I started fooling with it without doing so. I was immediately confounded by the difficulty I had trying to reset the combination. That is, to change the default combination to something of my own choosing. Doh! Read the instructions.

The lever to open the carabiner is obvious. What is not so obvious is a second lever on the inside that you need to depress in order to reset the combination. Press that and voila!

The biggest difference between the Big Pantha lock and the one I have on the Kawi is that the one on the Kawi is seriously connected to the bike and moving it to another bike would be quite a pain. The Big Pantha lock is not connected to the bike at all, and it is quite small, so it is very easy to just slip it in your pocket and use it on any bike you want at any time. Or you could use it to lock anything else you might need to secure.

Now, as with the lock on the Kawi, the weak link in the system would appear to be the cable. Make no mistake, someone with a pair of bolt cutters could chop through either of these cables in an instant. But how many people do you see walking around carrying bolt cutters? I’ve used the lock on the Kawi for close to 10 years and have never had the slightest problem. Let’s face it, a dedicated thief can defeat just about any protective device. These devices are more about preventing someone who just happens to walk by and take a fancy to your helmet from taking it home with him.

And unless you have one of those really expensive helmets, it’s likely that no one is going to want your helmet anyway. Who wants to wear someone else’s sweaty helmet? But it’s still comforting at times to have it secured to your bike rather than just sitting there.

So OK, here’s the deal. Big Pantha sent me this lock as part of a partnership arrangement whereby I get a small payment for each lock sold to people coming to purchase via my site here. That’s not a big deal for me because I would have been happy to do a review just for receiving the lock. But it does matter to you if you’re interested because if you do click through on this link you will get the lock for 15% off the regular price. What you will need to do is, when making your purchase, enter the code “KENP797U” in the appropriate field. (That’s a clarification from what I previously told you–now that Big Pantha clarified it to me.)

If this is something you would find useful, by all means, click away!

Biker Quote for Today

I’m a free spirit. Either admire me or ride with me, but never try to cage me.

You go where you look.

Whatever you do, don’t think about pink elephants. Ha! Right, now there’s no way that you can’t think about pink elephants even though they were the furthest thing from your mind a moment ago. OK, try this. You’re putting down the road on your favorite two-wheeled iron steed and there’s a big pot hole up ahead. You really, really don’t want to hit that pot hole, so you keep your eye on it very carefully, but inexorably you head right for it, and Whump!, you bounce right through it. Dang, what just happened?

Welcome to target fixation.

The very simple fact about target fixation is that, whether you’re on a motorcycle, in a car, or whatever, you will go where you look. I know. I’ve seen the truth of this up close and personal more than once.

The first time was years ago when I was learning to fly a hang glider. I launched off the low hill we were using for training, with the simple intent of flying forward as far as I could. I got lucky and hit an updraft that popped me up nicely, so I was in for a good little ride. As I approached the landing area I saw the 10-foot aluminum pole stuck in the ground with a flag on top to indicate wind direction.

“Definitely don’t want to fly into that,” I thought.

So with my eyes locked on it, to my horror, I kept heading directly toward the pole. Just before I would have hit it I pushed out on the bar to flare the glider up and over it. That was successful. But at the slow speed I now had I had initiated a stall, and as soon as I got over the pole the nose dipped sharply down and I dove into the ground. I was a little banged up but the glider got it much worse than I did.

The next time was on my Honda CB750. After another, much more serious crash on my hang glider I sold the glider and used the money to buy the bike. I was out with the OFMC on one of our first summer trips and we were coming down some canyon road. There was a rock I’d judge to be about 5 inches square lying in the middle of my lane.

“Definitely don’t want to hit that,” I told myself. And then I proceeded to run right over it, bouncing the front wheel high in the air for the only wheelie I’ve ever done on that bike.

It was after that that I finally learned about target fixation. You will go where you are looking. If you want to avoid a hazard you MUST look away from it, not at it. Look to your escape route, not at the hazard.

The trouble is, it’s not that easy to do. Your natural instinct is to look at the object–let’s face it, you’re extremely interested in it because it is a definite threat. You’ve got to have the presence of mind to overcome that instinct.

