Passes & Canyons Blog

My life got complicated yesterday. I’ve been in touch with Ben Hochberg at ABATE of Colorado about taking their motorcycle trainer training so I can work as an MSF instructor teaching new and experienced riders to be better riders.

My interests are numerous. First, I’m trying to make a living as a motorcyclist, primarily by writing about motorcycling for any publication that will pay me. Being an MSF instructor doesn’t pay a lot but I’m in an every-little-bit-helps situation, trying to piece together a bit here and a bit there to equal a living wage.

Also, being an instructor would undoubtedly provide me with a lot of material for my writing. Heck, just taking the training course will provide me with material even if I never teach a class. Plus, taking the training and teaching the courses would inevitably make me a better rider myself.

And third, I enjoy teaching. I’ve had a few jobs over the years where part of what I did was to train others and I find it very rewarding.

So what’s my dilemma? Well, Ben told me yesterday the dates of the class, two weeks in June, and those are the same two weeks in which I was planning to do a motorcycle trip to California with some friends. Dang!

Of course that trip would also be fodder for my writing, and I don’t take vacations, so I’d be cranking out articles for Examiner.com and RumBum.com and others the whole while I was gone. But it would still be play as work, whereas doing the training would be more work as work. And who wouldn’t rather play than work?

I know the logical choice here is to stay home and do the training. Both the training and the trip would cost me money, some of which I would recoup through my writing, but the potential earnings of becoming a trainer far outweigh what I’d earn from the trip. And paying the bills is a nice thing to be able to do.

But I’d rather go on the trip. Wouldn’t you? Gosh, it just sucks to be me, doesn’t it? Don’t I wish I just had some job sitting at a desk and pushing papers all day! Yeah, right.

So anyway, if you have any thoughts to offer me on this decision I’d be happy to hear them. It just had to be those two weeks, didn’t it?

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Biker Quote for Today

I’m a highway junkie! Lord, I love a white line!!!

We were coming down from the Black Hills and had been in Nebraska for about an hour when we stopped at a table along the road. There was another guy there, in a car, and we struck up a conversation with him. Along the way he mentioned, “This is a bucket state, by the way.”

Oh really? We hadn’t known that and we had been riding without helmets on. Oops. We had done the same thing a year or two earlier when we rode into Nevada for the first time. Somehow we got all the way to Las Vegas before we learned they required helmets.

Of course that was a long time ago, before the Internet, and we could be excused our ignorance. Back then it wasn’t easy to know what different state laws are. And if a state does require helmets, why the heck don’t they put up a sign at the border that says so?

There’s no excuse anymore for being ignorant of the laws in a state you’ll be riding to. The Internet does exist now, and one excellent place to check up on all states is a handy page on the American Motorcyclist Association’s website. You go there and there’s a map of the U.S. Click on the state you want to know about and it takes you to a listing of what they require and forbid.

The very first item on the list, presumably because this is the most common question, is the helmet requirements, if any. Other information includes the following:

• Safety Helmet
• State Funded Rider Ed
• Eye Protection
• Daytime Use of Headlight
• Passenger Seat
• Passenger Footrest
• Passenger Age Restriction
• Helmet Speakers
• Periodic Safety Inspection
• Mirror Left(L) Right(R)
• Radar Detector
• Turn Signals
• Muffler
• Maximum Sound Level
• State Insurance Requirements
• Handlebar Height
• Rider-Education
• Accept Motorcycle Endorsement From Other States
• Accept RiderEd Completion Card From Other States
• Motorcycles operating two abreast in same lane
• Lane Splitting
• Lemon Law Coverage

I’ll bet you didn’t even know that some states have requirements or prohibitions in some of these areas. Heck, you might even learn something about your own state laws.

Any by the way, the page also has separate legal requirements for off-road bikes. All in all it’s a lot of good information.

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Biker Quote for Today

Remember when sex was safe and motorcycles were dangerous?

The word from Erico Motorsports is that Paolo Pirozzi, who is riding around the world on his Ducati Multistrada 1200, will be coming through Denver this weekend and they’re rolling out the red carpet for him.

According to the blurb, Paolo has mapped out a 90,000 kilometer route that is taking him from Europe to Russia, Asia to Australia, then on to North American and North Africa, ending up back home in Italy. Ducati gave him the Multistrada for the ride but the Ducati community is taking car of everything else.

In Denver, there will be a meet and greet at Erico on Saturday from 2-4 p.m., after which he will be given a tour of the sights of Denver on a bus loaded with the first 20 to sign up. (“Yes, free beer on the bus,” says Erico.)

When the bus returns to Erico at about 5:30, the party will move to Vintage Moto at 2762 Walnut for a private viewing of Jim Dillard’s vintage motorcycle collection. Then the local Denver Ducati Owner’s Club will be taking the guest of honor out to dinner.

The entire event is open to anyone, although the bus is expected to fill up quickly. For more information, contact Erico at 303-308-1811.

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Biker Quote for Today

Adventure is not the road we travel, it’s the obstacles we overcome.

