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Well tonight I took my first ride around the neighborhood!!! My husband broke down over the weekend and purchased his BIL's HD 883. With the intention that in a couple of years he will be ready to trade up and I can take over the hugger. I talked him out of a sport bike, I think he would get a little too crazy on it. But anyway, we went out tonight and I followed him. At first I was thinking..gotta pull clutch in, down shift, stop.. look both ways..let clutch out slowly..give more gas. But by the end our little ride it was all coming to me without thinking about it!!! Boy did it feel great!!! We went around for about 30 mins. I really felt good and I could have kept going but I wanted to end on a good note. I also know that around 7:30 there are two older guys who walk dogs on flexi leads (the worst thing they made for avg. joe pet owner). To make matters worst they can't control the dogs and forget to lock the flexi's. Since I didn't feel like being chased on my first ride out we headed back home. lol! We plan on doing that for a while and hitting the mall again this weekend. I figure a couple more times of the neighborhood and maybe one Sunday morning early I might venture out with him. I would love to ride up to the local diner and have breakfast and then ride home. But I'm not going to rush it! I just had to share with all of you my first ride around the neighborhood.

What made me feel really good was my husband told me how impressed he was at how well I did.

Jean

CONGRATULATIONS JEAN!!!! It's great to hear of another good first ride out! I had mine a few short weeks ago, so I know how excited and happy you feel. There will be many more good days ahead now.

One thing I did notice in your post, you said you followed your hubby around. If you ever feel nervous at all in traffic, maybe have him follow you. That's what Bill and I do. He runs interference for me, keeps the tailgaters off my butt. I feel way more confident knowing he is behind me than some soccer mom needing to rush to the mall. (The soccer moms and dads of the world don't phase him at all) Just an idea, might help you get up to that cafe a little sooner than you think

Way to go Jean, , it wont be long before your out there with your hubby on some amazing rides. When I learned I was the other way around from SilveradoGirl. I followed people for a while to get use to seeing how the bikes should be lined up in corners and anything else I could learn from watching others. You just have to do whats most comfortable for you and maybe a bit of both ways.

Thanks Ladies! I'm like you Chels, I tried going around with him following me, but I was more comfortable following him.

This evening I was out of the neighborhood for the first time! We rode down the back way to the Mall and back. Its about a 3-4 mile ride, up and down hills. It was a lot of fun!!!! I was nervous at first then I thought of what my boss told me. Don't harp too much, just relax and ride. Soon I'll be going out for some nice rides.

Jean

Jean that is great, before you know it you wont know how you lived without riding. Your boss is right, when you get that little nagging voice in your head, just relax and ride. The more you get out the more comfortable you will get.

Good deal! Glad you're having fun getting used to the ride. Enjoy!

Cheers,
Loonette

Perhaps the ideal learning situation would actually involve two riders for you then. One to follow through the corners (it helps a TON to follow someone, because you use a hundred little visual ques to help set yourself up for taking the corner). And someone to run interferance vs all the idiots out there. And there are a lot
Though I honestly think it's best to be following someone, you learn more by watching what they do, then by puzzling through it yourself. Try to hit the roads between 10 and 11 am, and 1 and 3 pm. It's when the fewest people are out.
Whatever you do, do not be on your bike when school starts letting out! Stupid kids don't seem to realize that even a bike slamming into them will do far more damage then they want to deal with. Look MA... instant death.

That's awesome about your first ride! I'm new around these parts- I took the MSF in May, passed with flying colors. I have a Suzuki Marauder which I LOVE and I've done lots of work with cones in a large parking lot in the evenings. What made all of y'all feel comfortable taking that first ride out of the parking lot and on to the street? Right now, SO (who's been riding for 7 years) doesn't have a bike (mine took priority- he'll get his in the fall). So, I don't have anyone to ride with. I've done all the skill building- I can turn my bike slow, I can stop quick, I can shift smooth, swerve, and I can generally start smoothly from a stopped position. What magic feeling does it take to know that it will work on the road with traffic and potholes and all that jazz?

I've been reading these forums, and others around. I notice that folks seem to get a lot of encouragement and confidence from posting. I guess maybe that's all that's left?

I think for me I got tired of riding the same patterns, especially when my husband was doing longer rides and basically leaving me behind. I was nervous as hell. But then I remember what my boss said "Relax, don't think just ride" I think it makes it easier to have some one to ride with. Maybe your SO would be willing to follow you in the car. That way your not out there alone. I think the easiest time to go out is early Sunday Morning. Its soo peaceful and not too much traffic. A car here and there.

We've been slowly increasing our rides. This weekend was great!! We rode 3 times and each one was for about 45 mins to and hour each. Which is not super long, but for me it was.

Good Luck!!

Jean

Hey, amstaffmom, thanks! That's exactly what we ended up doing. There's some very pretty backroads near where we live, so we went for about an hour. Then the next day, I went by myself (stopping every hour to call and tell him I was still alive) on a mapped out route. It was liberating! Tomorrow, I go on my local, in town roads (to the gym and library). It was just finally getting sick of the parking lot and saying "I'm as ready as this darn parking lot is going to make me!"

We are still going to the parking lot for skills practice once a week. Now, rather than him teaching me, it is both of us practicing our swerving and hard stops, etc. (He even bought cones )

Anyway, this site, and others I've found, have made it much more possible for me to keep growing with this- just by lurking.