Fortunately, with discipline and practice you can train yourself. Now, periodically when I’m riding, I’ll look ahead and pick a spot on the road that I designate as a hazard and then select another spot that I designate as safe. I keep my focus on the “safe” spot, steer through it, and avoid the “hazard.” Then when I come upon a real pot hole or rock or object lying in the road, my instinct to look at it is not as strong, and my brain can take charge.

Be careful out there!

Biker Quote for Today

Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall. Torque is how far you take the wall with you.

The Royal Gorge bridge. This obviously was before the big fire a couple years ago.

One of the newer members of the OFMC commented a few years ago that a big part of our summer motorcycle trips, for him, is going a really long distance. It seems he liked returning from vacation and wowing the folks at work with how far we’d gone and the exotic places we’d been to.

The subject came up because John and I were using our weight as founding members of the group, not to mention the two most involved in planning each year, to establish the decision that our next trip would be an all-Colorado ride. Living in Colorado as we all do, it’s just not as exotic to say you went to Telluride. But hey, people come from all over the world to visit Telluride, and ride the roads of Colorado. Staying in the state would make for a more relaxed trip, and knowing the state as well as we do, we could ensure a fabulous trip. Our desires prevailed.

We chose Cripple Creek as our meeting point. With guys coming from different places and arriving at different times, that seemed like a good spot for the early birds to hang out while waiting. Cripple Creek is an old mining town now reborn as a gambling town, and the roads getting there are worth the trip even if you don’t gamble.

With the crowd together we then headed south out of town on a little county road that wanders through the forest and the hills before emerging a bit north of Canon City. Canon City is the locale of the Royal Gorge, where a suspension bridge crosses the Arkansas River about 1,053 feet below. For an added treat, we took the back way in to the park, on one of the narrowest, windiest pieces of asphalt I’ve ever seen. Heck, I didn’t even know there was a back way; I thought it was a dead end. Thank John for this bit of info.

Crossing the bridge is a thrill. It sways and shudders and if you’re afraid of heights it can be more than a little scary. Of course we stopped and shot pictures of us and the bikes on the bridge. Then we cruised on to Canon City where we made a point to ride Skyline Drive.

To picture Skyline Drive, think of a 200-foot tall brontosaurus and riding up the very ridge of his back. The road itself is barely 12 feet wide and it’s most definitely one-way. At the top you overlook downtown Canon City and it’s a great view.

Our next stop was Bishop Castle, a ways south of Canon City. This life-size castle is being built by one man, Jim Bishop, and it’s straight out of your wildest imagination of the medieval ages, complete with fire-breathing dragon. Forget about building codes because this is officially a work of art, not a building. Jim Bishop went to court to establish that fact. Translated that means it takes more and more guts to keep going higher and higher in this thing. And you can. You can climb all over it.

Lacking space here to go into detail, I’m going to list what came next. We crossed over Independence Pass to Aspen and then took McClure Pass over into the Grand Valley. We skirted along the north rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, rode past Blue Mesa Reservoir, and up to Lake City. From there it was over Slumgullion Pass down to Creede and then over Wolf Creek Pass to Pagosa Springs.

At that point we did exit Colorado just for a bit, dipping down into New Mexico, to Chama, and then back into Colorado along the road to Antonito. In Antonito we visited Cano’s Castle, sort of smaller version of Bishop Castle built almost entirely out of cans and other scrap. From there it was south to New Mexico again, to Taos. Then we went northwest, back into Colorado, to Durango, over Red Mountain Pass to Ouray, to Montrose. At that point the trip was over and we scattered each in our own directions.

Biker Quote for Today

The only thing better than a biker chick is . . . absolutely nothing!!

The place John was headed, not the creepy place we stayed.

Have you ever been out on the road and stayed at a really creepy place? I’m not talking about dumps. Heck, we’ve stayed in plenty of those, like the place in Kemmerer, WY, where it turned out the three rooms next to ours didn’t have roofs. You see, they’d had a fire awhile back . . .

No, I’m talking about places that make you think of that old Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall flick, “The Shining.” Or maybe the Bates Motel from “Psycho.” The OFMC stayed in one of those places some years ago.

