Passes & Canyons Blog

I wrote here about my trip to Arizona Bike Week when it happened, but looking at what I wrote I see that what I put up on Examiner was quite different. That makes sense since it would be boring to write essentially the same thing a second time. So here’s what you didn’t read previously.

A rest stop in New Mexico on my way to Arizona Bike Week.

The Pre-Rally is already in full swing but Arizona Bike Week itself doesn’t start until Wednesday. I’m en route and will be there tomorrow, Monday. I’m happy to be able to say that because it wasn’t a sure thing earlier today.

The weather gods seemed to be smiling on me this morning in Denver, with temperatures higher than they had been in a week and clear, sunny skies. I climbed aboard my Kawasaki Concours and took off with my only concern being whether I could keep my hands warm.

That particular question was starting to feel a lot more important by the time I got to Castle Rock, just 20 miles from home down I-25. My finger-tips were very cold but I didn’t have a lot of time to think about them because as I climbed toward the Palmer Divide I noticed that about half the cars coming the other way had snow on them. Then the highway started looking suspiciously wet and I wondered if that moisture was in liquid or solid form.

Then came the fog. I got over the divide and started the descent toward Colorado Springs and it was pea soup. To say that the warm, welcome sun I started out with was nowhere to be seen is an understatement. I tucked in behind a pick-up pulling a trailer that was going about 40 and just crept along. And I was getting a lot colder.

Of course I had my electric vest on, as well as my warmest longjohns and a bunch of other warm clothes. If not for the vest I would have turned back. No way would I ride on in that cold without that warmth. But by the time I got to the south end of Colorado Springs my fingers were screaming in pain from the cold and I pulled off to get a cup of hot cocoa at a convenience store.

With my freezing hands wrapped around the hot cup of cocoa, I questioned people coming in the store as to whether they knew how the weather was on south. No one knew for sure but the presumption was that it should be warmer heading toward Pueblo. I asked a guy where he was coming from that he had snow on his car and he said, “My house. Right here in the neighborhood. We had snow this morning, but I think it’s all done for now.”

With my hands warm again I got back on the bike and pressed on. Sure enough, the farther south I got the warmer it got. It was a little chilly going over Raton Pass but by the time I reached Santa Fe I switched the vest off because it was getting too hot.

Meanwhile, about the time I reached Walsenburg, before reaching the pass, I got hit by the first blast of the powerful crosswinds I was destined to contend with for the next several hours. Almost all the way to Albuquerque the winds played their cat and mouse game, easing off when the road dipped beneath the general landscape and blasting me as soon as I came out in the open again. I’d pass a truck on the downwind side and have to stand the bike up quickly to keep from steering right into it, and as soon as I would pull ahead the wind would blast me toward the median. I took to diving back into the right-hand lane as soon as I got ahead of the truck because while that’s exactly what happened most of the time, other times the blast hit me so hard that if I hadn’t already been leaned in like that it would blow me off the road.

At Albuquerque I turned west on I-40, so now at least, any westerly wind would be blowing in my face rather than from the side. I pressed on to Grants and considered continuing to Gallup. But the sun was at that point where if I had, it would have been setting and I would have been riding right into it the last part of that leg. I opted for Grants. That’s about 530 miles of the 850 from home to Scottsdale, where I’m headed. Another 320 miles tomorrow won’t be bad. Plus, I get to leave the interstate at Holbrook and the last 140 miles will be on two-lane through some mountains I’ve never seen before.

So all right! First bike trip of the year. Yee hah!

Biker Quote for Today

Riding fast is one thing, riding in a hurry is a completely different thing. Never ride in a hurry.

It didn’t earn me anything except gratification, but Cycle Source magazine just published one of my photos. That image above is what I sent them and the way it was cropped and adjusted can be seen below. As you can see, it was a horizontal shot that they made into a vertical, plus they rotated it a bit to give the rider more of an angle. All good design techniques.

This whole thing came about because Tim Bussey, one of their staff writers, was covering Arizona Bike Week but had trouble with his camera. He found my pictures on Examiner.com and contacted me to ask if he could use some with his story. I said yes and sent him several. This one shot is the only one they used.

I like that they used this shot. I selected it to send to them because the guy is wearing a Big Dog Motorcycles T-shirt and I presume he’s riding a Big Dog. Of course, Big Dog went into bankruptcy very shortly after the rally.

So it may not be as big a deal as getting one of my photos published in Rider magazine but it’s still cool. Buzzy sent me a couple copies of the issue and I’ll stash them away for posterity. Now if only Rider will publish that story of mine they’ve been sitting on for seems-like-forever!

Biker Quote for Today

Any day spent riding motorcycles is a great day.

I mentioned last week in a post entitled “Prying New Doors Open” that I had made a connection with the editor of Kawasaki’s Accelerate magazine, and that I had sent her one story on spec and a proposal for another. Well, I got a reply a few minutes ago and she declined the story I sent her but did say, “I hope you will stay in contact and feel free to run additional story ideas by me. I’m sure we can come up with something for you to work on in the future.”

That sounds pretty darn good to me. You can bet I’ll be sending story ideas.

So anyway, I did this piece that she wasn’t interested in and rather than let it go to waste, I’m going to run it here. Here you go.

My Ticket to Ride with the Vulcan Nation

Kawasaki rolled into Scottsdale, as did I, and we both had the same destination in mind: Arizona Bike Week. Team Green had the jump on me, so when I rolled up the tents were in place and all those shiny new motorcycles were parked haphazardly, awaiting set-up completion. I especially took note of three Concours 14s and promised myself to get better acquainted with at least one of them.

