I made it back alive! (lol)
Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2006 3:57 pm
Well, I made it! Total milage was about 95... Thats from Alvaredo to Springtown and back to my house in Ft Worth. I started off with a few U-turns and some quick stops before we headed out. I asked my Niece (tailgunner) to critique my ride for me and asked if we could do some debriefing after we got there. She said I looked like the dude in the MSF movie when we did curves with my jacket and helmet on. She said I took all the curves like a pro except for one. It was on a back road where I couldn't see the entire track and my Nephew was in my line of vision. So I dropped back a little to see better, and when I saw there was no traffic I just ran the curve. She said I broke the line, but I did it on purpose when I saw the line was clear. 1/2 mile of dirt road... no problems. 1000 feet of dirt driveway... no problems.
Freeway was cool. 60-65 MPH and the bike was as smooth as one could ever want. I was puckered for about the 1st 1/2 mile, then I relaxed and just got into the ride. Traffic was moderate, but not terribly bad. I felt a little uncomfortable the 1st few times a car passed on the right, but that didn't last long.
The only issue that came up was the "Herd Mentality" thing. My Neice is used to riding with the club they're in. They blow yellow lights. I don't. A light turned yellow and my Nephew blew it. I thought about the vehicles behind me (my wife in the cage) that couldn't make it... and I SAW THE COP sitting there. I stopped. She was used to blowing them and was ready to get on it. When I stopped she was caught off guard and had a puckery stop. After we talked about it a few minutes she admitted that she didn't even see the cop, and I was definately right in stopping... Not because of the cop, but because there were people behind me that couldn't make the light even if I did. She never did understand why I will not race a yellow... even in my cage. The only way I take a yellow is if I don't have to speed up at all to clear it.
I went out today (since I have the bike back home) and hit the parking lot for about 45 minutes doing quick stops, swerves and U-turns. Then I took a little joy ride around town. I figured it was Sunday and traffic wouldn't be miserable, so it would be a good time to start getting used to used city driving a little. Wifey followed me in the cage, and we had a great time. I did about 50 miles today. Tomorrow I'll work on turning from a stop with the bars cut all the way to stop, as well as right hand U-turns (my weak spot).
I would call this one, "A goal accomplished!"
Freeway was cool. 60-65 MPH and the bike was as smooth as one could ever want. I was puckered for about the 1st 1/2 mile, then I relaxed and just got into the ride. Traffic was moderate, but not terribly bad. I felt a little uncomfortable the 1st few times a car passed on the right, but that didn't last long.
The only issue that came up was the "Herd Mentality" thing. My Neice is used to riding with the club they're in. They blow yellow lights. I don't. A light turned yellow and my Nephew blew it. I thought about the vehicles behind me (my wife in the cage) that couldn't make it... and I SAW THE COP sitting there. I stopped. She was used to blowing them and was ready to get on it. When I stopped she was caught off guard and had a puckery stop. After we talked about it a few minutes she admitted that she didn't even see the cop, and I was definately right in stopping... Not because of the cop, but because there were people behind me that couldn't make the light even if I did. She never did understand why I will not race a yellow... even in my cage. The only way I take a yellow is if I don't have to speed up at all to clear it.
I went out today (since I have the bike back home) and hit the parking lot for about 45 minutes doing quick stops, swerves and U-turns. Then I took a little joy ride around town. I figured it was Sunday and traffic wouldn't be miserable, so it would be a good time to start getting used to used city driving a little. Wifey followed me in the cage, and we had a great time. I did about 50 miles today. Tomorrow I'll work on turning from a stop with the bars cut all the way to stop, as well as right hand U-turns (my weak spot).
I would call this one, "A goal accomplished!"
