Passes & Canyons Blog

Riding dirt near Gunnison.

Wow, it’s been more than a year since the last time I did one of these. The question posed in this thread on the Adventure Riders forum was, “What is the strangest thing you’ve ever run into on the road?” Here are some of the more interesting and oddest responses.
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I was on my CB1000, my buddy was on his Goldwing (1500?). Late at night on I-75 making tracks back to Chattanooga from British in the Blue Ridge. He tags an alligator with the chin spoiler of his GW. The gator flips up in the air all slow motion like. It’s comin’ right for me but I had no time to react. It went by my head at 75+ mph. Seemed like it was inches away, It may have actually been 2 feet. Either way the pucker factor was quite high.
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Doing a high speed run on my 87 GSXR907 Big Bore went through a flock of finches at over 170. Yeah I had some bruises.
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Couple of years ago…. large sheet of painter’s plastic in the highway, kicked up just perfectly by a cage in front of me. Hung there like a shower curtain as I plowed right into it. Had to move over three lanes blindly, through traffic, to get to the right hand shoulder and stop so I could peel it off of me and the bike.
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A whole flock of white leghorn chickens decided to cross the road. Left a LOT of white feathers!
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I was riding in a 35mph zone at the edge of town when I was sure I was about to hit a dove. We were on a collision course when a hawk swooped in and changed the dove’s course to parallel mine. The outcome for the dove was the same, but the hawk & I were happy.
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Four of us are riding along one day. I’m the second guy. We come around a curve and there’s this huge dead black snake in the road. I went to point it out with my right foot and inadvertently kicked it up. It goes sailing and wraps all over the guy behind me. He almost shit himself.
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Riding down through Pennsylvania to visit a friend in Bethlehem, a loud ‘thwack’ announced the impact of a firefly on my face shield, then two more. I shut the lights off for a moment to confirm that the green glowing effect all over my field of vision was not a hallucination.

Want one scarier? Similar road winding alongside the Big Thompson River heading up to Estes Park, Colorado. Something snapped across my face shield that left a respectable gouge in the plastic. Turns out it was a fly fisherman’s line with a fly & hook on the end of it!
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There must have been 50 geese crossing the road 3 to 4 deep. I came around the curve at 70 mph and there they were. I went thru them, but missed hitting any of them. They scattered around and went on off the road before anything else happened. The “Highway Grandfathers” were looking over my ass this morning.
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I was hauling ass down a fire road in my younger days, just about to run over a yucca stalk when it started wiggling. It was a friggin 6′ rattlesnake sunning itself on the road. I don’t think I helped it any hitting it square in the middle but I didn’t stop to ask if he was OK.
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Heading home from a long day in the saddle. Sun had just set and was pretty close to being dark outside. All of a sudden the rear of my bike rose up as if I hit a speed bump. The front tire never hit anything. It scared me, but after a few minutes I forgot about it. Until I got home that is. The stench of skunk all over my rear wheel was too much to take. I had to let the bike sleep outside that night. Never even saw the critter. Lucky my front wheel didn’t hit him!

Yeah, hey. The stuff that goes on out there! Ride carefully, OK?

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Biker Quote for Today

Trials is an amazing sport. You can get hurt really really bad without even leaving the campsite!

Every one of us is responsible for our own safety in traffic at all times.

I had another of those experiences the other day that solidly reinforce what I already know, which is that it is up to us to keep ourselves safe on the road because the operators of other vehicles don’t see us on our motorcycles. And as has been the case in the past, this time I was the operator of the other vehicle.

I was in my car, getting onto I-25 northbound at Hampden. As I came down the entrance ramp I checked my mirror to see if the lane I needed to merge into was clear. I didn’t see anyone, but because I’m a motorcyclist and I know not to trust solely in my mirror, I did a head check. That is, I turned my head and looked back.

