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Milestones
Jul. 28th, 2013 01:09 pmGuess who just rode her motorcycle on actual real streets with other cars for the first time?
I know that doesn't sound like the biggest deal, but it kind of is. My biggest obstacle to overcome in this whole motorcycle adventure has been my own fear of my inexperience and incompetence, given the knowledge that I am not the Only Person On The Road. The training class involved just riding around a parking lot, and since then I've just been practicing on our little, no-traffic dead-end road.
And as an aside, I can't get over how awesome and entertaining it is that my bike seems to be the talk of the block. I've lost count of how many neighbors have come out to look at the bike, cheer me on as I drive in teetery slow-motion figure-eights, and/or give me advice from their own riding days. I love my neighborhood.
But I've been a bit worried - what if I never get good enough to have the skill or courage to actually drive this thing? The first day I got her home, I stalled her half a dozen times and dropped her twice, just going back and forth on our block.
Luckily, I am stubborn to a fault, and loath to waste the time and money I've invested. So I've *kept* practicing up and down my block, practicing shifting and stopping and starting and driving figure-eights until I could make it half a dozen times around without stalling, having to stop and walk around a tight curve, or dropping the darn bike in a fit of 'Oh god too many things to think about shift-signal-clutch-brake-throttle-CURB!' And I promised myself when I could do that, I WOULD go out on the road, whether I thought I was comfortable or not.
And it is Sunday, and there are almost no other cars, and I know that the longer I postpone the worse the anxiety will be. So today I bravely stepped out onto real (one-lane, back-road) streets and drove out there with (two or three) other cars. I only went a couple of miles, and I think I maxed out around 25mph, but I did it. I made it into third gear, I went up hills and around corners and through traffic lights, I signalled, I only stalled once at the very end, and I didn't die or cry or get yelled at by angry drivers.
Maybe tomorrow I'll go a little further.
I can do this....
(PS - I think her name is Maia...)
I know that doesn't sound like the biggest deal, but it kind of is. My biggest obstacle to overcome in this whole motorcycle adventure has been my own fear of my inexperience and incompetence, given the knowledge that I am not the Only Person On The Road. The training class involved just riding around a parking lot, and since then I've just been practicing on our little, no-traffic dead-end road.
And as an aside, I can't get over how awesome and entertaining it is that my bike seems to be the talk of the block. I've lost count of how many neighbors have come out to look at the bike, cheer me on as I drive in teetery slow-motion figure-eights, and/or give me advice from their own riding days. I love my neighborhood.
But I've been a bit worried - what if I never get good enough to have the skill or courage to actually drive this thing? The first day I got her home, I stalled her half a dozen times and dropped her twice, just going back and forth on our block.
Luckily, I am stubborn to a fault, and loath to waste the time and money I've invested. So I've *kept* practicing up and down my block, practicing shifting and stopping and starting and driving figure-eights until I could make it half a dozen times around without stalling, having to stop and walk around a tight curve, or dropping the darn bike in a fit of 'Oh god too many things to think about shift-signal-clutch-brake-throttle-CURB!' And I promised myself when I could do that, I WOULD go out on the road, whether I thought I was comfortable or not.
And it is Sunday, and there are almost no other cars, and I know that the longer I postpone the worse the anxiety will be. So today I bravely stepped out onto real (one-lane, back-road) streets and drove out there with (two or three) other cars. I only went a couple of miles, and I think I maxed out around 25mph, but I did it. I made it into third gear, I went up hills and around corners and through traffic lights, I signalled, I only stalled once at the very end, and I didn't die or cry or get yelled at by angry drivers.
Maybe tomorrow I'll go a little further.
I can do this....
(PS - I think her name is Maia...)
