Passes & Canyons Blog

Not one, but three twisted sisters. That sounds good.

From Colorado, taking a motorcycle trip in Texas is not unthinkable. If you head down toward Lamar, to the southeastern corner of the state, Texas is only 40 miles away across the Oklahoma panhandle. From Denver you can actually be in Texas in just a few hours. But then your trip is barely begun.

“Texas is a world all of its own. It takes a lifetime to drive from Eastland to Van Horn.” That’s a line from a Little Feat song. And they should know. Texas is BIG.

So where would you go to ride in Texas? You guessed it: I’ve got another new Butler Maps map, this one for the Texas Hill Country. And where exactly is the Texas Hill Country? Oh, just about 700 miles south of where you would be coming into the state. Down around Austin and San Antonio. And let’s face it, most of that is going to be just burning up miles. Unless you’re Iron Butt-inclined, this needs to be a trip of a full week or more.

And what do you find when you get there? Well, hills for one thing. And that generally means twisty roads running through canyons and valleys. That sounds good, doesn’t it? The biggest attraction as far as I can see is what they call the Three Twisted Sisters. I don’t think that needs explanation. Butler maps out a Three Twisted Sisters route that starts and ends in Kerrville, running 225 miles. A nice day’s ride.

The map also shows three other day ride loops, a 131-mile ride out of Bandera, a 140-mile ride out of New Braunfels, and a 140-mile ride out of Luckenbach.

Perhaps surprisingly for Texas, the map also lists 28 dual sport adventure roads. Texas is known for not having a lot of public land but if you want to get off the pavement there are at least some places you can go. However, be warned. Here’s what Butler has to say about these roads:

They are best suited for advanced riders on bikes such as the BMW R1200GS or KTM 1190. Do not try these roads if your skills or machine are not up to the task.

Something on this map I don’t recall seeing on others are highlight text labeled “Don’t Miss This.” On the Bandera loop, for example, they list things like:

• The Lone Star Motorcycle Museum near Vanderpool houses a treasure-trove of bikes dating from 1910 to the present.
• The Apple Store in Medina is a great place to stretch your legs. Be sure to try their signature apple-cinnamon ice cream.

Texas really is a world all of its own. I guesstimate that this map covers maybe one-fifth of the state. In other words, there’s a whole heck of a lot more of it. And I’m sure there is some good riding in other places but I suspect Butler focused on the Hill Country because that’s the best. At least in a concentrated grouping. Considering how huge Texas is I welcome someone pointing me to the really good stuff so I don’t end up burning up thousands of miles on country that is not all that interesting.

One note though: if you’re going to go I suggest you do so in the spring or fall. I’ve heard that, just as riders put their bikes away for the winter up north, riders in Texas put their bikes away for the hottest part of the summer.

So am I going to go riding in Texas? Well, yeah, I’d sure like to. But will it happen? I honestly can’t say. We’re talking serious miles and I’m in the heart of some of the best riding in the world here in Colorado. But I’m definitely going to be considering it.

Biker Quote for Today

But officer, I only have two wheels so I’d have to do 110 mph to break the limit!

Colorado National Monument was created by a president, not by Congress. Was that a bad thing?

Let me say right up front that I understand why the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) is very friendly with senators and congressmen who predominantly belong to the Republican Party. The simple fact is that they tend to be more supportive of motorcyclist issues than Democrats. Probably the very best from a biker’s perspective is Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, of Wisconsin.

That said, I don’t like the direction the AMA seems to be going. The group’s membership spans the political spectrum but lately they’re sounding just a bit too Republican. I just don’t think that’s appropriate considering the membership.

Specifically, in the December 2015 and January 2016 issues of the group’s magazine, American Motorcyclist, they have said three times that President Obama has been “sidestepping Congress” by creating new national monuments by executive fiat.

