California -> Colorado

[needles]

Hey Y'all-

I'm originally from Georgia and have stayed about 10 years in California and am thinking it was time for a change. I've had my eyes on Colorado for a while now and was out for a visit last weekend. I loved it!

I was driving up through Boulder Canyon out to the Peak2Peak highway and was noticing it was 45 most of the way. Are the Colorado police more aggressive about speed enforcement than average? Once you're out of town here most of the time it is 55 and they tend to give you grace to at least 65 if not 70. Was curious on the culture out in the Rockies...

Also, does the dryness ever get to anyone? I was only there a few days so it's hard to tell if it was just an adjustment thing or a "that's just the way it is".

Thanks Everyone!

Dan
http://www.danradigan.com/

[WolFeYeZ]

Welcome Dan!

I grew up in northern California and have been here for around 3 years now. Colorado is by far my favorite state, topping Hawaii, Oregon and California (where I have lived). Cops here both rock and suck. They will pull you over often on peak2peak, but you can sometimes talk your way out of a ticket. They highly target motorcycles too. On the other hand, sometimes they don't even bother if you are going too fast (like last Sunday). The dryness sucks for a little, but your body adjusts. I had some odd shit from it, like getting ingrown fingernails or cracked lips from hell.

[Drama]

Hey Dan,

I've been in Los Gatos for 2 years now and I'm moving to Denver in August. You have to trade half your riding season for ski season, but its work it. Oh and just look at housing prices in Denver and you will be ready to call the movers :)

[madvlad]

Colorado OWNS! Nuff said, welcome and happy canyon hunting lol

[asp_125]

Most cops near town and along popular front range twisties can be d-bags. Further from civilization roads are better and cops fewer. Just use your head. Riding 12 months of the year is possible, even in dead of winter there are "warmish" days to make short rides possible. Layer up and get electrics if need be. You WILL miss lane splitting though.

[Slo]

Lived in GA and rode there up past highway 400, also live/grew up in CA riding mullholland and angeles crest highway.

Cops up in the mountains are harsh on sportbikes in my experience, that's what/who they are primarily after. There is no grace period of 60mph, and definitely not for 70mph. You will find quite a few canyon riders now making the switch to try out the tracks here in Colorado even recently due to this.

[tecknojoe]

I'm from Virginia. The heat here is NOTHING compared to the east. No humidity is fantastic.

Also, VA cops are STRICT. I feel that colorado is the exact opposite. It took me a while to get comfortable with all the little things that people get away with out here.

If you don't love this state, you've got issues

[madvlad]

Lived in GA and rode there up past highway 400, also live/grew up in CA riding mullholland and angeles crest highway.

Cops up in the mountains are harsh on sportbikes in my experience, that's what/who they are primarily after. There is no grace period of 60mph, and definitely not for 70mph. You will find quite a few canyon riders now making the switch to try out the tracks here in Colorado even recently due to this.

+1 on this, track is the place to do it. Controlled environment, no animals or road conditions always changing, no cops to worry about and just haul ass at the best of your abilities while improving skills at every lap taken. Look into SuperStreet races, I will be doing my first one in August at HPR. Some guys here have done the past few and they say its phenomenal. Bang for the buck and cheaper than getting a ticket or possible jail time lol

[bluedogok]

I'm from Virginia. The heat here is NOTHING compared to the east. No humidity is fantastic.
Coming from Central Texas I can say the same thing, when we were back there for our closing a couple of weeks ago it rained all day then the sun came out, 80 degrees there felt much worse than the 95 here yesterday.

[chasemr2]

I've lived here all my life, traveled most of the U.S. and never intend on leaving. Colorado has everything. You can only generalize so much regarding the culture and weather. There are nice people and there are shitty people, there is nice weather and there is shitty weather. If you don't like the people, meet and hang out with other people, if you don't like the weather, wait 5-10 minutes (There was a hurricane today, it left so I went riding, and it just now stopped hailing). Denver traffic sucks...canyon riding is unbelievable by comparison to other states. That's about it.

[asp_125]

Maybe I'm jaded but I loved the roads in the Monterey area when I was out there for MotoGP... and lane splitting. I also had fun riding in San Diego.

[Ghost]

Dryness? I just thought the other 99% of the country was at least half swamp.
When I was living in AL and NJ, I thought I was underwater, and a humid 75 was killing me way more than our 94 yesterday.

My friends with contacts tell me that the dryness here really affects how long they can wear them as compared to being in other, more humid states.

Also, stock up on lotion (yeah, har har) and stay hydrated or you'll feel dried out.

As others have said, cops in the mountain towns target bikes heavily as a steady source of revenue, P2P is one of the worst.

Go deeper into the mountains and it gets better, but then they also know that if you're from Denver and you're now 200miles away, you're an easy ticket since odds are you won't come back to fight it so...meh.

I've lived in other states, and I definitely think CO is now one of the more aggressive, but that's also because most of our state and local budgets are in the red, and tickets = easy money.

I've only visited CA, and not for very long, so can't really comment on the comparison, but from what I've seen of all other states, I can only ever call CO home.

[Matty]

Lived in SoCal for over 27 years. The cops are pretty much the same out here as they are out there. The only difference is that the traffic cop to civilian ratio is higher out here. So you're more likely to get popped out here. Plus it's on the norm to travel 10 or so over the limit in Cali. Out here people tend to drive the limit. Which makes me feel as though cops back in Cali are a lil more patient on speeding when it's just slightly over the limit.

