Hello world!

Ahhhhh…my new blog. Well, think of it more of a continuation of my old blog and not just a completely new one. This one will allow me to handle more topics than my motorcycle centric on and will allow me to change bikes (should I ever want to) without being brand specific.

james

Bryce Canyon, Zion, then homeward bound

Sunday was going to be a long day. Over 700 miles and we planned on hitting Bryce and Zion National Parks. I rode back with Steve who from here in San Diego. In fact he lives in North Park so we are almost neighbors! Our goal was to hit both national parks then figure out after Zion our return route. We could either take all back roads or a combination of back roads and highway. We could also just slab it the whole way but that is never really an option.

We left bright and early (6am) and headed over the summit and had breakfast at a little place in Escalante. I can’t tell if they were trying to be charming or not but the menu included a little item called “housewives goal” which was cottage cheese and fruit. That kinda stuff only goes over in these small towns out in BFE. The food was just ok which sucks because I am not a breakfast person. Which means if I get up early for breakfast I want to enjoy it. Oh well.

We got to Bryce before the crowd and this is a sample of what we encountered:

I would love to go back to Bryce sometime and hike around. There are a ton of trails that go through the formations and it just looks really cool. It is getting too hot now but in the spring or fall the area would be great!

Our next stop was Zion. I really didn’t get too far within the park though. The one bad thing about being on a schedule is that you don’t get to fully enjoy the parks that you visit. But, what I saw was gorgeous albeit a bit on the warm side. Here are some pictures from Zion:

There is a really long tunnel that goes through the rock face. In the tunnel they have created “windows” which is what you see below. The irony is that you can’t stop in the tunnel and therefore cannot really enjoy them.

After leaving the park we slabbed it on the 15 through Az and Nevada. We then did the bullet run through the Mojave Preserve. What a fun little road that is! This took us eventually to the 10 then the 215 then the 15. I got home around 10ish and was exhausted!

But it was well worth it. Over the course of the weekend I got to ride some really varied terrain and see some wonderful sights. I also went through 4 National Parks (even if it was at a rapid pace!) and saw some of our nation’s treasures. I am always amazed at the variety of terrain and geography that is available to me in a relatively small area. I can go from forest to desert in no time flat. I started at the ocean, went through the desert, rode though the mountains, through the desert, and back to the ocean. What a great ride with some great people. It really does not get much better than that!

If you are interested in seeing the rest of the pics from the trip they can be found here.

james

Motorcycles, danger, and me.

There has been a lot of discussion on my local DOCSD board regarding what is perceived as a rash of accidents and injuries lately and I have done a lot of thinking on this subject from the perspective of someone who does not view motorcycles are inherently dangerous.

A lot of folks posted up how they don’t like to ride in the canyons anymore, some folks went so far as to say that they are going to ride only on the track. Some of the forum members talked about how tragic it all is and just how many accidents were occurring. I took the opposite approach and posted up that I love riding on the streets and don’t feel that they are necessarily dangerous and that there are a number of things that we can do to make ourselves safer.

Because there are so many variables with each individual rider and each individual piece of road it is hard for me to lump all of these crashes together. I can’t just agree with the statement that “motorcycles are dangerous” or “it is dangerous to ride in the canyons”. There has to be something in common with all of these crashes apart from location, bike type, etc. It can’t be simply that riding a motorcycle is dangerous anymore than breathing is dangerous. I would argue that the motorcycle is not what is unsafe. It is the operator who is potentially unsafe. If it were motorcycles then we would expect to see a much higher rate of crashing. But there are plenty of riders on the road who have gone years without crashing. So why is that?

As a statistics and six sigma guy I tend to look at the world as a series of processes and defects. Riding a motorcycle might not be a strict set of processes in the same manner that building a car is but it is still a number of steps that get completed to accomplish some task. Negotiating a corner on a motorcycle is not just some random act. It is a series of steps that get done. Some of these are done sequentially and some are done simultaneously. We can also skip steps but that is where defects tend to occur (for example, one of the steps might be to judge your corner speed. If that step is skipped it could result in you being too fast to take the turn). In the case of turning a motorcycle a defect could be anything that keeps you from successfully negotiating the turn. I could also make a good argument that anything that forces you to change your path mid-turn is also a defect. For that matter so would using your brakes. You can see where I am going with this and there are a lot of opportunities to create an error. Some of these could be more serious than others but that becomes a book in and of itself. In an perfect turn you (1) identify the turn and gather reference points; (2) change your speed accordingly to allow you to negotiate the turn; (3) initiate the turn; (4) accelerate through the turn; (5) complete the turn. This is really, really oversimplifying the process but that is the general idea. At least that is the general idea on a high level. The details of these steps (i.e. when to brake, what the proper turn entry speed is, etc) is different for each road, rider, turn, etc. As you might imagine there are a lot of opportunities for mistakes to be made.