What’s the issue? They say Obama is closing public lands to motorized recreation. What is he doing? He’s using the power that Congress gave to the president–all presidents–in 1906 when they passed the Antiquities Act. In the time since it was passed, 16 of the 19 presidents have used the Antiquities Act to unilaterally create national monuments. They’ve used that power 137 times. In some cases, Congress came along later and turned those national monuments into national parks. Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park used to be a monument. Great Sand Dunes National Park used to be a monument. They were created as monuments by presidents “sidestepping Congress” by following the law that Congress passed.

Just to get my biases out in the open here, I am a registered independent voter, who has little affection for the Republicans or Democrats, and I do work at the National Park Service (for a few more days) and the park service is one of the several agencies that administer national monuments.

So there’s no question that I love the national parks–don’t you?–and the monuments and the seashores, and all the rest. I also have some concern with creating any more of these things right now because they add to the National Park Service and other agency responsibilities without adding a penny more budget. You can’t keep doing that forever.

But this business of accusing Obama of “sidestepping Congress”–repeatedly!!–when he’s only doing what so many other presidents have done, just smacks too much of right-wing partisanship for me. The AMA a couple years ago hired former Colorado Rep. Wayne Allard as their legislative liaison and I wondered then if this would lead to a rightward tilt on policy. At the same time, I figured Allard might be more effective than someone else because he would be on good terms with the Republicans who control both houses of Congress. So I withheld judgment. Just wait and watch. Not everyone else did so. There were AMA members who protested right away about Allard’s appointment.

And that’s the point. The membership spans the political spectrum. The AMA has no business playing this partisanship game. And that’s exactly what this is.

And oh, by the way, the president who created the most acreage of new national monuments was George W. Bush, by a lot. Of course Bush’s monuments were largely in the Pacific around islands but do you suppose the scuba divers object to the restrictions these declarations created? And while Ronald Reagan was one of the three presidents who created no new national monuments while in office, he did sign 43 wilderness bills that rendered 10.6 million acres off-limits to motorized recreation. But of course he wasn’t side-stepping Congress. That doesn’t make those 10.6 million acres any less off limits.

And finally, I have to wonder about the interests of AMA members. I would guess the large majority are people who never ride off road anyway, but perhaps love the parks and monuments. Tough luck for the dirt-bike crowd, maybe, but that’s a trade-off the street-riding folks might be very willing to make. And depending on the piece of land, there may not even be dirt-bikers who are affected. I don’t really know.

So I have communicated my displeasure to the AMA. I’ll let you know what, if anything, they have to say to me.

Biker Quote for Today

I like to ride the canyons at night, when there’s a full moon, and you shut the engine off and coast downhill. — Keanu Reeves

That squiggly yellow line means good motorcycling.

I see there’s one particular part of New Mexico I need to spend more time in. I’m looking right now at another map I recently received from Butler Maps, and this one is for New Mexico. The area is the mountainous section east of Alamogordo that includes Ruidoso. Butler rates motorcycle roads by color–yellow, red, and orange in descending order–and there’s a good bit of yellow here.

Of course I know there’s a big motorcycle rally each year in Ruidoso, and you know they don’t hold those things in places without good motorcycle roads. But I guess I’ve never been there. I say “I guess” because I thought sure the OFMC had been to Ruidoso one time but checking our trip logs I sure can’t find any trip where we did. We generally do our annual ride in July or August and neither of those months are good for going that far south in New Mexico.

We have, however, been all over the northern part of the state, many times, and there is an awful lot of color up there, too. Absolutely no surprise. Northern New Mexico is mountainous and gorgeous.

A surprise for me, however, is how much orange there is on this map. That is, there are a whole lot of roads that perhaps are not spectacular but that Butler says are still pretty darn nice. None of them are interstate however (surprise!) so if you really want to see the good parts of New Mexico you definitely need to get off the slab. Forget about burning up the miles, slow down and see the place.

Not a surprise is that Butler has identified a road I’ve been extolling for years. This is New Mexico 152 running from San Lorenzo over to Hillsboro and down to Caballo. I did a piece for Examiner.com calling it New Mexico’s Tail of the Dragon. Butler calls this the Emory Pass Road and marks it in yellow. Here’s what they have to say about the road.

