Moto Journal: 03092019

I took Aurora out for some turning practice today, ranging from slow-speed U-turns up to about a 20-mph figure 8 on a decently big parking lot. I am slowly getting to not be afraid of leaning her over, but between a bike that is about an inch taller than I feel like it should be and tires that don’t lean over well on dry pavement (and do worse in the wet) that confidence-building has been a slow process. 

Still, I got better. I figured out how to make tight turns by leaning the bike way over while standing on the outside foot peg – a truck they tried to teach me in the RiderCourse but which I couldn’t get to work on the tiny teaching bike. On my big honkin’ v-Strom, however: it works. 

Higher-speed figure eights still intimidate me. The bike is willing to lean over that far, but I still *feel* like she’s on the verge of falling over. But on the ride home I took several turns from one neighborhood street to another in second gear. And I’m still standing. 

Which reminds me: this makes outing #3 without dropping or otherwise injuring my bike. Go me, right?

I even took her out for coffee:



Along the way, I finally got up to full speed, and even a little better, on the 40-mph blvd that links home and town. Putting the full touring windshield on my bike made a huge difference: I’ve been terribly intimidated by the full blast of wind at 30+ mph. 

Which brings to mind: car drivers are crazy. Doing 40-45 in a 40mpg zone, cars were still zipping past me like I was standing still. Except when starting from a stop light: it turns out a 650cc V-Strom can easily out-drag even the rudest of BMW sports car drivers – I got a few car lengths ahead just getting up to the speed limit. Then he blew past me because I refused to do 50 in a 40 zone. Go figure. 

Still, riding is starting to move from “nerve racking” to “mildly fun.” We’ll see if it gets better from here. 

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