RSSThe motorcycle diaries, part II
12 Aug 2009 2 Comments
in Motorcycles
Our ride days were Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Our first ride day had me feeling nervous, especially because I had a bad night in to lot before. I was really worried about stalling on the motorcycle in traffic, and the night’s lessons before included shifting and braking at speed (well, at speed in the lot; all things are relative when you’ve never ridden before). Friday night’s lot lessons took a lot out of me because I wasn’t able to do them well, so I was struggling with that plus my desire to do everything well. I was nearly in tears by the break and I wasn’t sure why. I had to take time to get a grip on myself.
We rode from the school to a motorcycle dealership in the next town over (from Newton to Langley). Traffic was stop-and-go because of construction, and I could feel myself getting tense.
But as we got out of the traffic and we were able to spread out I realized that I was grinning and having a great time on the bike. By the time we pulled up behind Taro at Holeshot the three of us were grinning like idiots. We had had a taste, and we wanted more.
On the way back I not only stalled in traffic, but I got separated from the group twice (the second time a lady cut me off. She looked me right in the eyes and cut me off. I knew that I’m invisible, but really?) I didn’t die, panic, flail – everything was alright and I got back with the guys and carried on.
The big ride was Sunday – from Surrey to downtown Vancouver (via hwy 1), through UBC and back to Surrey (via hwy 99 & 91).
It was threatening rain in Surrey, and webcams showed that it was raining in Vancouver. Along with all of our regular gear we struggled into rain gear.
We rode the ZZR 250s (Ninjas) that day and they were so much nicer than the Sherpas.
Taro had me go in the lead shortly after we turned onto King George Highway, and I led all the way into Vancouver. I was extremely nervous, and even more so when I got onto highway 1 and I lost communication with him. I could only hear about every third word in my earpiece. I knew I was doing (or not doing) something because I kept hearing “….Laurie….Laurie…..right…..Laurie!” Eventually I was replaced at the front (thank god!) and Taro fixed my earpiece when we stopped to stretch.
Things went well until I dumped the bike.
We were turning right from a stop sign on a slight incline, so I had both of my feet down. I had noticed as we were riding up Robson that the rain gear on my right leg had a hole that kept getting caught in my foot peg, so I was trying to avoid putting that foot down.
As I started to come around the corner my pantleg was really tangled around the peg and I couldn’t pick up my foot. I looked down – cardinal sin – and when I looked up I realized that I was way wide in the turn and I grabbed the front brake. All of the weight of the bike transferred to the front wheel and I realized I had two choices: fall down or run into the car.
Once I knew I was going to fall everything happened very slowly. I remember reaching out to break my fall with my arm, and then remembering the lesson to go limp. I’m convinced that had I not done this I would have broken my arm. I also remembered to turn off the engine, although it felt like someone else was guiding my hand to the switch.
Then the Ninja and I hit the ground. My foot was pinned under the bike so I couldn’t move. Taro must have seen me as I fell; he calmly had the guys pull over and ran back to help me. Adrenaline-fueled, I hopped up to my feet and climbed back on the bike.And promptly pulled over because my shoelaces were untied. I was a little jumpy on the bike for a while, but I did settle down.
Falling was almost dreamy…quite similar to the crash I had on the back of a friends CBR where I did end up fairly banged and scraped up. It’s a surreal feeling, and the lack of panic I’ve felt both times is really weird.
By the time we pulled in at PRS I was sore. Limping on my right leg (my “good” knee, damn it!) I collected my t shirt and a few last words of wisdom from Taro. I’m sad that it’s over. I enjoyed learning from Kramer and Taro, and I know that I haven’t even scratched the surface of things I don’t know.
Now all I want to do is get a bike and ride. Ride, ride, ride: I have many years to make up for.
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Aug 13, 2009 @ 09:30:31
Hooray for graduation! Bummer about the fall. Hope that knee is a little happier today. Sucks that the weather has gone for crap just after you qualify.
Aug 13, 2009 @ 14:21:08
Well, we don’t have anything to ride at this point, so the weather is kind of moot.
I’m not limping anymore, and I can raise my arm above my head again, so life is good :)