Named for Lieutenant W. H. Emory, who chronicled the U.S. Army of the West expedition over Emory Pass in 1846, the highway was finally opened for travel in 1938. Highway 152 is without question one of the most breathtaking routes in the state, a little known treasure off the beaten track that is well worth experiencing. As with most roads built during early statehood, this too was engineered to follow natural landmass contours as closely as possible.

That means curvy, you know? “. . . follow natural landmass contours as closely as possible . . .”

One other point of interest: Butler points out more than 100 dual sport adventure roads, so if that’s your style of riding, you want to ride New Mexico. I’m thinking March might be a good time to head that direction.

Biker Quote for Today

I do not know where I’m heading. Let the road decide.

The Motorcycle Relief Project website.

I used a Biker Quote for Today here a while ago that bears repeating: You never see a motorcycle parked in front of a psychiatrist’s office.

Apparently someone decided to combine that idea with the needs of our military veterans who come home psychologically damaged by what they endured. It’s called the Motorcycle Relief Project. (I owe a thank-you to Mark Odette for pointing me to this group.)

What is this group about? Here’s their mission statement.

Motorcycle Relief Project (MRP) is a 501c3 tax-exempt nonprofit organization that provides relief to veterans with PTSD and other injuries by taking them on multi-day motorcycle adventure tours. Our mission is to honor and encourage veterans while providing them with opportunities to decompress, get unstuck, and connect with other veterans.

The group offers what they refer to as “Relief Rides.” Here’s the scoop on those.

Relief Rides are 5-day adventure bike tours in the mountains of Colorado and are specifically designed to provide relief to veterans with PTSD and other invisible injuries. Tours include a combination of on-road and moderate off-road riding. Participants get to ride on some of Colorado’s most scenic two-lane roads as well as some amazing jeep trails and forest roads. A valid motorcycle endorsement that you’ve had for at least a year is mandatory, but no previous off-road experience is required. Rides are controlled with a lead rider in front and a sweep rider in back, and all participants are asked to ride with safety as the main priority.

Riders will cross the Continental Divide several times over the five-day ride. Accommodations will be in mountain lodges, where group members will be able to unwind from the day’s adventures and join in group discussions around the campfire or lodge fireplace. Participants will learn simple techniques for relaxing and dealing with trauma that can help them better manage their internal stress and move toward recovery. A support vehicle will carry participants’ luggage as well as food, tools, etc. Participants in Relief Rides are sponsored by generous donors and corporate sponsors who are concerned about the toll that serving in a combat situation takes on many of the men and women of our armed forces.

Volunteers are a big part of this effort so if you or your riding group want to get involved there are plenty of opportunities.

I could go on but you can read their website as well as I can. This sounds like something a lot of people are going to be interested in.

Biker Quote for Today

Seriously, just get on a bike. Anything that runs. Life is better. — Mark Hoyer

There is a lot more color in the northwest corner of Montana than anywhere else.

I’ve probably been through more of Montana than most people who don’t live there. So I was very interested looking over my newly arrived Butler Motorcycle Maps Montana edition to see that the one part of the state I’ve never been to seems to be one of the best for motorcycle riding. How did that happen?

Well, I know how it happened. The area in question is the far northwest corner of the state where only the narrow panhandle of Idaho separates Montana from Washington. As much of the western US the OFMC has ridden, including Glacier National Park, we have never been to the Pacific Northwest because it’s just too far to go when you only have a week. Now, that limitation doesn’t apply to me, but it does to most of the other guys, so we’ve never done that ride.

Looking over the whole map confirms what most people presume about Montana: the eastern part of the state is wide open with many, many miles without a lot of curves. The juicy part is in the west, where the mountains are. And we’ve been through those mountains, from the Beartooth Highway on the southeast up to Butte and Salmon, Idaho, but not north of that. This summer I got further north, to Missoula, and down over Lolo Pass. But never, ever north of Missoula.

Well, on Butler maps, the more color you see the better the riding. Guess where the most color is on this map? Let’s just say it’s not south of Missoula. That portion of the map above is what I’m looking at.

