Every Mile Is An Adventure
I’ve gone back and forth on rather or not to share this with you all. I’m going to go ahead and put it up and trust that if people get brutal (yes, people can be pretty mean online) that I’ll be able to brush it off. Today, I’m going to address what can happen when you let self-doubt creep in and you don’t trust your motorcycle riding skills. [Read more…]
It’s a beautiful day, the sun is shining, the wind is hardly blowing, and you are ready to hit the open road for a day of riding. Before taking off there are a few things you need to do to ensure your motorcycle is as ready as you are to hit the road. [Read more…]
I bought A Harley 5 Years Ago Today! My Softail Deluxe and I have seen 14 states, traveled 38,334 miles together and have had an amazing time doing it. I’m so thankful that once I showed an interest in riding Scott taught me to ride! I’m looking forward to many more adventures. [Read more…]
If you ride a motorcycle you know that’s a hard question to answer to non-riders. I remember asking Scott what it was like prior to learning to ride. He did his best to explain it but as we all know you have to get on a motorcycle to fully understand the feeling that comes when you’re cruising down the road.
Last semester I took an art class. For our final project, we could do anything we wanted. Seeing how riding is a big part of our life I knew somehow I wanted to incorporate that into my project. We briefly talked in class about video as a form of art. My instructor mentioned no one had ever really done a video as a final project so I decided to do one. I was fairly certain none of the students in my class have ever ridden so I wanted to try and capture a bit of what it’s like to ride.
To capture the feeling we compiled a list of common questions nonriders typically ask us and tried to answer them with the actual video footage and in the commentary. Each project had to be presented to the class the week before finals. Each of was given a time limit of up to 5 minutes including questions and answers. For that reason, we kept the video short and tried to mix the clips up with several different types of riding experiences.
This was our first skills day of 2015. The morning started of chilly so I wore my face mask for much of the first hour. Despite the chill in the air we did have a pretty good size crowd.
We practiced u-turns, cone weave, off-set cone weave, right and left turns and 24′ key hole/circle. The off-set cone weave has been one of those obstacles that frustrated me. The first time I tried it I was mistakenly trying to get close to the cones and dropped by bike. Since then every time it has been set up I have avoided it for the most part. This time started off the same. I looked at Scott and told him ‘you know I can’t do this.’ He reminded me it was a mental thing and that since my bike can make the turns it was just a matter of me believing in myself and trying. Sigh…. I knew he was right so I watched a few road captains do it and then went for it. Guess what? I did it! When people say that 75% of riding maneuvers are conquered in the mind they aren’t kidding.
Next was the 24′ key hole. My first few attempts weren’t pretty but then I got it. I just need to work on my entry. I don’t turn my handle bars enough so I end up taking several feet away that would help me not hit the cones with my saddlebags.
By the end of the day I was feeling more confident about turning my handle bars sharper and my ability to control my bike. You can read more about why I try to never miss skills day on this post from July skills day. You can view all the pictures we took on Google+.
Most of us have witnessed this scenario at least once since getting involved with motorcycles: someone drops his or her motorcycle, and three or four people scramble over to help muscle it upright. In fact I witnessed it just this past weekend. Whenever I see that happen I wonder what the person plans to do if they drop it out on the road and are alone. I for one don’t want to sit on the side of the road or in the middle of a lane waiting for help. [Read more…]
When I bought my bike I had no real desire to ride by myself. Then I came across a blog post where a lady rider was talking about a situation that came up where her husband where they had to pull over and she had to go for help. She described the panic she felt because she had never ridden by herself. Right then I decided I wanted to start working towards taking a solo ride.
I knew the first step would be taking the lead while Scott and I were out riding. Then I began planning where I wanted to ride to. I thought it would be fun for my first solo ride to be the same trip I took on my first ride ever! It wasn’t a long ride and it is a route that I know well meaning I wouldn’t be worried about directions.
I had decided to head out around 9:00 because the roads wouldn’t be too busy and to allow it to warm up some. Thankfully by the time I left it was around 60 degrees. As the time got closer I did start to get some butterflies but I knew putting it off wouldn’t change that so I got geared up and headed out. I decided to take the camera and GoPro so I could share the adventure with you all but also to have it for myself. My boys always say “pics or it didn’t happen”.
As I reached the first traffic signal I began to get excited, by the second light most of the butterflies had flown away. As the short trip went on I had this sudden realization that I was doing it, I was calling the shots. You see when I ride with Scott, rather it is just he and I or a large group I have someone else setting the pace and making the calls about lights and such. Today it was all me. Don’t get me wrong, no matter what I am looking out for myself, checking the lanes, watching for vehicles and what not but in a group you know someone else is too. I have often wondered if I could handle it by myself and now I know I can. I can keep up with traffic, change lanes, decide what to do at a yellow light, choose a parking space and everything else that goes along with riding. I AM ABLE TO HANDLE MY BIKE BY MYSELF! Yes, I was screaming that!
