Today is warm and sunny and that’s a good thing. We still have ice on our street, and more importantly, we still have ice between our driveway and the clear part of the street. I need that to be gone so I can get out on one of my motorcycles. By tomorrow it should be clear.

It’s the day after tomorrow that I’m particularly interested in. December 31 is the date for the Last Brass Monkey Run, as I’ve mentioned before. I’m planning to ride this year, and I’ll bet there are a lot of other people making similar plans. It’s not always possible but this year looks like a good one.

Of course, that also means I’ll almost certainly be out on both my bikes the following day. I make it a point to ride both bikes at least once every single month of every single year, and at this time of year you have to take advantage of the first opportunity you get. The weather can change and if you don’t ride today, tomorrow may not be an option. With good weather on January 1 you can pretty much assume I’ll be out riding.

Looking ahead to the new year, I’ve got some great trips planned. I’ve decided this is the year to expand my horizons, and to that end, I’m planning on heading to Ohio for the AMA’s Vintage Motorcycle Days. I’ve never ridden out in that part of the country, so this will be a long trip and it will be something completely new. Plus, I have a brother who lives in Ohio and he and a friend are in the process of opening a biker-oriented cafe in Michigan and of course he wants me to come out and tell the world about it. It’s a dirty job and all that. I’ve never ridden in Michigan before either.

But first we have some cold months to get through. All I ask is just a couple nice days in each of them.

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Biker Quote for Today

Yes, I have a problem — that there are 50 weeks of the year without Dakar!

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.

It’s almost December but that doesn’t mean the organized motorcycle rides are over for the year. There are at least three that I know of and I’m definitely not all-knowing.

Two of these are toy runs, to collect gifts for kids who otherwise wouldn’t have much of a Christmas. The other is ABATE’s Last Brass Monkey Run.

This Sunday coming right up is when Rocky Mountain Harley-Davidson will be sponsoring its 26th Annual Toy Run, which collects gifts for kids at Children’s Hospital. The ride starts out in Aurora, at Aurora Sports Park, 18601 Sports Park Drive. Registration is one new, unwrapped toy.

Then, two Sundays later, the Sleigh Riders Motorcycle Toy Run will be held to benefit the Santa Cops program of Weld County. Again, registration is one new, unwrapped toy. The gathering place is in Greeley, at Maui Wowi of Greeley, 2939 65th Ave.

ABATE of Colorado’s Last Brass Monkey Run is scheduled each year to be the last ride of the year. Thanks to the calendar, this year’s run will actually be on Dec. 31, a Saturday. There are two starting points, on the west side and the east side of the metro area, with the destination being the Grizzly Rose, at 58th and I-25. West siders will be gathering at Wrigley’s, in Golden, at 18200 W. Colfax. On the east side, the Pioneer Club is the spot, 18881 E. Colfax. The event offers food, games, a chili cook-off, door prizes, and live music. Riders will start leaving at 10 a.m. and the party gears up at the Grizzly Rose at noon.

So don’t even think about putting that bike away for the winter. There’s plenty of good riding to be done in the next few months.

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Biker Quote for Today

My goal is to see how many gallons of dead dinosaurs I can send through my bike.

Motorcyclists generally don’t need a reason to ride, they just need a destination. If that destination comes with the possibility of winning a bit of cash, so much the better. All the poker runs that go on all summer long attest to that.

Well, here’s an option to consider for next year. (It’s a little late to be getting started this year.)

The ABATE of Colorado Statewide Tour is set up in this manner. For $15 you buy a book–your passport–and in the book are a variety of stops located all over the state. Your job is then to visit as many of these stops as possible and create a record of having been there. For every five stops you visit you get one entry into the grand prize drawing that is held Dec. 31 at the Last Brass Monkey Run. The top prize is $1,000 and there are other prizes of lesser amounts.

I talked with Terry Howard, the State Coordinator, and here’s what she told me about the tour.

