As I began to write this blog entry, I realized it is my 50th blog. It is also the one-year anniversary of my MSF course which means I have been a motorcyclist for a year.
A year in and I’ve had one drop, no crashes, and two motorcycles. I still have yet to ride on a major roadway, but we’ve begun looking at a local possibility that would only require us getting up a little earlier. The more I ride and compare it to driving, the more I recognize how riding motorcycles in traffic is not a good idea. Besides, on the Ducati Scrambler, cruising is not what the bike is built for. When we took the bikes into the pool’s gravel lot and the historic house lot, I enjoyed the feel of the tires slipping a bit in the gravel. That’s what my bike is made for, dirt roads and gravel paths.
Today was a cool, comfortable day with temps around 60 and the sun shining down on us. Birds were everywhere, a group of robins flying right around Bill in front of me, a few geese milling about, and a wary egret eyeballing us as we made circles in a court. I was happy to have finally found the little cat garden statue Bill has been talking about. It is an interesting yard ornament as the cat is looking sideways in surprise. Roses have begun blooming alongside the irises with the dogwoods covered in green leaves; a few still had their white blossoms cradled among the green. Only one cabbage white butterfly fluttered by, but I did see two dragonflies darting about in front of me.
My ride was great; I kept up easily with Bill on takeoffs as well as on the roadway. One of the benefits to following Bill is that I often get to see how people we pass react to us. Pleasantly, most of them wave (adults) while the kids watch with popped eyes and jaws dropped because to a kid, motorcycles are cool. And because I have a little bit longer reaction time, I’m able to wave back. Today I found myself thinking how after just a year of riding, I’m very comfortable lifting my left hand off the bike to wave.
As for my training, we worked on coming to a “no foot” stop. This is where you brake the bike so the speedometer shows zero but you don’t put your feet down. We only do this at yield signs, and there has to be some confidence in handling the motorcycle as it will start to weave (you can do the same thing on your bicycle). We learned this week that when riding at slow speeds and the bike starts to tip, let the clutch out. This allows the friction zone to help keep the bike moving, but it is contrary to what our instincts tell us—pull in and grip the bike. We’ve just began our training with this and I look forward to more practice.
Next week we’re going to add sudden stops when standing on the bike. We practice riding while standing in a large hospital parking lot but, as Bill pointed out, we need to be prepared for sudden stops for when something jumps into our path. Standing on a motorcycle for riding is often used when off-road riding especially over bumpy terrain.
The day was so lovely, we extended our ride a bit, finishing up to find an osprey flying way overhead. I did have more success with finding neutral today with only one stop where I couldn’t get there. I tried rocking the bike as Bill suggested and that did help. It’s been a fantastic year of riding and learning, and I look forward to more practice, more learning, and even more to the riding. And thanks for reading!
Flutterby Biker 