Passes & Canyons Blog

I got wind of this Colorado English Motoring Conclave 2011 from Jerry Pokorny, who has his share of Brit bikes. It was held over the weekend up in Arvada. Figured I’d go up and check it out.

First thing I’ll say is that while there were some nice bikes there, there weren’t nearly as many as I’d hoped. Second thing, there were a lot of very, very cool cars.

Not a whole lot to say about it. I’ll just give you some pictures.

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Biker Quote for Today

Ducati: Making mechanics out of riders since 1946.

That’s a great scenic shot of I-70 and the mountains, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be great if there were also about 50 motorcycles cruising in formation up that road toward you? That’s the shot I didn’t get the other day. I’m so annoyed.

I had plans to ride out to meet the Ride With The Forty group that was coming in on Thursday on their way to Shanksville, PA. Alan Baumbach was with some Rocky Mountain HOG members who had gone to Green River, UT, to meet them and escort them through Colorado. I had asked Alan to call me to let me know when to expect them at Georgetown. Unfortunately, the day proved a bit chaotic on their end and Alan never had a chance to call.

I was sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring and when it started getting late I started getting antsy. I called Rocky Mountain Harley-Davidson to see if they had already arrived or when they were expected. I was told the folks there were looking for them to arrive around 4 or 4:30. If that were the case, they should be reaching Georgetown around 3 or 3:30, and looking at the time I saw that to meet them there at that time I should be leaving right now. So I did.

My route was up I-25 to 6th Avenue and out that way. Unfortunately, there was an accident on I-25 at about Alameda that backed traffic up all the way to University. I lost a lot of time there and was starting to worry that I would miss them. As I cruised up I-70 finally I was constantly looking to see them coming the other way. My original plan was to reach Georgetown before them, get pictures of them coming into Georgetown, getting gas, and then run ahead to the Buffalo Herd overlook and shoot them again. And then follow them to the dealership for more pictures and interviews.

Presumably running late as I was I was undecided about going to Georgetown. What I wanted most was the shots from the overlook. If I passed them going the other way between Georgetown and Idaho Springs I’d never get back to the overlook before them. So I rode only as far as Idaho Springs and then turned back to the overlook. And then I waited. And waited. And waited.

I had intended to bring a book to read but had forgotten in my haste. So just sitting and waiting was incredibly boring. Plus, the later it grew the more convinced I became that my delay on I-25 had caused me to miss them. I figured while I was sitting up at the overlook, they were probably already at Rocky Mountain Harley-Davidson. This wouldn’t have been a problem for most people. Most people would have called the dealership and asked if they had arrived. But I don’t have a cell phone. Really. I’m one of those throwbacks who just doesn’t feel a desire to always be connected. But I sure wished I had one with me at that point.

Finally at 4:30 I gave it up. The boredom was too great, plus, I figured they must surely be at the dealership by now. So I headed on down there as well. But when I got there they had not arrived. And about 10 minutes later they did arrive. Considering that I had ridden pretty fast, while they were riding rather slowly, I figure that if I had waited another 5 minutes, probably 7 minutes tops, I would have been there when they came by and I would have gotten my picture. Rats! Maybe I could Photoshop about 50 motorcycles into that picture above. Rats. Rats! RATS!!

Or maybe I’ll think once more about (gasp!) getting a cell phone. Nah, that would be too easy. Just call me the neanderthal.

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Ride With The Forty continues to Shanksville

Biker Quote for Today

Always aim where you want it to go and never at people.

I headed out on Friday on the first leg of this year’s Colorado Motomarathon, not intending to do the whole thing but just to get some pictures and talk with the guys who competing. The first thing that struck me was how fast most of these guys ride. Maybe it was just the exuberance of getting started, but they started right in dicing with traffic in Boulder and once we hit Boulder Canyon they really got going. I was in the middle of the pack at first but it wasn’t long before nearly everyone passed me. I picked up my speed above what I usually do but by the time we reached the first checkpoint, in Nederland, there was only one rider behind me.

