Cyclerides.com Weekly Update
2/27/08 

Greetings Riders,
 
Well, I did something this week that I haven't done for a while. Sweat! Yep, the weather has finally bumped up over 80 degrees long enough to tease us with some t-shirt riding weather and bring out the perspiration. Something we soon won't be a stranger to. This weekend should be great riding weather as we ride into March and get the bikes ready to roll for Arizona Bike Week. I would like to offer my condolences to the family and friends of Bill Scardina. Bill was involved in a single bike motorcycle accident this past Sunday morning, February 17th that took his life.  He was riding with friends when the incident occurred.  The small group was traveling at slow speeds in a residential area when Bill suddenly applied his brakes causing him to lose control of his motorcycle. Bill was a very nice man and was the one that ran the Cyclerides.com Classifieds for about 6 months. He will be missed. Click Here for more information.
 
Last week I did an article on Photo Red Light Enforcement in Peoria that created a lot of responses, questions and concerns. If you missed that letter, Click Here. This week I want to follow up to answer some of these questions and to address Photo Speed Radar on our public roads and highways.
 
1. Do they lower the yellow light cycle times when there is photo red light enforcement to write more tickets?Answer: No. Redflex, the owner of the red light cameras have no access at all to the traffic signal timings whatsoever. All yellow light timings are different and calculated from a mathematic formula based upon speeds, distance and width of streets, intersections, etc. 3.5 seconds is the minimum allowed. If you are so inclined, here are the statutes that are used here I received from the Peoria traffic engineer. Click Here to View.
 
2. What if I am on a motorcycle, wearing a full face helmet and cannot be identified?
The short answer is they would likely reject the ticket due to not being able to identify you. If they found that by the video that you were malicious in intent, they might pursue it to get you to tell them who was riding the bike.
 
3. If you don't respond to the ticket in the mail what happens?
They will send a process server to your house to serve you and then the server costs will be added to the ticket. I had replies from some process servers that said that for a ticket like that, they might try once or twice, but they get paid by how many they can serve, and the difficult ones are not worth the effort. In comparison, if they are being paid big money by attorneys to track someone down, they would spend much more time on that case vs. a traffic citation.
 
4. What if someone has Mexican plates on their car and get snapped by the camera?
What do you think happens??? They get a free pass just like everything else they do in our State.
 
5. Why not just get a plastic license plate cover?
Those are illegal. A cop can write you a ticket and immediately confiscate the cover.  The statute reads that: A person shall maintain each license plate so it is clearly legible and so that the name of this state at the top of the license plate is not obscured. Another reader said that he uses a Photoblocker Spray on his plate and it has saved him a few times.
 
6. Most say it is just a way for the City to make money.
I thought that myself. But I was surprised to learn that only a very small amount of the revenue from the $214 ticket goes to the city. The cameras are installed for free by Redflex, so $33 of the ticket goes to them. Approximately 84% of the remaining goes to State Court System and the remaining balance, approximately $28 goes to the City. The City says it is not for the money, but to lessen red light running violations and it has done that.
 
Ironically, after doing this article last week, I got an email from a rider that told me that his wife was hit on her motorcycle by a red light runner. This is why I don't mind having these cameras around to save lives, particularly ours on motorcycles as well as cars. Be careful.
 
That being said, there is another type of photo traffic enforcement that I am not real keen on and that is Photo Radar. Yes, we all know where the photo radar is in Arizona on the Loop 101 in Scottsdale, so unless we are just having one of those "checked out" moments in the area between Hayden and Cactus, we should never get nailed by that one. But the new gadget that the DPS is using is MOBILE Photo Radar. They now have 2 of these and are being spread out all over the State, so you never know where they are going to be. I have seen them at least 4 times in the median of the Loop 101 between 51st Ave. and McDowell Rd.
 
These guys are really tricky. You are on them before you know it and not expecting them to be there. I called the DPS to get some information about them and this is what I found.

