Friday, February 9

Night ride and official progression

It evolved that i had the night to myself, so i grabbed the opportunity to take a long ride up the coast. Aside from the hand cramping, it was a great ride. I've discovered after some observation that the hand-cramping might be caused by my gloves being an ill fit, rather than the gap between the handle bars and brake and clutch levers. Tonight's ride proved it. 2 hours of continuous riding determined that:

  1. My left glove has loosened from continuous flexing/clutching, so my left hand is ok
  2. The thumb of my right glove is too short, causing considerable discomfort especially when throttling at high speed.
I need to get new gloves. Back to Dale Britton i will go before next weekend, when the mass ride occurs. Now that i've decided on it, i'm seriously looking forward to it.

Tonight's ride also determined something else. Once i made this discovery, the physical aspects of riding sort of all fell into place and started making sense on an instinctual level, however strange that might sound. While i still have a long way to go skill and experience wise, i have moved up a stage.

It's taken 2 months, but i am officially over my newbie jitters =)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

did you feel more secure riding with others? my buddy was telling me all about his Harley and how he rides only between 3 to 4.5 hours a trip because he just doesn't like to ride more than that.

Be careful! I know you don't need me telling you but it's reflex! :D

avoidance said...

I don't know about secure per se, but there is definitely a strong sense of... togetherness, or belonging.

This ride will be very differnt from the first time i rode with someone else though. It's only been about a week or two but i've managed to rid myself of the jitters in between that time so it will make all the difference.

And also we'll be going country, which i've never done before on a bike... i'm pretty familiar with the route we'll be taking. I used to watch the biker packs run through and wish i was one of them, and now i will be! =D

Yes, i promise to be careful. Scouts honour! =)