Oh my gosh!! There was a motorcycle right there. He had been perfectly positioned right in my blind spot. And if I weren’t a rider and knew I had to do a head check, he would have been taking evasive maneuvers to avoid me and cursing me as a dumb ass cager. Fortunately I didn’t force him to do that.

I give him credit, too, that he was obviously keeping his eyes clearly on me. He had seen me coming and he was ready to do whatever was necessary. And it wasn’t that he was being foolish riding in my blind spot. The on ramp angles toward the highway and it was just chance that his exact position was exactly where my blind spot was at that second. Another second either way and he would not have been.

So no harm, no foul. He sat back and let me pull in in front of him, which I did after I made absolutely certain that he was not coming on. We both did all the right things and all was well. But we all know that not everyone does that head check every time. It really is up to us to ensure our own safety.

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Biker Quote for Today

We are here to show those guys that are inching their way on the freeways in their metal coffins that the human sprit is still alive.

The Randy Run is named for Randy Savely, who lost his leg in a crash.

Motorcyclists are far more vulnerable than cagers and as often as riders go on poker runs to support other causes, it would seem that it should be a no-brainer to raise money to help other riders who have been hurt.

That’s what ABATE of Colorado’s Randy Run is all about, and it will take place this weekend on Saturday.

The Randy Run is named for Randy Savely, that fellow in the photo above, who lost his leg when a car turned left and hit him as he was passing through an intersection. Randy is the district rep for ABATE’s District 10 and the run was originally a D-10 event. Last year the decision was made to make it a state-wide event and the state organization took it over.

The Randy Run takes off from the Frontier Club, 18881 E. Colfax, with sign-up beginning at 9 a.m. The ride fee is $15 per poker hand and that includes admission to all events. There will be the poker run, a bike rodeo, door prizes, auction, live music, and more.

As the flyer says, “You don’t have to be a member of ABATE to apply for Randy Run funds. Pay it forward now and help fellow motorcyclists in their time of need.”

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Biker Quote for Today

Ride to lean.

Most of us have learned a lot of lessons in motorcycling by doing things that make us say, “Oops, I guess I won’t do that again.” It’s called experience.

Well, the folks who work for the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) have between them an awful lot of experience. And somebody got the idea for them all to collect the tips they have picked up along the way and offer their wisdom to all riders. The result is the Rider Resources page on the AMA website. It’s worth a look.

The page has three sections, Riding, Wrenching, and Learning. Each section offers a variety of articles on different topics. For instance, under Riding they offer “33 Secrets for Smart Touring,” “Tips for Crossing the Border,” and “Keeping Warm.” Under Wrenching the topics include such as “Used-Bike Buying Checklist” and “The Bike Stopped. Now What?” “Books We Love to Read” and “Riding With Disabilities” are two of the topics under Learning.

A lot of the info is sure to be stuff most of us already know, though newbies will find it very helpful. A lot is not such common knowledge. For instance, among the 33 touring tips are some jewels like this: If you’re nearing the end of your riding day and want to set yourself up for a quick getaway in the morning, consider riding to the far side of the next city you reach before you stop for the night, eliminating urban traffic the next morning.

At the same time, I find it amusing that the piece on what to do if the bike stops on you doesn’t mention what is probably one of the biggest reasons for this sort of occurrence: the kill switch. Who among us hasn’t had the experience of the bike either dying or failing to start and after beating our heads against the wall for . . . how long? . . . realizing it was just the kill switch. It happened to me one time when I reached over to engage my throttle lock and inadvertently hit that switch. I was stopped there by the side of the road for 15 minutes before it dawned on me.

That shortcoming aside, however, a whole bunch of riders offering their best advice has to have something of value for just about any rider. Take a look and see what you can learn.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re becoming addicted to riding when you crash your bicycle when you lock up the tire because you were trying to use the brake as a clutch lever.

