Ride to the hills

I finally made it out for my ride up to and around Kalamunda and the hills area. It's been a while since i've really ridden anywhere so it was a good exercise for me and the bike.

I enjoyed myself thoroughly. Nothing too notable aside from the awesome autumn weather which has finally arrived, and that i got a taste of how low i'm capable of cornering when i'm too busy looking where i'm going to freak out. There was a mad Camry driver tailing me all the way to my designated turnoff, and determined not to be cowed by it, i downshifted and gunned into the corner with my foot on the rear brake for control.

I'd sorely misjudged how tight a turn it was, because for a split second i found myself looking at the center divider while turning, and then i was snapping my head around to see where the road actually went. In all this i was still throttling, and before i knew it, the bike had swept in and down into the pinhead corner and out again.

I felt like a hero. You have no idea. Whoa.

Only after i'd ridden away did my brain pull all the pieces together, and produce a big exclamation mark with "holy crap" in front of it.

Heh.

I've been trying to cultivate good visual skills as espoused by this article here, and have also found that looking far ahead to where i want to be is very good for my cornering stability and confidence at speed. The above incident left no doubt that you are where you look!

*

What makes this an even better day is that one of the 2 new (second hand, but new to me) lenses i bought arrived today:


Nikkor 35-70mm f/2.8D AF

I brought the camera and new lens along to take some photos, but as it turns out, i was having so much fun i forgot all about it. However, not to be dampened, i stopped near home to take unexciting bike pictures:



2 things to react to:

1. Damn it's SHARP
2. Look at that contrast!!!!!!