Colorado’s first Motomarathon has concluded, and the winner is one of the organizers.
That’s nothing to sneeze at, however, as Paul DiMarchi of Boulder, Colorado, made 13 checkpoints in 51 hours on a BMW RT.
The point of Motomarathon is to spend a long weekend riding as far as you can, and in this case, that meant riding over paved mountain passes at altitudes up to 12,000 feet.
Organized by a couple of Colorado motorcyclists, DiMarchi and John Metzger of Boulder, the American Motomarathon evolved from Italy’s Centopassi (100 passes) motorcycle marathon and a tradition among Metzger and some of his friends of dedicating a weekend to riding as many Colorado passes as possible. The pass rides began in 1986, and in June 2009, the first Motomarathon was held, with sponsorship from Ducati, and about 40 riders taking part on everything from a Hayabusa (last place) to a Gold Wing and a Vulcan.
Metzger came in 26th after riding a dozen passes. Above him in the finish-line rankings were many Colorado riders and others from Florida, Wisconsin, Texax, Missouri, Utah, and California, who all rode 13 passes. The only Canadian entrant, Paul Marziali of St. Mary’s, Ontario, did not finish in the standings. CMG was unable to speak with Paul today.
More Motomarathons are planned. The second Colorado Motomarathon will be held in September, and others may take place in Texas and California. See www.motomarathon.com for more.
