Passes & Canyons Blog

Taking a long motorcycle trip at this time of year can be iffy. I’m now planning to leave Denver on Sunday morning, headed to Scottsdale for Arizona Bike Week, and you can bet I’ve been watching the five-day forecast. It’s got me a little anxious.

Yesterday the Sunday forecast was for highs in Denver around 38. Chilly! Today they’re saying 48. Better. Still, there is a 30 percent change of precipitation, either snow or rain. You can see why my anxiety level is up a bit. I can deal with rain but I really don’t want snow.

Of course, the two main points of concern are going to be the Palmer Divide, where the elevation is 7,500 feet, and Raton Pass, at 7,834 feet. I figure if I can get past those spots I’ll be OK. If.

Still, it will be very interesting to see how much it matters being further south, because once I get into New Mexico I’ll actually be going up. Santa Fe is at 6,989 feet, Albuquerque is about the same as Denver, and then Grants is 6,460, Prewitt is 6,827, and Gallup is 6,468. The highs for all of them for Sunday should be in the 50s and they’re all showing a 30 percent chance of precip.

I’m figuring on Sunday to ride as far as Grants, Prewitt, or Gallup. At 580 miles, Gallup is definitely doable on the interstate in a day. But if I’m wet and freezing my ass off it will definitely affect my plans. I have an electric vest; just wish I had heated grips or heated gloves. I know from winter riding that my hands are likely to be the coldest part of my body.

Oh well, nothing like a motorcycle road trip to really make you feel like you’re alive.

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Biker Quote for Today

Adventure is discomfort recounted at leisure.

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