Riding In The Cold With A Balaclava

January 16th, 2017
Wearing a balaclava

I’m only scowling because I was focused on trying to get the Kawi in the picture over my shoulder and that’s how I look when I’m focused on something.

It must be several years ago that my wife gave me a balaclava to wear when riding in cold weather. Trouble is, I stuffed it in one of the pockets in the Concours fairing and have forgotten about it every time since then that I might have worn it. Until very recently.

OK, so first, what is a balaclava? Well, you can see it in the photo there, it’s a tight-fitting hood made of very thin but warm material. The best may be made of silk, but other materials are fine. Of course, it has to be thin in order to fit under your helmet.

I was heading out to the Last Brass Monkey Run on December 31 and it was very cold, so I decided to try the balaclava. I put it on in the house before zipping up my jacket. That meant the bottom of it was securely layered under the jacket collar. The result was that not only did it keep my face warm, it also stopped the breeze from blowing down through the collar and chilling my neck, in front and in back.

The fit was snug. As I slid the helmet on I was at first not even sure it would go on, but it did and was not uncomfortably tight.

Out on the bike the extra warmth was very noticeable. My chin, my throat, and my nose could tell the difference. And it surprised me that I also noticed on the back of my neck. I hadn’t thought about that. It was good.

Then when I was heading home I learned some more. I walked out of the Grizzly Rose and geared up at the bike. What I didn’t think about was making an effort to make sure the bottom of the balaclava was securely tucked into the jacket. In fact it was out a bit in the rear.

I noticed that right away when I started riding. I felt the breeze going down the back of my jacket. OK. Be sure to tuck the thing in.

So all in all, it was good. I definitely recommend it. The one thing that surprised me about this particular balaclava was that it was not as snug as I expected. I’m not sure if these are supposed to be one size fits all or if there are sizes, but a smaller one would have done me well. Being somewhat loose it shifted a bit as I put my helmet on and didn’t stay up over my mouth and nose the way I expected.

But you can bet I’ll be wearing it again the next time I’m out riding on a really cold day.

Biker Quote for today

Biker hair don’t care.

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My Lowest Mileage Year Ever?

January 12th, 2017
motorcycles at the Grand Tetons

Get out there and ride that thing!

Did I do a lot of riding in 2016? No. In fact, I think I may have set a personal record for the fewest miles driven/ridden for my entire life.

I always make note of my mileage at the end of each year and this one is really strange. My total mileage on my three bikes AND my car is only 6,268 miles. Holy smokes!

Most of that was on motorcycles. I rode the Honda 901 miles, which is actually the only increase. I rode it 531 miles in 2015.

I rode the Suzuki just 7 miles miles than the Honda: 908. And I put the most on the Kawasaki: 1,952. I only put 2,507 miles on my car, so that’s 3,761 on the bikes.

What the heck kind of a year is it if you only put a little over six grand on your vehicles? Did I just live at home?

Actually, no. In fact I did a lot of traveling. It’s just that most of it was either in my wife’s car or by airplane. We drove to Big Bend way down in Texas. We flew to Spain. We flew to Georgia. We drove to Montana. I did the summer ride with the OFMC. Only that last one put any miles on my vehicles.

Of course the other factor is that I’m working this job for the National Park Service. Again. The difference is that this time I’m working at home, so no commuter miles. That’s a huge factor.

The year 2017 is going to be different. I’m pulling the plug on this National Park Service job at the end of January. And this time I’m done for good; no more call-backs. And I’m going to do a lot of riding. I have ambitious plans for updating the website and a lot of that will involve revisiting a lot of these roads. And I’m going to be doing some rides with the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club. Plus, I intend to take off by myself at least a few times.

Now, if I only put another 2,500 miles on my car I don’t care. In fact, I like that. But if I don’t get at least 10,000 miles on the bikes this year I’m going to be very disappointed. Check in a year from now to see the score.

