Passes & Canyons Blog

Research study seeks women riders.

I announced this on Examiner but I figure I ought to go ahead and announce it here, too. Ginger Bucher, a Ph. D. candidate at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (I’ve never heard of that school, have you? That’s a little odd, isn’t it?) is conducting a study on women motorcyclists, both riders and passengers, and if you are a woman, she is looking for your input.

Here’s the letter she sent me:

Currently, I am collecting data as part of a dissertation through Indiana University of Pennsylvania. I am a rider, former MSF-certified RiderCoach and Assistant Coordinator of the PA Motorcycle Safety Program. In my role as an independent motorcyclist researcher, I am focusing on women motorcyclists both passengers and riders.

The online project began in October and continues through December, 2012. You can view the details at:
www.research.womenmotorcycling.org

To date, over 530 women motorcyclists from the US and Canada have completed the questionnaire representing over 3,000 individual comments and responses to essay questions. The online community and network of motorcyclists has made the response possible. I am reaching out to UK and Australian female motorcyclists as well.

I am asking for your help to increase awareness in the motorcycling community about the study. While I have an enormous amount of data to sort through already, I am interested in gaining the most complete picture that is possible in a short time with limited resources. The project is purely academic (i.e. self-funded) with no commercial or industry sponsorship.

When ready, I plan to report the findings in a wide array of settings. Given the level of interest from national organizations, I foresee the possibility of follow-on research to further explore the rich experiences of women motorcyclists.

Thank you for taking time to read about the study. I hope you will consider some options to get the word out. I welcome your suggestions and input.
Ginger Bucher
Indiana University of Pennsylvania

So, if you feel like adding your voice to her data, or know any women who might be, go for it. And hopefully, Ginger will be back later to share her results.

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Rider training has been an issue between ABATE and the COC.

Continuing what I was saying earlier, Terry Howard, ABATE of Colorado‘s State Coordinator, was telling us on Sunday about how there is a move to bury the axe between ABATE and the Colorado Confederation of Clubs (COC). The bad blood has existed for some time, and Terry said there have been previous unsuccessful attempts to put it to rest, but maybe this time.

The possible rapprochement got started when representatives of both groups were attending the Motorcycle Riders Foundation‘s Meeting of the Minds. According to Terry, a couple of the COC folks came up to her, saying, “We need to talk.” So they did.

Terry’s speculation is that some of the COC folks had an eye-opener when they looked at the list of training organizations that were in violation of MOST regulations and found that ABATE was not on that list. In discussion, she said, it came out that ABATE has an issue with one person in the COC and the COC has an issue with one person in ABATE. Fine, let’s leave them out of this.

The COC wanted to talk about how the two groups can work together for the common cause. Specifically, they were interested in three things.

• They want to ensure that if the MOST program continues that it is not cut back to simply forcing motorcyclists to pay extra for safety programs that other motorists don’t pay extra for.
• They are also looking for riders to work with them in an effort involving blow-test devices that are used on the vehicles of people convicted of DUIs. Colorado currently allows this but has no provision for doing so on motorcycles. The result is that a rider automatically loses the privilege of riding their bike. Other states allow this, and Colorado’s legislation does not disallow it, but there are issues that need to be worked out. The COC wants as many riders as possible to ride with the devices on their bikes to do testing so these issues can be addressed.
• The COC also wants help in addressing the issue of police profiling of motorcyclists. If you’re speeding, you’re speeding, no issue. But if you get stopped apparently just because you’re on a bike, they want to know about it and get the details. The idea is to build up a base of information about such incidents to see if there is a pattern or whether there really is even a problem.

So maybe the past can become history and, moving forward, these two motorcycle rights groups can work together for the common good. Keep your fingers crossed.

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Every one of us is responsible for our own safety in traffic at all times.

I had another of those experiences the other day that solidly reinforce what I already know, which is that it is up to us to keep ourselves safe on the road because the operators of other vehicles don’t see us on our motorcycles. And as has been the case in the past, this time I was the operator of the other vehicle.

I was in my car, getting onto I-25 northbound at Hampden. As I came down the entrance ramp I checked my mirror to see if the lane I needed to merge into was clear. I didn’t see anyone, but because I’m a motorcyclist and I know not to trust solely in my mirror, I did a head check. That is, I turned my head and looked back.

Oh my gosh!! There was a motorcycle right there. He had been perfectly positioned right in my blind spot. And if I weren’t a rider and knew I had to do a head check, he would have been taking evasive maneuvers to avoid me and cursing me as a dumb ass cager. Fortunately I didn’t force him to do that.

I give him credit, too, that he was obviously keeping his eyes clearly on me. He had seen me coming and he was ready to do whatever was necessary. And it wasn’t that he was being foolish riding in my blind spot. The on ramp angles toward the highway and it was just chance that his exact position was exactly where my blind spot was at that second. Another second either way and he would not have been.

