Meeting Up With the Run For The Wall in Limon

May 18th, 2009

The Run For The Wall came through Colorado Saturday and I rode out to Limon to see the spectacle. It turned out I wasn’t the only one.

Run For The Wall goes through LimonI’ve been following the Run For The Wall on Examiner.com via Glenn and Cathy Buchholz, a local couple who are on the ride. I figured I’d meet up with them when the group stopped for gas in Limon.

I reached Limon well in advance of the run because I wanted to scope things out and pick some good spots to shoot photos. I knew I had the advantage that Glenn and Cathy are on the fuel crew so they would be arriving ahead of the main group. I picked one of the largest gas stations in town and asked if that was where the group would be stopping. No, the lady told me, they would be using the Phillips 66 across the street. So I went over there.

Those folks knew the group was coming so I chatted with them awhile. Then, getting restless, I cruised through town a couple times just to be sure I wasn’t missing something. At one point, passing a motel, I saw a bunch of folks and bikes sitting out in the parking lot so I stopped. They weren’t with the run, but they had ridden out from Denver to watch them pass. They were a bunch of nice folks so I stood and chatted with them a bit, too.

It got to be time when the fuel crew should be showing up so I went back to the gas station, but after waiting there for too long a time I knew something was amiss. I rode back to the west side of town, where the police and parade marshalls were set up to guide the group, and I learned that the fueling stop was in a big truck stop on the other side of I-70. I scooted on over there and sure enough, this was the spot I needed.

They had marshalls to guide the riders in order to do it efficiently and quickly. Not wanting to interfere with their operation I started to turn in at the first entrance to the station, not the second one where they were directing their people to go. Suddenly a marshall with a flag on his baton lept directly in front of me and started screaming at me that I WOULD go in the other entrance, that I was endangering everyone on this run, and I had now done so TWICE!

Twice?

I explained to him that I was not part of their group but he didn’t want to hear it, continuing to scream at me and point and wave his baton at me in an extremely threatening manner. I thought, OK buddy, I’m not in the army and you aren’t either, not any more, but you obviously take your duty here very seriously, so I won’t argue. My wife, generous-hearted soul that she is, speculated that perhaps he was a vet who was making the run trying to deal with his unresolved demons from his Vietnam experience and was just a bit overwrought.

I went down to the other entrance, pulled in, looked around for a place to park that didn’t seem to be in anybody’s way, and parked. Then another marshall came over, greeted me cheerfully, asked who I was, and then asked me if I would please move “over that way” a bit because “I’m going to be parking a whole lot of motorcycles right here in just a few minutes.”

“Sure, you bet, not a problem,” I replied. The contrast was blazingly clear.

So I found Glenn and Cathy, had a few minutes to talk with them before the main group arrived, shot some pictures, and then headed back into town to take up position to get some photos as they rode down the main street.

Limon was turned out for the scene but it was not the kind of scene you might have expected. Probably the biggest crowd was on the grounds of the city office building, and by that I mean about 15 people. There were other clusters of up to five people scattered here and there along the parade route. I’m certain there were more U.S. flags lining the parade route than there were spectators. Hey, this is small town America.

The parade passed and I talked a bit with a Limon teen who was eyeing my Concours, telling me he had just gotten a Ninja 250 but didn’t have his license yet so he couldn’t ride it. And then it was time to head back to Denver.

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Biker Quote for Today

Never twist the throttle with your ego

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Rides and Rallies | No Comments »

Motorcycles as Bling: Can a Poser Find Redemption in a Charity Ride?

May 14th, 2009

Let’s see. Sixteen motorcycles with a total mileage among them of less than 500 miles. Yep, that guy’s a poser. Or at least he was, and except for one time each year you have to wonder if he still is.

Kyle Petty Charity Ride emblemI’m talking about Herschel Walker, who plays football professionally and has a lot of money to spend on bling. He and a bunch of other monied folks came through here Tuesday on the 15th annual Kyle Petty Charity Ride. Walker and the others on the ride paid $10,045 each for the privilege of participating, according to Darrell Andrews, who told me he has been riding with Kyle for years and has been on every one of these cross-country rides.

So OK, it’s a charity run and they raise a lot of money for good causes. I wrote about that on Examiner.com and you can go there if you want to know more. What I’m interested in here is Herschel Walker.

First off, let me make the point that I didn’t talk with Walker while I mingled with the group at the Chick-fil-A in Aurora where they stopped for lunch. (Chick-fil-A is sponsor of the ride.) I’m drawing my basic information from an article in the Steamboat Pilot newspaper. Here’s what the article said.

When he first participated in the ride four years ago, Walker said he took some ribbing because all 16 of his motorcycles had a combined mileage of about only 500 miles.

So clearly he’s put a little more mileage on at least a few of his bikes since then. This year’s ride will cover 3,500 miles. What I’d like to know is, does the guy ever ride at any other time? Is he still a poser for whom motorcycles are no different than gold rings or necklaces, or has he found that riding a motorcycle is more enjoyable than just owning them and hoping people will think he’s cool because they’re his?

I shake my head and try to think of what else to say, but there really isn’t anything else to say. So I’ll shut up.

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Biker Quote for Today

One bike on the road is worth two (or sixteen) in the garage.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, motorcycle touring, Rides and Rallies | No Comments »

A Day at the Motorcycle Races, New Track Inaugural

May 11th, 2009

The first ever motorcycle roadracing event was held at the brand new High Plains Raceway Saturday and I was there. The weather cooperated and it was a good day to be out having fun.

Ugly Dog RacingMind you, I’m not a big race fan. I think this was only the third racing event I’ve ever been to. Judy and I went to the Super Bike races at Pikes Peak Raceway some years ago, and then we went to the ice races down by Woodland Park earlier this year. And then High Plains on Saturday.

It was fun, and I’m sure I’ll go again, but what I’m saying is, don’t expect me to talk about this like an expert because I’m not. But I’m going to offer you my novice observations on what it was like.

First off, I went because it was the inaugural motorcycle event and that seemed worthy of coverage, which I posted on Examiner.com.

Secondly, I wanted to meet and speak with a racer who is being sponsored by ABATE of Colorado, Jonathan Kuo. As Jon put it, ABATE is generally perceived among young sportbike riders as being a bunch of grey-hairs who ride Harleys. Sponsoring Jon is an outreach effort to try to change that perception and bring more of the motorcycle community into the organization. I’ll be doing a separate story on Jon later.

So anyway, one of the fun things about High Plains Raceway is that everybody gets a pit pass. That is, the parking and spectator area and the pit area are all one space, so you can walk around and talk with the racers, look at their bikes, and just mix freely. And if, like me, you’re pretty new to this sort of thing, it’s interesting some of the things you notice.

For example, it seems like everyone has a scooter or pocket bike or at least a bicycle. Getting around in the pit area can entail quite a bit of walking, so it’s completely normal to see some really big name racers like Jason DiSalvo and Matt Lynn, both of whom were there Saturday, riding around on little 50cc scoots. Small electric bikes are particularly popular, it seems.

Also, it’s a real family scene, right down to the critters. Hey, if you’re going out for the weekend you’re going to take the dog along, right? In many cases, at least, the answer is “Hell yes!”

From what the racers say, the track itself is a very good one. I was told it has some challenging turns, some fun and exciting elevation changes, and once they finish putting in the amenities it should be worthy of hosting Super Bike racing.

Of course it was fun to watch Jon Kuo race, in the way it’s always more fun when you actually know one of the guys out there on the track. Jon’s only in Novice class as yet but there’s no question he’s one of the good ones. I watched him run two races and he placed second behind the same guy each time. The two of them were smoking the rest of the field. You could see in the curves how they would swoop down and through, while everyone else had nowhere near the lean and often were way off the line.

So I enjoyed myself. And hey, it was historic in at least a small way. First time for the new track. And I looked in the Denver Post and they said nothing about it at all in the sports section. Too busy with the Nuggets, I guess.

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When you’re riding lead, don’t spit.

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Posted in ABATE, motorcycle racing | No Comments »

American Motorcyclist Magazine Now Available Online for Free

May 7th, 2009

American Motorcyclist magazineMagazine reviews are a great source of information when you’re thinking about buying a used motorcycle. Now the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) has made almost its entire backlog of American Motorcyclist magazines available online for free. From what I see, it looks like the only issues not available are the most recent ones, which stands to reason considering that the magazine is a member benefit.

In a partnership with Google, the magazines are available in a searchable format, although you can only search one month’s issue at a time. Too bad you can’t say “give me all articles about Eric Buell from between 1995 to 2000.” But hey, I’m not going to be a choosy beggar.

The way you get to the magazines is a little tricky, but having navigated it myself I’ll make it easier for you.

First you’ll want to go to http://books.google.com and enter “American Motorcyclist” in the search field. This will take you to a results page and at the top of the list is one for the magazine itself. That’s the one you want.

Click that and you go to the issue pictured, and if that’s the issue you want you’re set. If you want to see a different issue, click “Browse all issues” over on the right. Then dig your way through the archives.

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Biker Quote for Today

As the writer inscribes paper with ink and words, so the motorcyclist cuts a line through sheer space using angles and velocity as letters and punctuation. — Mark C. Taylor and Jose Marquez

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Posted in American Motorcyclist Association | 3 Comments »

Motorcycle Examiners Help Usher in New Era of Journalism

May 4th, 2009

I’ve mentioned a number of times that I write for Examiner.com as their Denver Motorcycle Examiner and maybe you’ve checked it out and maybe you haven’t. Well, what exactly is Examiner.com?

Cottonwood Pass, photo by Andy SimonsWe all know that newspapers are struggling. Here in Denver recently the Rocky Mountain News folded just two months shy of its 150th anniversary. The surviving Denver Post is not exactly raking in cash either, even with its main competition gone. But news is important, and if the old method of gathering and distributing it is falling away, something must replace it or we’ll all be in a world of hurt.

The internet appears to be the future, and part of that future may well be Examiner.com and other companies like it. Examiner.com is set up with home pages for cities across the country so that whatever city you choose, you’ll see local information. They bring on independent contractors, like me, to write on their topics of expertise and they pay us on page views. Then they sell ads related to the subject matter.

Because Examiner.com is headquartered here in Denver, Denver was one of the first local home pages to launch and as such, I was one of the first Examiners, as they call the writers. That meant that for a while I was the only Motorcycle Examiner in the country.

Examiners now number in the thousands, however, and when a new Motorcycle Examiner comes on board we make contact and invite them to join the group that we have created. There are 20 of us today, though that may change tomorrow.

The point is, there may be a Motorcycle Examiner in your city, or even two, and you may want to check them out. They’ll be bringing news of local motorcycle events, updates on local motorcycle-related issues, offering ideas on good rides in your area, and a lot more.

Here’s the list as of today:

Biker Quote for Today

If everything seems under control you’re just not going fast enough.

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Posted in Miscellaneous | No Comments »

Motomarathon to Sweep Through Colorado in June

April 30th, 2009

Billed as a redefinition of motorcycle sport-touring, the Motomarathon Association will hold its inaugural event in Colorado June 12-15.

MotomarathonThe Motomarathon concept is to ride “as many twisties as possible, over four full days. Routes are kept secret until the night before each event. Through a series of self- recorded check points, riders verify completion at the end of each day’s ride. This endurance ride promises to be a pass-bagging extravaganza with the best elevation-changing, rip-roaring twisties the central Colorado Rockies have to offer.”

John Metzger, of Boulder, used the Iron Butt Rally as a starting point in devising what he hopes will catch on as a new sport. He says he “soon realized that fatigue-riddled riding at high speed at night in a straight line on Interstates wasn’t my cup of tea. For me, it was all about making turns.” Just this year, the Motomarathon Association was formed.

Additional events are currently being developed and the association will post standings among the riders and a champion will be designated at the end of the season. The association currently has 19 members signed up, including Metzger and moto-journalist Brian Catterson.

Riders will be mounted on Ducati’s Multistrada, Hypermotard, and Monster bikes and Ducati is a sponsor of the event.

Describing the event, the association’s website says:

The Motomarathon Association’s goal is to establish a series of organized rides with the most challenging routes in the nation and around the world, giving members the chance to share the camaraderie surrounding the best experience in motorcycle sport-touring. Members are encouraged to chase points by participating and finishing in as many events as they can over an annual season. An overall championship will be awarded each year to individuals, and will eventually include teams.

Though some Motomarathons can be elaborate affairs with hotels, meals, support vehicles, mechanical assistance, celebrity bikers and umbrella girls included with additional fees, the basic philosophy is to make each event as automated and self-regulated as possible. The Colorado Motomarathon, for example, requires only that riders join the Motomarathon Association, pay an event fee of $75, have their own bike/gear/camera, make their own hotel arrangements, take care of their own meals, carry their own tools and luggage, and rely on themselves or the kindness of others if they get lost or run into mechanical problems.

The association is encouraging its members to develop their own ideas for events and will consider those submitted. Ultimately they hope to have half a dozen events set up around the country. The second event now being planned is Centopassi Colorado, a motomarathon scheduled for September 11-14, 2009, that is expected to include routes into Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico.

Biker Quote for Today

Ride hard or stay home.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, motorcycle touring | No Comments »

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