Some years prior to that, on our annual OFMC motorcycle road trip, we had been crossing the Big Horn mountains up in Wyoming going east on US 14. We were pressing on to Sheridan that day but coming around a bend we scooted past a lodge with some cabins that struck me as very appealing and perhaps a place to plan on stopping in the future.

Skip ahead some years and our route was taking us back over the Big Horns, this time from east to west. John and I agreed that there was this place up there where we wanted to spend the night, but when I pulled in to the lodge I had in mind it wasn’t the same one he had in mind. Didn’t matter; it was a nice-looking place.

Shall we just say the people running the place were a little odd? Taking care of prospective guests seemed to be the last thing on their mind, and we kind of got the feeling we weren’t welcome. It almost felt like, to them, we didn’t even exist. At John’s suggestion we mounted up again and went on another 10 miles or so to the place he had been thinking of.

The problem with that place, however, was that it cost more than double what the first place was asking. Reluctantly, we headed back. Standing at the front desk, no one seemed interested in taking our money. And again it was like we didn’t exist. I finally got very pushy, corralled someone and demanded to be registered, and they deigned to check us in and give us keys.

Getting dinner in their restaurant was the same. Hello, is there anyone who would like to wait on us?

We finally ate and spent some time shooting the bull on the deck outside our rooms, talking about how weird this place was. Would “Here’s Johnny!” be awakening us from our slumbers? But the night passed uneventfully, with the exception of Dennis’s Gold Wing falling over as its sidestand sunk deeply into the rain-saturated gravel of the parking lot.

In the morning we agreed to eat breakfast up the road. Good-bye. So long. We won’t be troubling you any further. Just one final chill down our spines as we left, to send us on our way.

Biker Quote for Today

You can’t always go back but you can always go further.

I don’t often accept guest posts but when Chris Ward approached me I decided to give him a shot. Here’s Chris’s story.

Chris Ward

The Best Things About Sturgis

As an avid rider who decided to take off from my office parking lot in Aptos, California, and head to Sturgis for the first time ever this summer, I can tell you quite a bit about the ride north, the people I met along the way and the exciting things I saw once I arrived at the biggest motorcycle rally in the United States. You can read an itinerary on any biking site to see a list of things to do from one day to the next while at Sturgis, but those lists don’t tell you anything about the raw experience you’ll have and the memories you’ll hold for years to come.

First, I was determined to take the 1500+ miles ride alone and I mapped out a ride going through California as well as parts of Nevada and parts of Utah and Wyoming as I rode into South Dakota. I know there are some who will have their motorcycle shipped to get to Sturgis fast and not have the excess wear and tear on the bike, but for me, the ride was half of the fun and this was one trip I needed to take to relax, enjoy the scenery and feel like I was living life fully.

My Ride
The ride to Sturgis was long, dusty at times and extremely hot most of the way. I love to experience rides on the best roads in the U.S. I stopped at almost every roadside café, junk shop and convenience store along the way so I could grab a cold water, stretch my legs and see parts of the country I had never seen before. Oddly enough, I’ve travelled the world but have yet to see some of very heartland of America in person.

In Utah, just outside of St. George, I met up with a small group of bikers who were headed to Sturgis as well and as luck would have it, I was able to spend the rest of my road time riding alongside them. This gave me people to sit and chat with when we stopped to eat and fuel up along the way. It turned out, they were all students from Cabrillo College, a small community college right in Aptos where I live. Apparently, the world truly is small. These college kids were a hoot and I had some great laughs during the times we stopped.

We spent the night at a Marriott Hotel in Provo, Utah, and had dinner at a local steak restaurant before retiring for the night. After some much-needed rest, we headed out before dawn to continue the last leg of the ride through Wyoming and into South Dakota to get to Sturgis by nightfall.

Entering Sturgis and Plans Gone Awry
Entering the actual grounds of Sturgis Motorcycle Festival was intriguing to me. Since this was my first year, I planned to go by a schedule of events I found online and I wanted to stick with the plan so I wouldn’t miss anything. As most things in life however, plans go awry and nothing goes as a person plans. Well, when it comes to sticking to a set itinerary, I blew it. When it comes to having the time of my life, it was incredible!