So no harm, no foul. He sat back and let me pull in in front of him, which I did after I made absolutely certain that he was not coming on. We both did all the right things and all was well. But we all know that not everyone does that head check every time. It really is up to us to ensure our own safety.

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My Kawi has been getting wet quite frequently of late.

An appropriate biker quote at the end of this post would be, “If you don’t ride in the rain, you don’t ride.” I’ve already used that, though, so we’ll just mention it here.

I’ve done a lot of riding in the rain recently, most particularly yesterday. Judy and I had been up in Eagle over the weekend, doing some riding with Willie and Jungle and others as part of a tour they were running. As you may recall, Willie runs Ball O’ String Custom Adventure Tours and when she has only one paying customer on a particular tour, she invites friends along to make a larger, more fun group. Of course we pay our own way.

We went up on Friday, had a couple good days of riding Saturday and Sunday, and then when Monday morning dawned we found the sky grey and dripping. No problem, we have good rain gear.

As we layered the stuff on, I offered Judy my rubber booties because she just had hiking boots, while my riding boots are pretty water-resistant all on their own. Jungle had a pair of neoprene gloves–the stuff they make wet-suits out of–that are too small for him but fit me perfectly, so I also gave Judy my rubber mittens. She stood there like a little kid getting all prepared by Mom to go play in the snow and when we were done there was no way any moisture was going to reach her other than the occasional drops that do get in under your helmet.

We took off and quickly ran into what proved to be the worst of the storm. Just the day before, between Eagle and Vail, we had seen a car that had apparently hydroplaned into the guard rail, and the ruts in the road in the car tire tracks were filled with water. Now here we were on that same stretch of road with those same ruts filled with water again. Yes, I was nervous. I stuck as best I could to the crown of the road but that’s not always possible. I tip my hat to the people who design tires for doing their job well. We had no problems.

Heading up over Vail Pass it was cold and colder. It doesn’t matter that this is August, when you get up over 10,000 feet it’s cooler than at lower elevations. Once we got over the top, though, I felt good knowing that was the worst we would be encountering. The rain continued to just past Georgetown and then the sky cleared a bit. Fortunately, it didn’t actually get warm until we were in the city, or else we’d have been stopping alongside the road to peel all this gear off.

Along the way I couldn’t help but wonder about Tom and Marsha, the paying customers we had been riding with, who I knew were also headed back to Denver. I knew Tom had good rain gear but as far as I was aware, neither of them had much to wear for warmth. Plus, they only had half helmets that Mile High Harley-Davidson had supplied to them. I couldn’t help but suspect the ride was going to be much more unpleasant for them than for us. And I did hear from Willie today that they got there safely but, yes, they got very cold.

So if there’s anyone out there reading this who is planning a riding trip to Colorado, this is why this site has the Good to Know page. It opens with this paragraph:

If you’re coming to ride Colorado’s passes and canyons in the summer you may think you won’t need warm clothing. You would be wrong. With some passes higher than 12,000 feet, it is not unusual to run into temperatures in the 40s even in August. Snow is not out of the question. Be sure to bring all your winter gear: gloves, electric vest, leather chaps, whatever.

Believe it.

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My Concours being winched onto the tow truck.

I had just had new tires put on my Concours on Sunday, in Columbus, Ohio, and I rode on home, arriving in Denver on Wednesday. And as I have mentioned previously, I got my first motorcycle speeding ticket less than 50 miles from home on that 17-day, 3,878-mile trip. On Friday I set out mid-afternoon with Brett and Randy, two of the OFMC, on our annual summer trip. We were to meet up with everyone else in Grand Junction. Jason was supposed to be riding with us but he was delayed so he would be along later.

Nearing Rifle, my bike started handling horribly. I was in the rear but I had to pull over immediately. It turned out my brand new rear tire was flat. Not a defect, as I later learned, but a puncture. I tried to put the bike on the side stand but with the tire flat the stand tipped it just past vertical, so it was inclined to topple over onto the right. To my consternation, it was totally impossible for me to rock the bike up onto the center stand. So I had no choice but to standd there holding the bike up until someone came along to help me.

Of course I figured the guys would notice I was not with them, would pull over to wait, and eventually they would come back to find me. But I just waited. Meanwhile, whenever a motorcycle came along on the highway I waved to them to help me. The first one went by without stopping and the second one did stop, though it was a tenth of a mile later before they could stop from 75 mph. As they walked back to me a guy in a pick-up stopped to help. He was a big, strong guy, but it was all the two of us could manage to get the bike onto the center stand. But we did, and I could finally do something else, like, oh, you know, call for assistance.

