Passes & Canyons Blog

On Tuesday this week the Colorado House committee considering it approved by 11-0 the bill to make it illegal to be holding a cellphone or other mobile electronic device while driving. After a pass through the House Appropriations Committee it will go to the floor for second and third readings. There may or may not be amendments made at that time.

As I stated previously, there seems to have been a huge shift in general thinking about the use of electronics while driving, and that shift is against the practice. When a similar bill was under consideration in the previous legislative session it passed the Senate but failed in the House after much opposition was offered. This time around, of about three dozen witnesses speaking at the House Committee on Transportation, Housing & Local Government hearing, only one person offered any opposition.

That person was someone who raised the issue of possible discriminatory enforcement where minority members might be singled out by police officers more frequently than whites. While that concern was not pooh-poohed, several speakers offered information to show that such has not been the case in other states where similar laws have passed.

One of those speakers was Jennifer Smith, CEO and co-founder of StopDistractions.org, who, in her introduction, stated that unlike others speaking, “I am an expert.” She said that her organization had worked closely with members of various state Black caucuses to develop model legislation language that would prevent such discriminatory enforcement. Colorado’s bill, she said, uses that model language.

Numerous other speakers told numerous sad tales of their personal experiences–and often injuries–inflicted by distracted drivers. While I had testified in the Senate committee hearing, I did not feel it was necessary that I add my voice to the many in this case. Besides, the argument I was prepared to make was made by Scott O’Sullivan of RiderJustice.com. In the hearings in the last session one of the big arguments was that poor people would be disproportionately affected by having to pay the fines for violating a law against using your phone while driving. I would have argued–and Scott did–that there is no comparison between a poor person having to pay a $75 fine for doing something they easily could have chosen not to do and some other poor person, who they hit, being faced with the cost of having their car smashed or even their own selves badly injured. But nobody made that argument this time around, there was only the discriminatory enforcement argument.

I figured that the way this vote went would either bear out or refute my previous reading that a large change in public feeling in this matter had taken place over the last two years. My take seems to have been borne out. Among those testifying one theme emerged strongly and that was that people are tired of the delay in getting this law on the books. “How many times do we have to come here and tell you our stories” was the question asked again and again. And this time it passed unanimously.

Now we just have to wait to see what happens on the House floor. Unlike with the filtering bill, I have no doubt Gov. Polis will sign this one if it reaches his desk. It really does look like we’re going to make it over the finish line this time.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if you paid for your new FXSTC in 24 months or less.

Gov. Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 24-079 on April 4 and motorcycle lane filtering will now be legal in Colorado starting on August 7. Mind you, that doesn’t mean you can just go crazy with it the way I’ve seen many people do in cities in Europe. There are rules about what you can do and under what circumstances. Let’s go through the law.

As written, the bill first went through several examples of how filtering has been found safe and reasonable in other places. For instance:

A 2009 “Motorcycle Accidents In Depth Study” by the European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers that was conducted in five European countries found that 0.45 percent of motorcycle crashes involved lane splitting and that motorcyclists were seven times more likely to be hit while stopped compared to crashing while lane splitting

This list ended saying:

Lane filtering is prohibited in Colorado and can result in various citations, including violations of motorcycle lane restrictions and careless driving laws. Therefore, the general assembly determines that the act of lane filtering by a driver of a motorcycle, when done at speeds at or below 15 miles per hour and when conditions permit, is in the best interests of motorist safety.

Aye, there’s the rub–below 15 miles per hour and when conditions permit. Here’s what the law says. I’ll clean up the sections and legalese a bit to make it read more smoothly.

The driver of a two-wheeled motorcycle may overtake or pass another motor vehicle in the same lane as the motorcycle if the overtaken or passed motor vehicle is stopped and if the motor vehicles in the adjacent lanes traveling in the same direction are stopped and the motorcycle is on a road with lanes wide enough to pass safely and if the passing motorcycle is driving at fifteen miles per hour or less and conditions permit prudent operation of the motorcycle while overtaking or passing.