Senate Bill 89, which would have eliminated Colorado’s Motorcycle Operator Safety Training (MOST) program, died in committee Tuesday. But the senators who wish to give reform efforts a chance to succeed made it clear they will vote differently in the future if the program is not fixed.

The idea that the program has problems was not contested by anyone. The only discussion was on whether to kill the program outright or first let those involved with MOST do what they can to fix it. On a party line vote, the majority Democrats on the committee voted for the latter while the minority Republicans voted to kill the program.

In arguing for killing MOST, Sen. Scott Renfroe, the bill’s sponsor, challenged the need for such a program and said it was an area in which the government need not get involved. Sen. Renfroe made it clear he supports rider training, pointing out that he himself rides motorcycles, but that he feels the program has outlived its usefulness.

Opponents of the bill expressed concerns that killing MOST could result in the loss of an annual $100,000 grant for motorcycle safety efforts from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. They also said that in talks with the Colorado Department of Revenue (DoR), DoR had made it clear that if MOST was killed, the department would no longer accept Beginning Rider Course certification in lieu of the department’s own testing of riders seeking to get licensed. Sen. Renfroe said he questioned whether DoR would in fact do that.

If DoR did do that, opponents pointed out, it would mean that the expense of testing, which is currently borne by the riders taking the courses, would fall on DoR, driving up government expenses.

Sen. Renfroe pointed to results of a survey conducted among riders who had taken the courses, saying that the riders themselves stated overwhelmingly that an increase in the price of the class would not have deterred them from taking them. Speaking for the Colorado Department of Transportation, which supported allowing time for the program to be fixed, Herman Stockinger pointed out that in fact, the survey showed that nearly 50 percent had said a $70 increase would indeed have caused them to reconsider. Seventy dollars per student is the amount that rider training is subsidized through MOST.

“That’s perhaps 4,000 plus people (per year) who wouldn’t have taken the training,” said Stockinger.

So MOST has a reprieve but it is not out of the woods. It is now up to those involved with MOST to put into effect the recommendations of a legislative audit report. And if those recommendations are not enacted, the next time this issue comes up the outcome could be very different.

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Biker Quote for Today

It’s our job. Burnin’ gasoline, killin’ bugs, and wearing out tires! — StevenE Fristoe

As mentioned previously, a bill has been introduced that would eliminate the state’s Motorcycle Operator Safety Training (MOST). There will be a hearing on that bill at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 21, in Room SCR 352 at the state capitol. ABATE of Colorado is urging all who can to attend and lend support for the continuation of the MOST program.

MOST is a program that was created at the request of motorcyclists to help defray training costs so that more riders will have better riding skills. The program is funded through a $4 per year additional fee on motorcycle license renewals and an additional $2 every time someone with a motorcycle accreditation on their driver’s license renews that license.

Aside from eliminating the program, SB12-089 makes no provision for what is to be done with the money already paid into the program should MOST be eliminated, which would presumably mean that money would simply stay in the state’s general fund.

The bill to eliminate MOST is sponsored by Sens. Renfroe, Cadman, Grantham, Harvey, Lambert, Lundberg, Mitchell, Neville, Roberts, Scheffel, and Spence, and in the House, by Reps. Holbert and Sonnenberg.

Anyone planning to attend the hearing should check first to ensure that it has not been rescheduled. The bill was originally scheduled for hearing on Feb. 14, but was postponed. If it is postponed there should be a notice to that effect on the ABATE site.

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Biker Quote for Today

The world is a book, those who don’t travel, read but a single page.

We all know those signs over the highways that alert you to problems, scheduled closures, and such. And during May, which is designated Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, those signs typically carry the message for drivers to be aware and watch out for motorcycles on the road with them.

This past May, my wife Judy asked the question, “Why do they only have that message during May? Why don’t they put that up there all year?”

I can now answer that question, and it’s actually a good answer.

Last week I attended a meeting at the Colorado Department of Transportation and one of the people there was Heather Halpape, who works in public relations with CDOT. At one point in the meeting she spoke about messages on those signs so afterward I asked her Judy’s question. Here’s what she said.

First, they do put up that message more often than just in May. They also put it up in August during the time around the Sturgis rally because there are a lot of bikes moving through the state to or from Sturgis. She said there is one other time when they use it as well, though she couldn’t remember off hand when that is.

Second, although the message is an attempt to promote safe driving, it can actually create less-safe conditions. Those signs don’t always have messages on them, but when they do, people make a point to read them. This can lead slowdowns and congestion. We saw that just this past weekend as we were coming down I-25 past the Yale exit. The sign there was alerting people to a closure at Belleview, and we hit congestion approaching that sign. After the sign, traffic sped up and the congestion cleared.

Third, people have been trained that messages are only put on the signs if the matter is important. So they make a point to read them. If there was always a message of some kind, that would just become routine and people would start to ignore the signs. And of course, that would defeat the purpose.

So there you go. Judy had a good question but Heather had a good answer that shows the people working for the state have given real thought to the matter. Kudos to CDOT.

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Biker Quote for Today

Don’t let my motorcycle ride interfere with the safety of your phone call.

Are you aware that when you renew your plates on your motorcycle(s) each year in Colorado you pay $4 that goes into a fund to help defray the cost of rider training courses? Also, anyone renewing their driver’s license with motorcycle accreditation pays an extra $2 that goes to the same fund.

This is all set in place because some years ago the motorcycling community asked for it. The general idea is that it is a good thing for everybody to have the folks riding motorcycles actually get some training so they can do it competently. The accompanying concept was that such a program could help to forestall proposals that Colorado institute a mandatory helmet law. That is to say, education and better riding skills do more to prevent traffic fatalities than wearing helmets. Or, to put it differently, crash prevention is better than having safer crashes.

Regardless of how you might feel about helmet laws, I don’t see how anyone can argue that it is not better to avoid crashing than to crash and not get hurt so badly.

The vehicle for this funneling of fees to rider training is Colorado’s Motorcycle Operator Safety Training program or MOST. MOST is now under attack, in some cases from organizations that originally supported its creation.

I could go on at great length with the history and background of what is currently going on, as ABATE of Colorado’s State Coordinator Terry Howard did with me, but I’ll give you the short version.

ABATE, Riders for Justice, some of the motorcycle clubs, dealerships, and others pushed for the training approach. Over the years the program was not given sufficient oversight and some problems developed. The Colorado Legislature this past year conducted an audit of the program and identified a number of issues. Several of those issues were immediately addressed and rectified and the rest will soon have been fixed.

In the meantime, however, new people have replaced the old, and in organizations such as the Colorado Confederation of Clubs (COC) which came into existence later, there is no understanding of the history of and reasons for the fees. Some of the previous supporters are now saying, “Why should we have to pay to reduce the cost for other people to learn to ride?”

In a twist that gives fits to Terry Howard, a Republican, the legislative audit committee was divided on party lines–with the Republicans being the ones she finds herself in opposition to. In the current anti-tax atmosphere, the Republicans on the committee are in favor of eliminating MOST and letting us keep our $4 and $2 fees. It is the Democrats who are saying, “The motorcyclists asked for this program, and for these fees to be levied on them, so let’s keep the fees and keep the program they fund.”

One other thing to keep in mind: If MOST is killed there is no certainty that the fees will be eliminated. We could end up paying the fees without getting the benefit.

The committee deadlocked in this past session, but it seems likely that Republican Rep. Marsha Looper, of Colorado Springs, will introduce legislation in the next session to kill MOST. This would be a good topic for all Colorado motorcyclists to learn more about, and then do what you can to educate your legislators, whether you support MOST or oppose it. Most of them don’t know anything at all about it.

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Biker Quote for Today

Statistics show that most solo motorcycle accidents are caused by a defective nut holding the handlebars.