1. There are not set locations for these units. They can be anywhere in the State. You will find them particularly in areas where they are trying to slow down traffic. For example, the 101 anywhere, I-17 North of Phoenix, I-10 on way to Tucson and I-40.

2. The good news is that if you are paying attention, you can avoid them. By law they have to post signs well in advance of the Photo Radar unit that you are entering a photo speed enforcement zone. But if you miss the sign and are speeding, you could be cited.

3. At what speeds will the camera trigger to take your photo?

DPS told me that 11 mph over the speed limit on major highways will trigger the camera.

4. How far away do they gauge your speed?

This is a question that I have always had. The answer I got is that it records your speed and then clicks the photo at approximately 300ft. away.
 
I asked why they were doing this and the answer is to slow down the traffic in particular problem areas where there have been extreme speeds and accidents. It also doesn't hurt with Janet's huge budget deficit in the State of Arizona. Here is a really good and current site that will tell you where radar traps are in any state. http://www.speedtrap.org/speedtraps/stetlist.asp
 
Stay tuned next week for my preview of Arizona Bike Week.
 
Go to www.cyclerides.com for all of the upcoming Rides and Events.
 

Highlights This Week 

Thursday, March 6th
Verve/Vemma Informational Meeting. See Below
Dr. Oz recommends Vemma in this months Esquire Magazine
Free Can of Verve for attending. $15 off and Free cooler with 1 Case purchase.
 

Sunday, March 2nd
13th Annual Miracle in the Desert Run. Benefiting Sunshine Acres Children's Home. The event is held at Sunshine Acres with the kids Cost: $10 each $15 per couple Includes: Meal, Music, entry into Bike Show Beverages available 50/50 drawing and other prizes, Bike Show Winner Picked by the Kids, Blessing of the Bikes by CMA. Event time 9am - 1pm. For more information Call Rex 602-525-2410.
 
Thursday, March 6th
Verve/Vemma Informational Meeting. The response to the Verve and Vemma products have been incredible, well beyond my expectations. And just today the new Esquire Magazine came out featuring an interview with America's Favorite doctor, Dr. OZ. They asked him: What is the best multivitamin for a man under 60?  He answered One-a-Day Men's Health Formula and LIQUID VEMMA! You can't get a much better endorsement than that right now. I have also already gotten positive feedback from some that have started taking it as little as 3 weeks ago. Some of you are skeptics, many of you are not. Regardless of where you stand, I would invite everyone to open your mind and spend an hour with me on Thursday, March 6th to hear about these products. I wouldn't be telling you about it if I didn't thoroughly believe in it. The Dr. Oz comments echo my sentiments. Click Here for my personal testimony of Vemma and Verve.
 
The worst that could happen is that you could take a ride, get a free can of Verve, The "Official Energy Drink of the Phoenix Suns and Cyclerides.com", and spend an hour learning something about Mangosteen, Vitamins, Energy, Wellness and what we need to get our bodies back to functioning as well as it can. The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) 6-19-2002 recommended daily vitamin supplements and wrote that the inadequate intake of several vitamins has been linked to chronic diseases, including coronary heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis.
 
A couple of nay sayers have said that this is just another MLM. Here is why it is not:
1. No subscription fee to buy or join. You only spend what you consume. That is it!
2. You don't have to be a member to buy the product. Only if you want introduce a great product to others that would help pay for the product that you use.
3. A 30 day, 100% empty bottle guarantee on the product if you don't like it.
4. It doesn't get any better or more simple than that. Extremely sound compensation plan. Great for charities.
 
I am continuing the $15 off gift card for any who buy at least a 1/2 case of Verve that night. Buy a full case for $50 that includes the discount and get a free Verve 6 pack cooler. If you don't want the energy drink delivery of the Vitamins, we will also have the Vemma liquid vitamins supplement as well. Product will be on hand to deliver to you that night. We have speakers coming in from North Carolina and San Diego to tell the Vemma and Verve story. Ride on over and invite anyone you think that could benefit from the Vemma supplements.  