My ’99 Concours and I came down from Denver in two days of fairly hard riding. We were ready for some R&R. Connie was headed over to GOAZ’s Kawasaki dealership for new tires. I was happy to find one tent site remaining in the shade of the one big tree in the camping area at WestWorld, the huge Scottsdale events complex where Bike Week is held. Nothing much to do but relax for a couple days until the rally opened.

Camping just down the hill from the demo area, I was first in line when registration for demo rides opened, and for my first ride I selected the C-14. I inquired about the differences between the Ninja 1000 and the Ninja ZX-10R. “Night and day,” I was told. “What kind of riding do you do?” I’m primarily a touring rider. “Then you really ought to try the Ninja 1000.” OK, sign me up. That will be my second ride.

“Have you ridden the new Vaquero 1700? We’ve got almost a dozen of those and it’s our top-of-the-line cruiser.” No, I haven’t. Let’s make that number three.

With my ride tickets in my pocket and a stamp on my hand I had a little time. Nice of these Kawasaki folks to provide coffee, cold beverages, fruit, and munchies for us. I partook.

Soon the call was given to assemble for the pre-ride briefing. It was the usual spiel, don’t pass, no sling-shotting, etc., but also a heads-up about filling out a form to get $250 back on any Kawasaki purchased in the next month. And be sure to get a ticket from your ride leader for a free T-shirt, please do the survey, and afterward, go get your picture taken on that Vaquero back by the blue screen.

Throwing my leg over the Concours 14 I was struck, as I had been other times I had looked at them, by the seemingly massive size of the machine. With its 7.5-gallon gas tank way up high, my own Concours is pretty top heavy, but it handles well at speed. How was this one going to handle?

We took off and my answer came right away: Like a dream. We got out on the road and I was right behind the ride leader. He would take off like a rocket and so would I. He’d go swooping around curves and I was right there with him. We wrung those machines out and I got an excellent taste of the C-14’s abilities. Upon our return, as I dismounted, the only thing I could say was, “I love this bike!”

I rode the other two and over the next few days I rode several more bikes but my fascination was with the Concours 14. I did like the upright riding position of the Ninja 1000 far more than I’ve liked other sportbikes, plus, the power was awesome. And the Vaquero is a terrific “we’ve got it all” cruiser, but I’m just not a cruiser kind of guy. (Although that Vaquero T-shirt I got is very cool–one I will actually wear.)

What I especially appreciated was the opportunity I had in one place to try so many different Kawis. I have a second bike, a 30-year-old standard, and for years I told myself that whenever it retired I would replace it with a ZRX1200R. But Kawasaki stopped producing that bike awhile ago and I haven’t settled on anything else. I’ve started doing some dual-sporting so the KLR650 and the Versys are both of interest to me, and now I’ll add the Ninja 1000 to the list of possibilities. I got to ride them all at Arizona Bike Week.

It was my good fortune that both the Ticket to Ride tour and the Vulcan Nation tour were together there in Scottsdale, because they would be going their separate ways when they left. Sue Slate, one of the ride leaders, told me they had the complete Kawasaki line-up on hand and they loved to give rides. In the Kawasaki tent it was the practice, if a ride was preparing to leave and there were bikes unclaimed, to announce that “If you’ve got a helmet and a stamp on your hand, climb on any available bike and go.” That’s a marked contrast to other brands offering demo rides in that one of them limited each rider to no more than two rides a day, while another wanted $50 to let you demo their bikes.

So the rally ended and, with good new rubber on my ’99 Connie, we headed home. She’s still got a lot of miles in her so I won’t be doing any trading any time soon, but this trip settled one question for certain. I know now what my next touring motorcycle will be.

Biker Quote for Today

I can tell better stories when I ride alone, but I have better time when I ride with friends.

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.

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

The 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.

Each year I plot out where I’m going to go, which motorcycle rallies I’m planning to hit, what trips I’m going to take. This year I got lucky when I learned one trip can do double duty.

In a little over two weeks I’m going to be heading down to Scottsdale, AZ, for Arizona Bike Week. Of course that’s providing that Ma Nature lets me. Last year when I went to the Laughlin River Run, in Laughlin, NV, I didn’t actually know if I’d be able to go until the night before I planned to leave. The weather cooperated, I had a great trip, and it snowed the day after I got home.

I’ll be heading further south this time so that should help, but a blizzard on departure day will still require a change in plans. Fingers crossed.

So anyway, here I had my plans made for Scottsdale and I discovered that another event, the Overland Expo, will be taking place in Amado, AZ, on the last three days of Arizona Bike Week, April 1-3. Amado is a tiny burg a little south of Tucson. The Overland Expo is a gathering for two-wheelers and four-wheelers who are into adventure touring. A lot of the sessions and classes are how-tos on adventure touring. Sounds very interesting.

Not that I’m planning on going adventure touring. I followed Alisa Clickenger, aka MotoAdventureGal, on her ride through Central and South America about a year ago and I concluded that that’s just not something I want to do. But I still find it extremely interesting and I have no doubt it will provide some great topics to write about.

So great. I’ll go down to Arizona Bike Week as early as possible, stay there most of the week, and then on Saturday go down to Amado for the last day or so of Overland Expo. That could actually benefit me on my return trip because from Tucson I’ll be able to take Interstate 10, a more southerly route, back east as far as the center of New Mexico, and then head north on I-25.

I don’t normally care to ride the interstates but in this case I have a lot of distance to cover. Plus, I figure if there is weather to contend with, the interstates should be in the best shape of any road. As I say, fingers crossed.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
More Daytona Bike Week in words and photos

Biker Quote for Today

Adventure is just bad planning. — Roald Amundsen