OK, so traffic has to be stopped, you have to have room to pass safely, and you can’t be going more than 15 miles an hour. But there’s more. When traffic starts moving again you have got to get back in your lane and start moving with traffic again. Then:

A person overtaking or passing pursuant to this subsection shall not overtake or pass on the right shoulder or to the right of a vehicle in the farthest right-hand lane if the highway is not limited access or in a lane of traffic moving in the opposite direction.

OK this is the part that I’m not clear on. You can’t pass on the shoulder or to the right of the right-most lane of traffic. But: “if the highway is not limited access.” So does this mean that on a limited access highway, such as an interstate, you can legally pass on the shoulder? That sure seems to be what it says. So you are limited on city streets or most highways but not on the really big roads. Is that correct?

As for the city streets situation, it was my impression during the hearings that some of the legislators were thinking this behavior would not be allowed on city streets but I see nothing in the bill that rules that out. And let’s get real, it’s exactly that filtering that is so commonplace in other places. Heck, in California one time I did that myself at a traffic light on a city street along with a bunch of other riders. The lady in the front car was familiar enough with the practice that she stopped back from the intersection enough to provide room for us to pull in in front of her.

Another thing I’ll be watching for is that to my knowledge, this law does not apply to scooters. By that I mean those 50cc and smaller two-wheelers that are not counted as motorcycles. This was an issue brought up in the hearings. Small scooters like that are not allowed on big highways anyway but they are certainly allowed on city streets. And if you start seeing motorcycles filtering on city streets I’m betting the scooter folks will start doing it, too. Could get interesting.

Now, as is customary with something like this, the legalization of the practice is for now temporary. In four years the law will be nullified unless the legislature extends it. To that end, the Colorado Department of Transportation is mandated to keep records and produce a study of the effects and present that study to the legislature by January 1, 2027.

So happy riding out there. But remember, don’t do any filtering before August 7. Then for pete’s sake, do it safely. We don’t want the law repealed in four years.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if you refer to your bike as your “toy.”

The Colorado House hearing on SB24-065 (Use of Mobile Electronic Devices While Driving) was postponed from Wednesday of this week to Tuesday of next week. It will be held on Tuesday, April 9, in the Legislative Services Building located at 200 E. 14th Avenue, directly south of the Capitol. However, the time is now a bit uncertain because instead of 1:30 p.m. as initially announced, it will take place “upon adjournment,” meaning that right after the main House session adjourns for the day the committee will cross the street and hold the hearing. Upon adjournment could mean as early as 9:30 a.m. This could get tricky.

This is the big one. This bill needs to pass. The idiots out there who think their phone calls are more important than our lives–like the guy who T-boned me on January 18–need to be served notice that this will no longer be tolerated. It happened with drinking and driving. The Mothers Against Drunk Driving group raised a ruckus and this country finally came to the realization that drinking and driving was a deadly hazard to each and every one of us and public attitudes changed. It’s happening with cellphone use while driving and it’s happening here in Colorado next week.

I really don’t know if there will be opposition to this bill. There was none when it passed through the Senate but the last time it was up for consideration there were opponents arguing that it would unfairly affect poorer people who would be less likely to be able to afford the fines.

Will that argument be raised again this time? Because that is such a piece of BS that I will absolutely speak out to counter. First off, avoiding such fines is an extremely simple matter: just don’t use your damn phone while driving. You don’t even have to do anything to avoid a fine, you just do nothing. You just obey the law.

More than that, what about the poor people who are the victims of the distracted drivers? Don’t they count? When they get injured or their cars get totaled because some fool ran a red light and crashed into them they incur real expenses. Hospital bills. Time lost at work. Repairs or a new car. Heck, I had insurance but it paid me a pittance, so when I replaced my totaled car I bought a used one and had to put up an additional $10,000 on top of the insurance money to pay for it. All because some guy I never met and probably would never have known existed felt that his phone call was more important than safely operating the 3,500-pound vehicle he was supposed to be driving.

And I consider myself absolutely blessed because although my car was trashed I was completely uninjured. But how long does it take a car going 15-20 miles an hour (mine) to go two feet? What fraction of a second is that? Because that fraction of a second was the difference between this guy smashing into the back half of my car and not directly into where I was sitting in the driver’s seat. And he was speeding. He hit me hard. The collision tore open the rear end of my car so that although the trunk lid was still closed, tools from my trunk were strewn across the road.

I have supported this bill every time it has come up in recent years but now it’s personal. We have got to get this bill passed. I know people will still use their phones–some of them at least–but with the passage of this law they will know what they are doing is wrong and that will deter at least some of them. And for those it does not deter, they will pay a heavier price. Not heavy enough, but we can worry about raising the penalties later, once we get the general law enacted.

I urge as many of you as possible to show up on Tuesday to support this bill.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker when you want to be buried with your bike because you’re not done riding yet.

How hard is it to just throw warmer gear into the top bag just in case you need it? Too hard apparently as I did it again: opted not to wear or take my heated gloves because I didn’t think I’d need them.

The RMMRC was doing a breakfast run on Friday and I knew it was supposed to be cooler than the day before. But it still seemed like such a nice day. Hah! By the time I got to the gathering spot I was already wishing I had my heated gloves. Oh well.

There were seven of us and I thought we were heading to Elizabeth but I guess I was confused. We met on the south side of Parker and took Hilltop Road out to Singing Hills Road (County Road 166) and turned east to . . . somewhere. I’m not sure what road we went south on but we got to the edge of Kiowa and turned south on Elbert Road. Then south to and through Elbert on down to US 24. At this point we were down outside of Colorado Springs.

At Falcon we took Stapleton Road over to Meridian Road to Omelets Etc.

Man, was I cold! I had my electric vest on but even it wasn’t doing the job completely. And for the first time ever I was very conscious of a breeze coming through the zippers on my upper chest vents on my jacket. I wanted to make a point to stuff those vents with napkins while at the restaurant but of course I forgot.

But the food was good, as was the service, and the prices made you think this was five years ago.

Mercifully, by the time we were leaving it had gotten at least a little warmer. We headed north on a variety of roads through the Black Forest area up to CO 105, which we took over to Monument, and then north to Sedalia still on 105. At Sedalia it was time to scatter, each in his own direction. A good ride all in all but next time I really do need to throw my heated gloves into my tank bag. Of course, then I won’t need them.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker when you go down and the only thing you ask is how’s my bike.

For the first time ever a motorcycle I owned is no longer in my possession. I let go of my 1999 Kawasaki Concours for the measly sum of $300. What a sad day.

I went over to Rowdy Rocket Garage on Tuesday morning and walked in and told Mark I was there to pick up my Concours. He didn’t ask why. He had had it there for three months and had not worked on it. No explanation was necessary.

To his credit, when I asked if I owed him anything he said no, of course not. Well, he had told me in January that he had checked it out and found no evidence of a vacuum leak so it had to be the carbs. When I took it in he said he’d have to diagnose the problem and that would be about an hour at $90 an hour. Was that just more BS and he hadn’t really touched it? I’ve never know and at this point I don’t care. I just wanted to get it back from him. It had pained me every time I went by seeing it sitting there exposed to the elements in the dead of winter. I had taken extremely good care of this bike ever since I bought it new in August 1999. It had always been garaged except when I was traveling. To see snow and icicles hanging off it was painful.

Getting it over to Steele’s was not exactly all sunshine and roses either. I have AMA Roadside Service and I called them for a pick-up. After about an hour I got a call from the driver who had been dispatched and as we talked he became aware that I had a motorcycle needing towing. He was not equipped to handle motorcycles. He said I needed to call AMA and tell them to cancel the order and reissue an order with the correct information. Not his fault, I sure don’t blame him.

So I did, and they had to call a different company. Now the wait would be 60-90 more minutes. After about an hour I got a call from that driver and he was confirming I was at 30th and Colorado. No, I was at 3000 South Colorado. Oops. OK, he’d be there in about 10 minutes.

He got there and he was a really nice guy. Some tow truck drivers are jerks but some are nice and this guy was very nice. He rides. He knew where Steele’s is–that’s where he gets his motorcycle parts, he said. So we got the bike loaded and took off in our separate vehicles.

At Steele’s we had to wait for someone else to move so we could get in to that space to unload. I talked with the driver, who had twice commented on how nice my bike was, and asked if maybe he’d like to buy it, cheap. He was clearly tempted but had to say no.

So Rick, the owner at Steele’s, got back from lunch and we talked about the bike. Speaking with him previously he had said he could only offer $300 to $400 for it. Now with the bike there I pointed out all the extras and what a nice bike it was. I told him I hoped he would have his guys work on it and put it on their floor to sell as a whole bike. He cited the mileage (79,125) and said no it would just be salvage, parted out. That’s baloney. These Connies can easily go many, many more miles than any measly 79,000.

Now, he may have just been saying that to justify offering me so little–he only gave me the $300, not the $400–but I was committed to taking whatever he offered. I do think if I’m over that way in about a month or so I may drop in just to see if it’s in the yard or on the showroom floor. It will make my heart glad if it’s on the floor. It will break my heart if it’s in the yard.

So now I have two motorcycles. The CB750 will get a lot more miles on it this year. The V-Strom will be my main bike. Maybe at some point I’ll look for a good deal on a used Yamaha FJ-09 or Tracer. I’m not planning anything at this point. I’ll just see how I feel and whether I’m perfectly content with the two.

But it’s the end of an era. I had that Concours for just a few months shy of 25 years. I bought it on my birthday in August of 1999. And now it’s gone.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if you run into the bros & they say hey let’s go here & you have to call home to check first.

We all know how many motorcycles die: they get crashed and that’s that. But what about those that don’t get crashed? If they don’t keep going, why not?

I know the answer to that now. It’s all about the Benjamins.

I bought my Kawasaki Concours new in 1999. I have ridden it something over 80,000 miles. In July of last year it overheated going up to the Eisenhower Tunnel and I had to have it hauled home. Then I took it to a shop to have that all put right. But when I got it back it was not all right. Now the throttle refused to back off properly, so I took it back to the shop. It has sat there for three months now not getting worked on.

In the meantime, the last time I went by, planning to take it for a short ride, it had developed an oil leak. After three months of not getting worked on I decided to take the bike to a different shop, so I started calling around. It appears that getting the work done that the bike needs would run me at least $1,000. Meanwhile, I had decided that the time has come to let go of this bike. It has always been a very heavy bike and I am getting older. I can still handle it OK but for how much longer? But it seems doubtful that I could find a buyer willing to pay even $1,000 for it.

The big no-brainer question: why would I pay more than $1,000 for repairs and turn around and sell it for less than $1,000?

One of the places I called about repairs was Steele’s Cycle. Yeah, they could definitely fix it; working on older bikes is their specialty. On the other hand, I could sell it to them either as salvage or, more likely in my opinion, in my hopes, so they could do the repair work and then put it on their used bike floor and sell it. Other than the throttle and the oil leak there’s not a thing wrong with it and it can easily run many, many more miles. And they will give me about $300 to $400 for it, according to Rick, the owner.

So let’s see. Pay more than $1,000 to have it running good again and then sell it for less than that, or sell it as-is with no additional costs and get a few hundred bucks. It’s really sad to say it but I’m planning to have the bike hauled over there–probably on Tuesday–and take whatever they’ll give me for it.

I have loved this bike. This bike has taken me so many places, and I have done so much on this bike. I really hate the idea of abandoning it. Walking away from it after all the good times it brought me. But what am I going to do? Keep pouring money into it? Especially when I’ve already made the decision to move on from it. This will be the first time I have let go of a motorcycle I owned.

And about that. My first ever bike was/is my 1980 Honda CB750 Custom. I still own and ride that bike. And as my first bike I am deeply in love with it. It is in bad need of some work of its own and at some point this year I will pay whatever it costs to get this work done. This is how one bike dies, while another continues to live and continues to run. Sometimes it’s not about the Benjamins.

Biker Quote for Today

100 reasons not to date a biker: 17. We spend more on tires than we spend on you.

A bill to permit lane filtering, after passing out of the Senate on March 13, went to the House and passed on third reading on March 18. Then it went back to the Senate for reconciliation and was repassed by the Senate as it had been amended. Unless I’m missing something I believe this means it is now headed to the governor. Holy smokes, is Colorado going to permit filtering? What’s the word Gov. Polis?

Meanwhile, a bill to prohibit use of electronic devices while driving (except for hands-free operation) was passed on third reading by the Colorado Senate on March 15 and sent to the House, where it has been scheduled for hearing at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 3. This is the big one. If you can make it down to support this bill please do so. In the last session a preceding bill made it through the Senate but died in the House. Let’s get it through the House this time.

Here’s the note sent out by Stump, legislative liaison for ABATE of Colorado:

SB24-065 (Use of Mobile Electronic Devices While Driving) passed the 3rd reading in the Senate on Friday, 3/15 and has been assigned to the House Transportation, Housing, and Local Government (H-THL) Committee. Below are the names and contact information for the members of the H-THL Committee. It hasn’t been scheduled yet (it has now–Ken), but I’ll let you know when it is. Please take a few minutes to urge your support for the bill and contact your Representative. It can be as simple as “vote yes on SB24-065” or you can elaborate as to why they should support the bill. D-5, D-13, and D-17 have members who are constituents of some of these committee members, so don’t forget to mention that if you see your Representative on the list.

Froelich, Meg – 303-866-2921 – meg.froelich.house@coleg.gov
Lindsay, Mandy – 303-866-3911 – mandy.lindsay.house@coleg.gov
Boesenecker, Andrew – 303-866-2917 – andrew.boesenecker.house@coleg.gov
Catlin, Marc – 303-866-2955 – marc.catlin.house@coleg.gov
Frizell, Lisa – 303-866-2948 – lisa.frizell.house@coleg.gov
Jodeh, Iman – 303-866-2919 – Iman.Jodeh.house@coleg.gov
Mauro, Tisha – 303-866-2968 – tisha.mauro.house@coleg.gov
Parenti, Jennifer – 303-866-2924 – jennifer.parenti.house@coleg.gov
Valdez, Alex – 303-866-2925 – alex.valdez.house@coleg.gov
Vigil, Stephanie – 303-866-2937 – stephanie.vigil.house@coleg.gov
Wilson, Don – 303-866-2191 – don.wilson.house@coleg.gov

This is all pretty amazing. Are we going to get both of these bills passed this year, finally? I’m not counting any chickens before they hatch because eggs do get broken unexpectedly. But it actually looks possible. Keep those fingers crossed. And contact your rep telling them how you want them to vote. They really do pay attention when people take the trouble to contact them.

Biker Quote for Today

God didn’t create metal so that man could make paper clips!

Over the years I have received numerous requests from folks coming to Colorado to ride, asking me for recommendations on a route. I’m always happy to oblige and each one is different, with different parameters of what they want, how long they have . . . that kind of stuff.

The most recent is from Kevin in Indiana. He said he and a buddy have ridden many of the unpaved passes throughout the state by now they want to come on street bikes with their wives and do the pavement. Rather than the hub and spoke riding they have done out of Frisco and Crested Butte, Kevin asked for “an epic continuous trip” for his buddy’s 60th birthday.