Where: Renaissance Hotel at Westgate City Center
Location: Next to the Jobing.com Arena and University of Phoenix Stadium located at Loop 101 and Glendale Ave. 
Time: 7pm - 8pm.
Cost: FREE
Includes: Free can of Verve, $15 Gift card toward any purchase of Verve and Free 6 Pack Verve Cooler for all 1 case or more orders.  
RSVP: Just drop me an email if you are coming so that we can set the room up with enough chairs. info@cyclerides.com

Next Week
 

Saturday, March 8th
1st Annual Vets Helping Vets Poker Run. Presented By American Legion Riders Post 105. Rain Or Shine – Everyone  Welcome. Registration 9:00am – Leave 10:30am at Christopher J Lapka American Legion Post 105. 3534 West Calavar Road Phoenix, Az.  602-938-1811. $15 Single - $25 Couple – Bring Socks, Slippers, Toiletry Items For Our Vets and Receive $5 Off Sign In. Registration Includes: Run Patch (for the first 50 paid registrations) – Lunch (provided at Post 105) Drawings For Individual Prizes - High/Low Hand Must Be Present To Win - Run Map Will Be Provided. Breakfast Available For Purchase (between 9:00am & 11:00am). All Gave Some – Some Gave All. Come Out For An Afternoon Of Fun And Support Your Local Veterans.
 
Sunday, March 9th
Born To Be Wild. Liberty Wildlife's Inaugural Poker Run. Come out and support wildlife while having a great time at Liberty Wildlife’s inaugural poker run Born To Be Wild, Sponsored by Chester’s Harley-Davidson. There will be music, food, prizes, raffle, 50/50, an auction and much more. The run will begin at Chester’s Harley-Davidson at 922 S. Country Club Drive in Mesa and end at Greasewood Flat. The entry fee of $20 for a solo or $35 for a couple includes your meal. The highest poker hand wins $250, and 2nd highest wins $100. The first 100 riders to register will receive a Born To Be Wild event t-shirt and bag. Sign ups and the ride start will be from 9 am-11 am. For more information please call Melissa at 480-998-0230 or Dawn at 480-213-1184.   

Extras 

Most people think Paul Yaffe Originals only builds $100,000 motorcycles. That is still the case, but he is also expanding his business to Bagger Customization as well as Service on your Harley or V-Twin. I just did a chrome exchange on the front wheel of my Road Glide See Picture and was very impressed with the squeaky clean shop and personal service that I got from Paul's employees. It was a very pleasant experience. To kick off this service business and to prove their exceptional customer service, Paul is opening his newly remodeled shop on Saturday's for a Ride in Special from 9am-2pm. Cost is $49.95 + Tax & EPA Fee.  Special Includes: Genuine H-D oil & oil filters, Up to 4 qt. oil, black or chrome oil filter and +10 Point Safety Inspection. Synthetic oil available at an additional charge. Stop by and see the new displays of parts for your 2008 and older motorcycles, chrome exchanges possibilities, or just stop by to say hi and talk with Paul about some customization for your bike.
1st 3 Oil Changes Get a Free T-Shirt Saturday Only.
Why PYO?
· “Experienced” PHD Certified Mechanics
· Pick-Up and Delivery Available M-F
· Shop Rate - $75.00 Hr.
  (No Flat Rate - If It Takes an Hour You Only Pay an Hour)
· New Saturday Hours 9am-2pm. PYO is located at 2211 E. Indian School Rd. in Phoenix.
Click Here for Flyer and more information.
 
Comedy Central is at it again. Here is their commercial spoof of Crack Spackle. Click Here to View.
 
Here is one that you might have seen before, but I laugh every time I watch it. This is a Bad Day at the Rodeo. Click Here to View.
 
This is a video of what Scott Pasmore looks like landing his RC Plane. Click Here to View.
 
Here is one from the "You better know what you are talking about before you make a comment". Click Here to View.
 
This video has me glued to the screen for 10 minutes. Fascinating. The moderator is great. This is like a real life version of a video game. Click Here to View.