Biker Quote for Today

The lure of the open road never goes out of style.

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Not In Kansas Any More

January 9th, 2017
delivery scooters

OK, replace that Burger King logo with some pot store logo and this is what you may see in San Francisco.

Toto, we’re not in Kansas any more. And no, and this is not the 1970s either. You know, Richard Nixon’s war on drugs and the more than $1 trillion spent on it without success in the intervening years.

Well, here’s a posting on Craigslist that I happened to see the other day.

Cannabis Delivery Seeking Motorcycle Couriers (City of SF)

Do you enjoy medical cannabis? Do you love riding motorcycles? Are you interested in joining a cutting-edge team in the blossoming medical cannabis industry? If so, this might be the perfect job for you.

Of course there’s talk of a possible federal crack-down on states allowing legal marijuana use, such as Colorado, especially with incoming Vice President Mike Pence reportedly being strenuously opposed to legalization. That could throw a kink into someone’s plans to make a living on their bike in this fashion.

Is that likely, though? Curious, I was speaking the other day to a young woman who works at a marijuana store here in Denver and asked her if those in the industry were concerned about the incoming administration. She said they have no concern at all because at this point the industry brings so much in tax dollars into public coffers that it simply would not be tolerated. Of course, that was what the proponents of legalization argued all along: make marijuana a cash positive part of the economy–legalize and tax it heavily.

I don’t think we have marijuana delivery service here, however, either two-wheel or four-wheel. But I guess motorcycle delivery in San Francisco makes sense just like lane-splitting makes so much sense in California.

No Toto, we’re definitely not in Kansas any more.

Biker Quote for Today

You can have more fun on a gallon of gas than a barrel of booze.

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A Mild January 1 Means ‘Go Ride’

January 5th, 2017
motorcycle in winter

Snow doesn’t matter if it’s not on the road.

When the projected high for January 1 is 50 degrees that means one thing to me: ride three motorcycles.

It’s an unbroken rule with me that I ride each of my bikes at least once every calendar month. And at this time of year, considering you never know what weather will follow, I often take all three out in quick succession on one day. I mean, they need to be ridden. Whereas I had just ridden the Kawi the day before and it started just fine, the Suzuki hesitated a tiny bit for the first time since I’ve owned it and the Honda battery was so weak I wasn’t sure it would start at all. If I hadn’t put it on the trickle charge an hour earlier I’m sure it would not have.

So anyway, riding them all three one after the other ensures that I’ve got it done. I hope I’ll be doing a bunch more riding during the month but if the weather turns and stays really ugly, at least I got out that one time.

Weather turning, that is, to what we have right now. Very cold with snow falling.

So I got out, and I didn’t even do the full bundle-up that I did on December 31. I didn’t wear the chaps and I skipped the balaclava. Didn’t need them.

Fact is, we’ve had a pretty mild winter so far, despite a few days like today. I rode across the top of the Cherry Creek Reservoir dam and by golly, there is still open water in the reservoir. I can’t ever remember that happening before this late in the season.

There were a couple other interesting things I saw on the southwest side of the dam. A soccer game was in progress on a field so green it had to be summer. Or had to be AstroTurf. That’s got to be new. And I noticed a lot of small groups of people wandering around in a semi open field and wondered what they were up to till I noticed the dogs. It has been made into a dog park. That’s got to be new, too.

Anyway, I went riding. I wasn’t the only one. I didn’t go to the New Year’s Day brunch in Castle Rock with the RMMRC because I wasn’t ready to head out that early. But I’m betting that between the three groups there were a lot of bikes in Castle Rock. As it was, I saw a good number of other guys out as well.

At this time of year you’ve got to do it when you can.

Biker Quote for Today

We ride not to escape life but for life to not escape us.

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New Year’s Eve A Nice Day To Ride

January 2nd, 2017
Harley with Christmas bow

This Harley out front of the Grizzly Rose was decked out in its own Christmas bow.

Our thermometer out back read 37 degrees when I took off on Saturday for the Last Brass Monkey Run so it was a no-brainer about how warmly to dress. I wore all the winter gear.

Still, I had the heated gloves set on the second highest setting and that was too much; I went two blocks and stopped and turned them down a notch.

It was definitely Michelin Man time for me–I was so covered in warm clothing that I felt like if I had gone down I would have just bounced. But I was warm, truly warm. I could have gone for a long ride. Sweet.

I got to the Grizzly Rose and as I expected, there were plenty of bikes. Not like last year where it was cold and icy and there probably weren’t more than 25 bikes altogether. People rode this year.

Still, the place was not crowded. The first year I went to the Last Brass Monkey Run the place–and the parking lot–was packed. From what I understand, ABATE membership has declined significantly since that time. That’s too bad. ABATE is the chief lobbying group for motorcyclist issues at the state capital. But apparently most people don’t thing that concerns them very much. They might think differently if there was no one down there standing up for our interests.

So I went in and walked around and as is pretty much always the case, the only people I knew were all working the event. Taking tickets, running the poker walk games, handing out the door prizes–all that. If I were a better ABATE member I would have been working, too, but agreeing to be the District 10 legislative liaison this year is the first time I’ve ever gotten really involved. Mostly I just go to meetings and then do my bit to get the word out about what’s going on that riders should pay attention to. I consider that a valuable contribution but it’s not like working the events the way all the rest of the folks do.

I got my chance, though. I found Stump manning a table for the poker walk and stopped to talk awhile. He had two bags with marked ping-pong balls in them. Players would draw from each bag and if you got, say, a ball marked diamond and a ball marked 8 then you had drawn an 8 of diamonds. Stump would then note that down on your sheet as one of the cards in your poker hand.

At one point Stump walked away to do something and I found myself there playing dealer. And because he never came back, I stayed there as dealer till the poker walk ended. So I did help out a little.

After that I took off. By then it was a lot warmer out and I had a thoroughly pleasant ride home. Not at all bad for December 31.

Biker Quote for Today

98% of all Harleys ever sold are still on the road. The other 2% made it home.

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Great Colorado Weather Means Two Rides This Weekend

December 29th, 2016
Last Brass Monkey Run

This will be the 29th year for ABATE’s Last Brass Monkey Run.

Pity those poor folks who have to put their motorcycles away for the winter. Not us! This is Colorado and we ride all year round.

And just to make that point, there are two rides coming up this weekend.

On Saturday, ABATE of Colorado is sponsoring its annual Last Brass Monkey Run. This is a last-day-of-the-year ride that often occurs when riding is, shall we say, problematic. Not this year. This forecast I’m looking at right now calls for a high of 43 and only a 10 percent chance of precipitation. There are going to be a lot of bikes at the Grizzly Rose on Saturday.

The ride starts from four locations around the area: Longmont, Colorado Springs, Aurora, and Golden. All roads lead to the Grizzly Rose. And of course there are a variety of activities going on at the Rose, starting at 11 a.m. Tickets are $20.

Then on Sunday the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club will be having its annual New Year’s Day ride, which ends up at Rockyard American Grill and Brewery in Castle Rock. This is in conjunction with similar rides sponsored by the BMW Motorcycle Club of Colorado and the Pikes Peak BMW Riders Club. The forecast for Sunday is a high of 45 and zero chance of precip.

The doings at the Rockyard is brunch with friends. For the RMMRC crowd it’s kickstands up at 9:45 a.m. at Performance Cycle, 7375 S. Fulton St., in Centennial. Brunch is set for 11:30 so that should be an easy ride. No cost but of course you pay for your own brunch.

So hey, got any riding plans for the weekend? You’ve got a great opportunity–don’t miss out.

Biker Quote for Today

Motorcycle you love–ride you must.

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Posted in ABATE, Colorado motorcycle rides, Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club | No Comments »

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