While I was standing there, though, I had thought about what to do and concluded my best bet was to try to reach my friends in Eagle, Willie and Jungle, to see if they could help me out. They have a Concours like mine and Jungle is a mechanic. This could be a good thing.

I called and spoke to Willie, who put me through to Jungle, and Jungle said sure, have the bike towed here and we’ll see what we can do. I called the AMA roadside assistance number and told them my situation and they said they’d check for tow services and call me back. While I was waiting, Jason came along. He was very surprised to find me standing there by the road, but by then all was taken care of and there was nothing he could do. What he did do was call Brett, who told him they were in Grand Junction. Where was he (Jason)?

“I’m here on the highway outside Rifle with Ken. He has a flat tire.” Oh. Brett said they had stopped and waited for me three times but I never caught up with them. Duh. Thanks guys.

So Jason went on and the tow truck took me back to Eagle. Jungle said it was too late to get started on the bike that night and Willie said I’d be staying with them. That was fine, and we had an enjoyable evening. The next morning Jungle and I got right on it, me watching him and asking questions so I could learn how to do this myself. Ha! Without theh proper tools I’m not doing this myself anytime.

First we tried patching the tire, but after two patches failed there were two options. Jungle had a new tire of the right size, but bias-ply. My Connie wants radials. He also had an old tire he had taken off his Concours when he was leaving on a trip that would have been too much for the tire. Rather than get new tires mid-trip, he started with new rubber. This tire was the right size and radial, but an Avon. My tires were Dunlops. No matter, the Avon went on.

I was finally on my way at 2 p.m. on Saturday, riding hard to meet up with the guys, who were now headed for Marysvale, Utah. I rolled in there around 9 p.m. and it was time for my vacation to begin. Oh, and although I had expected Brett and Randy to immediately come tell me something like, “Oh hey, we’re really sorry for being so stupid and not going back for you,” if fact, neither of them has ever said one word about it. Thanks guys. You’re real pals.

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Ride to Work Day 2012 was Monday.

I work at home so I couldn’t ride to work today, but I did get out on my bike just so I would be seen. What I’m wondering is, how many other riders got out today? I have a feeling it just wasn’t that many.

That is to say, I really question whether many people take this thing seriously. I have promoted it for years, and I always get out an ride, but I think I’m in a minority. The idea is great. Swamp the roads with motorcycles and scooters and really impress other motorists with how many of us there are. For a variety of reasons (see previous post). But at least here in Denver I get the impression people either ignore it or don’t even know about it.

Although I don’t ride to work, I did make a point to ride around down in the Denver Tech Center areas, figuring that’s where a lot of commuters go. As I cruised around I surveyed the parking lots and while I saw a few bikes, there weren’t that many. It looked like the random few you would probably see any day.

Oh well. At least I got out on a ride today. I hope you did, too, but if you didn’t, hey, your loss.

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Ride to Work Day 2012 is Monday.

This coming Monday, June 18, is a day you ought to plan to ride your motorcycle to work. Why? Because it is the 21st International Motorcycle & Scooter Ride To Work Day. It’s a day to demonstrate to everyone else–and even to ourselves–how many of us there are.

Along with demonstrating how many it also demonstrates that because there are so many of us, drivers need to be aware that we are there sharing the road with them and that they need to look for us.

Or, as the organizers say on their site:

Ride your motorcycle or scooter on this day to demonstrate:

• The number of motorcyclists to the general public and to politicians.
• That motorcyclists are from all occupations and all walks of life.
• That motorcyclists can reduce traffic and parking congestion in large cities.
• That motorcycles are for transportation as well as recreation.
• That motorcycling is a social good.

And if, like me, you can’t ride to work because you work at home, then ride wherever else you need to go that day. Or just go out for a cruise.

See you on the road.

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The Randy Run is named for Randy Savely, who lost his leg in a crash.

Motorcyclists are far more vulnerable than cagers and as often as riders go on poker runs to support other causes, it would seem that it should be a no-brainer to raise money to help other riders who have been hurt.

That’s what ABATE of Colorado’s Randy Run is all about, and it will take place this weekend on Saturday.

The Randy Run is named for Randy Savely, that fellow in the photo above, who lost his leg when a car turned left and hit him as he was passing through an intersection. Randy is the district rep for ABATE’s District 10 and the run was originally a D-10 event. Last year the decision was made to make it a state-wide event and the state organization took it over.

The Randy Run takes off from the Frontier Club, 18881 E. Colfax, with sign-up beginning at 9 a.m. The ride fee is $15 per poker hand and that includes admission to all events. There will be the poker run, a bike rodeo, door prizes, auction, live music, and more.

As the flyer says, “You don’t have to be a member of ABATE to apply for Randy Run funds. Pay it forward now and help fellow motorcyclists in their time of need.”

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