Passes & Canyons Blog

I am so angry. I had been troubled lately looking at my website statistics because in the last week or so the traffic has been way, way down and that didn’t make sense.

So I decided to do a Google search for myself, as I have often done, searching for the two words “colorado” and “motorcycle.” Guess what came up. Take a look at this bit of screen capture.

Look at that. That’s my URL but someone stuck in some text for C—– (not going to use that word here). Bastards!! Why do these assholes do this? Can anyone possibly be making money in this way?

So I contacted my web host and hopefully they’ll be able to rectify the situation. I am so pissed.

And now I’ll put in the regular end of column stuff, though this is nowhere near a normal blog post.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
MotoAdventureGal update: Made it to Machu Picchu, broke her hand

Biker Quote for Today

Go like hell, You’ll get there quicker!

OK, this is just a fun story I want to pass along. Thanks go to Mike Landon, who sent the link to me.

It seems there were these folks living in this Chicago-area nursing home who regularly passed a biker bar. They grew interested in the bar and decided to pay it a visit. But they didn’t just drop in. First, they did themselves up with tattoos and biker costumes, and rolled in as a “biker gang.”

They were welcomed and members of the local Latino American Motorcycle Association and ABATE chapters have agreed to take them all for rides on their bikes.

It’s a really fun story. Worth your time to read it here.

Biker Quote for Today

If your mind wanders, ride after it.

Just a little cross-fertilization here. If you read this blog regularly you know I also write for Examiner.com. What you may not know is that I also write, twice each week, for RumBum.com.

I’d have to say that some of my best writing goes up on RumBum, for the simple reason that they pay me better than some of the others. In case you’re interested, here are some of the pieces I’ve done for them that I like the best.

Heading Out On The Highway With The OFMC – One of the two pieces I do each week for RumBum is a personal column. As such, I write a lot about the trips I’ve made with our group, the OFMC. This piece introduces the guys and tells the history of the group.

The Life of a Motorcycle Demo Rider – The behind the scenes skinny on what it’s like for those folks who manage demos rides for the manufacturers.

Winging It – Tales of the good and bad things that come if you hit the road without a plan.

Don’t Drop the Bike – Some stories of time we did, one or the other of us, drop the bike.

Going Anywhere – Slowly – In a Ural – A profile on my friend, Dom, who rides a Ural sidecar rig. This is the guy I went up Guanella Pass with last week.

The Breaking Point – The story of my most despairing moment on my motorcycle.

Baja Dreams – The condensed version of the story I told at great length on Examiner about the J2 Racing team that ran in last year’s Baja 1000.

They. Are. Here. – A look at electric motorcycles and what the future may hold.

Are Motorcycles Greener than Cars? – Just scratching the surface on this surprisingly not-so-obvious question.

You Only Live Once… – A biker’s bucket list.

So there you go. With any luck something among those should sound interesting. And comments are always welcome. Suggestions, too. I’m always looking for new story ideas. Thanks.

Biker Quote for Today

Here’s to burnt skin, numb crotches, and bugs in your teeth. Ride on!

Regular readers know I like to pass along particularly interesting or amusing things I run into on biker forums. This time I’m just going to point you to the thread so you can check it out yourself.

The question posed was, “What was you most embarrassing biker moment?” This was on the HD Talking forum. Here’s an example of what you’ll find, courtesy of AcidRayn.

ugggh,!!!
just had one this morning!!
stopped for gas, same place, same pump i stop every morning.
sitting next to me is Uber Hot Mommy in her escalade, i’m talking
heather locklear, christie brinkley prime years hot here, she’s checkin me out,
or the bike, i look over, give the “yea im game” look, i say something stoopit,
she smiles, then starts cracking up, im like, how rude, yea, well, she seen the gas overflowin outa my tank and all over my jeans.
i had visions of going home as a fiery comet.

Enjoy.

Biker Quote for Today

Evolution stops when stupidity is no longer fatal!

    Racers at Miller Motorsports Park, one place I went this year

I put substantially more miles on my motorcycles last year than ever before but missed my overall objective of surpassing miles by car due to a big increase in car miles.

Overall I rode my two bikes 6,053 miles in 2009. That compares to 4,839 in 2008. But I drove my car 8,660 miles in 2009, compared to only 4,971 in 2008. Oh well, today starts a new year. I have ambitious plans for riding this year and if I manage to do it all this could be the year.

The breakdown for the two bikes was more pronounced than usual. I rode the Concours 5,016 miles, while only putting 1,037 miles on the CB750 Custom. That’s a reflection of doing more highway miles, traveling more, on the Connie. I only rode the Honda around town. That’s a pattern that is likely to repeat itself this year.

I’m hoping to go to Daytona Bike Week this year, on the Kawi, so that would add something close to 4,000 miles all by itself. We’ll see if the weather lets me get out of Denver on the bike though. If I were leaving today it would not be by motorcycle. Our road is covered with ice and snow.

Have a good year riding. I certainly intend to.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Section 2010 Motorcyclist Safety Grants disbursed

Biker Quote for Today

People don’t really see motorcycles as an alternate form of transportation, at least not in the USA. They are bought to enhance our image or feed our need for performance. (Frank Smith, letter, CycleWorld, Nov. 2008)

It has been a good year for this motorcyclist, and a lot of the good parts have been reflected here in this blog. Here’s a recap of the highlights, in case you missed any of these.

