Get your motor runnin'... Ride Log - 20 April 2009

...Get out on the highway.... Yes! Spring is back this week, at least through Thursday. It's almost warm enough in the mornings that I don't need any insulative gear. I'm down to just an extra sweatshirt under my jacket. The afternoons are almost starting to feel hot. For some reason there seem to be more cars on the road too. Traffic on the way home was pretty bad with lots of stop and go and an unusually large number of rear-enders. I don't want to be one of them.

A few of the guys at work are starting to talk about going out riding at lunchtime. I look foward to it. In a previous post (April 1) I reviewed a couple motorcycle sites that have good motorcycle route reviews. However, my favorite site is CanyonChasers. It is run by a group out of Salt Lake. Their lead is a guy named Dave who is a certified MSF instructor and teaches the Utah Riders courses and advanced riding courses out at Miller Motorsports Park. He was actually my teacher in the course I took. He is a very good rider, instructor and all-around nice guy. Anyway, CanyonChasers has a really nice set of "Treasure Maps" that locates and reviews a number of canyon rides from Alaska to Southern Utah! I really like their reviews because they are enjoyable to read as well as informative. They also have a really nice two-part rating system. They rate the technical difficulty of the road (1-5, easy - technical) as well as the quality of the road (A - F, excellent to poor). This gives me a good idea which roads I might try first based on my skill level and experience. The also have equipment reviews and stuff. It's a great site. Check it out.

...Looking for adventure...and whatever comes our way....

(Conditions - Time: 8:30am; Temp: Hi - ~67F, Lo - 43F; wind: 5 mph SE; Conditions: Clear, dry, sunny. Music: Collective Soul, Dosage; Clothing: Jacket with liner, Sweater, light gloves, leather chaps and Helmut.)