Passes & Canyons Blog

I went to the Denver Police substation yesterday to try to get confirmation and details, but apparently because this reported action came from the District Attorney’s Office the PD didn’t have it on their computer. I haven’t had time to contact the DA yet. So be advised that so far, all I’m about to tell is hearsay.

I heard from two people on Friday that Terry Howard, the former state coordinator for ABATE of Colorado, had been criminally charged. One of the two sources included the information that the charges were forgery and theft.

Update 12-10-14: I learned today directly from the Denver District Court that Terry has been charged with theft, not forgery.

This whole story has been exploding all around me. Because I seem to be the only one with journalistic pretensions following it, many people who have an interest and know about the matter has been contacting me. I definitely appreciate everyone who has contacted me but it’s going to take me awhile to sort through it all.

The greater number of the folks I have spoken with tend to have tried and convicted Terry in their minds. It was very interesting then to receive the email from someone who supports Terry and stands by her. There are a whole lot of interesting statements in her note that I hope to learn a lot more about.

For instance–and again, this is still only hearsay–apparently the organization needed a loan quickly to meet obligations but was not able to qualify for a loan from a bank. So Terry took out a $28,000 loan in her name–or personally co-signed for a loan, I’m not sure which–with the money going to ABATE. This person also says that “Terry also started finding discrepancies in the books. Before she could present her findings, and the day the check cleared for the $28,000 to keep ABATE afloat, she was suspended on suspect of theft and fraud and subsequently forced to resigned.”

Now, obviously, that sort of action doesn’t rule out the possibility of having committed forgery and theft, but it does put a little different light on the person who is accused. Likewise, some of the very negative information I’ve been given about Terry’s management of ABATE could very well be true–and I suspect some of it, maybe even a lot of it, is true–but that would not lead inevitably to the idea that she is also a forger and a thief. Nor would it suggest that she is not. They aren’t necessarily related at all.

I really see at least two linked but separate stories playing out here: First, how did ABATE get into this horrendous financial bind? And second, was there actually forgery and theft, and if so, who was the forger/thief? And in the meantime, there’s just too little information for anyone on the outside to make an informed judgment. Of course, that’s why we have courts and juries. We just hope that true justice prevails, whichever direction that may lead.

I will keep talking to people; I’ve barely gotten started. My pace will be slow. I’m not interested in getting the story first; I’m interested in getting it right.

Biker Quote for Today

Any bike can be taken off road. The question is: How much fun did you have doing it?

Wednesday was quite cool, only in the low 40s, but I had the day off from my day job and I had three motorcycles that had not yet had a December ride. Of course I went out.

I knew it was time to break out the cold weather gear, but how much did I really need? One good thing about riding several bikes consecutively is that if you were cold on the first ride you can add more for the second. I definitely wore the electric vest; that was a no-brainer. I chose not to wear my heated gloves. The last couple times I’ve ridden it has been cool and my regular insulated gloves were plenty. I could have worn long underwear or my fleece-lined chaps, or both. I chose the chaps.

The first ride had to be on the V-Strom. When I had intended to take it out over the weekend I still hadn’t found my keys, so it didn’t go out then. This time it got first shot.

I didn’t turn the electric vest on at first but hadn’t gone far when I hit the switch. Yeah, it was definitely chilly. I also notice that my arms were getting chilly. The vest keeps the torso warm but the arms are on their own. And my feet felt a little cool. My legs were great, though. Those chaps have been a blessing every time I’ve ever worn them.

So it was chilly but still a nice day to be out, especially when you consider that most other people were working, while I was out riding my motorcycle. Totally works for me.

By the time I got back from that first ride, though, my fingers were little ice cubes, almost completely numb. Definitely adding the heated gloves for the next ride. I was also thinking about putting some of those chemical heat packs in my boots, though my feet were still only chilly, not cold like my hands.

Second bike out was the Concours. I figured I’d head southwest, over toward Sedalia and back up via Happy Canyon Road.

I forgot the chemical heat for my feet but they did OK. The heated gloves made all the difference in the world. I set them on the second-highest setting because I didn’t know how much charge they had and didn’t want to drain them before I rode the Honda. Plus, it’s OK to have slightly cool hands and that is probably better than having hot, sweaty hands. And either is better than ice cubes.

Another really nice ride. I do enjoy riding motorcycles. How is it that some people don’t understand what a wonderful thing this is?

