Moto Broad

Surprise — it didn’t rain! The day was perfect; it was cool and dry, and the course was not mud, after all. Some women were taking the class because, like me, they ride on the street and wanted to get a taste of riding on dirt. One mother brought her teenaged daughter. Several women were trying it out because their husbands rode dirtbikes. And there was one charming 12-year-old with a blond pigtail flapping out the back of her helmet who had no trouble at all ripping through the course; her dad has built a motocross track in their back yard! I have a feeling we’ll be hearing more about little Madison in the near future.

The instructors, Teresa and Paula, were great. Patient, thorough, and realistic. No excessive praise, good constructive criticism. I was surprised how quickly I overcame my clumsy attempts to stand up on the pegs. Once I fully unfurled and found my balance, it became easy. I even shifted without falling over

The last exercise of the day involved riding up a small hill, turning around a cone, and coming back down the hill. From a distance, it looked painless; the hill seemed tiny. Until we walked up it and looked back down. Suddenly, it seemed steep and slippery. We attacked it from two directions. In the first exercise, we rode up the right side, rounded the cone, and turned left down the hill. Hey, not bad! But I always find turning left easier (I think most folks do). Continue Reading »

This is a permanent condition, apparently.

My excitement about next Sunday’s “Dirt ‘n’ the Skirt” dirtbike school is tempered by the forecast on weather.com: looks like it’s gonna rain for the rest of the century. Explains why that guy up the street is building a boat. And why he asked if I had two cats he could borrow…

Ah, well, it’ll strengthen my character; I’ll just take a change of clothes with me.

Test your quick recognition of road signs, and — even better — your quick assessment of traffic situations with these great Motorcycle Safety Foundation online exercises. In the signs test, signs are flashed on screen for less than a second, and you must identify them by picking from a list of possibilities.

In the Collision Traps Test, you’re presented with images of real traffic conditions (merging vehicles, pedestrians sneaking up in your peripheral vision, debris in the road), and you must choose the key issue from a list of options. It’s educational, and I do think it could help refine your responses.

Whee! I just signed up for the “ladies only” dirtbike class to be held in Alpharetta, GA September 27th at the Motorcycle Safety Foundation campus. I have no intention of wearing a skirt, mind you. But I’m really looking forward to spending a day playing in the dirt. I think it will help me work on balance and bike handling.

I have put 6000 miles on the SV, and probably put 1000 on the first SV, but I’m still kind of green (I think). Oh, I’m fine navigating through the metro area, and I seem to have quit falling over in parking lots. But next weekend I’m taking a true motorcycle trip with my gentleman friend, up to Two Wheels Only motorcycle resort in Suches, GA. The area is full of twisty roads that sportbikers love, so I should be thrilled, right?

I’d say “cautiously optimistic” instead.

I do need the practice on roads that are more challenging than my well-worn runs around Atlanta, I know. And people with less skill (and certainly less cautious natures) than I have ridden north Jawja and lived to tell about it.

But I’m so guilty of overthinking and overanticipating: I read about the blind curves, the bozo bikers, the careless locals, the slick tar snakes patching the cracked asphalt, and I tense up. Ah, well: I will just ride at my own pace, stay away from the center line, and try not to embarrass myself. Who knows — I may actually enjoy it

Too much time in between posts. I know. I’ve put over 4000 miles on the SV since May of last year. Funny how it feels so much smaller, so much lighter than it did initially.

I had to park on a steep hill today; I rolled into a space, then looped tightly into the adjacent space so I’d be backed in — and stalled (first time in a very long time). A year ago, I would’ve probably dumped the bike. But I wrangled it as it began to tip, recranked with my thumb, and with two fingers on the brake and two on the throttle, curled it the rest of the way around and parked just fine. I was meeting an old friend at the place I used to work, and it would so have ruined my cocky entrance if I’d dumped the bike in the parking lot. If I’d had theme music, it would have been George Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone” — sung by the Carpenters.

Another sharp, clear day. My friend rode with me on a utilitarian ride to my old house, but this time he followed me (for a year, I’ve followed him, and I know that’s annoying, constantly monitoring his mirrors to see if I’ve disappeared, slowing down to accommodate the squidlet behind him). I found that once I forget he’s back there (”Did I do that right? Does he think I’m an idiot?”), and just concentrate on riding (which I do when I’m riding alone), I do a bit better. I make my own decisions (”should I go or wait for this guy in the truck?”) rather than watching his decisions and following.

On the way home, there’s a bottleneck where the road goes from two lanes to one. A truck pulled out, and I had to choose whether to look at his rusty bumper all the way down the nice country road, or to take advantage of the last bit of my waning lane and accelerate past him. I twisted the throttle, the little SV took hold, and I pulled easily past him before the lanes converged. It’s a small thing. But it felt good. I realize that my sense of what the bike will do, and my perception of the road and vehicles around me is getting better.

Today I felt less tentative, and the joy of riding is starting to seep in. Good day.

Went over to Birmingham to watch the AHRMA races and stroll through the wonderful Barber Motorsports Museum. That part went fine. But a ride to 29 Dreams for breakfast, well, not so fine. Continue Reading »

The one-on-one tutorial was *great*. The instructor, Jeanne Vicario (www.dovemotorcycle.com) is an ex-MSF instructor, and a former Ed Bargy School instructor (www.edbargyracingschool.com). She’s maybe 5′ tall, but she wields her little cruiser like it’s nothing. Very patient, with concise instructions. In just a bit over an hour, I improved my u-turns (turn that head! Turn farther! You can turn it farther than that!). Think Linda Blair, and you’ll improve your turning, too. I still can’t whip it in a figure-8, but I could turn painlessly in the practice parking lot, which would’ve been a wobbly challenge just the day before. I know it sounds so silly, and I realize that mindset has a great deal to do with all of this. If I think it’s hard, it becomes hard. I know I overthink things in general, and riding in particular. I suppose it’s the notion that I can compensate for lack of experience with “book learning.” Not that it hurts to read, but it’s not always helpful to be in analysis mode. Sometimes you should just relax and let your body do the right thing. “Try hard to relax,” y’know. Continue Reading »

Tomorrow, if I can wedge my elephantine foot in the boot, I’ll ride down to my favorite bike mechanic and have him lower it a notch (the bike, that is. It’s too late for the foot). I thought I’d been doing fine with the bike at stock height, but I really can’t afford to go through this again. It’s just great luck that I didn’t have to travel this week (I have tons of writing and Photoshop work to do, but I can sort of raise my leg while I do some of that). It feels like an admission of defeat to lower the bike, but I guess it’s just self-preservation.

I rescheduled the low-speed tutoring, and I’m hoping I will come out of that triumphant. I love the bike, I love to ride, and, frankly, I expected to catch on to this faster than I have. Things that are effortless for experienced friends (like quickly negotiating tight spaces) still challenge me. I’ll get better.

I had a wrestling match with an Ace bandage this morning. (The doc recommended that I batten it down by binding it, to subdue the swelling.) I’d get one end anchored, complete 2 or 3 trips around my leg, then DOH! the first end would lose traction and the whole thing would unravel. After the 5th attempt, I thought, screw this, I’ll go get some old lady compression hose. I picked up a pair of white (I know it’s after Labor Day, but so what?) and an unnatural tan pair. Continue Reading »