Highway Nerves

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guscave · #21 Unread post by **guscave** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 2:03 am

Well I did it. This 4th of July weekend my wife and I headed down to Key West (160 miles each way). This was not only a great ride but a great experience. Highly recommend any bikers to do this trip if they get a chance. One regret was we forgot to take our camera to take pictures.

As for the highway jitters, It wasn't bad at all. There were some parts in the South Miami area were the speed limit was 70mph but most of the trip ranged from 45 to 55mph. The long ride (3hours) definitely helped me get over my fears of highway riding.

I'm also going to get a windshield a.s.a.p. There were some moments over bridges that the wind gust was very strong and I would've enjoyed the ride more if I had a windshield.

Thanks all for your input, much appreciated.

follow · #22 Unread post by **follow** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 4:13 am

I'm glad you had a great time, sounds like you and the wife had a good trip minus the windshield (1st on the accessories lists I assume), next summer a group of friends myself included plan on going down to the Keys, I hope we have just as much fun.
P.S. I really hate wind gusts too.

guscave · #23 Unread post by **guscave** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:03 am

BTW, I'm keeping a journal of my experiences as a new rider. I've included part of this weekend's adventure on my latest blog, and will add more in the coming days. You can check it out at:

http://newbikerjournal.wordpress.com/

follow · #24 Unread post by **follow** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:07 am

One of these days I will have to post my journal. It's great to see other peoples experience and adventure.

drrick · #25 Unread post by **drrick** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:45 am

I made my first trek onto the highway this weekend. I only went one exit but boy was it a different experience than driving on the back roads. I had hit 60 - 65 mph on some back road divided highways before but it was a new experience driving 70 mph on the interstate (with cars still whizzing by). I am sure I will get the hang of it with some more practice. I cant imagine my wife trying that on her virago it was hard enough on my 1100

beardking · Tue Jul 08, 2008 7:32 am

guscave wrote:Well I did it. This 4th of July weekend my wife and I headed down to Key West (160 miles each way). This was not only a great ride but a great experience. Highly recommend any bikers to do this trip if they get a chance. One regret was we forgot to take our camera to take pictures.

As for the highway jitters, It wasn't bad at all. There were some parts in the South Miami area were the speed limit was 70mph but most of the trip ranged from 45 to 55mph. The long ride (3hours) definitely helped me get over my fears of highway riding.

I'm also going to get a windshield a.s.a.p. There were some moments over bridges that the wind gust was very strong and I would've enjoyed the ride more if I had a windshield.

Thanks all for your input, much appreciated.

I think doing something like this was the best thing for my confidence while riding. I had been riding my bike pretty much full time (as weather allowed) for about 9 months and I decided to take a trip to OKC from Dallas. It's about a 400 mile roundtrip. When I first set off, I was a bit nervous because up to that point, I pretty much only rode back and forth to work (30 miles roundtrip). On the way up, I stuck mostly to back road (no interstates, but mostly 4 lane highways). I did this for 2 reasons, 1) I was a bit nervous to slab it and 2) I wanted to enjoy the scenery. On the way back, I just wanted to get home, so I hit the interstate for almost the entire trip.

By the time I got home, I had ventured through light rain, dealt with 20mph constant crosswinds, been blown all over the place by trucks passing by, ridden at a constant 80mph for quite a long distance, and seen a lot of OK I hadn't seen in a while. I also had raised my confidence level higher than ever before. Since then, I've made the trip again with no worries, and I even get on the highways down here in Dallas with only about a half pucker going.