Having a Great Time at the Motorcycle Ice Races
The year got off to a really fun start when we went to see the ice races. Yes, it was cold, but even Judy had a blast. It’s almost January now so we’ll be heading back up soon for another dose.

Checkin’ Out the Swap Meet
This is another January tradition. I’d be going to this event if for no other reason than all the great photos I get of fancy motorcycles.

Rounding the Curves at High Plains Raceway
What a surprise to happen by High Plains Raceway and discover that it was ready to open. The last I had heard the likelihood of that had been given to me as slim or none, but there it was.

Working for Dedicated Motorcycle Parking
This was a story that I picked up on and followed that promised good things for bikers in Denver. The city was planning to set up motorcycle-only parking in currently underused spaces around downtown. Unfortunately, as with so many other things, the recession nipped that bud. While the cost would have been negligible, any cost that was not mandatory was deemed expendable. Maybe next year.

12 Motorcycling Lessons I’ve Learned
This was a series of articles I had done for Examiner.com, which I made available here in booklet form.

A Day at the Motorcycle Races, New Track Inaugural
High Plains Raceway did indeed open and I was there for the first ever motorcycle racing event held.

Meeting Up with the Run for the Wall in Limon
This was the first of what has become a series of events that I’ve covered via participants who send me reports. As this thundering horde came through Colorado on its way to D.C., I went out and met them in Limon.

Broken Wings: The Back Story
“Broken Wings: When a biker goes down hard” was one of the best pieces I’ve ever written, and as I have taken to doing, I told the behind the scenes story here, while running the story itself on Examiner.com.

Three Days on the Bike, An Exploration
I rode old U.S. 6 from Denver to the state line with Utah, seeing just how much of the old road survives what with I-70 taking much the same route.

Taylor Canyon and Cottonwood Pass Are Keepers and I Finally Make It To Kebler Pass
I finally got to some places in Colorado I’d never been to. Doesn’t get any better than that.

Heading to the Bonneville Vintage GP and Concours
Taking this moto-journalist thing seriously, I headed out to the salt flats for this event. Had a great time.

Douglas Pass Deserves to Be on the Website
Another great Colorado road I’d never been on. Now if I can ever find the time to get this up on the site like I promised.

My Chance to Ride a Racing Sidecar–Barely
Part of the reason the trip to Bonneville was such fun.

30K Harley Rider Does Iron Butt Extreme
I got a tip about this guy who rode 30,000 miles in 30 days, and called just as he got home. What a terrific story.

OK, that’s some of the good ones. There are more but I don’t want to drag on too long here. If you’ve been keeping up with these stories as they’ve been written I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride at least a little bit as much as I have. More to come in the new year.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
What’s up (Way up!) with ape hangers?

Biker Quote for Today

If you’re riding on 2 wheels then you’re OK by me!!

Motorcycle groups are known for their generosity, especially around Christmas time. Toys for Tots rides are common as well as a variety of other similar events.

I spent a good part of my afternoon today with other members of my ABATE District 10 as well as members from other districts and other organizations unloading a truck with food enough to feed 400 families for a week. The $11,000 to pay for it all came from ABATE fundraisers as well as events put on by the Frontier Club, VFW Post 3631, and the Friends of ABATE.

The event is officially the ABATE District 10 Erica Reyes Kids Without a Christmas. This is the second year D-10 has done this. The Aurora Police Department and the Aurora Fire Department will handle selecting the needy families and distributing the goods. In addition to food, this year there were two pallets of winter coats donated and Avon donated a large quantity of their products.

ABATE D-10 also shared some of the food with D-5 to help them out in their own charitable efforts. Altogether, approximately 40 people from D-10, D-5, the APD, the AFD, and the local Star motorcycles owners’ group gathered to greet and unload the truck.

Randy Savely, D-10 Representative, said, “It’s been great. We enjoy it. We’re letting them know we’re not all bad guys out here.”

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Motorcycle crash expert Harry Hurt dies

Biker Quote for Today

don’t care ’bout going fast…just want to go far…

Note: I wrote this for publication on Sept. 3 and just discovered that it never went out. Oops. So here it is just as it should have been back then.

And the beat goes on.

I started in the motorcycle publishing world by building this website, and then adding this blog to the site. That led to me being recruited to write for Examiner.com, first as their Denver Motorcycle Examiner and then as their National Motorcycle Examiner. The blog is in its fourth year and I’ve been doing the Examiner thing since May of 2008.

My standard line to anyone asking is that Examiner does not pay much but it opens doors. One door it opened is BikeBandit.com, where we have worked out an agreement where they occasionally republish one of my Examiner posts on their website, and pay me for doing so. That’s gravy because it doesn’t require anything more of me.

Now another door has opened. Starting next week I will be writing a couple times a week for RumBum.com, a website focused on fun times and people enjoying themselves. My topic, of course, is motorcycles and the motorcycle culture.

As I mentioned on Monday, I’ll be heading to Utah for this weekend’s Bonneville Vintage GP and Concours, and my first post on RumBum will be a piece on that event. Of course I’ll also be telling you about it here. I’m sure there will be enough that I won’t be duplicating myself.

So I invite you to click on over to RumBum and catch me there. Who knows, there’s probably other stuff over there you’ll find interesting as well.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Demo riding the BMW K1300GT

Biker Quote for Today

When life throws you curves, aim for the apex.