Just a quick note here to let you know that Butler Motorcycle Maps has just added Southern California to the list of motorcycle-touring maps it offers. Already available are Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, and Montana. They will also soon have a Rocky Mountain states map combining all five of those mountain states in one map. These things are sizable already so I’m wondering if that one is going to be huge.

I’ve written previously about these maps so I’ll just recap here. In addition to being tough and waterproof, these maps have all the best motorcycle roads in each state highlighted and detailed. I know they’ve done a good job of this because I have ridden extensively in the Rocky Mountain states and there isn’t a road I would add that they don’t already have. And they have a few I’m not familiar with. I’d say that’s a pretty strong recommendation.

As for this new one, Southern California, this is where it really gets interesting for me. I don’t know California very well, and I especially don’t know SoCal. I look at this map and I think, “Oh man. Look at that. And that. And that. I want to go there.” But you know, without something like this map, if I did go there I wouldn’t have any idea where to go. Clearly the main strength in these maps is cluing in people who are unfamiliar with an area as to what the area offers.

For instance, I was riding in SoCal just a couple weeks ago, and while I was on a tour where I couldn’t just split off and go somewhere else, I see from this map that we were very close to some really nice roads. Not that the roads we were on weren’t nice, mind you. We did, after all, ride Big Sur, and go to Yosemite, and ride across the Golden Gate Bridge. But I had no notion that there were some other very good motorcycle roads that we just went right past. Next time I have a chance to get out that way I’m definitely taking this map.

I will make note here, for purposes of full disclosure, that I have an ongoing relationship with the folks at Butler. They have paid for one small ad on 1 page on my 100+ page website, and they do give me these maps for free, with the hope that I’ll write about them. Rest assured, though, that if I thought these things were crap I’d say so. But you won’t hear that from me because it’s not true.

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Biker Quote for Today

Don’t die wondering, die wandering.

Let’s see. If you had the chance to ride motorcycles through places like Big Sur and Yosemite, across the Golden Gate Bridge, and spend your nights in fancy hotels and eat in fancy restaurants, would you decline the offer? Me neither.

I got home last night from six days in California where I did all those things, courtesy of EagleRider, the largest motorcycle rental outfit in North America and purveyor of motorcycle tours. I was one of 18 writers and photographers invited on this media tour and I’ve got to tell you, we had a blast. Here’s a brief recap.

We arrived in Los Angeles and spent the night at Erwin’s in Venice Beach. Starting off the next morning, we rode up the coast and stopped for the night at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. The Madonna Inn, for those like I was who are totally unfamiliar, is a very ornate, totally unique place. Every one of their rooms is decorated differently and many are pretty darn exotic. You can get a feel for it from their website.

The next day we continued up the coast, riding through Big Sur to our stopping point in Carmel. The last time I had been to Big Sur was about 1969 or 1970 so this might as well have been my first time. As everyone who has ever ridden it can attest, it’s always a balance between trying to look around you and trying not to run off the road on the bike. Prudence prevailed and none of us suffered any mishaps. I do know I stopped a lot. A lot.

On Day Three we headed inland to Yosemite National Park. Whereas we had had overcast and drizzle the previous days, this was the day when we had actual rain. Cold rain. Now, I wrote an article a couple years ago telling people to take their own gear along when they’re renting a motorcycle, because what you get from the company may not be very adequate, but I disregarded my own advice here. I couldn’t see any way to get my full-face helmet in my gear so I didn’t take it. That left me riding in the rain with a half helmet. Did I mention it was cold rain?

Fortunately it really wasn’t as unpleasant as I recall my previous such experience being, but in the future I will find a way to take my own helmet.

Anyway, we rode on into the park and enjoyed the scenery a bit. It was cloudy and rainy but that made for some more dramatic photos than what you would have gotten on a sunny day. That photo above is of part of the group getting posed for a picture on an overlook, with El Capitan in the background.

The next day we headed for San Francisco, looping around the bay on the east so we could cross over to Marin County on the San Rafael bridge and enter the city across the Golden Gate Bridge. Then we turned in the bikes, rode limos to our hotel on Fisherman’s Wharf, had dinner, said farewells to some folks, had brunch the next morning and then all dispersed.

The People
So that’s the ride itself in brief. What that doesn’t address is the people, and the people were every bit as important in this being the great trip it was as the riding. I can’t talk about everyone here unless you want to read another 3,000 words, so I’ll skim.

John Campbell is editor of Canadian Biker Magazine, and a heck of a nice guy. Great sense of humor, very dry.

Donya Carlson is senior managing editor of Rider magazine. I have read her stuff for years so it was good to meet her. Super nice person.

Simon Weir is deputy editor for RiDe magazine in the UK. A lot of fun to hang around with.

Chris McIntyre is president of EagleRider. What an enthusiastic guy! He loves what he’s doing and it spreads easily to others on the staff.

Gunter Kykillus is EagleRider’s main man in the German-speaking countries of Europe. This guy never stops smiling. Big, big smile. He clearly loves what he’s doing, too.

I really feel like I ought to name a whole bunch of other people, so please don’t anyone be hurt that I didn’t mention you. I just know there are limits to how much people will read.

So anyway, we all understand that EagleRider put this whole thing together because they wanted to generate a whole lot of favorable publicity. Nevertheless, if it had been bungled badly I know we all would be saying so in our reports. But there was no bungling, the whole thing was well done, and we will all be writing very positive stories for the very simple reason that we all had a fabulous time. I consider that a pretty high recommendation. Thanks guys.

Biker Quote for Today

On a motorcycle, you’re penetrating distance right along with the machine. In a car, you’re just a spectator; the windshield’s like a TV. — Von Dutch

I mentioned previously that I had been invited to go on a four-day tour through the beauties of California with a group put together by EagleRider. Well, I flew to Los Angeles this morning and we hit the road tomorrow.

Tonight we’re in Venice Beach, at the Erwin Hotel. I don’t know a lot about this hotel but it’s supposed to be a classy joint. What I do know is that we’re on the sixth floor with balconies overlooking the boardwalk and the ocean. Too bad the fog hasn’t burned off today, as everyone was saying it would, because the sunset would probably be pretty spectacular but that doesn’t seem likely under the circumstances.

So anyway, I’ve ended up riding a Harley Heritage Softail, which seems to fit me pretty well. I had fears that the bike I ended up with might not be a good fit because I have short legs. Most of the Harleys I’ve ridden I’ve had an uncomfortable reach to the foot controls, but on this one it’s not a problem. It’s going to be very interesting to finally get some serious seat time on a Harley. I’ve never ridden any of them very much before.

So far I’ve met just a couple of the other writers on this ride, Natasha Dragun from Australia and Frederic Bagur (I think!) from Paris. The only person whose name I recognize is Donya Carlson, who writes for Rider magazine. Haven’t met her yet.

This is going to be an exotic few days, what with all the fancy places we’ll be staying and eating. I’m not normally a fancy-place sort of guy but I’ll do my best to make an exception this time. You can bet I’ll tell you all about it. Heck, maybe I’ll even try selling a story drawn from this trip to a travel magazine for a change, as opposed to a motorcycle magazine. We’ll see.

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Biker Quote for Today

Never look where you are going, always look where you want to go.

Some guys have all the luck, and this time around I guess I’m one of them. I’ve been invited by EagleRider to come along on “The Tour of a Lifetime” that they are putting on for moto-journalists and, dirty jobs department, I said yes. Someone had to, you know.

EagleRider, by the way, in case you aren’t aware, is the biggest motorcycle rental outfit around, and they also do tours. You can bet they’re looking for some great publicity to come out of this and I have to tell you, unless they flub it pretty badly, which I don’t expect them to do, they’ll be getting plenty of that from me. I’ll be writing about the ride here, on Examiner.com, and on RumBum.com, so with me they’re getting three birds with one stone.

We’ll be flying into Los Angeles on Oct. 14 to get acquainted and set up, then on Oct. 15 we’ll take off on a four-day ride to San Francisco. Considering that you can do that trip in one day, that’s a pretty good indication that this is going to be a leisurely trip with “touring” being the operative word. We’ll visit the wine country, the Hearst Castle, Yosemite, and more. And yeah, you bet, I’m itching to go.

So this is just a teaser. I’ll have a LOT more to tell you once we get underway. Stay tuned.

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Biker Quote for Today

Dance like there’s no one watching, sing like no one is listening, love like you’ll never get hurt, and ride like there’s no tomorrow.

Camping on a motorcycle trip is a good way to go but if you’re riding two-up you might as well forget it. If you manage to get all of two people’s camping gear on the bike you’re not going to have room left for much else.

Unless you pull a trailer. Then it’s whole new ball game.

Ken and Janet Knox are motorcycle travelers who stayed with us recently, via the Motorcycle Travel Network, and behind their Ultra Classic they pull a trailer. It was custom-painted to match the bike and the pair look great together.

Asked about it, Janet initially responded that, “The only advantage for me is that I can pack more stuff.”

Ken made the point, however, that it enables them to carry camping gear with them. Of course, he points out, “If Janet would bet her license and ride her own bike we could camp without pulling a trailer.”

“That would mean work for me, and I’m not into working,” she retorted. “I’m on holiday.”

Turning serious, she continued that she likes that, “When we camp we pull in at 3-4 p.m. and look for a site, then interact with people. We meet more people that way. That aspect is nice, although the comforts of a motel are better.”

Ken added that “Campgrounds are generally in a beautiful spot, whereas motels are on the main drag.”

Still, if they get into town later, or if it is raining or looks like rain, they’re not likely to camp. But it’s nice to have the option.

As for how the trailer affects the ride, Ken said, “You don’t even know the trailer is there. It does increase gas consumption, and on long, steep uphills you have to upgear, at least on a Harley.”

There’s one other advantage: Their trailer has a 12-volt plug so they can charge their cell phones while riding. Hey, what else do you need?

Biker Quote for Today

You’re a biker wannabe if your longest road trip this year was to Hooter’s for bike night.