Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 1:58 am
5/30/09.
Well, I must say, things are progressing nicely. Hubby and I took the BRC-2 course a couple of weeks ago, and had a great time. One of the instructors told me that she’d like to see me think about becoming an instructor in the future. That was high praise. She’s been an instructor for about 10 years.
The Jerry Pallodino DVD, Ride Like A Pro, has been very helpful, and we haven’t even worked past the first few exercises. It was expensive for a DVD, $35, and I could not find it used or discounted, so we ante’d up, and it has been worth the money. Captain Crash’s youtube lessons have also been extremely useful—and they’re free! Learning to drag the rear brake for doing slow-mo maneuvers was an eye-opener. They did not teach that in either BRC or BRC-2, but it makes the U-turn box almost easy. (Almost!) I would have ace’d the test, but for my stop. Usually, quick stop is my strongest feature on the test, because I will quite happily skid that rear tire for as long as necessary, but it has come to my attention that I can stop faster if I properly apply both. I do use the front brake, but, obviously, not enough. So easing off the rear while progressively bearing down on the front is my new riding challenge. In the test, my stop was stretched out like a rubber band, because I was determined to not skid. Okay, so I didn’t skid, and I’ve got some work to do . . .
The ERC is coming up on June 13th, and I want to be as sharp as possible for it. Haven’t been to parking lot practice lately, though. Since I’ve screwed up my thumb/wrist tendon, it’ll be even longer. I’m using my left thumb on the space bar as I type. It has been a little sore for over a week, but I wasn’t able to identify what caused it as I do a variety of tasks, any of which could have been the culprit. I have a talent for acquiring small injuries that I don’t notice until later, and then have no clue as to what happened.
Turns out, it was the throttle & the throttle lock, of all things. I’ve been increasing the length of my highway rides, and on Friday, took a jaunt out to Indianapolis, which was 375 miles roundtrip. By evening, it was painfully obvious what was causing the tendonitis. The Vista Universal Throttle lock is activated and deactivated by my right thumb. Maybe I should have gone with the Kaoko, after all. We went riding Saturday, me armed with naproxen and swearing off using the lock, and all seemed well until near the end. Yeeeoooww! As soon as I got home I wrapped my hand & wrist and applied an ice pack. The disappointing fact is that we only went 40 miles total, and it was split up into several long stops. So, gorgeous weather aside, I will not be riding for the next few days.
But I shall not end this on a sour note. Good news: I have scraped pegs on both sides of the Versys!! Parking lot only, but since then I have been leaning harder and enjoying my turns even more. Now the disclaimer: this is on a lowered suspension, lowered link, and lowered foot pegs. Okay, okay, but still . . .
Now, Indy has more picturesque parts to it, but this is where I took the time to actually stop and snap a pic. The sky tells it all: an utterly gorgeous day.
Well, I must say, things are progressing nicely. Hubby and I took the BRC-2 course a couple of weeks ago, and had a great time. One of the instructors told me that she’d like to see me think about becoming an instructor in the future. That was high praise. She’s been an instructor for about 10 years.
The Jerry Pallodino DVD, Ride Like A Pro, has been very helpful, and we haven’t even worked past the first few exercises. It was expensive for a DVD, $35, and I could not find it used or discounted, so we ante’d up, and it has been worth the money. Captain Crash’s youtube lessons have also been extremely useful—and they’re free! Learning to drag the rear brake for doing slow-mo maneuvers was an eye-opener. They did not teach that in either BRC or BRC-2, but it makes the U-turn box almost easy. (Almost!) I would have ace’d the test, but for my stop. Usually, quick stop is my strongest feature on the test, because I will quite happily skid that rear tire for as long as necessary, but it has come to my attention that I can stop faster if I properly apply both. I do use the front brake, but, obviously, not enough. So easing off the rear while progressively bearing down on the front is my new riding challenge. In the test, my stop was stretched out like a rubber band, because I was determined to not skid. Okay, so I didn’t skid, and I’ve got some work to do . . .
The ERC is coming up on June 13th, and I want to be as sharp as possible for it. Haven’t been to parking lot practice lately, though. Since I’ve screwed up my thumb/wrist tendon, it’ll be even longer. I’m using my left thumb on the space bar as I type. It has been a little sore for over a week, but I wasn’t able to identify what caused it as I do a variety of tasks, any of which could have been the culprit. I have a talent for acquiring small injuries that I don’t notice until later, and then have no clue as to what happened.
Turns out, it was the throttle & the throttle lock, of all things. I’ve been increasing the length of my highway rides, and on Friday, took a jaunt out to Indianapolis, which was 375 miles roundtrip. By evening, it was painfully obvious what was causing the tendonitis. The Vista Universal Throttle lock is activated and deactivated by my right thumb. Maybe I should have gone with the Kaoko, after all. We went riding Saturday, me armed with naproxen and swearing off using the lock, and all seemed well until near the end. Yeeeoooww! As soon as I got home I wrapped my hand & wrist and applied an ice pack. The disappointing fact is that we only went 40 miles total, and it was split up into several long stops. So, gorgeous weather aside, I will not be riding for the next few days.
But I shall not end this on a sour note. Good news: I have scraped pegs on both sides of the Versys!! Parking lot only, but since then I have been leaning harder and enjoying my turns even more. Now the disclaimer: this is on a lowered suspension, lowered link, and lowered foot pegs. Okay, okay, but still . . .
Now, Indy has more picturesque parts to it, but this is where I took the time to actually stop and snap a pic. The sky tells it all: an utterly gorgeous day.
:crybaby: 
) Even though the pants are Tourmaster, they zip to my Fieldsheer riding jackets--bonus! They are the Flex-mesh pants. They have a thermal liner, a water/windproof liner, and a textile shell. Sections of the textile shell zip off, turning them into mesh pants--there's a whole lot of zippers involved.