Prying New Doors Open

April 15th, 2011

Bikes entering the motorcycle corral at the Overland Expo

Making a living as a freelancer can be tough. Making a living as a motorcycle freelancer can be very tough. But I keep pushing ahead and there always seems to be some bright spot on the horizon.

Regular readers know that I write about motorcycling for Examiner.com, RumBum.com, CycleConnections.com, as well as this blog. Recently I had a photo published in Rider magazine and Rider has also accepted an article for publication that will see print sooner or later.

Well, maybe I’m a glutton for punishment, but that’s not enough so I’ve been trying to develop several new contacts recently. I learned that Throttler magazine was looking for some more writers so I contacted the editor there and pitched him some stories. He liked my ideas and said he’ll let me know the calendar of when he’d like them from me. So far so good, but I’m still waiting for the calendar. In other words, I’m still keeping my fingers crossed on this one.

Then while I was at Arizona Bike Week my friend Sue Slate, who runs the Women’s Motorcyclist Foundation with her partner Gin Shear, had the idea to connect me to the editor of Kawasaki’s magazine, Accelerate. I’ve been in touch with her and sent her one story and a proposal for another. Again, keeping my fingers crossed.

Another opportunity came my way a few days ago to get some photos published in Cycle Source magazine. I don’t see this as having any likelihood for being more than a one-shot affair, but it helps build my credits.

Lastly, I may have a good shot at doing some work for U.S. Rider News. It wouldn’t pay very much but they all add up.

It’s a darn good thing I enjoy writing and I enjoy motorcycles. I used to write about software applications and it’s a whole lot easier–and more fun–to write about something you have a passion for.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Rider Alert program debuts in Virginia

Biker Quote for Today

You like motorcycles, beer, and ladies. I’m afraid I have the same illness. — Thierry

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Posted in Miscellaneous | 2 Comments »

An Alaskan KLR Pipe Dream?

April 12th, 2011

KLR650

It’s too early to know if this is actually going to happen, but if it does it will be fabulous. I may be riding a Kawasaki KLR 650 (like the one above) from Seattle to Anchorage, AK, in late June, early July. Wow! How cool is that?

It’s all still very iffy. It will depend to a very great extent on money.

The whole business comes out of my familiarity with Sue Slate and Gin Shear, who run the Women’s Motorcyclist Foundation. They are organizing a breast-cancer research fund-raising ride in Alaska in August, and they have a need to get their own KLRs to Anchorage. That’s where I come in.

Dan Patino, who runs Go 2 Motorcycle Tours here in Colorado, would be riding the other one and we’re both eager to go. The problem is, by Dan’s estimate, it could cost us each as much as $2,000 for gas, food, lodging, and airfare to Seattle and then home from Anchorage. Yikes! I don’t have that kind of money to do anyone a favor, even if I get a great trip out of the deal.

Neither does Dan but Dan has ideas. First off, he’s hoping to make this ride an extension of the Adventures for the Cures ride up in Alaska and do some fundraising. And as a fundraiser, he has hopes that we can get some sponsorship. Specifically, he hopes he may be able to persuade an airline to pick up our airfare expenses and perhaps a hotel chain to take care of our accommodations. Meanwhile, I have already queried Rum Bum, who I write for regularly, about sponsoring us in some way, too. Maybe they could pay for some or all of our gas.

So I have no idea whether any of this will come about. We just got started talking about this two days ago. And without sponsors there is no way I can manage it. But oh man, if Dan can pull it off and line up sponsors to defray at least a major portion of our expenses . . .

Alaska. I have never been to Alaska, and it’s the only state I haven’t been to. I really, really want to go. And the opportunity to ride a motorcycle up there. Wow, have I died and gone to heaven? But I’ll try not to get my hopes up too high just yet. One thing for sure: You’ll be hearing about it here if this things comes off. I’m crossing my fingers.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
April 16 set for public opening of Motorcyclepedia Museum

Biker Quote for Today

Dual sport & adventure riding is cheaper than therapy

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Posted in motorcycle touring | 2 Comments »

Trip to Arizona Bike Week Was Mixed

April 7th, 2011

Me on a Kawasaki Vaquero, with computer-generated background

I put 2,143 miles on my Concours in 10 days going down to Arizona Bike Week, in Scottsdale, and the Overland Expo, in Amado, and there were parts that exceeded my expectations and others that fell short. It’s always that way, isn’t it?

It was some hard riding. Three of those days were in excess of 400 miles, with one of those being more than 500 miles. The weather in Arizona was blazing hot, hitting 100 some days. Nights were just as balmy as could be. If I lived in Arizona I think I’d sleep all day and be up and about all night. (That photo above is of me in the Kawasaki tent in Scottsdale, courtesy of computer simulation.)

