Frequently Asked Questions About this Pashnit Motorcycle Adventure

Frequently Asked Questions  about Pashnit.com

I'm curious on why you chose the name Pashnit? It's a question that's been rattling around for quite some time now, and I'd love to know what the answer is... I can't reason it out. When I owned my Yamaha Venture, I went out and obtained a license plate that spelled out the words 'On a Quest'.  But when I bought the FJ1200, I needed something new after riding year round 50,000 miles in 2 years (and not even owning a car).  After all that riding, I needed one word to describe the way I felt about motorcycling.  So I came up with 23 different spellings of the word 'passionate' - and the PASHNIT moniker was the one that was available.  Fast forward a few years when I had to come up with a domain name for a website that would be about the passion of motorcycle riding.  And thus became pashnit.com!  It's my license plate on the bike.

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Your photography is unlike anything posted to other types of motorcycle websites.  What kind of camera are you using? There's a lot of 35mm photography on the pashnit site. Those pics had to be individually scanned, cropped and edited for physical size and file size. The latest pages are all digital of course. Some years back, I started from scratch with a decades old 35mm SLR Canon FTb with a simple 50mm 1:14 lens.  First time I'd ever had a manual camera, and I had no idea how to even work all the dials. It was a terrific camera, although somewhat old (decades!)   It's made of solid brass.

I inherited a SLR Minolta XG-M with a Kiron 28mm-105mm zoom lens after the Canon developed a light-leak in bright sunlight. A large portion of the CA Moto Roads photography was done with this terrific camera although I used the camera so much while riding and shooting film for this site, the lens started falling apart. The next camera was another 35mm SLR, this time a Nikon EM with a 80-200mm zoom lens.  I wore this camera out too as motorcycle travel and these sorts of camera are not always too friendly with one another. The fantastic panorama shots sprinkled across this site are the result of a Minolta point-and-shoot panoramic camera, one of the very first to come onto the market in the early 90's.   Finally made the jump into digital with a Canon G5, commonly known as 'the brick'.   After over 10,000 photos in a little over a year, it quit working on me.  As of today, I'm using a Canon Powershot Pro1 which is an excellent 8 megapixel camera.  The 200mm lens is quite good. Currently discontinued, but you can still find them on the internet. After 25,000 photos, that one is also starting to fall apart, so it's about time for another camera.

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You travel, a lot, and write grand stories. Do you write it all down as you are going, or do you have a laptop now? Actually I don’t carry a laptop, don’t own one as of yet, although that thought has crossed my mind.  Instead I write the text for each road in my head while I’m riding the road.  Which is probably where the feel of the style of writing comes from, because I wrote it while feeling the sensation of the bike, the wind, the sound, the feeling of the corners, and road around me.  I write it in my head, and then at the end of each road, I do jot down some notes, usually about landmarks or the sequence of things you will see.  If I’m on a loop, and riding 4 specific roads- I need to keep everything straight.  I sometimes also take notes on the photographs I’m taking along the way with the 35mm camera.    So there’s a lot of stopping, and 180’s to get the right shot and angle and lighting correct!  Sometimes the bicyclists are traveling faster than I am!!  I have also carried a miniature tape recorder with me also, and at the end of the road, recorded a few thoughts too.  But that’s how.  The secret is all the road pages were written, so to speak, while actually riding the road!

As for the two books – Those are based off rather copious journals I kept along the way while traveling.  While riding, I hadn't come up with the idea to convert it into a book until later, I was just recording everything that happened- interesting people you meet, and strange things that happen.  The books were actually written a year or two later based off the respective journals.  The 10,000 mile book took 2 years to write; it was a tremendous amount of work!

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The pictures throughout the pashnit.com website are really great. Are you a professional photographer? Well, sort of.  Not in the classical sense, I don't make a living by it.  I suppose you could say I'm completely self-taught having never taken any sort of formal instruction.  Years back, I did try to read one of those Photography for Beginners books, but ironically it made no sense to me at all.   To boot, I doubt I could even speak camera-jargon in a room full of photographers.   However, I acquired my first camera over 20 years ago and you do learn some things by trial-and-error.  Learning to shoot compelling photos of roads is just that- a learned trait.  I've shot hundreds upon hundreds of pics of roads, and with each roll try to improve upon the style and feel of the pic.  Several riders I've conversed with said they went out and tried to capture the same shots and found it more difficult to replicate then they imagined.  But after awhile it's a bit of a science- of light, angles, and shapes.  When I head out to ride a new road, this nifty digital Canon G5 allows me to shoot to my hearts content and in the last year, have shot thousands upon thousands of photos.

I've been asked by 1010 Magazine & a recipe book (got me) for photos & was also asked by VIA Magazine (think AAA) to do a photo shoot of the Bourn Mansion.  Shots of mine have been requested for print ads, published in Friction Zone Magazine, Motorcyclist and Cycle World so I guess maybe that does make me a photographer.

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I really like your photos, can I use them on my own site/magazine/newspaper?  I don't mind if you pull pics off the site, just when you do, credit where you got them and let me know via email. What I do on the pashnit.com site, since there are a bunch of photos that are shot by others that people have sent to me is I credit them in the .alt tag or if there is a caption to the pics, I give credit there. But it only works if you credit where you got the photo.   For example, the motorcycle rental website California Motorcycle Adventures used requested to use Pashnit Photography in the development of their all new website. Each page adds in a credit to Pashnit.com

What I'd suggest is just add an .alt tag to your graphic: That way, it's rather imbedded into the html and you really don't notice it. Just when the pointer passes over the picture, the alt tag pops up.  It might look something like this- <....alt="Thanks to www.pashnit.com site for the pic"> or something like that. So just add that to any other photo you pull off the site and email me since I am always eager to take a look at other pages on the web.   There are a lot of photos, and a lot of the pictures have been posted to message boards of all kinds.  Real simple, just credit where you got the photo from and provide a link on over here.  My photographs have also appeared in national magazines and newspapers.  If you are the editor of such a publication, get in touch with me.

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I'd like to suggest a ride I don't see on your list. Several of the pages have been written by other riders with yours truly serving as the editor and putting it all together into a page. I  welcome any text or pics sent to me.  When I shoot the pics, I try to find something unique about the road, and the rest I leave up to you.  If you want to see your favorite road listed, run through a couple of the pages to get a general feel how the format is set up. If you're digital, just keep the pic setting at its smallest size.
	The early days of this site is shot with a manual 35mm SLR camera.  Then each photo was individually scanned and edited (over 1300 now) although this was extremely time-consuming.  A large majority of the road photography has been reshot with advent of digital. Much better quality and a whole new format with larger photos per page was introduced. With regards to the description of the road itself, I don't need a book (although if it merits it- several of my write-ups are rather detailed with all the area history and such like the Sac Delta Hwy 160 page), even a couple paragraphs sent to me I've worked with to create enough text for a page. I am especially interested in any roads you may not see on this list. There are a few major holes in the list, the area just south of Santa Clarita, and most of the back roads around San Diego.
As my rather intense feverish pace to get out and re-ride many of the roads I've ridden over the years, this time shooting pics- has drawn to an abrupt close with the birth of my daughter- I find a sudden void in terms of progressing the site to my ultimate goal of actually having a page for every road. My how life changes. So lately I've been on this quest to find other riders that may have archives of the stuff I'm looking for- at least enough to create a page.  Highway 32, Highway 96, Calaveras Road, Ortega & Palomar are examples.  Highway G14 is an example of how several conversations with several riders can result in a page.  The page for Highway J1 is a great example of how a simple paragraph can create an entire new webpage!

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I'm not from California but am planning a trip there. I was poking around the links on your site but am a bit lost as I don't know the state at all.  Any suggestions on where to ride? For years, I've had people ask me this sort of question. Then someone asked if I would actually write a custom trip itinerary for them.  A few years ago, I worked on Pashnit Trip Planning writting itineraries for solo riders visiting California for their yearly vacation, small groups that don't prefer a guide, and all sorts of riders heading into California from other states.  I was asked by the editor of Cycle World Magazine to plan out their yearly staff ride, then lead it, which was great fun. I've since retired from writing these as they are immensely time consuming and averaged about 40 hours apiece to write ranging from 40-60 pages of text, maps & photos. In its place, the Pashnit Forum Trip Planning section was born and after registering for the forum, you can easily post a query or question... and Pashnit Members will be more than happy to help you out. For additional in-depth info, you may also log onto the California Motorcycle Roads website to read about a vast majority of the roads in California with maps, pics, satellite maps and local links. More info than you'll ever have time for.

Then again, some folks have simply opted for an organized tour. Just show up at the launch point on Friday morning and we'll take care of the rest. No worries on where to ride, routing, lodging, meals, you get the idea! Pashnit Motorcycle Tours conducts 14 guided tours a year of the Sierra Nevada, Central Cal and Northern California. The ride season here runs from March to October and we'll lead some 17,000 miles of tours this year. I've love to have you join the Pashnit Alumni of riders that I've had the good fortune of sharing this passion for Calfornia roads with.

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3-D Map by Delorme.com

What software do you use to create your maps? It's Microsoft Streets & Trips available at any software/computer store for like 30 or 40 bucks. Worth every penny for the vagabond traveler. The program works pretty well although every now and then it claims a road doesn't exist when there is indeed a road.  It doesn't have any cool features but as you can see, it serves its purpose.  Keep in mind that I create the maps, and then edit each one to clean it up.  I also started adding Delorme.com 3-D Topographic Maps. It creates 3-D terrain maps that're ultra cool and will show you the road against the actual terrain. On several of the pages, are satellite photos which are very cool- Breckenridge Road and Angeles Crest.  The black and white topographical maps are via the USGS site, and the color ones like on Breckenridge Road are via Mapquest.com.   Google Earth Satellite Mapping is now free! Read on...

3-D Satellite mapping by Google Earth There are over 1200 Google Earth 3-D Satellite Maps (Google Earth) added to the CA Moto Roads webpages. This new mapping technology allows us to use 3-D photographs of California Motorcycle Roads to get a better idea of what to expect. Below is Pinehurst Rd, a little used East Bay Area backroad that delves through a redwood forest. The CA Moto Roads pages may have 1-2 of these or as many as 6-8 of them that will cover the entire length of the road rotated and zoomed on key areas. It takes a bit of spatial ability to see what you're looking at, but once you ride the road, then look at the Google Earth Maps, you can recall specific corners. Funny how the brain can do that. The Keyhole.com maps are but another evolution in the CA Moto Roads pages in giving you as much information as possible as you set of to explore new roads and new regions of this motorcycle paradise of California.

Pinehurst Rd, East Bay Area

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I've been using the site for several years and it sure has grown. Just how big has it gotten? The Pashnit Family of websites indeed have become a massive body of work. Nearly seven years ago I started writing and simply haven't stopped since- the latest count was over 600 pages of raw text just within the Pashnit.com site. The main site spans over 400 web pages and thousands of photos. The Pashnit Forum is rapidly expanding and at last count has over 100,000 photos posted by members and spikes past 12,000 page views per day with 30-40 new members every day. Besides the CA Moto Roads site, there is a on-line discussion forum, a Pashnit Clothing line and range of Pashnit Products, an on-line retail store for sport touring products, and a tour company offering guided tours of California. Additional projects are always on the backburner including a complete redesign of the pashnit site, and a massive effort to expand the CA Moto Roads listing- I've 80 new roads on deck, and another 90 that I've reshot all the photography. Pashnit Group Buys have also been great fun!!

Media attention continues: The Pashnit website was featured in 6 different motorcycle magazines in 2006 ranging from full-spread articles to published Pashnit Photography. In 2007, even made it onto the local FOX TV station with a feature on the Pashnit Tour company. I'm very fortunate to have a fantastic group of administrators who volunteer time to ensure the site is kept up and running 24 hours a day and will be around for decades to come. You have to ask yourself, where will the Pashnit site be in 10 years? Look how far it's come!

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Do you ever do speaking engagements? Yes. The president of the 110 member Thousands Oaks Motorcycle Club asked if I'd be the guest speaker for their monthly meeting.  Same thing happened with the San Diego Red Hot Riders.  Then the Sierra Red Riders called and asked if I could speak at their charity event. Short time ago, was asked to be the guest speaker at A&S BMW's Garagenpartei & spoke about how to plan for a multi-day trip. It was very interactive with a lot of hands-on examples from running the tour company delivered to a great crowd and good people!

Interviews? It probably wouldn't have occurred to me that someone would actually want to interview me.  But it has happened.  First they interviewed the VP of Public Relations for Honda America, and then Yours Truly on Cycle Talk Radio. The Harley Dude and Beemerman RoadShow are a weekly podcast program about motorcycling topics and info. I've done 3 different interviews for them. You can listen to two of these podcast interviews on the "The Harley Dude and Beemerman Road Show." - Linky or click the photo at right.

Television? Pashnit Motorcycle Tours made an appearance on the FOX40 News in this engaging news piece about organized touring on a motorcycle. Shot on location in the Sierra Nevada Mountains during the Memorial Day Tour in May- this proved to be great fun and entirely a new media to work with. After several hours of interviews and filming the tour participants, the news station had their story! Watch the video with the link below. You can read the full story here. Watch the video here

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I noticed that you have some grammatical or spelling errors in your text, is it okay if I let you know about this? Actually, I welcome any comments and corrections. You have no idea how much work it is to try and edit hundreds of webpages, all essentially text-based. Sometimes, I'll just surf through my own pages just skimming looking for grammatical and syntax errors. So, I welcome any suggestions or changes you might suggest. Just cut and paste the text into an email and send it on over and I'll make the changes.  I too feel a little odd making suggestions or corrections to other webmasters, but I have in the past pointed out tiny errors that might have a big effect. I've certainly learned a lot since I started working on this, and there's a lot I wish I would of known when the page building began.

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Is the California Motorcycle Roads compilation available in a book form? This I get a lot.  Not yet. A book project in some regards would seem inevitable.  When you this much text, the immense traffic, and the intense following that  Pashnit.com has gained- it sounds as if it would have to be something that just has to happen.  One of the more interesting things I have been asked for is a Coffee Table book of Pashnit Photography of California Roads.  The more I think about that, the more I like that idea.

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Why did the CA Moto Roads portion of Pashnit.com have to become a subscription based website? The future is here.  And as the years have progressed, the internet is changing around me.  The Pashnit.com site has always been a clean place with a simple formula.   In the old days, everything was free.  Those days have come and gone.  As Pashnit.com marches on, it continues to expand- to the tune of over 600 pages of raw text, growing to multiple domain names,  thousands of web pages, over 100,000 photos and a support staff of six people. Plans are in place to double the size of the CA Motorcycle Roads website over the next few years, with new features, expanded information, and vast software upgrades.  Partnerships and sponsorships are being established to bring you a wildly successful on-line discussion forum,  a clothing line, motorcycle products and even guided tours of Pashnit Motorcycle Roads. As the years start to accumulate and the size of the site continues to grow- it's become clear that the site needs to be self-sustaining to ensure its continued presence on the web.    Multitudes of riders have told me the 'California Motorcycle Roads' website has become a daily part of their lives- don't miss out on a single day! Subscribe right now for the minor sum of $20 per year.

Possible to pay for the subscription other than PayPal?: Some folks have asked if there were a means to pay for subscribe other than PayPal.   These individuals normally contacted me directly via phone (530-391-1356) or email to work out a method that is compatible for their individual situation.  So give me a call.   My extreme thanks to all who've taken the time to offer their hard earned dollars to support the Pashnit.com web site.   -Tim Not a Member of Pashnit.com? 1) Click here to register Then Suscribe Already a Member of Pashnit? 2) Click Here to Suscribe to California Motorcycle Roads

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Who created the Pashnit website? One guy. With a goal being to share this passion for riding with all motorcyclists. And the story might be best explained here with a recent feature story about the author of Pashnit.com in a recent issue of Road Trip Magazine. Click here to read the Article.

Standing atop another mountaintop in search of that perfect shot.

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