I had let the day slip away, though, so by the time I was heading home the commuter traffic was already building and the temperature was already dropping. Plus, the gloves were running out of juice. I have charged them periodically over the warm months, just to be kind to the batteries, but had not done so in the last month or so. By the time I stopped to gas up one had died altogether and the other was flashing that it was on its way out.

So the Honda will have to wait for the weekend before it gets to go out. Darn, I’m going to have to ride one of my motorcycles again in a few days!

Biker Quote for Today

Two wheels take me faster than my stress can go.

Do you ever get a little too smart for yourself? I certainly do sometimes, and did just recently.

We were planning a trip to California and while our neighborhood is very safe and I had nearly zero expectation that someone would break in while we were gone, I did nevertheless take a few security measures.

Normally I leave the keys to my motorcycles in a very convenient location and I always know exactly where they are. When I’m gone I’ve generally just stashed them in my sock drawer. Coming home I’ve always known right where to find them.

This time was different. I got the idea from somewhere that burglars will usually come into your bedroom and just pull all the dresser drawers out and dump them, in order to quickly determine if something is stashed there. I decided to put the keys somewhere else.

So we got home a couple weeks ago and it was bitter, bitter cold. There was no motorcycle riding going on at that point. Gradually it warmed up and it was very noticeable when one day I started seeing bikes on the street again. I had a lot of yard work I needed to get done so I held off on riding a little longer, until Friday of last week. Nice warm day; time to go for a ride.

OK, where are my keys? I checked about a dozen places, including my sock drawer, with no luck. Where the heck did I put them?

Then I remembered that I have always kept my spare keys in a pocket of my original leather jacket, and hadn’t thought to move them when I stashed the others. They were there and I went out for a really nice ride on the Concours. Plenty of time to find the others later.

Saturday was an even nicer day, sunnier and warmer. Time to take the V-Strom out.

Guess again. While I had the spare Honda and Kawasaki keys in hand, I never put the spare Suzuki keys on the same ring. I started tearing the house and the garage apart looking. Finally Judy said I ought to set a time limit and if I haven’t found the keys by then, take the Honda out. She was right and I did end up on the Honda.

Again, wow, what a great day to be out riding. One big reason I live in Colorado is so I can go out on great days like this in November, or December, or January, or even February.

But eventually I was back home again and now I had to get serious. What did I do with those keys?

I fished through the sock drawer again and again came up empty. I considered dumping it out just to be sure but was convinced I would have found them if they were there.

Below the sock drawer is the t-shirt drawer. I did pull that out and started pulling every shirt out and then (tinkle) a set of keys dropped out. And there they were, the rest of them. So much for my thoughts about the sock drawer not being a good place. How the heck was the t-shirt drawer supposed to be one bit safer? What kind of idiot am I anyway?

So now I’ve identified a number of truly better places to stash these keys next time I want to do that. And next time I’ll send myself a text message or something to tell myself where the heck I’ve put them. I’ll outsmart myself yet!

By the way . . . when I was out on the Honda I came across a guy on a Ninja stopped along the road so I stopped to ask if he needed help. He said he had someone coming with a pick-up but was hoping it would start on its own before then. He was thinking stator. He thanked me for stopping and I went on my way.

It occurred to me after I left that I wished I had thought to ask if he had checked the kill switch. There have been a couple times I’ve found myself sitting by the road because I accidentally hit the kill switch. Each time I sat there until that “Duh!” moment struck when I realized what it was. It makes you feel stupid but it’s one heck of a lot cheaper than replacing the stator.

Biker Quote for Today

Helmet not wore when go ride, and no damaging so far brain yet!

I had occasion to speak with Ben Hochberg, the former head of the ABATE of Colorado rider training program, and once we were done with the topic at hand we, of course, shifted to discussing motorcycles.

“What are you riding now?” Ben asked.

I told him that of the four bikes I’ve owned I still have three and they are the 1980 CB750 Custom, my ’99 Concours, and my latest, the 2006 V-Strom 650. Get a load of what Ben told me about his bikes.

Sometime in the last couple years he sold his old Kawasaki KZ 750. Now, just like my CB, the KZ is from the era of the UJM, the universal Japanese motorcycle, where function defined style and therefore there were a whole lot of bikes that were virtually identical.

Ben said he was really, really interested in a V-Strom 1000, and came very near to buying one that was remaindered with a great asking price, but ultimately just couldn’t justify even that expense.

