First "cruise"

[RaoulDuke]

Hello all:

Well, I've been puttering around the neighborhood and on an empty dead-end road the past few days practicing slow maneuvers (U-turns and the like), starting, and quick stops.

Today I decided to ride over the Elementary school to scope out a parking lot to practice some of the larger exercises in the Ride Like A Pro DVD. As I approached the school, something made me keep going.

I blew by the school and headed out of town, down a country road that I know fairly well. It's moderately twisty (but mostly straight), and cuts through a countryside dotted with farms, cow pastures, and groves of trees.

You more experienced riders will probably laugh, but here are my observations:

First thing, this was the first time I've ever been out in any kind of real traffic. Pretty scary. I felt a lot of pressure to do everything perfectly (starts, stops, turns, etc). I'm not sure if the pressure was because I didn't want to look like an idiot or hold up traffic (by, say, killing the engine at a red light), or what it was, but the pressure was there. Weird.

Secondly, once I was out of town, it was the first time I'd ever taken a bike over 45mph. I took her up to about 60, and if it's possible to grin ear-to-ear while crapping your pants, I did it. I see-sawed between being overly tense and forcing myself to breath and relax my arms. I'm guessing that's a natural reaction to the first time you take a scoot up to that speed.

Lastly, the experience of being out in the open like that was amazing; like I was really a part of the countryside. I could smell everything - cow pies, dead skunks, freshly mown grass, you name it. It was simply awesome.

It was hard to come back home. I wanted to stay out there. But I knew I had other commitments today; mowing my lawn not the least of them. My wife would've been less than happy had I shirked my duties to stay on the bike.

Hmm...I wonder how many times that's been an issue with married couples? Nah, I bet that never happens...

[MTexile]

Was in a similar situation a few weeks ago. Bought a Dyna-Glide in late Feburary and took it to a parking lot for the same reason. Have ridden a Sportster for almost 7 years previously. Just wanted to get a feel for the balance, throttle, weight, etc. After five minutes got bored and hit the road! Came back a few hours later and practiced slow turns, just had to get my mojo going first...