Winter Closures Begin On Great Motorcycle Roads

October 2nd, 2012
motorcycle on Mount Evans

On top of Mount Evans.

It’s just a fact of life that some of the best motorcycle roads in Colorado close during the winter. And the closures have begun.

First to close was the Mount Evans road, which occurred on Sept. 27. That tells you that Trail Ridge Road, Independence Pass, and the road up Pikes Peak can’t be far behind. Then there’s also Kebler Pass and Cottonwood Pass.

The best place to find out if these roads are still open or not is always the Colorado Department of Transportation’s site, http://www.cotrip.org/home.htm. On their listing they include a snowflake sort of icon circled in red to indicate seasonal closures.

Of course what this means is that it’s time to get out there and do some riding while the weather is still good. I’ll be riding all year round, as always, but you can bet I won’t be on the bike as much in the next few months as I have been in the last few. I am planning to try out some heated gloves and/or heated grips soon, however, so that will force me to do some cold weather riding. It’s a dirty job and all that. If they turn out to be wonderful then I guess I’ll do just that much more winter riding.

So today is supposed to be one of those gorgeous fall days. A good day to be out. I’ll let you guess what I’m going to be doing as soon as I wrap up this blog post and a few other chores.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Only a biker knows . . .: Motorcycle wit and wisdom, #23

Biker Quote for Today

Motorcycles: “It’s just really, really cool. You guys, seriously. They make this noise that’s like BRAAMM and they go superfast…”

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Another Article Published In Rider

September 29th, 2012
Article in Rider magazine

My article "Where the Mountains Meet the Sea" was published in Rider magazine in August.

My November issue of Rider magazine arrived yesterday. I just set it aside as I always do because I’m way behind on my reading. Then I headed for the gym, taking along the August issue. That’s how far behind I am.

I was on the stationary bicycle reading that August issue when I turned a page. I immediately thought that the main photo looked familiar and as I glanced at another photo I thought it looked familiar, too, and then a third, when I suddenly realized, “Holy crap, it’s my article!” So this article was published three months ago and I just found that out.

Last time Rider published one of my articles Donya Carlson was still there. I know Donya and she emailed me to let me know what issue it was going to be in and also sent me a PDF of the piece as it was laid out so I could check for errors. That was a good thing, because I did find some things needing correcting. I assumed they did that with all articles, but apparently not.

So this piece is titled “Where the Mountains Meet the Sea,” and is about the trip Judy and I took to British Columbia last year. I pitched the piece to Rider and Mark Tuttle, the editor, accepted the idea and later accepted the finished piece for publication. But the last time around it took so long before the piece was published that I didn’t expect this one to run until sometime in 2013.

It all clicks now. I exchanged a few emails with a fellow awhile back who mentioned that he had seen an article of mine in one of the magazines recently. I assumed he was referring to the first piece in Rider, about riding old U.S. 6 across western Colorado. But now I’m betting he had just seen the B.C. piece only days before.

So hey, I’m a little late picking up on this but it’s always a thrill to see your stuff published in a major national magazine. And there’s another one coming up. I just heard the other day from Teri Conrad, the editor of Kawasaki’s magazine Accelerate, that she is including one of my articles in her next issue.

Fun stuff.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Only a biker knows . . .: Motorcycle wit and wisdom, #23

Biker Quote for Today

Life is a journey. So take some trails.

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Posted in motorcycle touring | No Comments »

A Fall Color Ride on the Peak-to-Peak

September 24th, 2012
motorcycle and fall color

Always a good ride, the Peak-to-Peak is an even better ride in the fall when the aspens turn colors.

It was a beautiful day and we had heard the colors were good up on the Peak-to-Peak Highway, so of course we had to go for a ride on Sunday.

Heading up via Golden Gate Canyon we had the road almost entirely to ourselves. Too good to last, however, as we had every expectation that the crowds looking for fall color would be thick. We weren’t wrong on that count.

The funny thing was, on the way up and then headed north, Judy and I were both struck with how the colors were just not as stunning and intense as we expected. I suspect it has something to do with the lack of moisture. I think I remember something about how in dry years the aspen leaves go pretty much straight from green to brown, and that’s what a lot of them were doing.

Still, there were a few spots with good color, and we could always tell when we approached these because of all the cars and motorcycles pulled off the side of the road. And oh boy, did I mention motorcycles? It was like a rally on the Peak-to-Peak. We saw hundreds of bikes. There were probably as many bikes as there were cars.

So we cruised on up to Estes Park and had lunch. In case we needed the reminder, you really don’t want to go to Estes Park on a day when there are likely to be hordes of tourists. A gorgeous Sunday in the fall is one of those days. We ate our lunch and quickly departed.

Rather than go down the Big Thompson Canyon or some other canyon and then have to take CO 93 through Boulder, we just backtracked on the Peak-to-Peak, on the theory that a road looks completely different going the other way. And boy did it! Something about the change in the light, and possibly the different views north vs. south, but it was a lot prettier going south. It still wasn’t the kind of color we’ve seen up there before, but it was a lot closer to what we had expected.

So the word is that next weekend is going to be the peak on the Peak-to-Peak. My recommendation, if you’re only going one way on that stretch of road, go north to south. And be ready for crowds.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Head of motorcycle crash study exits, expresses concerns

Biker Quote for Today

Have maximum fun while preserving bike and body.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Day Rides | No Comments »

Bigger Not Better For The Small Bike Ride

September 20th, 2012

You don’t have to have a ton of horsepower to have fun on a motorcycle. And you don’t have to have a huge cruising bike to get out on the road. And let’s not even get into the times we’ve watched someone struggling to keep a behemoth from falling over and thought to ourselves how that guy has got too much bike for his size.

Girls on a Cushman

This Cushman would feel right at home on the Small Bike Ride.

In celebration then of smaller bikes, Todd Wallis has organized this Small Bike Ride, for this Saturday. Here’s what Todd has to say about his ride.

Small Bike Ride is coming out of the shadows and we are going to make it official. The event is open to all motorcycles but it is geared toward small, vintage machines and speeds will normally be down to about 35-40 mph which will make it a great opportunity for sidecar rigs and prewar motorcycles as well. We will be riding about 100 miles from the Deer Creek area up through Conifer and Pine and this year we have a chase vehicle in case anyone has trouble. We will be on paved roads and we’ll have a stop for lunch in the middle of the ride. We will meet on Deer Creek Canyon Rd near the intersection of C470 and S. Wadsworth Blvd. The ride starts at 10:00 so plan on getting there around 9:00 a.m.

We will have maps printed and available for everyone the morning of the ride. If you plan to attend please call me or send an email just so I know how many to expect.

Starting Location: 9880 West Deer Creek Canyon Road, Littleton, Colorado 80127

Hope to see you there.

So hey, time to get out that little guy you generally just zip around running errands on. Get your motor running!

Note: I mentioned awhile ago that I was turning commenting off on this blog due to the comment spammers. I have now added a new captcha feature that asks you to prove you’re not a computer in order to leave a comment. So please do leave comments whenever you please.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Head of motorcycle crash study exits, expresses concerns

Biker Quote for Today

Ural miles are kinda like dog years.

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Stay Alert; We Really Are Invisible

September 17th, 2012
Motorcycles On Highway

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.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Head of motorcycle crash study exits, expresses concerns

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.

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Drag-Race Your Motorcycle This Weekend

September 13th, 2012
Drag racing at Bandimere Speedway

Take any motorcycle you want and go drag-racing this weekend at Bandimere Speedway.

Just a heads-up here about something that could be fun. Go to Bandimere Speedway on Sunday for the 2012 All Bike Drags and you can run your motorcycle is some drag races. And it doesn’t matter what you’re riding, you can even enter on a scooter. I don’t know how they pair racers up, but presumably you won’t see a Vulcan 600 running against a Ninja 1000.

Or if you don’t want to race, you can go watch. Admission is $15 and kids 12 and under get in free. If you want to enter to race, that will cost you:
Street Bike Racer: $35
Pro Bike Racer: $50
Jr Comp Racer: $35
ATV Racer: $35

If you want to compete they do require that you have a SNELL-approved helmet.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Head of motorcycle crash study exits, expresses concerns

Biker Quote for Today

Motorcycle racing: Because basketball, football, soccer, baseball, and tennis only require one ball.

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Posted in motorcycle events | No Comments »

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