In this year’s book there are 120 stops; there should be more in the 2012 book. These include restaurants, bars, parks, museums, and more. If it’s a business ABATE asks that you go in and make a small purchase so that the merchant has an incentive to continue to pay for inclusion. Whether you do or not, you need to shoot a photo of yourself with your passport booklet in front of the business, or whatever the stop may be.

This year, 2011, is the first year ABATE of Colorado has run this fundraiser. Several other states, such as Wisconsin and Indiana, have similar programs and that the program here is based on those. Next year’s passport booklets will go on sale at the Last Brass Monkey Run. At the end of the year you’ll need to get your materials to ABATE by Dec. 15 so that the winners can be determined by Dec. 31.

So there you go. You can support ABATE, visit some places you’ve never been before, and have destinations galore. And heck, you might even win some money in the process. Count me in for next year. As much as I get around this state I suspect I’ll have quite a few entries in the drawing.

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Biker Quote for Today

Borrow my dog, perhaps, borrow my girlfriend, possible, borrow my motorcycle, NEVER!

The weather was beautiful on Sunday but I overslept so my decision was made for me: I went to my ABATE meeting, not the Old Bike Ride. Had I gone on the OBR I’d be here telling you about it. It occurred to me I might do the same with the ABATE meeting. I suspect most people who don’t belong to ABATE don’t have much idea what the group is about. Let me enlighten you.

I’m in ABATE of Colorado District 10, which meets the fourth Sunday of the month at the Frontier Club out at 18881 E. Colfax in Aurora. The meeting is set for 10 a.m., but in this case I rolled in about 10:15 and they just got underway a couple minutes later. As with so many organizations’ meetings, it began with a pledge to the flag and then the minutes from the previous meeting were read, discussed, amended, and approved. Then came the treasurer’s report.

Local and national legislative reports followed, keeping the members abreast of possible legislation that could affect motorcyclists. Then we finally got into what is really the meat of these meetings.

While the main focus with ABATE is on rider training and protecting motorcyclists’ rights, it’s also a group that promotes riding and the social aspects of riding. Both the state group and the local districts plan and organize runs and rallies and other events and if you ever wondered how those things are pulled together, a lot of it happens right here at the monthly meetings. There’s work to be done and there are no pixies to wave magic wands and make it happen. Each event has a committee that handles the serious work but the whole group is called upon for its support.

In this case, planning was underway for a Motorcycle Expo out at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on August 13, the Randy Run that raises money to help riders who have gone down and been injured, and there was even some discussion of events as far in the future as Christmas and Halloween.

One of the districts has acquired a trailer and the intent is to use it in parades to help broaden awareness of ABATE’s purposes. The state organization has asked the districts for their ideas on the type of display to use on the trailer, so we brainstormed a bit.

There was also discussion and planning for the free brisket meal that ABATE will be serving to racers out at High Plains Raceway on June 11. While ABATEs in other states are not generally on good terms with sportbikers, in Colorado it is different. ABATE of Colorado is sponsoring three racers this year, as well as the corner crews, and for the second year will be offering this free feed to everyone at the track. It’s all a part of continuing to nurture the favorable relationship that State Coordinator Terry Howard has helped create.

And then it was all over, that is, unless you were a member of one of the planning committees. Then it was time for that committee to meet. Nope, no pixies with magic wands here. Just a bunch of people donating their time to support their two-wheeled passion.

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Biker Quote for Today

SGSOTT = Some Gear Some of The Time.

I’m not a procrastinator, but sometimes it looks that way. It’s just that I learned a long time ago that it frequently pays to put off making decisions because so often there will be a turn of events that makes the decision for you. In this case, I was saying just a week ago here that I definitely planned to go on the Old Bike Ride 9 this coming Sunday. Now I’m not so sure.

I have a conflict. If I want to go on the OBR I need to be in Golden at 9 a.m. or so. But I’m also an ABATE member and our district meeting is at 10 a.m. in Aurora. This might not be an issue except that I’ve missed this meeting every month for the last six months at least. Several times I was out of town, a couple times I just plain forgot it, and once or twice I got screwed up with meetings rescheduled due to holidays. I’m not the kind of guy who joins an organization with no intention of participating. If I’m not going to participate why bother joining? I was really determined to make it to this month’s meeting, but I hadn’t looked at the calendar.

This is where postponing decisions comes in. We’ve had a lot of rain and cold weather lately. If it’s raining on Sunday morning I’m going to go to ABATE. If it’s a beautiful day I’ll make my decision then.

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Biker Quote for Today

Motorcycles are better than women because your parents don’t remain in touch with your old motorcycle after you dump it.

I headed out to High Plains Raceway Saturday for the opening day of the Motorcycle Roadracing Association’s (MRA) 2011 season, and to do my first piece following racer Jon Kuo through the season. The weather was perfect and everyone was definitely jazzed for the season to start. The story and photos are available on Examiner.com.

I became acquainted with Jon because he is sponsored by ABATE of Colorado, of which I am a member. This year now, ABATE is sponsoring three racers, as well as the corner crews. To say that this is unusual is an understatement. In many states there is outright hostility between the sportbike crowd and the ABATE organizations. Terry Howard, Colorado’s State Coordinator, was there Saturday and she told me they caused quite a stir at last year’s Meeting of the Minds, the Motorcycle Rider’s Foundation conference, when they showed up with representatives from the MRA and the Colorado Sportbike Club as members of their delegation. Everyone was in awe and eager to hear how this came about. I’ll be doing a follow-up article that really digs into the story.

I was pleased to have the opportunity to meet Ricky Orlando, a local fellow who is an AMA racing champion and who now runs a riding school up by Frederick. If you’re into the racing scene I’m sure you are familiar with Ricky. I had spoken with him for the first time just a couple weeks ago when I was working on a story for RumBum.com about how kids can come up through the ranks of American Motorcyclist Association-sanctioned racing and become world champions. Ricky was very helpful and gave me some good quotes for the story, so it was an unexpected pleasure to actually meet him. Of course, he was there to race.

And lest we forget, there was the racing Saturday. When I had spoken with Jon a couple weeks ago he was sounding extremely optimistic about placing very well, maybe even winning a championship. Speaking with him before the race he had toned things down a bit, which I suspect was a result of getting out on the track in practice sessions and seeing other guys out-running him. At that point he said he just hoped to stay up with the fast guys and learn from them.

Jon placed 7th in his first race, the only one I was there for, and he was very disappointed. And this is where I start learning about racing. Jon told me his problem was that he doesn’t have the corner speed the top guys have, and it’s something he needs to learn. Riding on a 250cc Ninja, he said the bikes don’t have enough power to go really fast, plus they’re light, so you can–and need to–carry a lot of speed deep into the corner. The best riders hardly even brake in the corners, he said. And because you can’t make up much time in the straights, races are won and lost in the corners.

As I say, my education begins. It’s going to be an interesting season. It will be very interesting especially to see how well Jon does learning to corner faster. Stay tuned.

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Biker Quote for Today

Motorcycle racing is 90 percent mental and the other half is physical.

I spent much of the day yesterday with a lot of other ABATE of Colorado members handing out free food to needy families. At least some of them were needy.

This event arose out of something my ABATE chapter, District 10, did back in December. Working with an organization called Feed the Children, as well as several other groups and agencies, we distributed a semi-load of food packages to needy families at Christmas time. The Feed the Children people felt we did such a good job that they came back and asked if we’d now like to do eight truckloads.

That’s a much bigger job to organize so the job was taken on by the state organization, ABATE of Colorado, along with the Motorcycle Roadracing Association and the Colorado Sportsbike Club and various social services agencies. And yesterday was the day.

Working through the agencies, 3,200 vouchers had been handed out to families and they were responsible for coming to pick up the goods. We had been alerted to expect perhaps 20 percent no-shows, but yesterday’s weather was pretty crappy so that number was much higher. After an initial flurry of activity things died down and there were a whole bunch of us sitting around with a heck of a lot of food waiting to be claimed.

I don’t want to make unfounded assumptions about some of the people who were given vouchers, I’m sure many had perfectly valid reasons they couldn’t show up. But I have to believe that for many of them, if they couldn’t be bothered to come get free food, they must really not be all that needy.

So what ended up happening is, they put out an announcement over several radio stations that there was free food waiting for anyone who was in need who wanted to come get some. After awhile there was a lot of traffic again, but looking at some of these cars you had to wonder. Yes, most of them were beaters, and those people really seemed like they could use a helping hand. And then there were the ones in cars way more expensive than what I drive.

And while most of the people who answered to radio announcement came and got their food and left, there were some who obviously figured this was worth a scam. We were particularly amused by the two young guys in a nice car who came through the line and when we asked them to pop the trunk, there were food boxes already in there. They had apparently just gone through a different line than ours, went around again, and came back through again. We gave them one more box and sent them on their way, but somehow I don’t think they were particularly needy.

The bottom line to it all is that yes, we did help out some folks who could use some help. And a few scammers got some free food. In the meantime, there were a whole bunch of ABATE members who gave freely of their time, many taking time off work to do so, to help other people they don’t even know.

These are some good people.

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Biker Quote for Today

I spent most of my money on beer, bikes, and bait. The rest I wasted!

ABATE of Colorado needs volunteers to staff a huge food giveaway on May 12. Working with the Feed the Children organization, ABATE will be distributing eight truckloads of food to needy families. That’s going to be require a lot of bodies to unload the trucks, manage traffic, and pass out the food boxes, and just generally do whatever is necessary.

Distribution will take place in the parking lot of Invesco Field at Mile High. Anyone interested in helping out can contact ABATE at abatecoevents@yahoo.com.

ABATE District 10 did a similar food distribution back in December, distributing just one truckload of food. Feed the Children was very pleased with the organization and execution of that effort so they contacted ABATE to do it again, in a much bigger manner.

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Biker Quote for Today

Why? Because dinner always tastes better with helmet hair.

Judy and I wondered if we’d be seen as losers for not showing up at the ABATE of Colorado District 10 Corned Beef Bash Saturday night on a bike. This is my local ABATE chapter and this was our first time at one of their social events since I joined. We weren’t sure what to expect.

We weren’t sure how long we would be there, but we knew it would be getting dark, so the options were to wear a lot of gear and warm clothes or just drive. It occurred to me as we were getting ready that it would have been a really nice day to go for a ride and end up at the bash at dinner time. I wondered if that might be what a lot of people would do. But we drove.

Turns out, so did most everyone else. Sure there were about 15 to 20 bikes in the parking lot but the rest of the lot was overflowing with cars. We felt reassured. Nobody wants to make their first appearance at a new scene looking like a dope.

Walking in, we stood and looked around, not quite sure what the protocol was. Happily, Randy Savely, the District 10 Coordinator, who I had met when I attended my first meeting, came over to welcome us and point out where to pay, where to find the food, and just generally put us at ease. That was really nice and we appreciated it.

So we got some food (good corned beef!) and found a place to sit and took it all in while we ate. And you know what? It was not a whole lot different than any other St. Pat’s Day gathering you’re likely to see. There were kids running around having fun, lots of people talking and eating and drinking, a lot of silly green hats and various other green paraphenalia, and a lot of corned beef and cabbage. They were drawing numbers for door prizes, but although the numbers hit right next to each of ours, we didn’t win anything. And gosh, we didn’t win the 50-50 either.

But we talked a little with the folks at our table and we started getting acclimated. I look forward to being able to walk into this place and say hello to a bunch of folks I know. Not there yet, but you have to start somewhere.

Biker Quote for Today

Ride safe, ride often