Nevertheless, he needed a good bike he could burn some serious miles on because his training activities often take him some distance from home. So when a friend from New York came to visit, a guy who rides an older Concours like mine, Ben decided to take a look at Connies on craigslist. There he found a mint condition 2003 (?) bike with just 10,000 miles on it for a fabulous price. He thought about it but still couldn’t justify the spend.

He did mention it, though, at one point and the friend asked to see the ad. Calling it up on his phone, he showed it to the friend, who got seriously excited and told Ben, “You’ve got to call the guy! It’s going to be gone!” Ben demurred, at which point his wife, Sheila, told him, “Call the guy.” He said to Sheila, “I love you!” and dialed the phone.

Besides the bike involved, it is similar to my situation with the V-Strom. After I got my second bike my wife told me if I ever intended to get another I would need to let go of one of the two I already had. Then, years later, the opportunity came for me to get the V-Strom and I was just wavering. Without mentioning anything about that previous conversation, Judy told me, “Buy the bike. You’ve wanted one for a long time.” Yeah, I love you, too, Judy.

Ben asked about my set-up on the Connie and I told him the first thing I did was to get risers so I wouldn’t have such a serious lean toward the grips. Check. Ben has gotten adapters that allow you to use a tubular handlebar, which then gives you a wide selection so you can have them come up and back to whatever point you want.

“Have you ever thought about getting highway pegs?” he asked.

Oh yeah, I have them and I love them.

“Where did you get them?”

From Murph. Anyone who rides a Concours knows Murph’s. He has designed and produced a whole lot of the best accessories for Connies. And yes, those are the highway pegs Ben has gotten for his Connie.

Now, he has also gotten an aftermarket windshield and I haven’t done that. I’m perfectly happy with stock on that item.

So obviously we must have very similar tastes in bikes, which surprises me because the last time I saw Ben he was riding some big Harley cruiser. I guess that Harley is long gone. He also has a Buell that he says he’ll never part with. I’m not a Harley guy at all and I doubt I’ll ever have a Buell, though I’d take the Buell before I’d take the Harley. Pretty interesting, though, all this similarity.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
ABATE of Colorado in a fight for its life

Biker Quote for Today

The shortest distance between two points is for people who can’t ride.

First let’s address the investigation into possible financial misdeeds at ABATE of Colorado:

At our District 10 meeting on Sunday, Metro Regional Representative Larry Montgomery confirmed that, at State of Colorado direction, the Denver Police fraud unit was brought in on the matter. To recap, the ABATE board discovered some financial irregularities, investigated, and ended up firing State Coordinator Terry Howard for a “failure to perform” her fiduciary duties. The situation was then reported to the state, as required by law governing 501(c)3 organizations. At the October D-10 meeting we were told that the state would decide what happens next.

The state decided that going to the fraud unit was what was next, and Larry said that unit did an investigation and has now turned their report over to the District Attorney to decide where it goes from here. There is no timetable as to when any decision will be made or any action taken.

Now let’s turn to the group’s financial woes, which are in fact a fight for life or death.

Bruce Downs, a long-time ABATE member, has been chosen the new state coordinator by the board, pending resolution of one minor issue regarding who can serve as state coordinator. Bruce spoke at length about the problems, how we got there, and how we hope to get out of them. I’ll try to cut it down to the basics.

A number of years ago ABATE was one of only a few organizations offering motorcycle rider training in Colorado. ABATE was bringing in more than $1 million a year in training revenue, and the organization became dependent on that cash flow. In recent years new competition has emerged and the landscape has shifted a good bit as well. However, no one at ABATE was sounding the alarm and things continued as before, even though the revenue picture was changing.

Update 11-25-14: I’ve been contacted by Ben Hochberg, who ran the training program for several years, and he assures me he was sounding an alert, but nobody listened. I’ll have more on this soon.

In January of 2013 a $40,000 loan was taken out and later that loan was replaced by another one. The terms of the second loan were onerous. Service on that loan is now costing ABATE $287 a day. Larry and Bruce both declined to name names or provide details, but said that a lack of organizational oversight permitted this bad deal to be made. Now the group has to get out from under this “deadly” (Larry’s word) burden.

Bruce told us that “ABATE is now being run by committee.” This means that one arm of the organization cannot commit the group to anything without the OK of the other, relevant arms, and the board makes all final decisions.