Wanting to get a little ahead for the sake of photos, I took off pretty quickly from Nederland, along with two other riders. They soon lost me on the Peak-to-Peak but I did catch up with them nearing Black Hawk because of traffic that bottled them up. In the meantime, passing Rollinsville we saw that the police had already nailed two of the group, putting a bit of a damper on their exuberance I’m sure.

From Nederland on I did a lot of my riding on my own, which was fine with me. I believe strongly in riding your own ride and I just can’t enjoy the ride as much if I have to put so much of my attention to just riding. And when you’re shooting up Loveland Pass you’d better be paying attention to your riding.

I parted with the group–they were heading for Ouray that day–at the top of Loveland Pass. As everyone else left I hung around waiting for the one more rider I knew hadn’t arrived yet. Adam, of Woodland Park, finally arrived on his Kawasaki Vulcan, the only cruiser in the group of mostly Ducatis and beemers. Adam said he didn’t care about riding fast like the rest of the guys. For him it was just fun to take his time and enjoy the ride. He acknowledged that he doesn’t have as much opportunity to get well acquainted with the other guys because he doesn’t keep up with them, but no matter. I have a strong suspicion that if I did ever do a Motomarathon I’d be hanging out with Adam a lot.

So I’ll be meeting up with the group again today as they come on home. I’ll either ride out and meet them in Evergreen for the ride back to Boulder, or else I’ll just meet them in Boulder. Now I want to hear the stories of the last four days. I hope they have a lot of good ones.

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Biker Quote for Today

“You pay for the whole bike, why not use it?” — Jerry “Motorman” Palladino

There’s a very special group of riders who will be coming through Colorado in about 10 days. Ride With the Forty is a ride to commemorate the heroes of Flight 93 whose airplane was hijacked on September 11, 2001, and which crashed in Pennsylvania, rather than into the terrorists’ target, due to the actions of those on board. The ride is part of an effort to “raise funds to build a permanent memorial for the Heroes of Flight 93 who so valiantly defied the terrorists that day.”

The plan is for the riders to reach Shanksville, PA, the site where the airplane crashed, where a monument has been erected, at the time at which the plane crashed, exactly 10 years before. Among those riding will be family members of some of those who died in the crash.

The Rocky Mountain HOG is making plans to meet and escort the riders across the state. They plan to meet the riders in Green River, UT, on August 31 and escort them to Glenwood Springs that day. The group will stop in Denver on September 1 for a dinner hosted by Rocky Mountain Harley-Davidson. On September 2 the group will be escorted out I-76 to the Nebraska state line. Riders who wish to continue with the group are welcome and encouraged to do so.

For information, contact Mike Dean at 303-521-5713 or editor@rmhog.org.

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Biker Quote for Today

Prioritize some time for yourself. If you don’t no one else will, and your motorcycle will collect dust.

Until two weeks ago I was expecting to be out in Utah right now at Speed Week. I was going to go out and work as crew for Jerry Pokorny as he set about breaking a couple more land speed records. Of course I was then planning to write about the experience for various publications but I also just wanted to experience it all for myself. Jerry has convinced me that it’s an incredible time and something I owe it to myself to experience.

Then I discovered that I had the dates wrong. Speed Week was last week and my wife, Judy, and I had plans to go to Seattle and British Columbia for 10 days. (That picture above is one I shot in Washington, on our way up to Vancouver. I don’t know the guy, it was just a cool shot and I figured I’d use it here.)

So while Jerry was out on the salt flats, I was way up north. Oops. And no, I’m not in Utah now.

OK, so I still plan to talk with Jerry and I’m sure he has some great stories to tell that I can retell. I know I missed a lot, too. The electric superbike boys are continuing their rapid development and improvement and they set new world speed records for electric motorcycles not once but twice. For the first time that record is above 200 mph. I wish I’d been there.

But as one door closes another opens. I had hoped to spend some time this year with the Motomarathon but the Colorado event on that calendar conflicted with my supposed plans for Speed Week. Well, no conflict now so the Motomarathon is back on my agenda. For those who aren’t familiar, the Motomarathon is a creation of John Metzger, of Boulder, and consists of four days of long days of riding some of the best roads in Colorado. Or California, or wherever the event is going on. I’m not going to do the whole thing but I do want to ride one day of it and shoot a bunch of pictures and talk with a bunch of the riders. Stay tuned.

Then I may get out to Utah in September for the Bonneville Vintage Grand Prix. I went out for that two years ago and had a great time and it’s on my calendar again. In the meantime, I need to do some dual-sport riding. I’ve got rides pending with three different guys and am just trying to squeeze it all in. This is all work, mind you. I wouldn’t dream of having fun doing any of this.

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Biker Quote for Today

The grass is always greener at the end of a 200-mile ride.

This looks like it could be an interesting event. Tomorrow (Friday, Aug. 5) from 5:30 to 9 p.m., Erico Motorsports is hosting “The Art of the Ducati.” For this event, Carlos Guerrero, a local “Graffiti Artist” (that’s with their caps, so I hope that means he’s an artist dealing in murals, not some tagger) will be creating a multi-media piece that includes the bodywork from a Ducati Monster. The piece he creates will be auctioned off, with proceeds going to Ronald McDonald House.

This is all part of the RINO (River North Art District) First Friday series of events. Music will be provided by Canyon Station, a band that includes John Beldock, the co-proprietor with Tai Beldock, of Erico.

Figuring that the more the merrier, Sqream, Denver’s scooter club, which has received a lot of support from Erico, will be there as well celebrating their 7th anniversary and “doing a scooter crawl of the River North First Friday Art Walk.”

Sounds like it could be a good time. Erico is at 2855 Walnut St., in downtown Denver, north of where Broadway cuts diagonally toward the river.

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Biker Quote for Today

You’re a biker wannabe if you think that a kick-starter is a mocha latte.

It didn’t earn me anything except gratification, but Cycle Source magazine just published one of my photos. That image above is what I sent them and the way it was cropped and adjusted can be seen below. As you can see, it was a horizontal shot that they made into a vertical, plus they rotated it a bit to give the rider more of an angle. All good design techniques.

This whole thing came about because Tim Bussey, one of their staff writers, was covering Arizona Bike Week but had trouble with his camera. He found my pictures on Examiner.com and contacted me to ask if he could use some with his story. I said yes and sent him several. This one shot is the only one they used.

I like that they used this shot. I selected it to send to them because the guy is wearing a Big Dog Motorcycles T-shirt and I presume he’s riding a Big Dog. Of course, Big Dog went into bankruptcy very shortly after the rally.

So it may not be as big a deal as getting one of my photos published in Rider magazine but it’s still cool. Buzzy sent me a couple copies of the issue and I’ll stash them away for posterity. Now if only Rider will publish that story of mine they’ve been sitting on for seems-like-forever!

Biker Quote for Today

Any day spent riding motorcycles is a great day.

I’m not a procrastinator, but sometimes it looks that way. It’s just that I learned a long time ago that it frequently pays to put off making decisions because so often there will be a turn of events that makes the decision for you. In this case, I was saying just a week ago here that I definitely planned to go on the Old Bike Ride 9 this coming Sunday. Now I’m not so sure.

I have a conflict. If I want to go on the OBR I need to be in Golden at 9 a.m. or so. But I’m also an ABATE member and our district meeting is at 10 a.m. in Aurora. This might not be an issue except that I’ve missed this meeting every month for the last six months at least. Several times I was out of town, a couple times I just plain forgot it, and once or twice I got screwed up with meetings rescheduled due to holidays. I’m not the kind of guy who joins an organization with no intention of participating. If I’m not going to participate why bother joining? I was really determined to make it to this month’s meeting, but I hadn’t looked at the calendar.

This is where postponing decisions comes in. We’ve had a lot of rain and cold weather lately. If it’s raining on Sunday morning I’m going to go to ABATE. If it’s a beautiful day I’ll make my decision then.

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Biker Quote for Today

Motorcycles are better than women because your parents don’t remain in touch with your old motorcycle after you dump it.