Archive for May, 2010

Summers can be harsh, here in Tucson. I know more than a few riders who see 2 riding seasons here. One is from March to May and the other is from September to mid-November. They see it as too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer. A friend of mine from Missouri said this about riding through Arizona one summer: “It’s like riding in a blast furnace.” Put our low humidity along with the force of the wind on you when you are riding 50-60mph and he is about right.

So, if you are going to ride in the summer, please ride prepared:

• Keep yourself hydrated. Don’t just add an extra glass or two as you leave the house. Drink something at every stop. When you get home, rehydrate. How do you know when you’ve had enough? Your urine should be a pale yellow, not dark yellow or orange. ( Sorry, that’s my nurse showing.)
• Dress appropriately. If you wear armor, get mesh or something that breathes well for summer use.
• Keep your cool. If you were at this year’s rally, one of the items in your rally bag was a “cool tie.” If you are out in the heat for long periods, this thing can literally save your life. Hydrate it and wear it as you ride. The other thing you can do is to periodically, pour some water down your neck, enough to go into your shirt. As the water evaporates, it will cool you.
• Timing. When possible, do your riding early in the morning, or in the evening after it begins to cool off a bit.
• Prepare. If you are riding out of town, make sure you have extra water on board. Some folks like to wear “camel-backs.” What ever it takes, but have some water with you.
• Protect. Carry some sunscreen with you, especially if you are riding out of town or if you will be at an event for a couple of hour. Nothing says “ouch!” quite like pulling a riding jacket on over a sunburn.
• Maintain. Make sure everything on your scooter is in good running order. Tires, brakes, cooling system (if you have one) all need regular maintenance.
• Routes. You might want to change your usual riding route and take advantage of residential streets that have some shade from trees.

Riding in the heat of summer can certainly be uncomfortable, but it doesn’t have to keep you off the road. Being stopped in traffic can be particularly hot, especially if you get caught be behind a bus.

Be careful, but enjoy the ride. Even if it’s hot, it’s still better than being trapped in a “cage.”

Howard

Well, the 2010, May Day Rally, is over. There are still pics to be posted and an after action meeting to be done.  In a few months, we’ll start working toward next year’s rally. Actually, we’ve already started some early planning on it.

Gathering at Scoot Over

Friday, there was a ride, followed by the Meet and Greet at Scoot Over. That’s where everyone picked up their rally packs as well.

Rally goers at Monkey Burger

After meeting and greeting, we went down Broadway to Monkey Burger. Their burgers are excellent and the owner, Roy, is very scooter friendly.

At Something Sweet, dessert lounge

After eating and visiting, we had a night ride through the Catalina Foothills, then back into town to Something Sweet, dessert lounge.

The long ride.

Saturday morning,  we met up, had breakfast, provided by Scoot Over and Crave Coffee house and hit the road. There was a long and a short ride.

The long ride was about 85 miles and made a stop at San Xavier Mission before going out to Vespa of Marana for the gymkhana.

San Xavier Mission is a beautiful place. It’s a great ride destination. There are usually vendors selling Indian fry bread and this place is phenomenal for photos.

Inside San Javier Mission

The long ride was about 85 miles and ended at Harley-Davidson / Vespa of Marana, our host for the gymkhana, lunch, slow drags, the concourse and, or course, the raffle.

Scooters parked at Harley-Davidson

We had 25 or 26 scooters turn out in Marana. Not bad for a rally’s inaugural year. Everyone seems to have a good time. One thing that was somewhat unusual for a lot of scooter rallies is that 40% of our participants were women. I’m glad to have done a rally where we had a wide variety of people and scooter who showed up.

Rebecca in the slalom

The gymkhana was what I had been looking forward to since we first start putting the rally together. Actually, it was the reason we put the rally together. I was in charge of the over-all design of the gymkhana course. I watched lots of scooter gymkhana videos on YouTube. Actually, the videos that were the most help, were police motorcycle rodeo videos. Because we have so many riders who are relatively new to riding, I wanted to keep the course simple, make it mostly skill-related, and avoid most of the crazier things I’ve seen done at some gymkhanas.

Vespa negotiating the Spiral of Doom

So, there were two slaloms, set up just like the riders test at the AZ DMV, i.e. cones 12 feet apart and 2 feet off center. Then there was a keyhole, followed by a figure “8.” The next obstacle was suggested by Bob, one of the H-D employees. There was one bottle at each end of a long table. The rider had to pull a straw from the first, then place it into the second, without stopping or dabbing a foot to the ground.

Sean on the teeter-totter. Wheee!

The straws were followed by the teeter-totter. It was 12 feet long and was about 2 feet tall at the center point. It was pretty intimidating. I had never done one before and it was a lot of fun. Because of the potential risk, only experienced riders were allowed to attempt it. Three riders did it, no crashes, yay!

Quilt Raffle winner, Jim!

After the gymkhana, was the raffle. Jim Shanks, from Kansas City, cleaned up. I think he won either six, or seven items, including our grand prize, the scooter quilt. He is quite photogenic, don’t you think?

Freezing on butts off

Sunday’s main event was the ride up Mt Lemmon. It is one of the county’s best motorcycle rides. In May, it should have been hot in Tucson and mild on the mountain. As it turned out, it was 65 in Tucson and 35 degrees and windy at the top. We were also surprised to find that there was still snow at the top!

Snow? In May?

We didn’t stay too long. The ride down was done individually. It’s a steep mountain road and everyone has differing skill levels and comfort levels on this type of road. We met up at the bottom and had coffee at LeBuzz, coffee shop. It was a slightly anticlimactic end to the rally. Our un-official photographers did get some great action pics of each riders going both up and down the mountain. I’ll post some of those when I get the chance.