While a large part of my riding was interstate, there were a couple stretches on the two-lane that were really good. Those would be the run from Holbrook, AZ, down to Scottsdale, which went through some forested mountains, and the route from Lordsburg, NM, over to I-25 a little south of Truth or Consequences. That last road seems to me to compete with the Tail of the Dragon for curves. I definitely recommend it.

Arizona Bike Week itself was a bit of a disappointment. There was little going on during the day, when it was blazing hot, and at night it depended on what group was playing in the party tent. The nights that Skid Row and Heart played there were a lot of people. The other nights were pretty slim. My conclusion is that this rally is primarily a local event that is primarily of interest to folks nearby who drop in for an evening.

Of considerably more interest was the Overland Expo down in Amado. This expo is for people who want to go adventure touring, whether on two wheels or four, and there were some amazing people in attendance. Ted Simon, who wrote Jupiter’s Travels, was there, as was Lois Pryce, who is well known for her travels as reported in Lois on the Loose and Red Tape and White Knuckles.

It was fascinating to see all the specialized gear–not to mention the incredible vehicles–that the vendors brought to show. It was also very interesting to speak with the organizers, Roseann and Jonathan Hanson, about their vision for the expo. I’ll have more on them and the expo later.

In truth, I had never seen all that much of Arizona before, so it was great to see so much of it now. Arizona has its own sort of very real beauty, but I have to say, I was glad to get into New Mexico where the beauty is less harsh. I could live in New Mexico but I don’t think I’d ever want to live in Arizona.

Most of all, though, the trip was a chance to escape the winter doldrums. It was, after all, the first bike trip of the year. It got me out of my day to day routine and away from this computer. The writing I do for a living is mostly about my motorcycling experiences in one way or another, and now I have a lot of new experiences to write about. I’d say that counts as a successful trip.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Arizona Bike Week builds up slowly (with photos)

Biker Quote for Today

Ahhh…the sound of a bike far off in the distance, late on a clear evening, calls to me, saying rise up and catch the wind under the moonlight’s embrace.

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Posted in motorcycle events, motorcycle touring | No Comments »

I Just Don’t Want to Do That

April 4th, 2011

Overland Expo 2011

Some people do amazing things on motorcycles. You know, like go around the world, or ride from Alaska to the tip of South America. Serious adventure riding. To them I say, more power to you! Go for it! Just don’t ask me to come along.

I’ve been down in Amado, AZ, at the third annual Overland Expo, which is for folks who do like to do those sorts of things. (That picture above is in the motorcycle “corral” at the expo.) Some of the people there are those folks who we’ve all heard of for their renowned exploits. There was Ted Simon, who wrote the book Jupiter’s Travels about his four-year ride around the world in the 1970s, back before this kind of thing got popular. Lois Pryce was there, the author of Lois on the Loose, about her ride from Alaska to Argentina. And others.

I sat in on Ted’s and Lois’s presentations and what they did is truly amazing. Awe-inspiring. Incredible. They showed pictures and talked about the extreme troubles they overcame, as well as the extreme joys they experienced, and I came away from it all with the very definite thought in my mind that I just don’t want to do that. I don’t want to subject myself to the incredible hardships they faced. I don’t want to spend hours and days wrestling overloaded motorcycles through mud up to the seat. I don’t want to end up in jail in some foreign country. I’m sorry, you’re just going to have to count me out.

The whole basis of the Overland Expo is to bring people together, people who have done these things and people who would like to do these things. To inspire people to just make up their mind and do it. And it’s not just this kind of extreme adventuring. Maybe you just want to ride through Mexico but don’t know how to go about planning and preparing. That’s the kind of thing you’ll get out of Overland Expo. And that’s the sort of thing I could get into. Just because Ben Slavins quit his job to take six months and ride from New Hampshire to Ushuaia, Argentina, doesn’t mean you have to quit your job to go adventuring, or overlanding as the activity is called.

Actually, the way I see it, I was out overlanding myself this last 10 days. I packed up the bike and took off for places I’d never been before, met new people, saw new sights, learned a whole bunch, and had a great time. It’s not Ted Simon extreme, but it’s really just the level of the adventure. I’m not at his level and I don’t want to be. But it was still an adventure. And I’ll do it again. You should, too. You know, quit dreaming and just do it.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Arizona Bike Week comes to life, with photos

Biker Quote for Today

If you can’t pick it up by yourself, it is not an adventure bike.