I also believe that there are more factors at play here than we are realizing. If the processes were that straight forward then we would just need to invent a bike that does those things for you. Experience, willingness to take risks (deviate from the established process boundaries), observation skill (do I need to alter my normal process because of some unknown variables?), etc all have an impact on accident rate. But most statistics don’t look at those factors. They look at horsepower, engine displacement, helmet usage, and other factors that don’t necessarily help solve the root cause of the accident. My point is that it is much more important to have good observation skills than it is to ride a low horsepower motorcycle so I believe that the safety guru’s are going after the wrong potential root cause. Now experience also comes into play alongside the variable of observation skills. A more experienced rider has the potential for having much stronger observation skills than a new rider. That is not necessarily true but I would imagine it is more often than not. The amount of training someone has had will also play a factor in accident rate. Maybe not just because of the training but because of the attitude that goes alongside a willingness to learn more and improve your skill. If someone is willing to look at their riding style with a critical eye and learn from it then they will probably be less likely to make a mistake while riding. I say this because most people who go to schools will then take the time to think about those skills and think about how they can improve their lines, their entry speed, etc. Those who think that they don’t need to learn anything more or that riding a motorcycle requires no special skill are probably pretty apt to make mistakes. I would bet that a common cause in many of these accidents is some combination of the above.

What is the answer? I don’t know. I would say more training but forced training never really seems to impact people. If you are paying for it and are willing to go on your own accord then I would imagine you would get much more out of it. Some people are just not analytical and don’t want to improve their riding. Is the answer tiered licensing? Maybe, but I doubt very much that you will get that new 40something rider who wants to get a big cruiser onto a learner bike. Yeah, you can get those 16 – 18 yo’s but this is about it. Maybe the solution is to just accept that we are going to have crashes on bikes just like we are going to have car crashes. Maybe we cannot change people into thinking a certain way. Maybe we just have to let people be responsible for their own decisions.

As for me I will keep doing track days, riding on the streets, and going to schools for as long I can still ride.

Palms to Pines

This weekend I took a pretty long ride north to Palm Desert. I went as part of a group ride but did not actually lead it. I lead a lot of group rides and it was nice to take a break and just being the guy in the back. I specifically wanted to be behind everyone so I could take some photos. I did take more than I normally would have but still did not take that many (but that is another story).

We took Old Julian Hwy to Santa Ysabel then took 79. I tried my hand at taking moving shots (I know, I know, be careful James!).

I took this self portrait:

Instead of going directly to 371 we took Sage Road and Wilson Ranch Road. What a great pair of roads! We did have a pair of casualties early on those roads but both parties were sore but in good physical shape overall. Their bikes were damaged but ridable so they left us and headed back to San Diego to hit GP before they closed.

This sign was at the start of Sage Road:

It is always nice to see a sign like that one! Great roads. They were really tight and technical which means nice and challenging. I like really like the tight stuff especially on the Multi.

Finally we got to Hwy 74 (also known as Palms to Pines). I have never been on the road going eastbound and was not sure what to expect. Well, I was amazed. The road was like a racetrack. I swear that it must have been designed by a rider or at least a car enthusiast. Take a look at these curves:

What a FUN road to be on. Gotta tell you that I was a little nervous though with the guard rail and the cliffs. I rode pretty hard but still had some in reserve “just in case” (which is the way you should ride anyway).

It is nice to be out there riding again. I took a month or so off because of weather and just being busy and I forgot just how much I enjoy it and even how much I really need it.

Our windy Mexico ride

Every year I take some of our members down to Puerto Nuevo, Mexico for some lobster and fun riding. This year we did the ride on Sunday, March 4th. The weather was warm but it was unbelievably windy. Now, it did not start out windy but by the time we hit Tecate is sure was. Windy enough to make a few folks turn around. Luckily it was folks on Japanese bikes who turned around and not Duc riders (whew…I was worried about that!).

This was our route:

I really like the route because it takes us through wine country and gets us through some pretty open terrain. Typically the roads are pretty good. There was a bit of debris on them simply because of the wind but it was not bad overall. The wind was blowing pretty hard but not enough to keep us going. I think the thought of good lobster made everyone more adventurous.

This was half of the bikes that went. I need to get a camera that can take a larger panoramic view:

We stopped in Tecate just on the US side for gas:

Yeah, it was really windy there. The sign had been horizontal with the ground but in this shot you can’t tell.

This is our group just after a toll booth. There are three that we have to go through. The toll is kinda steep ($2.63 per vehicle) considering that you are only traveling a few miles each time. But the free road is pretty rough so it is worth it.

Lunchtime!

My buddy Jeff and his brother. Yup, we let all types of bikes come on our rides.

I would have taken more pics but it is hard to lead a group ride. I am always nervous when we have to stop as you never know what those behind you are going to do.

Well, my next post will be pics of our new house. Now that things are slowing down a bit at home I should have a little more time to ride and blog.

748 in its natural habitat…the track!

I recently took my “new” bike to the track. The day started off really rough for me though. The bike just did not handle well at all and was very much less than confidence inspiring. I ended up taking it to Dave Moss from Catalyst Reaction Suspension Tuning who came out to our track day. WOW! That is all that I can say. Dave just did an amazing job of setting the bike up and getting the suspension right. I could not believe the difference that it made in my riding and my confidence in the bike.