Here’s what I sent him.

OK Kevin, I have something mapped out. A couple days are a bit over 250 but under 300. Obviously you can make any changes you see fit.

Figuring on you starting in Denver you can go north to Loveland, up the Big Thompson Canyon to Estes Park, over Trail Ridge Road to Granby and then take US 40 on to Kremmling for the night. This is shorter than 250 but with Trail Ridge Road you’ll definitely want to be making stops. You will need to make a reservation to get into Rocky Mountain National Park. The less busy entrance is the Fall River Road entrance. Park entrance differs if you want to see the park or just go through. I believe they allow people passing through in without reservations both early and late. You’ll see plenty of the park just going through. If you don’t make a reservation you might want to spend the night in Estes so you’ll be right there to go through early. That’s what my wife and I did last year.

(As an alternative to Loveland and the Big Thompson you could go up any number of passes to the Peak-to-Peak Highway and take it north to Estes.)

From Kremmling take US 40 west a bit further and turn onto CO 134 over Gore Pass. At Toponas go south to Wolcott and I-70, then east to the Minturn exit and take Tennessee Pass to Leadville, then a bit further south to Twin Lakes and go over Independence Pass through Aspen and down to Carbondale. From Carbondale take CO 133 over McClure Pass down to Hotchkiss for the night.

From Hotchkiss go west on CO 133 to CO 65 through Cedaredge and over the Grand Mesa. When the road forks north of Mesa stay on 65 (left fork) on to I-70. Take I-70 to Fruita then take the road south through Colorado National Monument, on Rim Rock Drive. Exiting the south end of the monument find your way to US 50 south and go maybe 8 miles to Whitewater. Take CO 141 west toward Gateway, then south to Telluride. This is the Unaweep Tabeguache Scenic Byway. Spend the night in Telluride.

From Telluride go over Lizard Head Pass down to Cortez, US 160 east to Durango, then US 550 north over Red Mountain Pass (the Million Dollar Highway) to Montrose, then east on US 50 to Gunnison. Overnight in Gunnison.

From Gunnison, run back a few miles to the Blue Mesa Reservoir and turn south on CO 149 through Lake City over Slumgullion Pass, through Creede and down to South Fork. Take US 160 west over Wolf Creek Pass to Pagosa Springs, then turn south on US 84 down into New Mexico to Chama. Go northeast from Chama over Cumbres and La Manga Passes on CO 17 up to Antonito, then US 285 north to Alamosa. Spend the night in Alamosa.

From Alamosa you have several options to get back to Denver. You can just take CO 17 north to pick up US 285 and follow that all the way to Denver. Or you can take US 160 east over La Veta Pass to Walsenburg, then go right back west and north out of Walsenburg on CO 69 to Westcliffe, then east on CO 96 on to Pueblo or up to Florence, to Penrose, and on to Colorado Springs.Or make your way to Canon City and then, because you guys are comfortable on gravel, take Phantom Canyon Road (CR 67) up to Cripple Creek, CR 61 up to Divide, pick up US 24, and take that to Woodland Park. At Woodland Park you can either continue on US 24 to Colorado Springs or go north on CO 67 through Deckers to Pine to US 285 southwest of Conifer. Then take 285 on into Denver.

This would be a heck of a good ride. Pick and choose what you like.

Besides being a nice guy and mapping this out for Kevin and his crew, I’ve done myself a favor here. First off, I got this blog post out of it. At this time of year it is harder than during the summer to keep coming up with blog ideas. But I may make it a triple. I figure this might well be a good basis for planning the 2025 OFMC trip. The 2024 trip is already planned but I might incorporate a lot of this for 2025. Also, I’ve been thinking for a long time about putting a ride together for the RMMRC. This might also go a long way toward that plan. We’ll just have to see what develops.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if your only scoot has been a Knucklehead & you don’t even know what that is.