To The Mountaintop

July 18th, 2016
Sisters Ride On Pikes Peak

The group photo; last night's snow left the mountaintop a sea of mud.

I was up and out the door early on Friday as I wanted to get to the top of Pikes Peak no later than 9:30. That was when the participants of the Sisters Centennial Motorcycle Ride were planning their group photo at the top so I knew I’d find them there at that time. The high temperature for the day was supposed to be in the mid-90s but I wore my electric vest and took a couple extra layers. I don’t care if it’s the middle of summer–which it is–when you get up that high it’s going to be chilly.

I blasted south on I-25 and the closer I got to Colorado Springs the cooler it got, so that I was thinking even then of flipping the vest on. Then I realized I was getting near the top of the Palmer Divide and of course it was getting cooler, but would be warming up again very soon. It was pretty amazing to look ahead where Pikes Peak was in plain sight and to think how in just an hour I would be up on top of that thing.

Well, not really. I needed to stop and get gas and it turned out that an hour later I was just starting up the mountain. But I was still on schedule.

Traffic was light early in the day and the couple cars in front of me very obligingly pulled out of my way so I could cruise at motorcycle speed, rather than follow them at frightened flatland cager speed. It was a beautiful morning and it was a joy climbing that hill.

About two-thirds of the way up there’s a place where they have a cafe and gift shop and a mandatory brake check for the folks coming down to make sure they’re not overheating their brakes. A bunch of bikes were pulled off there and a guy in a motorcycle jacket waved me over. Turned out it was Ziggie, another friend of Alisa’s who I had met some years ago and half expected to see on this day.

What Ziggie had to tell me was that going to the top at that point was iffy. They were still plowing off the snow that had fallen during the night. That’s right. This was July 15 and it snowed last night. It does that in the mountains.

Just about then Alisa showed up with word that things were now pretty clear. So I headed on up. The closer I got to the top, the more the road was still wet, with piles of snow off on the side of the road, but no iciness. And the top of the mountain was still coated with a dusting of snow, looking very beautiful. At the top it was a good thing there was gravel because otherwise it would have been a mud pit, as you can see in that photo above.

So it was kind of fun. There were a bunch of people up on top who I’ve come to know over the years and there were hugs and howdys to pass around. The one disappointment I had was that I had planned to film the ride up and down with my GoPro camera but when I went to set it up on top of my helmet, down at the bottom, I found that I had forgotten to bring the bracket that connects between the camera and the mount on the helmet. Oh well, that means I’m going to need to take another ride up Pikes Peak sometime this summer. Yeah, I know, please don’t throw me in that briar patch.

After awhile I headed on down, to head home. Coming down on I-25 I had noticed just north of Monument some hills rising up with some bare rocks showing that I had never paid attention to before. I figured I’d get off at Monument on the way home, go up through Palmer Lake, and see if I could get closer to those outcroppings along the road that goes to Larkspur. But no, I passed south of them heading out of Monument before I even reached Palmer Lake. Now I’m curious to find out how to get to them. Exploring to be done.

And then on the road to Larkspur the weather hit! I had seen foreboding clouds but was guessing I could run just ahead of the rain. And I did, except for just a few drops, but out on that road the wind suddenly started screaming like a banshee! I was leaned over almost at a 45-degree angle just to keep from being blown off the road. I’ve been in wind before but it’s been a very long time since I’ve been in wind like that.

I got back to I-25 and the wind had died considerably, and then by the time I was north of Castle Rock it was just a normal sunny summer day. And I was home by 12:30. I’ve been to the mountaintop and I still have the better part of the day to do other things. Works for me.

Biker Quote for Today

“People aren’t comfortable with a woman who looks very masculine or rides a motorcycle.” – Pam Grier

Tags: ,
Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides | No Comments »

Danger In The Dirt?

July 14th, 2016
Biker Booby Trap

Some people just don't want to share the trails with you.

