Passes & Canyons Blog

I’ve been busy and distracted and I find myself today looking for something to write about here. So I’m going to do something very unusual: punt. But I also have a question I want to ask you.

I’m putting in the usual photo of a motorcycle and I’m closing with the usual Biker Quote for Today. But that’s about all.

But about that question: Do you see that (now really old) photo of me on the right? Do you see underneath it those links for “Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS)? Does anyone still use those? Do you even know what they are? Unless someone asks me not to I’m just going to eliminate that.

It used to be that RSS, Really Simple Syndication, was a way for the reader to have all their blog feeds presented in one application. You would have an aggregator and tell it which RSS feeds you wanted and any time a new post went up you would see it in your aggregator.

But here’s what Digital Trends says about RSS these days: Is it still used online? Yes and no. RSS feeds are certainly still present (more on this later), but they aren’t as dominant as they once were. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others have become the go-to option for following sites, watching feeds, and learning about the latest content.

Frankly, I’m not even sure this code still works. So unless someone responds telling me they use the RSS feature I’m going to eliminate it.

Now on to what I know many of you primarily come here for, the quote!

Biker Quote for Today

The Tin Man to Dorothy: I did want a heart, but I decided a motorcycle would be a lot cooler. Besides, now I can give you a ride back to Kansas.

It turns out that I have drawn from this Adventure Rider thread more recently than I remembered. Oh well, there’s a lot more where this came from. The idea is, what stupid questions have people asked you when you’re on your bike and stop somewhere? Here are some of them.

• Who makes Triumph? (I get this one a lot at gas stations).
• Stupid woman: “Motorcycles are dangerous!”
  Me: “Don’t you mean ‘riding motorcycles is dangerous’?”
  SW: “Yes.”
  Me: “Most people die in bed. So, where do you sleep?”
• In ’64 my buddy and I rolled up to the ranger’s hut at the Wildrose Station entrance to Death Valley on a pair of Vespa 125s on our way from San Jose to the Grand Canyon. Hard to mistake those Vespas – floor board / fairing front end with “VESPA” in big letters. The ranger leans out and comments,
  “Hondas, huh? How do they take the hills?”
• Got the Classic again last week.
  Nitwit “What is that?”
  Me “KTM 950 Adventure”
  Nitwit “Who makes it?”
  Me “KTM”
  Nitwit “Oh Its a Kawasaki”
  Me “Uhm,,,,,, Yeah”
  Pulled my helmet on and rode away laughing
• Stopped at a stop light in ATGATT. Crotch Rocket Guy pulls up next to me in T-shirt, shorts, and sneaks.
  CRG: “Planning on falling down?”
  Me: “Nope. Planning on getting up if I do.”
• Had a girl ask me not long ago how I was able to get my pipes such a pretty blue color!
• Riding to work each day in winter, other employees getting out of their cars in the parking lot without coats or jackets would ask me, “Aren’t you cold?”
  Nope, I’m the one with the warm coat.
• The receptionist has asked me if it’s hard to keep the motorcycle upright and if I can go as fast as a car.
• I stopped at a deli the other day and this woman looked at my jacket & boots and asked me if I was going skiing.
• A guy walks up from the rear of the bike and asks “How far of a trip are you on this time” I am less than 5 miles from the house, no luggage, tank bag, or anything strapped down on the tail rack, and I have Indiana plates on the bike in Indiana.
• Does that jacket make you hot?
  Nawww… but my wife thinks it does.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if you own more black T-shirts then underwear.

I try to avoid driving a car as much as possible but I don’t always ride motorcycles. For instance, any time I can ride the light rail rather than drive I do. And I walk. I walk a lot. And you know what? Walking has a lot in common with riding motorcycles.

I was walking to the gym the other day and as I went down the other side of our block I had three encounters in quick order. There is a house over there where the entire front yard is landscaped, using a lot of rock and with plants wedged in here and there. And it was bursting with green! Spring had definitely arrived in that yard. Now, since then we’ve had a soaking rain and it is Spring everywhere, but this was the first.

Two houses later I saw a squirrel in a tree, going in and out of a hole in the trunk. I had to wonder, how does a tree come to have a perfectly round hole like that? My presumption is that a limb grew there but died long ago. As the rest of the tree grew around it the limb itself eventually rotted away and then the critters probably clawed away the soft, dead wood and created this hole. It was interesting.

