Passes & Canyons Blog

Ride to Work Day 2012 is Monday.

This coming Monday, June 18, is a day you ought to plan to ride your motorcycle to work. Why? Because it is the 21st International Motorcycle & Scooter Ride To Work Day. It’s a day to demonstrate to everyone else–and even to ourselves–how many of us there are.

Along with demonstrating how many it also demonstrates that because there are so many of us, drivers need to be aware that we are there sharing the road with them and that they need to look for us.

Or, as the organizers say on their site:

Ride your motorcycle or scooter on this day to demonstrate:

• The number of motorcyclists to the general public and to politicians.
• That motorcyclists are from all occupations and all walks of life.
• That motorcyclists can reduce traffic and parking congestion in large cities.
• That motorcycles are for transportation as well as recreation.
• That motorcycling is a social good.

And if, like me, you can’t ride to work because you work at home, then ride wherever else you need to go that day. Or just go out for a cruise.

See you on the road.

Biker Quote for Today

Women love men with big KTMs.

Riders, start your engines. Monday is Ride to Work Day, or Ride Your Motorcycle to Work Day, or whatever you want to call it. Just do it.

Every year on the third Monday in June motorcyclists everywhere–yes, that means you–are urged to ride their motorcycle to work to demonstrate to the cagers out there how many of us there are, and that they really should pay attention to the fact that we might be when they’re getting ready to change lanes or turn or whatever. And then the other objective is to let the politicians know how many of us there are, in case they start getting silly ideas that we’re such a small minority that they can walk all over us and feel no repercussions.

So get out. Fill the streets with bikes. I don’t commute to an office, I just walk downstairs, but I’ll be out in the throng doing my best to be visible. I want to get some pictures of motorcycles in traffic, so what better day to station myself at good shooting locations.

Besides, you know, it’s fun to ride your bike to work. Back when I worked in an office I did it a lot. It’s much better than going in a car. You may like it so much you end up doing it all the time.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Third race weekend is charm for racer Kuo

Biker Quote for Today

Chrome won’t help if you can’t ride.

If you’re figuring that Ride Your Motorcycle to Work Day is set for the third Wednesday in July as always, here’s an alert. It’s not. It has been changed.

In fact, it’s not even being called “Ride Your Motorcycle to Work Day.” It is now just “Ride to Work Day,” and it has been moved to the third Monday in June. That’s June 15 this year.

The name change has been made to make the event more inclusive, encouraging scooter riders to join in as well. The date change is intended to take advantage of more moderate weather. The event has also taken on an international scope and in Europe, July is often vacation time for a large number of people.

Additionally, the organizers hope that a Monday event will encourage riders to commute on two wheels all week, rather than just one day. And finally, because Sunday is usually a slow news day, it is hoped that a Monday event will garner more media advance coverage.

In case you’re not familiar with Ride to Work Day, the purpose is to demonstrate:

• The number of motorcyclists to the general public and to politicians.
• That motorcyclists are from all occupations and all walks of life.
• That motorcyclists can reduce traffic and parking congestion in large cities.
• That motorcycles are for transportation as well as recreation.
• That motorcycling is a social good.

So I hope to see you on the road June 15.

Biker Quote for Today

No matter what marque you ride, it’s all the same wind.

It’s getting toward that time again, so as I always do, I’m cluing you in to this year’s Ride Your Motorcycle to Work day.

This year the date is July 16. As always, that’s a Wednesday, the third Wednesday in July. This is a day to get as many bikes out on the streets and highways as possible, to make an impression on the non-riders as to just how many of us there are. Not for intimidation or anything negative, just to let them know we’re here and that they need to be mindful of us as they drive. I mean, have you ever been on the highway when someone in the next lane pulled into your lane without looking over their shoulder to see if perhaps someone might be there? No, it’s never happened to me either. Right!

So the point is to get out in force and impress upon them that they MUST look, MUST be aware, and MUST share the road. Maybe their lives don’t depend on it, but ours do!

If you really want to get into this, you can go to the website at www.ridetowork.org and download logos and artwork, public service announcements, and various other things to pass along to the local media or put up in public places. Here’s the logo.

Who knows, maybe this year I’ll be able to take part. The funny thing is that each year as I’ve promoted this thing, I’ve not been able to participate. Last year I was working a job that had me working at home. The year before that I was on vacation. This year I may be unemployed on that day, but if so I’ll at least get out and ride a bit just for the heck of it.

Anyway, I’ll bring this up again just before the date. In the meantime, take today’s quote with a grain of salt. Maybe.

Biker Quote for Today

If the person in the next lane at the stoplight rolls up the window and locks the door, support their view of life by snarling at them.

This coming Wednesday, July 18, is Ride Your Motorcycle To Work Day. Do it!

The idea here is to get as many people on the road on their bikes on the same day to show people how many of us there are and to thereby make people more aware that they need to be aware we are there. We’ve all had the “he didn’t even see me” experience. If people are more aware that we might be there then hopefully they’ll be more careful to check to see if we are there. Wishful thinking? Probably, but what the hey, it can’t hurt and riding to work is more fun than driving anyway. I try to do it once a week. Aside from anything else, it also saves money on gas.

Oh, and here’s the disclaimer. Here I am pushing Ride to Work Day and I won’t be riding to work on Wednesday. Why? Because I’m fortunate in my current job to be able to work at home two days a week and one of my two days is always Wednesday–that’s July 18.

Here’s the URL in case you want to learn more: http://www.ridetowork.org/

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On a different note, I always welcome comments and responses to these posts but the spam bastards have made it so I had to turn off that function. I can’t spend an hour every day deleting hundreds of spam postings, which is what it had turned into. So if you want to contact me, send me an email to ken at motorcycle dot com and I’ll put your comment up, or respond to you, as appropriate. Thanks. Sorry for the hassle.