I remember reading about this some time ago but it seems to be a concern that is ongoing.

I got an email from the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) about booby traps on public trails. Apparently some hikers don’t like the idea of motorcyclists using the same backcountry trails they use, and they apparently don’t care if their measures to discourage it results in serious injury or even death.

The report was about deliberately planted devices in Idaho, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. And the piece noted that in recent years similar devices have been found in Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.

Off-highway riders in Massachusetts found cables strung across trails in four state parks, according to the Massachusetts Environmental Police and the state Department of Conservation and Recreation. Authorities are asking anyone who notices suspicious activity to call the 24-hour Environmental Police line at (800) 632-8075 or the DCR Park Watch Hotline at (866) 759-2824. The New England Trail Riders Association is offering a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators.
Members of the Mount Moosilauke ATV Club Riders near Warren, N.H., discovered boards with nails in several places along the multi-use trail system. Before anyone was injured, club members removed the boards, along with scattered nails and broken glass. The ATV club is offering a $1,350 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators.
In Custer County, Idaho, riders found a piece of barbed wire strung across a trail about 4 feet from the ground, endangering off-highway-vehicle riders and mountain bikers, according to Sharetrails.org.

Let’s get the disclaimer out: Of course this is only a tiny minority; most hikers (we only assume it’s hikers) are just as appalled as we are that someone would do this. But that minority seems to be spreading. Funny how the “Land of Many Uses” concept seems to be dying.

Of course the really absurd story, one I read so long ago I don’t remember any details, was a time when a group of dirt riders got together and built a trail so they could ride it. And being generous and sharing they said that sure, hikers could use it, too. And a lot of hikers did. So many, in fact, that after awhile they started putting political pressure on to get the motorcycles banned from this trail they liked so much. That is just so, so wrong.

So what’s my point in all this? I really don’t have one, it just seemed like some good information to pass along to anyone who might be going trail riding. But then maybe this is my point: next time you start thinking in us vs. them terms, maybe you could talk yourself back with the idea that we all live here–let’s get along. Otherwise it can get pretty ugly.

Biker Quote for Today

Motorcyclists should be seen and not hurt.

Tags:
Posted in American Motorcyclist Association, Motorcycle Safety | No Comments »

Examiner Resurrection: An Experienced Motorcyclist’s Lessons In Humility

July 11th, 2016
beginning rider course

A beginning rider course.

This is another story I did for Examiner.com that has been deleted due to incompatible technology. I think it’s worth republishing here.

“Are you crazy?!”

It wasn’t hostile, but it was clear what he thought the answer to the question was.

I’m going to keep you in suspense for a moment while I set the stage for this encounter.

*****************************************************

Do you know how to ride a motorcycle? I mean, do you REALLY know how to ride a motorcycle? Are you such a good rider that it would be beneath you to even consider taking a Basic Rider Course? You might want to think again.

I took the Basic Rider Course this past weekend, courtesy of T3RG Motorcycle Schools, and I’m pleased to say I passed. Granted, I expected to pass. After all, I’ve been riding for more than 20 years and I make my living writing about motorcycles and motorcycling.

So would it surprise you if I told you I found parts of the course extremely challenging?

OK, let’s see a show of hands. How many of you have dropped your bike going about two miles an hour in a parking lot? Quite a few of you I see. I certainly have. Sure, it’s easy to stay upright going down the road when you have the force of momentum and the gyroscopic force of the wheels keeping you up. But can you crank the bars all the way left or right and just go around in circles at walking speed?

Here’s the proposition: If you can maintain confident control of your bike at slow speeds, how much easier is it to do so at higher speeds? And unless you’re out there competing in some Top Gun competition and winning, you could probably benefit from getting some rider training, even taking a Basic Rider Course.

And if that’s something you can’t quite go for, how about an Experienced Rider Course? I did them backward. I took an Experienced Rider Course about 12 years ago. I had been riding about 10 years at the time and I definitely came out of that a better rider.

This is not an academic question. The fact is that a very large percentage of motorcycle fatalities occur in single-vehicle accidents. In Colorado last year, 39 percent of all fatalities involved riders who did not even have a motorcycle validation on their drivers’ license. Do you suppose some of those people would be alive today if they had taken and passed a Basic Rider Course? Plus, you have the added benefit that if you pass the course you can take your card down to the DMV and they’ll issue you your validation. At least that’s how it works here in Colorado.

So here was my double lesson in humility last Sunday. First off, in the testing that completed the course, another student who had never ridden a motorcycle before, but did have a lot of experience on BMX and mountain bikes, scored better than me on the skills test.

Then, as I headed home on my bike, I came to where I wanted to turn left onto the highway. There was a fender bender that had just occurred in the turning lane and they were waving people around. I checked the next lane and there was a car there, but he was stopped to allow us to pull out and around. I did, intending to make the turn but when I got even with the front car in the fender bender the turn signal was red.

Momentarily perplexed as to what to do, I stopped dead in the traffic lane. Then I decided I’d have to go forward and turn around to get on the highway. I did, and as I then pulled into the next left turn lane the driver behind me pulled up and yelled at me, “Are you crazy?!”

It dawned on me then that he probably came close to rear-ending me when I unexpectedly (to him) stopped to consider what to do.

Which only goes to show that rider training classes can teach you the skills to operate your machine, and they can even teach you procedures that will help you ride safely. But in the end it comes down to you. If you don’t constantly stay on your guard and make smart riding decisions, the rest of it doesn’t matter. I got lucky this time.

Biker Quote for Today

The reason the front tire lasts so much longer is that it spends less time on the ground.

Tags:
Posted in Examiner Resurrection, Motorcycle Safety | No Comments »

More Close Calls On The Road

July 8th, 2016
Bison On Road

You do NOT want to hit one of these guys.

Oh my god that was close!

Yeah, we’ve all said that one time or another. So of course there’s a thread on Adventure Rider where folks tell their tales. Here once again I dip into the thread to pass along some other people’s oh-my-god-that-was-close stories.

  • I was riding over 8700′ Ebbett’s Pass on Highway 4 in the California Sierras. Came around this corner and there was a big brown cow standing on the steep hillside on my right, and as I approached the corner she lost her footing, slipped and rolled sideways down the hill and ended up in my path. I was able to brake hard and swerve and miss her. Man did she look scared, poor thing! She got up and staggered off to the other side of the road, none the worse for wear.
  • Chickens. Crossing the road. True story.
  • Coming out of New Mexico on 550 just crossed into Colorado ,came around a curve ,there was three portapotties laying in the road. just had room to go in between two of them.
  • I destroyed a barbecue grill with my first bike. I pulled into the garage, put the stand down and as I stepped off I planted my foot in a fresh spot of oil. I fell forward onto the tank, pushing the bike forward, somehow folding the stand again, and falling over. Fortunately it was 1980 and I had a tall sissy bar than folded my dad’s barbecue grill into a neat V shape. I had been riding for approximately one month at that point.
  • Dragon fly; not strange at all, but he was still alive and crawling around inside my helmet. He was still distracting me when I nearly struck the moose.
  • One dark stormy night in the early 70’s I’d nipped out on my old mans Honda C50 step thru. On the way home there was a queue of cars in front of me so I did what any impatient 17 year old would do and rode slowly past them. Suddenly I was off the bike and sitting on my arse in the middle of the road. Unknown to me, the storm had brought a tree down which in turn brought down some phone lines which were hanging just at neck height. Due to it being dark and raining I hadn’t seen them but luckily I’d been going slowly when I was almost garotted. No harm done apart from a black line on my neck from ear to ear.
  • I was riding a ’79 KZ650 (fantastic bike by the way) down I-40 toward Knoxville out of Strawberry Plains, Tennessee when I had to lay on the tank to let a huge goose fly over me from the right. The bird continued on about 6 feet above the road across the median to the east-bound lanes and directly into the path of a semi in the fast lane. The collision occurred behind me so I didn’t see it, but I looked over my shoulder and saw thousands of feathers streaming off the sides and top of the truck as it drove on.
  • About two years ago, Hwy 20 between Boise and Idaho City. Came around a left sweeper and the road was brownish and looked like it was moving. Crickets! About a 1/2 mile path, across all lanes. Slippery and gross! Didn’t crash but was a great reason to wash the KLR.
  • …..the sun was low and behind me…….a woman was on the ‘sidewalk’ to my side and was looking directly at me, she’s seen me……I got closer and she stepped straight into my path……I hit her at 30mph……..she was ok…….but !!!.. It turned out she suffered badly from a sight defect and was trying to cross the road to a meeting for the ‘blind’ and she didn’t see me for the low sun……..I was riding a police bike at the time……I felt bad……….judge me.
  • That was nothing, though, compared to the infamous Chicken Guts Ride, as it came to be known. Myself and a couple buddies were riding bicycles and going pretty hard. We were all in shape back then, just past our road racing primes. Pete and I had dropped our friend Jon on a climb and were out of the saddles pumping hard up the hill when, suddenly, we found ourselves riding through rotted chicken innards spread all across the roadway–the stench in the sun was ungodly. Chicken guts on hot asphalt make for an extraordinarily slick riding surface, and so we were forced to sit back down in our saddles–otherwise, our rear wheels just spun when we pedaled. Even in the saddles, our wheels spun a fair amount and, so we slowed to a bare crawl, struggling to stay upright and hoping we’d get through it before the incline and gravity did their work and we fell into the mess. We made it–the worst of it was 50-75 feet long or so, but it seemed an eternity. We probably should have warned Jon, but we figured it would be more fun to watch and so we did. He made it, too, with plenty of loud curses.

Yes, there are totally unexpected adventures awaiting you out there. Stay alert.

Biker Quote for Today

If you can still hear your fears, shift a gear.

Tags: ,
Posted in Motorcycle Safety | No Comments »

Alisa And The Sisters Ride

July 4th, 2016
Sisters' Centennial Motorcycle Ride

Who knew Alisa would go out and create something like this?!

Right at this moment there is big deal motorcycle ride crossing the country. The Sisters’ Centennial Motorcycle Ride is to mark the 100th anniversary of the ride made by two sisters, Augusta and Adeline Van Buren, “the first women to cross the continental United States, each on her own motorcycle.” Serious math tells us this was 1916.

This modern ride started on July 3, in New York, and will end in San Francisco on July 23. And they’ll be coming through Colorado July 15-17. Their stop for two nights will be in Colorado Springs, with a side trip up Pikes Peak on July 15, or July 16 in case of bad weather.

So the reason I find this particularly interesting is that it has been organized by Alisa Clickenger, who I have known for a number of years now. And I’m doing this “Wow” kind of thing I think most people do when someone they know does something you never would have imagined them doing.

I first met Alisa in 2009 when she was a participant in the Adventure for the Cures “Dirty Dozen” ride that preceded the International Women and Motorcycling conference in Keystone. I was doing the full-time motorcycle freelance journalist thing at the time and I was covering the ride and the conference. I had gotten to know some of the women on that ride and most of my attention had focused on them and then I chanced to talk to Alisa. She didn’t try to hide a bit of hurt at being overlooked, considering that–she told me–she had made a point to reach out to me. Which I had let slip by.

So we spoke at length and as it turns out, she is the one person in that group who I have had the most ongoing connection with.

First I did a piece on her as demo ride leader for BMW. She had plenty of interesting stories to tell about that. Then she took off on a ride to the southern tip of South America and I followed her (journalistically) the whole way, largely by Skype, which enabled us to talk from wherever she was for free. And by the way, she didn’t get quite all the way there. But that was a heck of an adventure for a woman riding solo.

Meanwhile, Alisa had journalistic aspirations of her own. She and I have traded job tips over the years, of the sort like “Hey, this magazine is looking for stories that sound right up your alley.”

Well, the last time I sent her a tip she replied that she was much too busy to pursue this now–she had this ride thing she was planning that was taking all her time.

That was pretty surprising–ambitious!–by itself but then I started seeing endorsements and reports and support statements coming from a lot of sources. It wasn’t just happening, it was becoming a big deal.

And now I’m seeing pieces about it on places like CBS and a whole range of newspapers across the country. Wow. I knew her when.

So good for you Alisa. I’m thinking when you and your group go up Pikes Peak on July 15 I want to be up on top to greet you. But it’s going to be a surprise unless you read this blog post.

Biker Quote for Today

Riding motorcycles is like taking drugs . . . Bikes should come with a warning label that reads “Warning: Riding a motorcycle is addictive. It will change your life forever.”

Tags:
Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, motorcycle events | No Comments »

Brunch With The Boys

June 30th, 2016
Getting on the motorcycles.

Gearing up before leaving the casino.

Bill contacted us all to ask if we wanted to ride up to Central City for brunch Saturday. Who could say no to that?

I selected the Honda and we met up out in Golden. Cruising up Clear Creek Canyon was a dream–we somehow found ourselves with no one at all in front of us almost the entire way up. Hey guys, time to cruise!

The deal, as always, was to have brunch in a casino and then do a little gambling. The OFMC guys love to gamble, especially Bill, who is almost always a winner. That’s why our summer trip each year always includes a stop in a gambling town.

So we ate and played some slots for awhile and then it was time to head on. I pushed the starter button on the Honda and it cranked over with vigor but just kept on cranking. I hate that.

I tried again and the same thing. I knew it couldn’t possibly be running low on gas–and I opened the tank to confirm this–but I went ahead and threw the lever over to Reserve. Again it didn’t start.

Bill suggested I roll it down the ramp in the parking structure we were in to jump it but I tried once again and it finally caught. Yes!!

We headed out. And we pulled out of the parking garage into a light rain. Bill was in the lead and he turned the corner, went down the block and turned the next corner, and pulled right back into the garage we had just pulled out of. Now, this was the kind of light rain that I figured to just ride through so I was surprised at this move. Their talk quickly explained it to me, though.

These are guys who like to always have their machines sparkling clean. A few raindrops, a little wet thrown up from the road, translates into a lot of time rubbing and spiffing up the bike. As for me, I try, with only partial success, to make a point of cleaning each of my bikes at least every couple years.

Five minutes later the rain was gone but the road was wet. I’m guessing the guys had some cleaning to do when they got home. We headed over toward the Golden Gate Canyon road to come back down and all of a sudden it was a lot cooler than on the ride up. A bit of rain will do that to the air temperature. No matter, I knew it would warm up as we headed downhill.

Except it took a lot longer to get warm than I had expected. I had another layer in my bag but had figured I wouldn’t need it. You never really learn, do you? How many times have you made that mistake? More than a couple I’m willing to bet.

In fact, heading down we were catching up with the rain. Now it was looking like we were going to run right back into it, but just then we reached the turn-off to Golden Gate State Park and the road hooked away to the south and away from the clouds. And it finally started to get warm.

Back down to 93 and we split up and went our separate ways. I stopped and got gas just to be sure. My 5.5-gallon tank only took 2.9 gallons. There was no way I was low on gas. Why did it not want to start? I hope this was just a fleeting thing and is totally forgotten in a short while. But I’ll be holding my breath the next time I ride that bike.

Biker Quote for Today

The reason the front tire lasts so much longer is that it spends less time on the ground.

Tags:
Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, OFMC | No Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »