Butterflies, Bikes, and a Beautiful Day

Today’s ride was a gift. The day’s high temperature hit 82 with 10 mph winds out of the north, gentle sunshine, and low humidity. I can’t remember such a beautiful day in August. We didn’t even have to get out early for our ride. And we didn’t have too long to wait for the first butterfly to make an appearance; a small cabbage white fluttered high across the road as we headed out, blessing our ride.

Our first practice was setting up our lines for curves. The usual line for a curve is outside-inside-outside. What we were working on is ensuring an escape route while in the curve. That meant not going too far to the center lane as that cuts off half of the escape. Now we have the luxury of riding on familiar curves, but there has been a lot of road construction in the neighborhoods, so we have to stay aware.

Halfway through our curve practice, we rode into our first gravel lot. Two of the gravel parking lots are at historic houses—a plantation house and a family home that is considered the best example of Virginia vernacular architecture. And just as these are two distinct houses, their gravel lots are distinct. The plantation house gravel is less packed down making it more slippery, I felt my tires slipping under me as we practiced S-turns in this gravel lot, but I didn’t have to dab and kept going.

As we rode along, we came to a street with a blind curve. We parked our bikes as Bill explained how on this particular curve, I needed to be aware of my avenues of escape as cars driving from the opposite side of the curve might easily cross the center line. Just as he was pointing out the potential need to ride into people’s yards to avoid an oncoming car, a gold-colored sedan came around the curve and crossed over into the opposite lane. It was as if the driver was part of the lesson.

While we sat parked, I noticed a red-spotted purple admiral butterfly dancing among the leaves of a thin tree. As I watched, I thought I spotted a second one fluttering among the leaves as well.

Our skill at tight turns has improved greatly. We are now completing S-turns (or figure 8s) in courts and lots where before we were only completing one circle. This tight turn practice helps me get a better feel for my motorcycle and for handling it. In the other gravel lot, I found myself turning tightly enough to completely avoid the wooden parking curbs.

Leaving this parking lot, I spotted another admiral butterfly across the road and realized that both motorcyclists and butterflies love beautiful, temperate days. Yet even with the moderate temperatures and cool breeze, our slow speed drills got the better of me. The Scrambler engine got painfully hot against my left thigh as we were practicing a new drill. This exercise involved putting the handlebars in full lock (where they won’t turn past) and turning while looking in the opposite direction. This drill really allows me to feel how the bike pulls and wants to lean into the turn. Since this was our first try at this exercise, we kept our feet down and dabbed along as we turned. But by having my legs down, my thighs hit right up against my hot engine.

I rode over to some shade to take a break and get off the Ducati. As Bill rode up to me to see what was going on, a monarch butterfly fluttered over our heads making me smile. I told Bill that I did want to switch to the BMW G310 GS for riding on these warmer days. The Scrambler is a much better cool/cold weather ride where that engine heat will keep me warm. But that engine heat for now is making my practice extremely uncomfortable.

Because of my overheating, Bill questioned me about riding the R Nine T. But I was eager to implement my discovery from last week (August Ride). I focused on feeling the motorcycle move as I let up but did not release the clutch. It worked! I started off fine even though the ground was a bit squishy. I briefly thought about just continuing to circle about, but the challenge for me is to stop and start off again. So I came to a stop with some trepidation but determined to learn how to ride this bike. I did the same roll on the throttle as the clutch was almost let out, and I was off again. I came to a stop 6 times and was able to take off again with no stalls each time, though I did have a near stall on one. I finished my practice with a big smile for my success, for the butterflies, and for the beautiful day.

Next week I’ll be back on my BMW keeping much cooler for our slow speed drills. And we have another day forecasted in the low 80s, but the humidity is back. Since I’ll be on the smaller motorcycle, I wonder if I’ll be as successful keeping up with Bill as I was on this ride.

motorcycle rider — Photo by Yura Forrat on Pexels.com

Air-Cooled Engine vs. Summer

I own a 2021 Ducati Desert X Scrambler Fasthaus edition. This particular motorcycle has an air-cooled engine. When temperatures average in the high 80s to low 90s daily, the air that’s supposedly cooling my engine isn’t all that cool. On this Saturday we had pleasant low 80s for our ride, a real treat at the end of July, but it still wasn’t enough to keep my thighs cool.

As we set off on our ride, I actually was chilled by the wind blowing against me through my partially zipped gear. I took that as an encouraging sign that I wouldn’t get as overheated on this ride as I did last week. We cruised along our twisties and I was wishing for another sight of the bald eagle—no luck. I had an odd sense as we rode our slow circles in the first court. The whole ride my circles felt off for some reason that I still don’t understand. I could do them, but I felt like I was working at them harder.

I did get to see a falcon zipping along the tops of the pine trees as we headed over to the fancy neighborhood. And I was happy when we cruised straight down the long road to the end. The end is a small court, and I again had that off sensation as we circled about. I almost felt as though I was riding too slowly, but I did not have the fear of dropping the bike. I wonder if I am getting a better feel for the speed of the motorcycle and that is why our slow circles felt slow.

We continued our ride amongst the crepe myrtles, brown-eyed susans, and begonias. The dragonflies flitted about, and I was very lucky to spot a Monarch butterfly dancing close to the tarmac. We rode through a gaggle of Canadian geese crossing the church parking lot. As we practiced our standing stops, a Japanese beetle found itself on a collision course with me and veered off at the last second.

All through our ride, I would have been completely cool and comfortable if it weren’t for the air-cooled engine. When I see riders in shorts, I think they must be riding water or oil cooled engines because they would have burn marks on their thighs from the heat. I find myself pushing my knees outward to try and get cool air flow over my hot legs. Every week it becomes clearer to me that the air-cooled Ducati is a cold weather bike.

Because we had strong storms the night before, I had resigned myself to no ride on the R Nine T. So it was a pleasant surprise when Bill headed over to the field. I asked about the ride on still wet grass, and he suggested I just circle the two trees nearby. It was another mixed week. The start was great, and the circles on the bike felt good; I was more worried about the spongy ground. I was determined to get the feel for the dry clutch, not having had much luck with my research. I thought if I let the clutch out most of the way and then rolled on the throttle, I would have it. But I kept stalling. As I worked at it, I thought maybe my problem was as I let out the clutch and rolled on the throttle and started moving, I pulled the clutch back in. Doing this would cut power to the rear wheel and, you guessed it, cause stalling. Bill suggested my difficulty may also have been due to the wetter terrain. In any case I’m due for a good ride next week, and I have a plan to work with for that dry clutch.

Now the BMW R Nine T is an air/oil-cooled engine. Plus, the cylinder heads are down low, so there’s no thigh roasting when I get the chance to ride it. I need to improve on that dry clutch; maybe there’ll be an R Nine T for me down the road.

Ducati Desert X Scrambler Fasthaus engine — The Ducat’s air-cooled engine.

Ride, White, and Blue

We had a lovely day for a ride having made the effort to get up and out of the house a little earlier. This early start was to take advantage of the cooler temps before the day hit its high of 93. The 85 degrees was preferable, especially since there was a strong wind to keep a cooling breeze blowing.

Today’s lesson was to work on using my mirrors at stops. On a motorcycle this extra awareness of what’s coming up behind is necessary as I may have to get out of the way. A fender bender for a car is annoying; getting hit from behind on a motorcycle can be tragic.

I had started practicing checking my mirrors at stops when I’m in the car. But I found it was not as easy on the motorcycle. Stops take a lot of mental gymnastics on a motorcycle. As we all know, when we arrive at the stop, we check both ways for cross traffic to safely cross or turn onto the roadway. On a motorcycle I am also focused on how I am stopping, getting my left foot down, making sure the motorcycle doesn’t fall, switching from the rear brake to the front brake, and checking my mirrors for unaware drivers from behind. I have the additional mental check of paying attention to which direction Bill is going and when he takes off and keeping up. So I was well into the ride before I remembered I was supposed to be checking my mirrors as I stopped. Part of my delayed thinking was that I had some hair blow into my left eye and needed to find a stop to get it out. Bill, being in the lead, takes off, and we don’t have a communications system in the helmets. I rode along patiently until we got to the court at the end of the long road. There I stopped and brushed the remaining hairs out of my left eye.

This being the 4^th of July weekend, we rode past many houses flying Old Glory. I also saw a cute stars and stripes pinwheel, and we passed one large white house with red, white, and blue bunting under two upstairs windows—very impressive. It was fun and refreshing to see so many people getting into this holiday’s spirit.

The heat did get to me a bit. As we were doing S-turns in the second church lot, my mind drifted a bit to wishing I was cruising in a long straight line for the cooling breeze. But I quickly refocused on my riding and shrugged off the sweat.

The dragonflies were back, not in as large a number as a few weeks ago, but I enjoyed watching several fly beside me as I rode. No butterflies in sight. I had hoped our earlier start would allow me a glimpse of a few but no luck. My luck was back on the R Nine T as I was able to start it up, find first gear, and take right off. This week I did shift into second and back into first as I cruised along in the shade of the woodland trees. My next challenge for the R Nine T is to stop the bike and restart as I cruise the little field.

As we left the school grounds and arrived at the stop sign, my wish was to see Bill’s left indicator come on not his right. And I got my wish, extending our ride. We cruised the arch twice as there were patches of gravel in the roadway due to construction we could ride across. All in all, a lovely Independence Day weekend ride; I can’t wait for the next one. Happy Fourth of July!

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Solo Ride

Last week’s ride was more motorcycling badassery. We were lawbreakers, unintentionally but, as Thomas Jefferson said, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse in any country.” So this week I rode alone to keep us on the right side of “Johnny Law.”

I’m having fun, but we did inadvertently break the law last week. Our beautiful riding Saturday this week came to an abrupt end when, as I was moving around the R Nine T so Bill could check the oil level, I spotted the annual safety inspection sticker—5/22. The state inspection was past due which meant no riding until we get it inspected for this year. The oversight came because we got the R Nine T last June and the registration renews in June, so we thought the safety inspection would be June too. However, our beautiful bike had sat in the dealership for a month before our purchase. Had we bought both BMW bikes at the same time, we’d have been better aware of our deadlines.

We left my parent’s house with the thought that riding was out for this weekend. But by a happy twist of fate, Bill left his glasses in my folks’ garage and didn’t realize it until we had arrived home. This slight mishap led to a new plan for me to ride solo on Sunday as we had to go back over and get the glasses anyway. I offered to let Bill cruise first, but he chose to let me have all the riding fun.

The late morning was hot and humid and wit the Ducati I sit on top of part of the motor, so it was uncomfortably warm when stopped or doing slow-speed maneuvers. I chose to do long stretches of cruising to maximize the cool air washing over me. I didn’t speed, but I did ride down several roads to their end just to stretch out the cooling sensation.

Because this was a solo ride, I mostly was able to work on my rider awareness. I always try and work on awareness of the road and other drivers, but riding behind Bill makes it easy to rely on his awareness a little too much. Everything went well, though I noted a lot of people roll through stops. I did have to watch out for one car’s wacko turn around, but otherwise traffic was light. I avoided the church parking lots as church was still in session and there were cars in the lots. I did get to practice in the gravel lot and had one slip that almost caused me to put my left foot down. I look forward to riding the R Nine T on the gravel and feeling how it handles.

I did take the time to practice my standing and stopping and surprised myself by how well that went. But the hospital lot was out for straightening and stopping drills as that lot doubles as overflow parking for the church across the road. I didn’t mind much, though, as I got overly warm doing my drills.

It seems it was too hot and humid for both the butterflies and the dragonflies as I didn’t see either during my ride. That or I was paying closer attention to the road and missed seeing them. I did see some critters though. A small rabbit leapt across a driveway as I roared into a court. And I spotted an osprey delivering building materials for a nest. I had the most fun when I entered our quiet little viewing court and saw a small Eastern Box Turtle making his lethargic way across the court. He stopped as I rode into the court and kept an eye on me as I circled around. I stopped to get a picture of him as he resumed his slow trudge, enjoying the fact that a motorcycle makes it easier to stop on the side of the road and take nature photos.

I headed home in perfect time as large, dark clouds rolled in. I was able to finish up my ride and get home before the storm hit. Next weekend marks the start of my summer vacation and I’m looking forward to the new riding adventures that await!

Eastern Box Turtle crossing the viewing court.

Finally! (Sort of)

I finally got to ride the BMW R Nine T Urban GS—sort of. But since that came at the end of the ride, I’ll explain in a bit.

As I sat on my Ducati waiting for Bill to mount the R Nine T, my Mom’s neighbor walked by. She immediately was drawn to the R Nine T, appreciating the beauty of the motorcycle. She asked if it was my brother’s bike and said she used to ride the pillion on her old boyfriend’s motorcycle when she lived in Canada. After walking around admiring the R Nine T, she politely asked me what I was perched on, but it was clear the BMW motorcycle was the big draw.