And another three houses down I heard clucking. Like chickens. And sure enough, there was a chicken coop next to the garage in the back yard. That was never there before.

So what does all this have to do with motorcycles? What do you tell non-riders when they ask what it’s like to ride a motorcycle? Almost invariably you will mention at some point how being on a bike puts you out in nature, not enclosed in a box away from nature. You’ll mention the smells that people in cars never smell. You’ll mention the micro-climates you experience that people in cars are totally unaware of. I know those are two of the things I noticed right away when I first started riding behind my friend John, before I bought my own bike.

Well, same with walking. All three of those things I described are things I would not have been at all aware of if I had been driving. Judy and I both go to the gym but she drives while I walk. I’m always telling her what’s going on in the neighborhood, things that I see because I walk that she misses because she drives.

Plus I get the exercise of walking.

Biker Quote for Today

Why motorcycles are better than men: motorcycles don’t smell bad.

I have several Google alerts set to bring me articles mentioning motorcycles, bikers, and such, and today I got one about an event I’ve never heard of. Just wondering if you have.

From WYMT, a TV station in eastern Kentucky, there was a story, “National Motorcycle Ride Day.” I’ve never heard of National Motorcycle Ride Day.

Apparently this day is designated on the second Saturday of October each year. Well, we missed it this year, that’s for sure. It’s described as encouraging “motorcyclists in the USA and the world to get out and on their motorcycles for a united day of riding.”

OK, I’m all for that. But where did this come from and who made this designation? Here’s the answer:

National Motorcycle Ride Day was submitted in August 2015 by Chad Geer, and the Registrar at National Day Calendar declared National Motorcycle Ride Day to be celebrated annually on the second Saturday in October.

OK, so it seems that anybody who wants to declare a day to celebrate/commemorate something, all they have to do is fill out the form at this “National Day Calendar” and presto, you got it!

Of course, you then have to somehow publicize it and get the word out or you’re going to be having your very own, one-person celebration.

Is there more to this? Here:

National Motorcycle Ride Day was founded in 2015 by Chad Geer of Dunlop Tire N.A. The month of October signifies the beginning of fall and also the end of the riding season for a lot of bikers. It is also the month the pneumatic tire was developed by John B. Dunlop. Without this development in tire technology motorcycles would not be able to function.

OK, well, cool. Chad, you have my best wishes on making this into something. Hey, at least WYMT did a story, and that got distributed nationally. It’s a start.

Biker Quote for Today

Reasons not to date a motorcyclist: The garage is decorated nicer than the house.

Three times over two days recently I observed some interesting people on motorcycles.

I was up in the hills and had no intention of coming down on I-70 but a wrong turn left me doing exactly that. I was in no hurry and so I kept to the right lane, where I got passed by a couple guys in a bigger hurry than me. They were something to see.

These two guys were obviously traveling because their bikes–Harleys or something similar–were totally loaded with gear. But I’m not talking big bags on the sides and a big top bag. No, they had all their individual items bungeed on all over the back ends of their bikes. And they had a lot of gear.

They were barreling along the interstate and neither of them had a riding jacket on. Both were wearing sleeveless t-shirts, although they were wearing helmets. And on top of each helmet was a GoPro camera.

Yeah, they were an interesting sight.

Further along the way home on this same ride, I was coming east through town on Hampden and it was rush hour. Or crawl hour, more appropriately. I was aware of the traffic around me so it was with some surprise that I glanced in the mirror at one point to see there was another bike right behind me in my lane. Where did that guy come from?

I barely had time to wonder if perhaps he lane-split his way up behind me when the traffic came to a complete stop and he blasted on ahead, going up the middle. Question answered. Lane-splitting is not legal in Colorado but that obviously did not bother him.

Then the next day I was once again on Hampden, this time headed east near Kennedy Golf Course, when I came to a stop at a red light. In front in the left-hand lane was a guy on a sportbike. A big pick-up was in front of me, first in line, and to our right a small orange pick-up, with a riding lawnmower in the bed, pulled up first in line.

But this was no ordinary pick-up. This one had no hood because the engine stood up about a foot above where the hood would have been. And this guy was revving his engine, clearly planning to blast away as soon as the light changed.

The light did change and whether there had been some communication between them or what, both the bike and the orange pick-up rocketed away. Most likely, the biker decided it would be fun to shut down this orange guy, whose intentions were clear.

I quickly lost sight of them both because of the guy in front of me, but as we neared Havana, where the road curves hard to the left, I caught sight of the bike going about 70, screaming around the curve with no orange guy anywhere to be seen. I’d say the biker definitely shut down that orange guy. Just having fun, you know.

Biker Quote for Today

If you can park it and not turn around to admire it before walking away you bought the wrong one.

This could be interesting. It’s coming up really soon so this is pretty late but I’m passing it along. I did something similar some years ago, riding motorcycle lead for a bicycle race out in Deer Trail.

We still need many more motos for the Boulder Ironman Triathlon on June 10th. Please Please Please if you are available or know another moto who is interested please let me know. As of now, you need to be able to carry a passenger, I am checking to see if there are any positions that don’t require a passenger. If you have already said you are available I also sent an email with some signup info. If you have any questions please let me know. I’m currently travelling back to CO from CA over the next few days so might be a bit slow responding.

For those of you who have also responded about being available for other tris, I am working through the process and will notify you if you are needed for a particular event. I can definitively say that I will use anyone who can also do the 70.3 tri on Saturday 8/4/2018.

Date: Sunday 6/10/2018
Event: Ironman Boulder Triathlon
Location: Boulder Reservoir
ShowUp Time: 5:30a
Moto Reimbursement: $130
Info: http://ironman.com/triathlon/events/americas/ironman/boulder.aspx
# Motos: 19 – officials, pro spotters, media, sweep

Thanks,

DaleE@daleeva.com
303-499-5437

Biker Quote for Today

Sell your bike she said. Rode away I did.

If you’re a regular reader here you know that something has gone wrong. Ever since April 2006 I have posted regularly, with the exception of a short hiatus in December last year while my Mom was dying. Now it has been two weeks.

That photo to the right should give you a pretty good idea where I’ve been. It was shot in the cardiac ICU at Porter Adventist Hospital. I had quadruple bypass surgery with complete aorta replacement thrown in.

Needless to say, I’m a bit out of commission. I have three motorcycle-related posts already prepped that I’ll be putting up in the next week and a half. After that I’ll be taking another hiatus, although to the extent that I’m able, perhaps when something presents itself in my email, I will have an occasional post. Also, because the writer in me never shuts down, I may put up a couple posts here now and then that have nothing to do with motorcycles, but rather chronicle a motorcyclist’s battle back to the bike. (I kind of like that. That’s going to be my theme: The Battle Back to the Bike.)

I understand if you are here for motorcycles and are not particularly interested in some guy’s recovery from surgery. You don’t have to read them. Check back later and we’ll definitely be all motorcycles, all the time. For now I’m just going to do what I’m able to do.

This came in my email the other day.

DENVER CASTING SEARCH
EXPERIENCED MOTORCYCLISTS WANTED
FOR PHOTOGRAPHY CAMPAIGN
DATES: Multiple dates for each rider between April 10th & May 24th.
PAY: $500 dollars per riding day.
USAGE: Unlimited, all media.
RIDER TEST: Must be available March 31st &/or April 1st for riding test.
Rider test is in Denver, requires 1 hour of unpaid time.
TO SUBMIT: Email the following ASAP to CastingDirectorLA@gmail.com
• Submit a one minute of horizontal cell phone video of you
talking about yourself, your occupation, your motorcycle
riding experience, any x-country you have ridden, how often
you ride, tell us about the bike you own.
• Submit two freshly shot photos of yourself –
one close up of your face & one head-to-toe shot.
• Submit your name, location (city), height, weight,
cell phone number and email address.
RIDERS MUST BE FULLY LICENSED FOR A MINIMUM OF 2 YEARS
ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS JANUARY 31 – FEBRUARY 23, 2018

That’s all pretty self-explanatory. If you’re interested you need to submit your letter of interest by February 23. Could be fun. Could be long, hard days. But what the heck, it’s something different and if you actually get selected the pay looks pretty good. You can bet I’ll send my submission. Why wouldn’t I?

Biker Quote for Today

Motorcycles: Helping guys pick up chicks since 1907.