First, since I rode in with the guys I met on the highway, I decided to forego the first music show and I ended up hitting the campgrounds with them to check out the scenery and meet up with some of their friends who were already at Sturgis. From there, we decided to go bar hopping the first night. Word to the wise on bar hopping: Pace yourself if you indulge in a few drinks during the time spent at bars. This is a huge event and you won’t want to miss it by drinking too much and blurring your time at the rally.

A great thing about bar hopping is that every bar had a different band playing and each had great food. Whether you like traditional bar food including chips, burgers or fries or you like a good steak or a chicken dish, the bars have it all. They also have the coolest people from all over the U.S. and Canada and I even met a couple from France who came over just for Sturgis. I spent many hours my first day listening to bands playing everything from hillbilly Vegas style music to country, rock n’ roll, bluegrass, alternative and more. One of my personal favorites was seeing David Allen Coe and Bush play at the Iron Horse Saloon.

Road Trips Galore
When you decide to toss your itinerary, and go with the flow, you’ll find so much to do at Sturgis both inside the event and even down the road a little way. Every day after I arrived, some of the Cabrilo gang (that’s what I started calling them) and I would head down the road to see the sights near Sturgis. Did you know you can get to Mt. Rushmore and take a scenic cruise through the Badlands? I found some of the most amazing scenery in the country and it was all within 50 miles of Sturgis.

Advice to Heed
If you have never been to Sturgis, I urge you to start making plans now to attend the 78th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in August 2018. This event is one for the record books and it’s one that I wish I had taken time to check out years ago. After the fun that I had and the new friends I met on the way to Sturgis as well as at the rally itself, it would take a lot to cause me to miss another one in the coming years. I have a few short tips for anyone who is thinking about going to Sturgis this coming year.

1. Go. Don’t delay and don’t second guess! Pack a small bag, book a campsite or a hotel room and ride like the wind to get there. (Or drive your car or truck and have your bike hauled so you can ride it when you’re in Sturgis)
2. Forget planning a schedule. The best way to enjoy Sturgis (in my opinion) is to just wander around, meet new people and try new things. If you want to see a musician that you love or specific show, stick to a schedule so you won’t miss your favs!
3. Leave the rally and check out the roads beyond the event.

There’s so much to do at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and when it comes around next year, be sure to have plans to attend so you won’t miss out on all the fun. This is the one rally where no matter what kind of motorcycle you own, or even if you don’t have one at all, you’ll meet exciting people and will absolutely have the time of your life.

Biker Quote for Today

Five things I like almost as much as riding my motorcycle:
1. Looking at my motorcycle
2. Talking about my motorcycle
3. Watching TV programs that have people riding motorcycles
4. Websites about motorcycles
5. Beer

No, this is not the Smoky Mountains, these are smoky Colorado mountains.

Forest fires in Routt County, up around Steamboat Springs, have cast a haze over the Front Range and Denver. I decided on Wednesday to take a ride up into the hills to see what it’s like up there. As you can see from the photo above, taken along the Squaw Pass road, the Colorado Rockies at this point look very much like the Smoky Mountains out in Virginia. Which just goes to show how well-named the Smokies are.

I headed west out on Hampden, through Morrison, up the canyon to Evergreen, Evergreen Parkway to Bergen Park to the turn-off to Squaw Pass. Yes, it was hazy but what a beautiful day to be riding in the mountains.

Heading up the Squaw Pass road I found that the apparent theme for the day was large vehicles coming the other way encroaching into my lane coming around curves. I rode very defensively. At first I was looking for just a place to get a photo where instead of mountains in the background, as per normal, there was only haze. Then I came on the overlook with the view back toward Evergreen. That’s where I got this shot. I was not the only one stopped there to get pictures.

I continued on past Echo Lake and was headed toward Idaho Springs, when, not having been watching my rearview mirror, I was startled when a couple guys on big adventure bikes and another on a big BMW touring bike suddenly blasted past me. Wow, what are you guys in such a big hurry about? It’s a day to just cruise in the hills.

So I got to Idaho Springs, jumped on the interstate just long enough to reach the exit for the Central City Parkway, and headed to Central City. Stopped for lunch and then down through Black Hawk, over to US 6, and down through Clear Creek Canyon to Golden. Then home. What a nice day’s ride.

Biker Quote for Today

There are seven days in the week and “someday” isn’t one of them.