A lovely 80-degree day with lots of sunshine for our ride greeted us this Saturday. Gearing up was quite warm, but once the ride started, I felt almost chilly from the cool breeze washing over me. We rode again straight down the long road, letting the cool air waft over us and enjoying the lovely day. Yardmen were loading up their riding mower with lovely rose bushes at the end of the road as they continued their month-long landscaping project.

The magnolia blooms scented the air as we headed on our usual neighborhood ride, checking in on the progress on the two houses under construction. We stopped the bikes in one court as Bill noticed some plastic barriers up leading down to the water and posited a boat ramp may soon be under construction. As we checked out the water which was conspicuously missing all waterfowl this week (usually we see some ducks and an egret), a duskywing butterfly fluttered right between us right at eye level. It fluttered too fast for me to get a clearer look to know which kind of duskywing it was; I did see the grayish/brown body and new this was a new butterfly.

Our ride continued with lazy loops in the churches’ parking lots and on the gravel lot. My tires slipped again on the gravel, so I have begun to wonder if the softer ground makes the tires slip more. The R Nine T has 50/50 tires, meaning 50% for on road and 50% for off road, so it has a better grip.

As we rode, there wasn’t much traffic. But whenever we were at a stop sign, we had to wait for several cars to pass. At one stop we waited as 7 cars went by, very unusual. But I didn’t mind as I could practice my stops and my looks. It was at once such stop that spied a spicebush swallowtail dancing along in the air.

One MSF skill we’ve added back to our practice is the swerve. On some of the streets, there’s some leftover yard debris on the side of the road—sticks, leaf piles, pinecones. We ride straight at the debris and then apply pressure to the left handlebar to swerve the bike around the obstacle. This is great practice for swerving to the left, but it doesn’t give us the chance to swerve to the right. So when we were in the large church parking lot, I aimed at the parking space stripes to swerve right.

This week we did remember to practice riding while standing and then stopping suddenly. I need to work on my right foot position so I can start braking with the rear brake while still standing. Otherwise, it went really well.

We also continued our straightening up out of the curve and stopping practice and the straight-line quick stops. I had one bauble where I put my right foot down on one of my quick stops. I need to work on a quicker reaction time so I can use my head shift to help me use the correct foot. More work for next week.

Now we did not start the ride by letting me putter on the R Nine T on the grass because as we drove into the neighborhood, we saw cars in front of and to the side of the school. These weren’t the cricket players, so we felt constrained in using the field. Our thinking was we’d do our neighborhood cruising and swing by the school to see if the cars were gone at the end of the ride. No such luck. I feared my R Nine T ride was going to again be postponed. But as Bill signaled his turn, I began to hope we were heading to the back of the school field. Sure enough, at my dead-end practice street, we turned left and rode up past the Armco onto the grass.

Now the R Nine T has what is called a dry clutch. This means the clutch is similar to that on a manual transmission automobile. My Ducati Scrambler and BMW G310 GS both have multi-plate wet clutches. In terms of riding, this means my two bikes have a more forgiving friction zone. But that was what Bill wanted me to practice—getting a feel for the dry clutch and friction zone. So I began my ride dabbing my feet and stalled almost immediately. I restarted, got moving very slowly, hit a depression in the ground and stalled the bike again trying to give it enough with just the clutch to get out. I realized I needed to add a bit of throttle but carefully as Bill always talks about how the bike just wants to go.

After the second restart, I found the sweet spot in the dry clutch’s friction zone, put my feet up on the pegs, and began my slow circle cruise around the young magnolias. I loved riding the R Nine T and was really tempted to roll on the throttle and ride up the field. But I was the good student and did as my instructor asked. Plus, with people in the school, we didn’t want to overstay our welcome. And that just gives me something to look forward to with next week’s ride.

Me puttering on the gorgeous BMW R Nine T Urban GS.

Harley-Davidsons Everywhere

If I tell you we spotted at least 25 Harley-Davidsons as we ventured out for our own motorcycle ride, would you know what the weather was for today? That’s right, a sneak peek at spring here on Lincoln’s birthday with gorgeous sunshine and temperatures right around 70. It almost became a game with us who could spot the Harley first as we drove over to and home from my parents’ house.

I suppose I find it so striking because it reveals how much of an appeal motorcycle riding has for so many people. Now a Harley-Davidson rider is usually going to be on a large cruiser bike such as a Road King with fairings and saddlebags and perhaps even a passenger on the pillion. And most of the ones we saw were cruising by on the interstate. We have no interest in riding the interstates, especially in southeastern Virginia, but our future may contain some more touring oriented bikes.