[tecknojoe]

Lived in SoCal for over 27 years. The cops are pretty much the same out here as they are out there. The only difference is that the traffic cop to civilian ratio is higher out here. So you're more likely to get popped out here. Plus it's on the norm to travel 10 or so over the limit in Cali. Out here people tend to drive the limit. Which makes me feel as though cops back in Cali are a lil more patient on speeding when it's just slightly over the limit.

I agree. In DC, 10 over is the norm, and it's actually unsafe to go the speed limit in a lot of areas. Out here it's normal to just go the limit

[salsashark]

I agree. In DC, 10 over is the norm, and it's actually unsafe to go the speed limit in a lot of areas. Out here it's normal to just go the limit

I was driving to Dulles (267) on Tuesday and pacing traffic (around 10 over). Out of nowhere a cop de-cloaked behind me, paced me for around a quarter mile, then passed me and the car in front of me before speeding off...

My heart skipped a beat, but I guess we weren't enough of a nuisance with the Ferrari dealership right down the street :lol:

[tecknojoe]

It's a game out there. cops are really out to get the citizens. it's just the culture. sucks

[Jim_Vess]

Maybe I'm jaded but I loved the roads in the Monterey area when I was out there for MotoGP... and lane splitting. I also had fun riding in San Diego.

I have to agree. The roads around Monterey are awesome. In the early 80's, (yeah, I'm old) I was stationed in San Diego. I loved owning a motorcycle in Southern California. I think I only drove my car about a dozen times in three years, but I put close to 65,000 miles on my bike in that time - an '82 Yamaha Maxim 650.

I miss lane splitting too.

[Slo]

CA was awesome for me, could ride year around, hardly ever caged it anywhere. Weekends, get to go through the mountains listed above, taking Mullhollan over to Malibu beach (very spirited pace), then after viewing the scenery at the beach, taking PCH south for a cruise, Santa Monica Blvd back through hollywood, etc then heading on home.

Lots of good places to ride here, but CA has their spots, nothing like taking your own group up to a spot in the mountains where there are already 200+ riders in their own groups. I have seen new riders up to some extremely fast riders. Even met a guy that was paralyzed from the waist down, had special hydraulic arms with wheels that would lower down if he went below 5mph (if i remember correctly). Got to meet/see Jay Leno many times when he brings up his cars (never saw him bring the bike there although I am sure he did here n there)to the rock store.

[Matty]

CA was awesome for me, could ride year around, hardly ever caged it anywhere. Weekends, get to go through the mountains listed above, taking Mullhollan over to Malibu beach (very spirited pace), then after viewing the scenery at the beach, taking PCH south for a cruise, Santa Monica Blvd back through hollywood, etc then heading on home.

Lots of good places to ride here, but CA has their spots, nothing like taking your own group up to a spot in the mountains where there are already 200+ riders in their own groups. I have seen new riders up to some extremely fast riders. Even met a guy that was paralyzed from the waist down, had special hydraulic arms with wheels that would lower down if he went below 5mph (if i remember correctly). Got to meet/see Jay Leno many times when he brings up his cars (never saw him bring the bike there although I am sure he did here n there)to the rock store.let's throw the bikes in a trailer and head out west!!!

[asp_125]

Road trip!!!

I rented a bike out in SD on two separate trips; CBR600RR one time, GSX-R600 another. Sadly sportbikerentals.com is now defunct.

[asp_125]

Back on topic:
Other than Decker's general store, there's no place like the Rock Store or Alice's where riders congregate en masse. You get random groups here and there, like Oskar Blues in Lyons but it's usually either Harley types or sportbike types. The various groups tend to keep to themselves. It's rare to see an RC30 parked next to a Vincent next to a CB750 or VRod.

[CaptGoodvibes]

I'm scared to shift out of 1st gear so no cop stories from me.

The dryness; I use a fishbowl for a helmet. Problem, solved.

[Repsol a095]

If you need a place to rent sport bikes in Los Angeles, hit me up. I have a buddy that has a low key rental business out there.

[Tylar]

This place is horrible. Stay in California. Tell you friends.

[asp_125]

Where is the best riding? SoCal? NoCal? CO? UT? TN? KS?.... in terms of good roads, traffic, bike culture, eats, scenery, weather? .

Discuss

[Corporate MacGyver]

I'm native to CO.. but have lived in IL, CA, FL, VA (DC area) and now back in CO...

Northern VA and eastern WV has some of the best sportbike roads ... Much tighter that here in CO... NoCal is just frickin' awesome... from Santa Cruz north to Oregon... just great roads... The Dragon on the NC/TN boarder is a legend.. been there done that...

CO roads... off the front range are more open and very scenic... Road surfaces aren't as well maintained as CA or VA... Winter weather issues mostly...

Ride the Western Slope of CO... and you'll love it out here...

Let me know if you need suggestions...

Bob

[tecknojoe]

I'm native to CO.. but have lived in IL, CA, FL, VA (DC area) and now back in CO...

Northern VA and eastern WV has some of the best sportbike roads ... Much tighter that here in CO... NoCal is just frickin' awesome... from Santa Cruz north to Oregon... just great roads... The Dragon on the NC/TN boarder is a legend.. been there done that...

CO roads... off the front range are more open and very scenic... Road surfaces aren't as well maintained as CA or VA... Winter weather issues mostly...

Ride the Western Slope of CO... and you'll love it out here...

Let me know if you need suggestions...

Bob

What? Va/wv has 2 roads and a couple country roads in between. In co u can literally just go west and end up somewhere awesome. The only thing better about nova is that the roads are in much better condition