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Getting a Feel for the Rhythm of Rallies

April 1st, 2011

Sunset at Arizona Bike Week

I’ve been to enough motorcycle rallies now that I’m getting to have a feel for their ebb and flow. They’ll say they start on one date but there’s a whole lot of activity in the days leading up to the first day, and then on the first day there’s kind of a let-down. You look for the crowds to come flocking in but they don’t. Basically they start with a rumble, not a roar, and then that rumble builds and gets louder. Literally.

So I got down here to Scottsdale for Arizona Bike Week on Monday, while the actual rally started yesterday, Wednesday. (This photo is sunset over West World, where the rally is held.) That was a good plan because I’m camping and I figured if there were any choice spots with shade that those spots would be taken first. I wanted to be one of the takers. Turned out there is one big tree in the middle of this detention pond area and I was the fourth tent, taking the last prime spot.

It is a detention pond, by the way. It’s green and grassy, but if we had a heavy rainfall we could all drown.

So Bike Week opened yesterday but it was still pretty quiet around here until about 6 p.m. That’s when the bikes started pouring in the gate. That probably had partly to do with the fact that the Miss Arizona Bike Week Pageant began at 6 and partly because it was locals who had gotten off work and had now ridden over to check out the rally and catch the performance by Skid Row. Not a lot of people with gear packed on their bikes.

That’s the other thing I’m coming to see. Rallies seem to divide into two classes. You have the big ones that take over a town, like Sturgis or Daytona, where there’s no fee or anything, you just show up. Then there are the ones like Arizona Bike Week where all the action is within an enclosed space and you have to pay to get it. The Sturgises and Daytonas are definitely the most interesting.

Doesn’t matter. I’m here, I’m actually able to relax a lot more than I normally do at these things, and it’s a hugely welcome relief from the day to day routine imposed by winter. Plus, it’s great riding weather.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Arizona Bike Week begins with a rumble, with photos

Biker Quote for Today

“The idea of putting a jet engine on a motorcycle is so stupid it appeals to me.” – Jay Leno

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Cold Start to A Long Ride

March 29th, 2011

Concours in New MexicoThe weather allowed me to ride to Scottsdale for Arizona Bike Week. Barely.

Sunday morning dawned warm and sunny–the weather gods were smiling. Apparently they were smiling because they knew the trick they were playing on me.

After writing about how I hoped I could keep my hands warm on this trip I got an email from Mike Landon suggesting that I get some of those thin, neoprene gloves that doctors and dentists use, and wear them under my regular motorcycle gloves. Like a “second skin” he said.

I also found that the glove liners I use for skiing would fit inside my motorcycle gloves–which themselves are Thinsulate-lined–so I had hopes that one or the other approach would suffice. Then for insurance I went to a sporting goods store and bought some chemical handwarmers to tuck inside the gloves if need be.

Always eager to experiment, I left home with one glove liner on, one mylar glove on, and not using the handwarmers for now. Twenty miles later, at Castle Rock, it was clear my fingers were getting cold on both hands equally. Then I hit nasty weather going over the Palmer Divide, with fog and light mist. Cars coming the other way had snow on them. Yikes!

I got to the south end of Colorado Springs and had to stop. My hands were in serious pain. While nursing my hot chocolate and getting warm at a convenience store I asked everyone who came in what they knew about the weather further south. The consensus was that I should be OK heading that direction. And when I was ready to leave I slipped a couple of those chemical handwarmers in my gloves, using both glove liners this time.

My take on using the mylar gloves is that they really did seem to do as well as the glove liners, which definitely counts. The ladies at my dentist’s office who had given them to me had mentioned that as your hands sweated the moisture would collect inside them and they were right, so I figured that since I had the glove liners it would be better to use them. Without the liners I would definitely have used the mylar gloves and been glad to have them.

The weather did improve as I continued south and my hands stayed comfortably warm. It must have been pretty cold as the pads never did feel particularly warm. Apparently every bit of heat they were giving off was needed. Stopping later and putting my gloves back on they seemed quite warm.

I paid $1.49 a pair for these chemical warmers at a sporting goods store but I’m told you can get them in bulk at WalMart for 50 cents a pair. And they’re supposed to be good for 7 hours of heat but after 9 hours these were still pumping it out. In other words, I will always have some of these tucked in my tank bag from now on. They’re a lifesaver.

So to make a long story short, I rode 530 miles Sunday to Grants, NM, and then on to Scottsdale the next day. That photo is of my bike at a rest stop along the highway in New Mexico. I’m ready for Bike Week to get revved up but right now I’m at a local Kawasaki dealership. Seems those tires I thought had enough rubber on them to get me here and home again were only up for half of that ride.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
I’m here for the party–where is it?

Biker Quote for Today

“Adventure” is “Trouble” in the past tense.

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Posted in Motorcycle Gear, motorcycle touring | 1 Comment »

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