Archive for the ‘Miscellaneous’ Category

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Motorcycle Examiners Help Usher in New Era of Journalism

Monday, May 4th, 2009

I’ve mentioned a number of times that I write for Examiner.com as their Denver Motorcycle Examiner and maybe you’ve checked it out and maybe you haven’t. Well, what exactly is Examiner.com?

Cottonwood Pass, photo by Andy SimonsWe all know that newspapers are struggling. Here in Denver recently the Rocky Mountain News folded just two months shy of its 150th anniversary. The surviving Denver Post is not exactly raking in cash either, even with its main competition gone. But news is important, and if the old method of gathering and distributing it is falling away, something must replace it or we’ll all be in a world of hurt.

The internet appears to be the future, and part of that future may well be Examiner.com and other companies like it. Examiner.com is set up with home pages for cities across the country so that whatever city you choose, you’ll see local information. They bring on independent contractors, like me, to write on their topics of expertise and they pay us on page views. Then they sell ads related to the subject matter.

Because Examiner.com is headquartered here in Denver, Denver was one of the first local home pages to launch and as such, I was one of the first Examiners, as they call the writers. That meant that for a while I was the only Motorcycle Examiner in the country.

Examiners now number in the thousands, however, and when a new Motorcycle Examiner comes on board we make contact and invite them to join the group that we have created. There are 20 of us today, though that may change tomorrow.

The point is, there may be a Motorcycle Examiner in your city, or even two, and you may want to check them out. They’ll be bringing news of local motorcycle events, updates on local motorcycle-related issues, offering ideas on good rides in your area, and a lot more.

Here’s the list as of today:

Biker Quote for Today

If everything seems under control you’re just not going fast enough.

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How to Get Dedicated Motorcycle Parking in Your Town

Monday, April 6th, 2009

Would you like to be able to ride your motorcycle to work and find convenient, free parking by the curb? With a little luck we will have that here in Denver this summer. And you can probably make it happen in your town, too. Here’s what you can do.

dedicated motorcycle parkingDenver is fortunate in that we have a mayor who “gets it” and is willing to consider new ideas. He created an agency called Greenprint Denver that is charged with helping Denverites reduce pollution, congestion, and burning of motor fuel.

But you don’t need that degree of commitment; all you really need is a Public Works Department that is open to trying something new. In brief, here’s what needs to happen.

  1. Identify unused or under-used spaces on city blocks
  2. Have the traffic engineers and parking specialists select the ones they feel would be best suited to motorcycle parking
  3. Get the program approved
  4. Have crews stripe, sign, and otherwise prepare the spaces to be designated

Presto, you’re in business.

I’ll elaborate further. The spaces you’re looking for are called “end-caps” and they are generally spaces at the ends of blocks that are not long enough for cars. So they sit there empty but they could easily accommodate one or more motorcycles or scooters.

Because they’re sitting there empty, converting the end-caps to motorcycle parking would not cut city revenue as converting a metered space would do. So if your city wants to encourage motorcycle commuting, the only costs would be the time spent devising the program and then the striping and signing.

What more can you ask for? It’s green and it’s cheap. And it’s a way for your city to show that it has the concerns of its citizenry at heart. Your city councilperson might be interested in having themselves portrayed in that manner. Maybe if you sent them an email.

But really, I would start with the Public Works Department. They may already be thinking along these lines and your inquiry may be a helpful boost to get the idea in motion. I got involved in this because a reader of my Examiner.com site wrote urging me to lobby for dedicated parking. I started writing about it and several people stepped up to contribute to the effort and then I discovered that the city was already looking into it. So I don’t claim any influence in this at all, I just lucked into a great news story that no one else was covering.

What I have seen as I have delved into this story, however, is that it’s something that could easily be replicated just about anywhere. I really do think all you need to do is start talking to the right people and you can probably make it happen.

If you do, I’d love to hear from you about your efforts and problems and successes and whatever else. Get on it!

Biker Quote for Today

He who rides and keeps the beaten track studies the fences chiefly. — Henry David Thoreau

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Posted in Biker Issues, Miscellaneous, Motorcycle legislation | No Comments »

Apologies to All for Email Issue

Saturday, April 4th, 2009

Nothing about motorcycles in this post. I just want to let anyone who has recently tried to reach me know that I didn’t receive your messages until today. If you emailed me via any of the motorcyclecolorado.com email addresses I use since about Feb. 15 I never received your email.

This is an issue I’ve had before. I have all my motorcyclecolorado.com email automatically forwarded to a Comcast account, and Comcast somehow decided to block anything coming from that domain. They unblocked it before, and I’ve contacted them to do the same again. Very annoying.

So If you emailed me you’ll be hearing from me soon–finally.

Posted in Miscellaneous | No Comments »

Travels with Charley, with Apologies to Steinbeck

Monday, March 23rd, 2009

It’s not that Saturday was a milestone, because we’d already reached this point, but it was nevertheless a day worth noting. Charley and I went riding motorcycles together for the first time.

I know, there’s a lot of background that needs to be filled in here.

Charley on my CBCharley is my wife’s son. Judy and I have been married for 13 years. Charley was 16 when we got married. Thanks to him and his sisters, the first 7 years of our marriage were utter hell. Are you starting to get the picture?

I’m not telling you anything Charley hasn’t heard directly from my lips when I tell you that there was a time when I hated him with every fiber of my being. I spoke those words, however, at a point where I was recommending that the authorities release him from the detention center where he had spent the last year, because I felt that he had grown and changed and was ready to be given another chance.

It didn’t start out like that. Shortly before Judy and I were married I took Charley with me on a camping trip my buddies and I used to go on every spring. At one point I pointed over to him and said to John, who I was standing with, that “He’s probably the closest thing to a son that I’ll ever have.” Things went to hell soon after that.

Charley was approved for release that day and he truly has turned his life around now. We eventually reached the point where I could tell Judy in all honesty that I truly have grown to like and care for Charley. We’ve had a good relationship for some years now. And Charley had a motorcycle of his own for awhile, although we were unaware of that until after he sold it.

So lately he has suggested that the two of us take my two bikes and ride together. That sounded like a fine idea to me and on Saturday we did it. I rode the Kawi and Charley was on the Honda. I showed him the Palmer Lake to Franktown loop that Judy and I have ridden many times, and the three biker-friendly bars along the way. Business was hopping on such a beautiful spring day. We didn’t drink but we did have some eats.

Altogether we spent about four hours riding and talking and enjoying our time together. The contrast with the bad old days could not have been sharper.

Charley is still the closest thing I’ll ever have to a son, and it’s nice that we’re a lot closer to that than we once were. And what dad doesn’t want to share his passion with his son? Charley wants to get another bike of his own, but he’s scraping financially these days so who knows how soon that will happen. In the meantime, I do have two bikes. No doubt we’ll be riding again.

Biker Quote for Today

Ride Safe, Ride Long, & Have Fun

Posted in Day Rides, Miscellaneous | No Comments »

Trippy Video: Girl on a Motorcycle

Monday, February 9th, 2009

This is so sixties. I just stumbled across this video from a 1968 movie called Girl on a Motorcycle. It starred Marianne Faithful and I hadn’t realized she was so cute.

I have no idea what the story line is but apparently riding bikes in the ’60s was psychedelic, at least if you were female. Enjoy.

OK, it looks like this may not show up if you’re using the FireFox browser, so here’s a link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUdiYOEsK-E&eurl=http://motorcyclecolorado.com/blog/&feature=player_embedded

Biker Quote for Today

Go Fast & Take Chances!!

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A Lot of Good Reading from the National Motorcycle Examiner

Monday, January 19th, 2009

I do a lot of motorcycle writing that you never see here on this blog. In addition to maintaining the Passes and Canyons website and writing this blog, I also write 3-4 times each week for Examiner.com, as the National Motorcycle Examiner.

army bikeWhile I do on occasion write about the same subject both here and there, for the most part I don’t. And even when I do, I generally do two different posts, rather than a copy and paste. The point is, the two have different audiences. I figure you folks reading this blog are confirmed biker types, whereas the folks reading my stuff on Examiner.com may be newbies or confirmed bikers, or they may not ride at all. What makes sense in one place doesn’t necessarily make sense in the other.

That said, there have been a number of pieces I’ve written for Examiner.com that you might find worth reading. Here then is a listing of articles and links to them. I hope you find something that piques your interest.

Only a biker knows . . .
You’ve no doubt noticed that I include a “Biker Quote for Today” at the end of each of these blog posts. I don’t do it on Examiner.com, but periodically I collect the quotes I’ve used here and present a bunch of them at once.

DNC riders: The best one-day motorcycle ride from Denver
In a group effort for the Democratic National Convention last summer, all Denver Examiners were asked to put together recommendations in their topic for the convention delegates and the press.

What cagers don’t know about motorcycling
This was an educational piece for the non-biker readership.

The ignorance we’re up against
A discussion of how clueless non-bikers are about what we do.

Best motorcycle bars in the Denver area
Another joint Examiner effort, this time a “best of” listing.

Underwater motorcycles, motorcycles that fly
Passing along some interesting items I ran across about a submarine motorcycle and one that sprouts wings and flies.

The new styles in helmets: fruit, pots, tires
An amusing report about the frantic efforts of Nigerian motorcycle taxi drivers when they realized the government was serious about enforcing a new helmet law.

If you love motorcycles you want to see Jay Leno’s Garage
Passing along a link to a terrific site, at least if you’re the kind of guy who is interested in motorcycles.

Who will fold first, Chrysler or Harley?
A disturbing analysis of Harley’s future.

So there you have it. Take a look. I certainly think there’s a lot worth reading there, but then I’m biased.

Biker Quote for Today

What does it mean to you? For me, it’s something I just do.

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Posted in Miscellaneous, Motorcycles | No Comments »

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