But for now we’re enjoying the R Nine T and the Scrambler. No practice alone for me today as we had a late start and Bill didn’t want to wait to ride. Out we went together in our warm weather gear with big smiles on our faces. Our first gravel lot was completely car free, so we looped about in it for a few minutes. My back tire slid just a bit, and I was surprised to find that I didn’t panic.

I realized on today’s ride that I am much more confident and relaxed with riding, so much so, I let my mind wander to another squid thought of backending my bike. Backending the bike means to skid the back tire around to turn the front end of the motorcycle. As I had that thought, I was reminded that it has been 10 months of riding with no drop. But I’ll wait until we’re on a softer surface.

Because of the warmth of the day, I was wearing my Klim summer gloves, so I made a study of whether my shifting issue from last week was more of a clutch issue or more with the shifter. I determined that it was the clutch. On my BMW G310 GS, I don’t have to have the clutch fully pulled in toward the handle, but on the Ducati Scrambler, I do have to come much closer to the handle with the clutch for smooth shifting. Realizing this, I quickly eliminated any shifting problems and easily found neutral.

We had more fun in our other gravel lot, working on circles. As we did so, I learned on the Ducati, I don’t need to feather the clutch as much as I do on the BMW, so I could worry less about stalling—none today. As we finished up the ride, I ran into some traffic. One was a car turning between Bill and me, but the other was a lady coming to a stop at the intersection for Bill, but then deciding she could run through the stop sign in front of me. I was aware of her approaching the intersection, and I had a feeling she would run the stop in front of me, so I slowed down and had no issues. But it is not a pleasant reminder of how drivers don’t think when it comes to motorcyclists.

I ended on a positive by making a beautiful short, fast stop, feeling the weight of the back end as it tried to throw me up, but bracing myself and controlling the bike well. I was sorry Bill didn’t see it, having ridden on ahead. We have some nice weather ahead for next weekend, though 20 degrees cooler. I look forward to the full return of spring for our riding.

As I finished writing this blog, before editing it, I took a break and had to laugh; I was still wearing my blue necktube from my ride. Clearly, I still want to ride.

Harley-Davidson motorcycles cruising on the street. — Photo by Quintin Gellar on Pexels.com

And Then There Were Two

(This week’s entry is a combination of two writes ups. You have probably figured out by now that my entries are based on rides from earlier in the year. I am trying to get to where I publish two blog posts a week instead of one, and I’m getting close.)

Please don’t think I’m in a riding rut. I learn something new every week in my parking lot. For example, I relearned entering and exiting the curve. I worked on swerving to avoid a collision with the speed bump. And I’ve learned that I can do the U-turn in the box. I am still working on making an “s” in the box. I also learned I could “recover” the bike as I almost lost it—still no drops after 9 rides.

Tomorrow we will set up cones and camelbacks and work some drills. I say “we” because we now have two bikes. Welcome the 2021 BMW 1200 Urban GS, 719 edition! Yes, a lot has happened over the past three weeks.

So I will backtrack a little. On Saturday, June 12, after our morning ride on the 310, we went to the local Triumph dealer to check out the Scramblers in stock. There were three—one in the khaki green (XC), one white and green (XE), and one blue and black in the XE Showcase edition (2019). It is a beautiful bike and, despite being three years old, only has six miles on it. One concern with it was that I was on the balls of my feet, not flat (I’m 5’11” with a 32” inseam). But there is a low seat option, so we didn’t knock it for its height.

Now this second motorcycle is for my boyfriend to ride and for me to work my way up to. Once I am ready for the larger bike, Bill will get the BMW 1250 GS which I will then work towards being able to ride. We had narrowed our choices to the Triumph Scrambler or the BMW Scrambler/Urban GS (different versions of the same basic bike). Our primary goal is off-roading, but off-roading on dirt roads, gravel, and grass. No serious trails as yet.

Less than a week after we had looked at the Triumph Showcase edition, the dealership got one of the Steve McQueen limited edition motorcycles (#0189 of 1000). It is a beautiful bike—green is my favorite color. But it lacked several of the features available on the Showcase edition including the heated grips. So if you are a collector, it’s a beautiful bike to have in your collection. But if you are a serious rider, you want as much functionality and usefulness, as well as good looks, in your bike. The Showcase edition was in the lead.

That Saturday after our rides, we headed back to the same BMW dealership where we had purchased the 310. Bill wanted a test ride; we were told test rides were not allowed at the Triumph dealership (due in large part to the much younger, large sailor customer base from the nearby Naval base, I assume). Whatever the reason for no test rides, Bill would not buy a bike he hadn’t ridden. The Urban GS was test rideable. He took it out on a 90 degree day, driving it around an empty parking lot. After what seemed a long time—in reality maybe 10 minutes, I went looking for him. He was having a blast zooming around the parking lot, his overshirt blowing back behind him, and the bike was beautiful. I didn’t need him to tell me he was going to buy it. The sales manager did, though. When Bill finished giving his impressions from the ride, Rick asked flat out if he thought he would buy it.

“Of course I’m buying it,” was the calm response. My boyfriend keeps things pretty close to his chest.

So several hours later, we became the owners of a second BMW motorcycle. This was on Saturday with the pick-up scheduled for Thursday. The delay was due to me having my DMV appointment on Tuesday where my new certificate processed with no problem, and I was told my new license would be in the mail.

We picked up the bike using a U-Haul truck as we are adamant we are not riding on major roadways. Now Bill had told me he would just ride the bike out of the truck provided we could turn it around. At first I thought he was joking and, when he said he didn’t need the ramp, he actually was. But just as with the 310, my brother was out mowing the lawn and came over to help. Between him and Bill, the bike was turned around, and my brother made the same suggestion about just riding the bike down the ramp. Bill gave him the honors as he had helped us twice now without needing to be asked and he really seemed to want to. His verdict? “Smooth.”

As for my riding, once my license arrives in the mail, then I will follow Bill through the neighborhood to get to our practice parking lot. And we will both get to practice our stopping, swerving, slaloming, and standing drills. My bike is a few inches shorter, though much taller. I think I will have the advantage inside the box.

My license arrived yesterday with the official “M2” designation smack in the center. This meant that now I could ride my bike over to the elementary school through the neighborhood making me an official motorcycle rider. You know how when you can’t fall asleep, every nighttime noise is magnified tenfold? Imagine that feeling but with the everyday objects on the road—stop signs, parked cars, bicyclists, oncoming traffic, following traffic, turning traffic, sewer covers, bumps, intersections, curbs, etc. I felt an awareness of every driveway we passed, the potential for a car to back out at any moment.

I realize this sounds a bit paranoid, so please don’t think I was miserably nervous as we cruised through the neighborhood. I had more the sensation of an awakening. My boyfriend Bill has been stressing the need for a hyper-awareness necessary on the motorcycle on things we take for granted driving in a car. As we rode through the neighborhood streets, I experienced that hyper-awareness without a lessening of the fun of riding.

For many riders cruising the neighborhood at or under 25 mph may not constitute a ride. But I marveled at the buffeting of the wind even at such a slow speed, and I wondered what it will feel like at 35 or 45 mph (no highway riding, so no need to go as high as 55). Bill insisted I wear a leather jacket for the neighborhood ride and came to the realization that we would indeed need summer riding jackets.

I have no idea what I looked like, but I felt great. We passed a couple pruning tree branches, and I realized that for them, Bill and I were two experienced riders cruising around. The only people who might have realized what a newbie I really was, would have been anyone behind me at two different intersections where I stalled out of the stop—3 stall-outs in total today. Luckily, no one was behind me.

We rode the bikes over to the school parking lot where I practiced accelerating out of the curve, coming to a quick stop, U-turns, and slow slaloming. Our Kamelkones and small traffic cones had arrived, so we put them to use. At first, Bill set 6 of them up about 7 feet apart. After my first attempt, he spread them out another foot and took away a cone. After my second and third attempts, he took away yet another cone and spread them even farther apart, around 9 feet and only 4. The challenge was a slow slalom, so I was in first gear and stayed seated. I could get through 3 of the cones, but I was definitely oversteering.

I wanted to compare the seated slalom to the standing slalom, so I made a run up and a run down standing on the bike—that was a revelation. In standing I naturally used more of my body to steer, just as we do on our bicycles once we gain confidence to accelerate. So I realized that I needed to rely on my body more in the slaloming when seated. By utilizing the shifting weight of my body, I had better control, I leaned more rather than turning the handlebars, and I was more successful.

The one point I was not successful on was getting Bill to ride the slalom as well. So my goal is to get him up practicing along with me. He doesn’t need the practice like I do, but I know riding around on the bike would be so much better than sitting and watching.