Another thing I like about this map, something I don’t think I’ve seen on other maps, is that they have a listing of the best dual sport adventure roads and the coordinates on the map so you can find them. And there are dotted red lines all through the mountains, which are identified on the legend as “Recommended Dirt Rd.” On the enlarged map of this northwest area the red dotted lines are everywhere. This is not the kind of riding the OFMC is ever going to do but maybe next year I can convince Kevin and Jeff to head up that way.

This is that time of year, isn’t it, when motorcyclists pull out maps and start dreaming about next year’s trip. Montana’s looking really good.

Biker Quote for Today

I like to ride dirt bikes to meet women. Nurses mostly.

This would be a potential opportunity for lane-splitting, as these bikes could move up to the front and get off ahead of the cars once traffic starts moving again.

Stump is the Legislative Affairs Officer for ABATE of Colorado and he has been working with the state to ensure that motorcyclists are treated appropriately–in regard to federal law–when it comes to this whole thing with HOV lanes and the requirement to have a transponder on the bike.

Stump can’t do it all. The more people who speak to their elected state officials the more they will pay attention. Here are 10 talking points Stump has put together that sum up the argument pretty well. If you have the opportunity to say anything to your state rep–or if you choose to do so on your own initiative–these are the kinds of things you might want to say to them. (I’ve tweaked a couple for grammar and clarity.)

1. Motorcycles are considered a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) under all conditions per 23 USC 166 (b) (2) (A).

2. Federal funds were used to build the HOV/HOT lanes, qualifying the use of motorcycles as an HOV per #1 above.

3. Adding a requirement/restriction for motorcycles to use an HOV lane is not necessary for the federal law to apply.

4. Charging a motorcycle to use an HOV lane if it doesn’t have a transponder and not charging if they do is a double standard and restricts/prohibits/fines motorcycles for using a lane they are entitled to used under federal law.

5. The requirement of a “deposit” for a transponder is a collection of monies from motorcyclists by a governmental entity without the consent of the people being assessed.

6. HOV/HOT lanes are not both “toll roads” and must be considered to be two separate types of roadways.

7. HOV lanes were originally implemented to help relieve congestion, save fuel, address parking issues, etc. and provide a means for those who combined/shared vehicles to benefit from their actions. HOT lanes allow anyone who will pay a fee to receive an advantage based on money, not the original intent of the lane.

8. The Colorado Department of Transportation has stated that it is safer for a motorcycle in an HOV lane and the chance of a crash or injury is reduced, as compared to using a congested lane.

9. Requiring a transponder on a motorcycle requires those who only use the lane once or twice a year because of where they live in the state, or those motorcyclists from out of state who are unaware that a transponder is required, to pay a fine/fee to use a lane that is safer and, in the majority of states, is free.

10. Even if a picture is taken of a motorcycle and license plate, it would take only seconds to identify the vehicle as a motorcycle, discard it, and move on.

So OK, the second sentence in #7, in particular, is still a little murky to me, but in general I’d say this is good information. So if you have a chance to communicate with the people who represent you in the legislature, you’ll be doing us all a favor to bring out these points.

Biker Quote for Today

Is your motorcycle a 2 cylinder or 4 stroke?

It took Jeff about a minute to whip this baby out.

Is there some kind of law that if you rent V-Stroms you have to have a buddy named Jeff who is big into motorcycle mechanics and can fix just about anything on the spot? My experience would suggest that.

I know two guys who either do or have rented V-Stroms and both have that very particular Jeff. Kevin rented bikes, mostly V-Stroms, out of Gunnison for a number of years through his company, Colorado Mountain Moto. Ron still rents V-Stroms but also other bikes now through his company, Western Dual Sport Motorcycle Adventures.

I went on a 10-day ride this summer with Kevin and–you knew this was coming–his buddy Jeff. Jeff works as a motorcycle mechanic, which is a good thing because he rides a couple Moto Guzzis. From what I understand, Guzzis are “quirky” and if you’re going to ride them you’d better be able to work on them any time you need to.

Jeff needed to. And he did. And he had everything he needed to do whatever was needed. We ended up at his place outside of Boise later in the week and then we really got to see how into this he is. Besides a garage full of bikes and parts, he built his own very large shop that is full of more bikes that he is in the process of restoring. And any tool you might need was right there at hand.

Then more recently I was up in Boulder with Ron with the intent of replacing my worn out valve stem on my Honda. And where did we go to do this? To Ron’s friend Jeff’s house. Ron actually owns this tire changing machine but he keeps it at Jeff’s because Jeff gets a lot of use for it and Ron really doesn’t have a place for it at home.

Jeff is not a professional mechanic but he does race bikes and gets very much into working on them. While Ron and I were figuring we’d need to take the wheel off the bike and use the machine to break the bead so as to get to the valve stem, Jeff pulled out this handy little portable bead breaker and they were able to replace the valve stem in less than 10 minutes without taking the wheel off the bike.

But then the really amazing thing happened.

Ron and I were getting ready to leave and I got on the bike, kicked the side-stand up, and fired her up. Just then Jeff called out urgently to warn me that my side-stand was down. Funny, I thought for sure I had just put that up. So I nudged it up with my foot and it just swung freely. It wouldn’t stay up. There was definitely a problem of some kind.

I killed the bike, kicked the stand back out to hold the bike up, and got off. It didn’t take long to find the problem: the spring that holds the stand up out of the way was broken. One of the hooked ends had snapped off and it was just dangling from the other. This bike is a 1981 model so after 34 years the spring just gave out. And it gave out right here, at Jeff’s, of all places.

What happened? Jeff went rummaging through a drawer and in just a few seconds pulled out an identical spring that fit perfectly. He just happened to have it on hand and knew right where it was. It took longer for Ron and me to get the thing on than it took Jeff to find it. And there I was, all patched up, just that quickly.

I tell you what, I don’t care if you rent V-Stroms or not, everybody should have a buddy named Jeff.

Biker Quote for Today

Honda 919s are as reliable as an anvil, albeit faster. — Ray Nierlich

I was pleased, though a little surprised, to get this email recently.

Hi Ken!

The OFMC does cover some miles each year.

How are you? My name is Ally Siegel and I work for BBC Worldwide. I am currently casting a new documentary, looking for ‪adventurers who are traveling the country on their motorcycles, meeting locals and exploring different sites. In my research I came across your blog and LOVED what I saw. Would you be interested in speaking with me? Either way, please let me know. I think this could be a great opportunity for you.

Thank you! I look forward to hearing from you.

Ally Siegel

Well gosh, of course I’d be happy to speak with her and somehow end up in a BBC documentary. So I replied to that effect.

Still, I wondered if I was really the guy she wanted. It’s not totally clear but I get the impression from that email that they’re looking for serious riders, the Iron Butt kind of guys who do many thousands of miles. I’m a more average joe who rarely does a trip of more than 2,500 miles. But if she’s read the blog and likes what she sees, and she’s interested in me, let’s go!

But we didn’t. We went through a bit of back and forth and then I got this note.

Hey Ken,

So sorry I missed your call earlier this morning. They have pulled me onto a different project for today through mid next week. I’ll be back casting motorcycle camping/travel Thursday. Can we chat then?

Sorry for the late notice,

Ally

And after another exchange or two, this one.

Hi Ken,

Sorry for the delayed response. Yes, I will call you this week.

Thanks!

Ally

Bottom line, I’ve never heard back from her. Once again, it makes me think she’s really looking for the guys who burn up three or four sets of tires in a year. If she found someone else who better fit what she was looking for, good for her. But hey Ally, if that one project got put on the back-burner for awhile and you still want to work with me, just call. I’ll be happy to hear from you.

Biker Quote for Today

I ride a bullet… a two-wheeled, multiple-explosion powered machine with enough moving parts to remove entire fingers and surfaces hot enough to cook flesh. It propels me at neck-breaking, bone-snapping, flesh-shredding, speeds over and around obstacles I can see only as blurs. It’s a sport that kills the careless, maims the best, and spits at the concept of mercy. Now what were you saying about your new golf shoes?