Enough talk…here are some pics. My body positioning still sucks though. I really need more track time and some more schooling to help me with that.

DOCSD Track Day #2

Took the 748 to the track yesterday and had a great time. We were at The Streets of Willow for this track day which is a much tighter and more technical track than the big track. The 748 did really well although it took some time for both me and my bike to get dialed in. My suspension really needed setting up and I went to Dave from Catalyst who was available. For $20 he sets the sag, rebound, and compression. The rear was really off of where it should be and setting the sag made a big difference for me. The front was pretty good but he made a couple of small rebound adjustments and everything was perfect after that.

Well, almost perfect. During the second to last session of the day my bike started to cut out. I thought that maybe I was low on fuel (although we did not get many sessions in that day) and I managed to limp it back to the pits. Once there I checked the gas and it was fine. I then tried to start her again and nothing but clicks. So, the troubleshooting is going to begin. I will take the battery in to see if it will hold a charge. If it will then that means that something else is wrong. I just ordered the Haynes manual and hopefully that will help me shed light on the problem. Thank goodness I own two bikes!

I will have pics posted in the next few days along with a possible update on my bike!

Almost track day…

Well, October is halfway over and I only have a few days until my next track day. Wow, I cannot wait! This next day is a track event that is put on by the club so it will be all Ducati’s (save for a couple of different bikes…a Triumph, couple of Aprilla’s, a Japanese bike or two). I really like our club track days because you know everyone so there is an added air of “familiy”. That makes the day even better.

I have noticed that I have been taking it easy more on the streets now that I do track days. I just don’t trust the streets like I trust a track. There are plenty of guys who haull butt on certain local roads (Palomor…the most overrated road in SoCal) but I just get nervous of all the other riders and the cars that can’t seem to stay on their side of the road.

I do love long trips on backroads though. I gotta plan a winter trip to the desert. I am really looking forward to next summer. I am going to plan a trip in May to correspond with the West Coast Regional Meet of Sport-Touring riders. I have a wedding to go to in July but it is going to be in Elko, Nv and riding through the desert just sucks. I might ride up through the Sierra’s to Reno to meet with my in-law’s then take a car to Elko. Hmmmmm…that sounds like a plan. The next weekend (approx) is MotoGP! Man-o-man…I do love living here in California!

What goes up…

Took the Multi to the track again. This time with a company called TrackXperience. The purpose of this was really twofold. The first was to get a nice track day in and the second was to try out this new (to us) track day provider for our club. Seth, Jon, Jay, Jeff, and I all attended. Jeff and Jon went to their school and the rest of us did open lapping.

Overall it was a great time. I did have a spill on the Multi though. Coming up in turn 3 I was just getting on the gas when the rear end slipped out and I slid accross the tarmac. I still don’t know exactly what happened but can tell you that leather works really, really well. I can also tell you that riding on the track is a heck of a leg workout! I was sore for several days after this day. Man, I gotta get in better shape!

Luckily Seth had brought up his 749 for me to ride too! Thanks man!!! Here are some pics that were taken of me. The first few are of the Multi (pre-crash of course) and the others are of me on the 749.

Down but not out part 2

Ahhhhh, spent a lovely day on Monday at Willow Springs. I am really beginning to like that track. It has a nice combination of sweeping turns, tight turns, and good elevation changes. Here is what it looks like:

We went to try out a new track day provider for our club. The idea was that 5 of us would go check it out. Two would be enrolled in their school, I would open lap in level 1, and two would be in the level 2 open lap sessions. If things go well then we will use these guys next year for our track days.

I took my Multi up there and also brought Seth’s 749 for me to ride. My plan was to take the Multi out for the first few laps then take the 749 out a bit later in the day. The first laps were pretty boring actually. 30 minutes of going really slow around the track playing follow the leader. It would have been OK if it were for just a few laps but for the entire 30 minutes just kinda sucks. I do much better going faster if I am going to follow someone’s lines. For me it is gaining the confidence to take a turn faster or to pick a new line. During the second session I was going pretty well overall. I was feeling strong but also felt as if I was pushing the bike a little too much. I am having a devil of a time moving around on the bike to lower the center of gravity. But, the only place I felt unstable was the “omega” which is turns 3, 4, and 5. The rest of the track felt OK to me. Well, halfway through the second session I decide to lowside on turn 3. I am not sure of what happened exactly. I was actually taking the turn pretty mildly, was not scraping parts, and was not hammering the throttle. The Multi is powerful but not that powerful. Well, one second I am looking up through the turn and the next second I hear scraping and watch my bike slide off of the track. I am getting this view as I al sliding across the track too. Now, the bike clears the track just fine but I do not have enough momentum to carry me through. All I can imagine is getting run over by the folks that I just passed! I run off the track, give the thumbs up to the corner worker so he knows I am doing alright, and move my bike out of the impact zone.

Here is the damage: