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First Experiences
Aug. 16th, 2014 01:45 pmSo I had a first-time event today, that I knew I would have to go through someday. In particular, I dropped my motorcycle while I was out riding.
I was driving home from work, and took a hairpin turn that I've been through time and again before with no trouble. But this time I think I took it a little faster (still under the speed limit, and at a reasonable speed, but a bit faster than my usual timid roll), and I didn't have the confidence to give it enough throttle to maintain the angle of lean I needed to get through the curve. And by the time I realized this, it was too late to throttle more - I would have throttled into a minivan.
So I dropped the bike.
And... nothing bad happened. I was wearing my armored jacket and my gloves and my helmet (and I wasn't speeding), so I'm unhurt other than a bruise on my hip. My first thought wasn't to panic, or cry, or wallow in shame; it was just 'well, darn.' I got the bike stood back up all by myself, re-secured my bag to the luggage rack it had fallen from, and rode the rest of the way home. Admittedly, I didn't stop on the way to get it inspected like I had planned to; I want to make sure that nothing was damaged on the bike first. But that's it.
And now? Now I've done this once, and I know it's no big deal. I know I can survive it and keep riding. I know what it feels like when I'm going to skid out. And hopefully I'll know to roll on the throttle a little earlier next time. But most of all, I know I can fall and get back up again....
I was driving home from work, and took a hairpin turn that I've been through time and again before with no trouble. But this time I think I took it a little faster (still under the speed limit, and at a reasonable speed, but a bit faster than my usual timid roll), and I didn't have the confidence to give it enough throttle to maintain the angle of lean I needed to get through the curve. And by the time I realized this, it was too late to throttle more - I would have throttled into a minivan.
So I dropped the bike.
And... nothing bad happened. I was wearing my armored jacket and my gloves and my helmet (and I wasn't speeding), so I'm unhurt other than a bruise on my hip. My first thought wasn't to panic, or cry, or wallow in shame; it was just 'well, darn.' I got the bike stood back up all by myself, re-secured my bag to the luggage rack it had fallen from, and rode the rest of the way home. Admittedly, I didn't stop on the way to get it inspected like I had planned to; I want to make sure that nothing was damaged on the bike first. But that's it.
And now? Now I've done this once, and I know it's no big deal. I know I can survive it and keep riding. I know what it feels like when I'm going to skid out. And hopefully I'll know to roll on the throttle a little earlier next time. But most of all, I know I can fall and get back up again....