My new goal is to take a short trip by myself monthly if I can, even if it is just a short one. I know the more I do it the more confident I will become. I want to continually challenge myself and never become complacent with where I am at as a person or a rider. I believe you have to ride at your own comfort level but you also have to be willing to push yourself.
A special thank you to Scott for believing in me, helping me reach this goal and always pushing me just a bit!
I did it, I took my first solo Ride! It has been over a week since I did it but I am still pumped up and excited about it. Now I can mark that off my 2014 goals sheet!
The wave, I’ll admit it, until I had been riding my Harley for several months I thought it was silly and I didn’t really get it. Go back to before I rode a motorcycle and I made fun of it, sad but true! I use to laugh and tell my husband you don’t see me waving at other people driving Explorer’s so why do bikers wave at each other?! I didn’t get it.
I now understand that while out on the road you develop a feeling of closeness to those you have never met, you understand how they feel with the warm sun against their face or the rain pelting down on them. There is a bond despite that the only you thing you may have in common is that you both ride a motorcycle. The wave is a way to connect to your fellow biker. I have read some articles that claim some bikers use it show their approval or respect for what you ride. Me, I don’t care what you ride, just get out there and ride it. If you wave to me and I am in a position to safely wave back I will.
Is it safe to wave? So what if you are a new rider and not sure about taking your hand off the handle bars? Then don’t do it! Until you are comfortable waving, a smile and a nod will do. Hopefully the other rider understands and if they don’t well, that’s okay too. As a rider safety has to be your first concern. I began by nodding or I would keep my hand on the bars and just lift the fingers up, sort of a half wave. Then I slowly began to raise my hand more and more. Now I feel comfortable, most of the time, with a regular wave. If I am in a curve, the weather is bad or I don’t feel comfortable taking my hand off the bars I revert back to the smile and nod.
What’s the proper way to wave? If you have been riding for even a few months I am sure you have noticed several distinct waves. Some do the low one finger, others a peace sign and then there is the “hi mom” wave. Scott and I laugh at that one especially when they do it almost hopping up and down on the seat of the bike but hey, they are riding so I wave back! Full Throttle has a great post with the low down on each style in their hand greeting post. As you ride you will develop a wave that feels comfortable to you, go with it.
They didn’t wave back, why? Don’t be offended if you do wave and the other biker doesn’t wave back. There are a multitude of reasons and most have nothing to do with the you. They may not see you, maybe they are a new rider and not comfortable yet or heck they may not wave just because they don’t want to. Maybe they haven’t developed that connection to fellow riders yet. 
Then you have the ones that don’t feel like you deserve their respect. Many motorcycle clubs will not wave back unless they are passing another member or a club that is associated with theirs. That’s fine with me and I don’t take offence when they don’t return the wave. The only reason that bothers me is the fact that if you are a woman rider the chances of getting waved at are even less than for our male counterparts. There are still clubs, groups and individual riders that don’t feel a woman has any place on a bike of her own. I have had groups pass Scott and I, wave at him and quickly put their hand down as they approach me. I have even over heard men say women have no business on their own bike. At first it irritated me but then I let it go. I am riding my ride, living my life and hopefully when I am on road showing that women have a place in the motorcycle world.
Our HOG chapter holds a monthly skills day almost every month of the year weather permitting. We always try to make it but we have missed the last three or four because of other commitments. After the Blue Ridge parkway trip I knew I wanted to work on my leaning, u-turns and circles. During that trip I saw the importance of feeling confident while maneuvering the bike. Seeing how we are in Texas and it is July skills day was scheduled from 9-12 in hopes of beating the heat. As we road up I noticed the group was fairly large today, about 20 bikes. The group was a mix between very new riders, seasoned riders and everyone in between. I know each rider has their own reason for going to events likes these. here’s why I go
We got parked, signed in and I got to meet a few new ladies and their husbands. Doc, our lead road captain introduced that days road captains and briefly went over the course before Kim and Richard gave us a demo. ** If you are curious what it means to be a road captain check out this post: Fort Worth HOG Road Captains. It isn’t an easy job and it doesn’t come with pay.** It is odd how nervous you get when you start lining up and waiting for your turn. You feel like all are eyes are on you even though everyone is focused on what they are doing or are about to do. The first section was to take off, turn and go into a u-turn followed by a cone weave, s-pattern, another u-turn, cone weave and then a 24′ circle. 
