road trips

[bluemonkie99]

so this sumemr my boyfriend wants to take long road trips (New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan, MIssissippi) and i'm just wonderign if other women have done it and how painful it is. i'm willing to give it a shot but he's not sure i can handle it. i'm now on my 85 Magna, and it definitely has more power than my Yamaha, but i must say i am a bit terrified of it. of course i have a few months still to practice but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Sherry UltraGirl]

bluemonkie99, you will do just fine on long distance trips. Get out riding as soon as you can, get some miles on those muscles. I drive a HD Ultra Classic, very comfy. Because I'm short we changed handle bars to something that fits me, so I don't stretch too much, and the seat works for me as well ... not every seat is perfect for every rider. A few simple changes will make a big difference.

[Lion_Lady]

You gotta work up to longer seat time. Take regular day trips, working on upping the mileage as you become more comfortable.

Think about what issues you have with comfort as you spend more time in the saddle and then try to resolve them as you can.

My longest trip so far was 1600 miles (two days out, two days back). A blast, but not a piece of cake.

P

[SheRidesABeemer]

so this sumemr my boyfriend wants to take long road trips (New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan, MIssissippi) and i'm just wonderign if other women have done it and how painful it is. i'm willing to give it a shot but he's not sure i can handle it. i'm now on my 85 Magna, and it definitely has more power than my Yamaha, but i must say i am a bit terrified of it. of course i have a few months still to practice but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

What are your concerns about? If you think you have the wrong bike for long distance, that's and expensive problem! Have you ridden long days? Do you have certain comfort issues that can be addressed? Are you worried about your skill level in general? Take a refresher course. But most of all, get out and ride. Only experience will give you the confidence you need to address new situations.

An important thing to work out with your mate are expectations for the long road trip. Will you get up and leave early? Will you ride through from gas stop to gas stop? Do you like to stop every hour? It's not important what you decide, but that you talk about expectations.

I regularly ride 10-12 hour days. But you do need to work up to that kind of thing. I rode cross country in 2004. That's really a bunch of 500 mile days strung together. I rode alone, so I didn't have to deal with all that compromise stuff! When I do ride with my partner, we decide up front if it's a mileage day, or a sight seeing day. This helps a lot to keep stress down.

Gail

[blues2cruise]

I'm wondering if bluemonkey ever did her road trip.

I've been on a couple of them now this summer and I have to say, they are great!

[blues2cruise]

Oops! I posted the question above before I realized that bluemonkee was who posted the fearful thread.

[bluemonkie99]

Yeah, needless to say, no road trips were done this summer. That had been the hope during late winter when my riding was looking okay. But my boyfriend's ride has also been out of commission all summer as he's trying to patch up a leaky tank. but we're young and there are plenty more summers and plenty of raods to traverse together!

[Lion_Lady]

So, WHERE are you in NoVa? I'm just north of Baltimore, and nearly always up for a ride...

Its fun to take Whites Ferry north of Leesburg because there's pretty roads on both sides of the Potomac.

You can PM me. We can do some parking lot "putt"ing.

Pam

[sawguard]

as a road trip guy I can vouch for a couple of issues that demand attention.

first, make sure your back is strong. to do that you have to do both
sit ups and reverse situps...where you use only your lower back muscles to lever yourself at the waist. Both of these exercises strengthen your abdominals which are the muscles that keep you upright, alert and able to ride longer distances.

second, unless you slowly work up to it, you butt is the killer....
if your back is strong you can sit, but if you butt is not accustomed to the seat you will get what we call Monkey butt...It has nothing to do with monkeys but it will cause you great discomfort.

You can make sure you put some good talcum powder in your drawers and that helps, but you also need to be able to move in the seat both backwards and forwards some and there is no substitute for seat time.

third...you have to be able to ride without tensing your wrists, elbows or shoulders...tension in any of those joints will cause cramps, numbness or other symptoms that cut rides short. Unless your bike "fits" you work on it until you do not have to lean forward on your wrists, backward to stretch or tense your shoulders or elbows.

and finally, unless you are an IRON BUTT candidate there is no need to make riding an endurance test.

Stop and a) back away from your bike seat about 2 feet, bend over at the waist, put your overhead, outstretched hands on your bike seat and
stretch your lower back. Ifyou have time time, lie down a few minutes with your head on your helment and your knees bent, flat footed.

Good riding.

tom

[blues2cruise]

I went on a week and a half long road trip this past fall. My back and butt were ok, but I find sometimes I still get tension in my neck.
It is mostly because I am not the most relaxed person to start with and by the end of a long day, dealing with unfamiliar roads and questionable weather, I tend to scrunch my shoulders instead of keeping them down.

I'm working on it though.

Welcome to TWM sawguard. Why not make an introduction in the Start Your Engines page?