2009 Solo Ride to Colorado

For this year’s long ride I used the American Motorcycle Association’s 2009 Women’s Conference in Colorado to schedule much needed time away from Silicon Valley. Kari at CalMoto told me it was possible-but-difficult to ride from San Francisco to Keystone, Colorado in two days. Looking at MapQuest and Google maps, it looked like in order to do that you would need to a) be able to ride at night (or be willing to ride over the speed limit) and b) be nearly an Iron Butt rider – neither of which are true for me. As my eyes get older I’m less willing to ride unfamiliar roads at night, especially if I’ve been riding since sunrise. As for the Iron Butt part, if I chose the shortest and fastest route based on interstate highways, it looked like a 1500 mile one-way trip. From my Seattle experience I know that I’m catatonic after 650 miles (in one day) so with a sigh of relief I removed “hyperwarp” from my list of possibilities for this trip. Three-to-four days for each leg of the trip sounded about right – time for some two-lane roads and a time buffer sacrifice to the gods of chaos who are always present even if they don’t manifest.

People around me kept asking, “Are you riding with a group?” They seemed confused when I responded that I was riding solo. “Why are you riding by yourself?” I’ve tried several answers, but haven’t found one that satisfies people. The idea of riding solo bothers people who don’t ride solo. “Wouldn’t it be more fun to ride in a group?” “Aren’t you afraid?” The answer to the first question is easy. If you are riding in a group and you see a road that you want to try, the likelihood that the group will appreciate your going off by yourself is understandably low. The good thing about group riders is that they look out for each other. If you are fundamentally a lone wolf, group rides can be suffocating. The answer to the second question was an unequivocal, “Yes” and, I was going to ride solo anyway. The major draw to the AMA’s conference for me was the panel “Solo Riding and Touring: Gaining Confidence in Taking to the Open Road. My preparations for riding solo reek of paranoia. I was curious to hear what the panel speakers, Carla King, Sarah Shilke, and Alice Sexton would have to say.

Part 1 – The Ride from California to Colorado
Part 2 – Impressions from the AMA Women’s Conference