I took off and followed the course. I did okay but didn’t lean much which is odd considering how much I did on our trip. I started the day off thinking I really wanted to push my lean but here I was in a controlled environment and I was hardly leaning. I let fear take over and I was just wanting to get through it. I went around the course a few times and improved but still never really pushed myself and to be honest I looked very rough. Several people dropped their bikes multiple times, which is okay and to be expected when you are pushing yourselves but it intimidated me. We took a short break while the road captains changed things up a bit. This time they broke it into a beginners section and a more advance area. Well I was determined to do the harder area despite the fact that it had been months since I had been to skills day. 
It started off with a slow area, you try to go as slow as you can without putting your feet down, then into a right u-turn, then off-set cone weave and ending with a 22′ circle. As I waited my turn I began to get nervous and self doubt set in. I found it hard to shift my focus as I went from the slow and steady and into the turn. I put my foot down in the turn and as I looked at the arrows on the ground for the weave I panicked. I went around one cone and then as I approached the second one I dropped my bike. Doc, our head road captain was by my side instantly and helped me get going again. This was the third time I’ve dropped my bike but the first at a skills day. It wasn’t hard a fall, I didn’t even get off my bike but it rattled my confidence. Doc turned my bike off and told me to restart it and take off. I made the decision to go back over to the beginners area to calm down and try to get my mind reset. I did fine on the u-turn and regular weave but my circle was bad! I went through it twice and finally Kim suggested I go and ride in the open area and a larger circle to build my confidence back up. I did and then redid the beginners area and did much better, even scraped my floor boards a few times! Then Scott rode up and mentioned he had seen the hard time I was having earlier. I told him abut dropping the bike. He told me not to let it beat me and to go and try it again. I knew he was right but I was still scared. I got in line again and still wasn’t able to complete the off set weave. I didn’t drop my bike but I did run over a few cones. Scott watched me and said I was trying to take it too tight. The off set weave is meant to be taken with larger turns, especially as a newer rider. By now I was determined to get it but I was also getting hot, tired and my clutch had was hurting. While everyone took a short break Scott and I walked the area, he showed just how wide I should be approaching the turns and where my head should be looking. Okay, I got this was what I kept telling myself. I spent the remainder of the day in the advanced area. I never did complete the off set weave but I did get it to where I was only missing the last two cones out of 8 I think and I did the 22′ circle all the way once. I was proud of myself for not giving up but I spent the rest of the day pretty upset and replaying my mistakes over and over in my head, not a wise thing to do! I should have focused on how well I did in other areas such as my u-turn and eventually the circles. Always celebrate your victories! Monday and Tuesday rolled around and I found myself scouring YouTube for videos on the offset cone weave maneuver. I watched and read a few tips and decided that I wanted to practice it this week-end. I sent Scott an e-mail at work and he looked up the dimensions to set it on our own. We probably won’t get to it this week-end but I am not giving up!
Here is a short video from skills day. You will notice that there are road captains every where ready to help riders that need it. I think it is important to push yourself and improve your skills but make sure you have someone around to help you before you try something new and wear your gear.
May is motorcycle awareness month. Hopefully you have noticed the signs urging you to “share the road” and “look twice for motorcycles”. As the weather warms up and people begin taking vacations the number of motorcycle riders on the road increase.
Many serious and fatal crashes occur when motorists turn in front of motorcyclists. Make sure to stay alert, especially at intersections and while making turns and lane changes. Studies indicate that in multiple-vehicle accidents, the driver of the other vehicle violated the motorcyclists’ right-of-way and caused the collision in two-thirds of those crashes.
Troopers said it is difficult to time the speed and distance of an approaching motorcycle. Before you drive through an intersection or make a left turn, check the position of oncoming motorcycles at least two or three times. Statistics show that multiple-vehicle crashes account for approximately 75 percent of all motorcycle accidents.
Tips to drivers on how to prevent a fatal crash with a motorcycle:
While I think it is important to remind drivers that riders are on the road as riders we have a responsibility to take too. One of the first things my husband told me about safety was to assume that the vehicles around me didn’t see me. In the drivers safety course we were taught that we had to anticipate the cars around us next move and to always have an exit strategy and be prepared to take evasive maneuvers.
Motorcyclists can increase their safety by following these steps:
By following basic safety rules, we can all help prevent crashes. “Our message is for all drivers and riders: Share the responsibility of keeping our roads safe—always share the road.” NHTSA
I have heard many riders say “it’s not a matter of if but when” in regards to an accident. That is why it is important to stay alert, carry a Motorcycle Operator First Aid Kit on your bike and take the accident scene management course.