As part of that, he also said, ABATE will focus on its true mission, being a motorcycle rights organization, with rider training a secondary pursuit. Training classes are being cut and training bikes are being sold. Revenue from these bikes will be a significant part of making ends meet for the immediate future. Each district in the state will raffle off one bike, several will be placed with a consignment house for sale, and others will be listed on craigslist.

All paid staff members have already “fired themselves” and are performing essential duties on a volunteer basis. The printed Spokesman newsletter will be published online only next month and will cease publication after that. From then on, Bruce will issue an update every other week on what is happening and where matters stand, and the district reps will be expected to pass this along to their members.

Meanwhile all the districts in the state have been asked to send all their funds, minus $50 to keep their checking accounts open, to the state. District 10 voted on Sunday to do that. An appeal has been put out to members for donations and the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, the national equivalent of the state-organized ABATEs, passed along the appeal nationwide. Responses were immediate, ranging from a couple pledges of cash to “Your problem–too bad.”

If possible, ABATE would like to raise $40,000 from investors to purchase a certificate of deposit, which would be used to secure a loan on better terms so as to pay off the “deadly” loan. Those who put in money for the CD would be paid back with interest at the end of the CD’s term, seven or eight years. Bruce estimated the payments on the new loan would be around $500 per month, versus the current $287 per day. If the group defaulted on the new loan, the bank would take the CD and all the investors would lose their money.

Although Bruce expects it to take at least a year to get the organization fully sorted out and on a new, more sustainable path, whether or not it will survive to carry out these plans is currently the biggest issue. It should be decided within the next two month, he projects.

These were Bruce’s closing remarks:

“It’s time for the choir to start singing. This is not going to be Bruce’s organization; it can’t be one or two people. . . . I know everybody gives a lot of time; you’ve got to give more. I don’t know what else to say, right now we’re sink of swim. We’ve got maybe 30, 45 days, to figure it out. We’ve got to make ABATE a business like it should have been all along and we’re going to do that, if that’s what everybody wants to do. If everybody wants to sit back and say, ‘Ah Larry will do it or Bruce will do it,’ it ain’t gonna happen.”

Biker Quote for Today

You wouldn’t be riding a motorcycle if you weren’t an optimist.

Do you think it’s a good idea to have an organization that stands up at the state level for motorcyclists’ rights? That’s what ABATE of Colorado does. When there are laws proposed that would be harmful to us, we have someone down at the Capitol fighting for us because we have ABATE. But for how long?

I was very surprised to open my email this evening and find two messages. First this one:

The financial picture presented at the SBOD Meeting on November 15th was extremely dismal. ABATE of Colorado is in a very serious financial situation. With training income diminishing this time of year, our cash flow is severely negative. Our current past-due bills, plus those that will become due in December, greatly exceed our liquid funds and accounts receivable. The Financial Oversight Committee has done everything possible to keep the doors open, but this requires the efforts of all ABATE of Colorado members and districts as, collectively, we are ABATE of Colorado.
Actions taken to date include Deb, Perrie, and Don voluntarily “laying themselves off” and then coming in to keep vital functions going on a volunteer basis. Bills are getting paid as money is available.
We discussed many options to increase our cash flow at the SBOD Meeting, such as: selling excess training bikes; raffling off bikes; posting bikes on Craig’s list; consigning bikes for sale in Colorado Springs; donations from members, sponsors, and other SMROs; and soliciting investments in a CD so we can secure a loan. While these are good ideas, none get us “immediate” help.
One way to help us pay our bills right now would be for each district to forward to the State account all but $50 or so of their district treasury. Please consider our dire need and give what you can. Keep in mind that districts do not exist without the state organization being viable.

And then this one:

Due to various circumstances, ABATE of Colorado has found themselves in financial dire straits. In an attempt to overcome this situation, we’d like to secure a loan to help us through the winter months.
A bank we contacted will give us a loan equivalent to the amount of a purchased Certificate of Deposit (CD). We’re asking supporters of ABATE to invest in a CD. We realize your investment wouldn’t be a “great” return on investment, but it would enable ABATE to secure a much needed reasonable interest loan to pay off our extremely high interest / short term loan.
When the CD matures in about 7 to 8 years, your investment will be returned along with the appropriate interest earned. Your investment will be deposited in a separate account until enough money can be secured to purchase an appropriate CD (which we hope will be only a few weeks) and will not be used for anything else. We’ll contact you when the CD is purchased with the mature date and rate of return. A signed receipt will guarantee the above promises.
Thank you for supporting ABATE and investing in a CD to help our financial situation. Please respond by Friday, November 28, 2014.
Below is a temporary receipt for investment, to be followed by a formal official receipt for investment from the ABATE State Office.

I will be digging in my pocket. Even if you don’t choose to be a member, if you think what ABATE is doing is valuable, I urge you to help out, too.

Biker Quote for Today

It’s not about the bike nor the ride; it’s about the adventure in life we all seek. Great memories are made of taking the trail less traveled and explored.

OK, this will be my last blog post dealing with our recent trip to California. But this was the one I actually planned before we left.

Just days before we headed for the West Coast I happened upon an article about Scoot Networks, which is an outfit that is set up in San Francisco offering electric scooter rentals. From what the article I read had to say I expected to see a lot of these easily recognizable red scooters in the mix of traffic. I was intrigued.

Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows that I have an interest in electric motorcycles in general and a personal interest–as in I want one–in electric scooters. So the idea that someone is renting them, and at a very low price, definitely caught my eye. And it was right where we were headed. Cool.

I didn’t see a single Scoot (as opposed to scooters generically) on the streets. And it wasn’t until the night before we left, with time in the morning only to get to the airport, that I noticed that just two blocks from our B&B there was a charging/parking site where four Scoots sat. So I went over quickly in the morning and got that photo above.

Nevertheless, in a crowded, busy city like this, scooters are a great way to get around quickly and easily. And of course it’s all handled with an app.

The way you use Scoot is you create an account and then when you want to ride one you use your smartphone to see where near you there is one available. You then plug your phone into the Scoot and off you go. There are three levels of membership but if you plan to do it regularly the only rational option would seem to be the top-level package, Scoot Pass. For $29 a month, with two months free so a $290 cost for a year, the first 30 minutes of any ride is no additional charge. If you’re just getting around the city, that’s probably going to be most of your rides right there. Then for anything past the first 30 minutes it’s $1.50 for each additional 30 minutes between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. and just $0.25 per 30 minutes from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.

We’re talking cheap. Just for comparison, we took buses a lot while in the city and each time I got on a bus it cost me $2.25.

Now, these Scoots are all single-seaters, so if Judy and I had wanted to go somewhere on them she would have had to rent one, too. She doesn’t ride so that would not have worked. There’s no way she would have wanted to learn to ride a scooter in the middle of the San Francisco congestion. But imagine if you lived there and could pick one up close to home and drop it close to work. You could pay $290 a year and that would be your total cost of commuting. Plus, you’d be on a scooter, and that’s fun!

I don’t know how successful the business is. As I said, I didn’t see any of them on the street. And the scooter business seems to be funny. In places such as Key West there are lots of scooter rentals and it is absolutely the best way to get around that very congested town. And they do land-office business. On the other hand, here in Denver, ScooTours Denver rents scooters and I’m not sure how much business they manage to do. I’ve dealt with those folks in the past, and they advertise on this site, but my recent attempts to contact them have not been successful. So I don’t know; I hope they’re at least making enough to continue in business.

So no, I didn’t have the opportunity to ride one while we were out there. But maybe next time you’re out there you might want to give it a try. And now you know they exist.

Biker Quote for Today

He was so slow, there were bugs on the back of his helmet.

We were just in San Francisco for a few days and it was interesting how these things work: We didn’t see one single Harley or big motorcycle in the city. We did, however, see plenty of small bikes and a ton of scooters.

It’s pretty much that way in Rome and Paris. We’ve been both places in recent years and far more than San Francisco, those cities are chock full of small bikes and scooters. San Francisco is nothing compared to them.

It makes perfect sense. Lane splitting is legal in all three places but you just can’t lane-split with a bike the size of a small car. While San Francisco has a lot of sport bikes and dual sports, the two European cities are awash in scooters. They’re cheap to operate, you can park them anywhere, you can slip between the cars to filter to the front–it’s perfect. If I lived in any of these cities the scooter would be my first choice for transportation. For the life of me, I can’t understand why–and how–anyone drives a car in Rome. That city is impossible.

But I never thought there would be no Harleys at all in San Francisco. I mean, of course there must be some–we just didn’t see any. Not even a Sportster. But as soon as we crossed the bay and got into Oakland there they were, plenty of them. And up in Marin County, north of the city across the Golden Gate, there were plenty of hogs. Just absolutely none in the city. You better believe there’s a reason for that.

Biker Quote for Today

Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives.