n3wbee
04-06-2005, 08:06 AM
So. Another weekend. Another trip out there on the road. All still very new to me yet and I still battle with those voices in my head that say "Yes ride" – "No don't ride". /sigh
Saturday was wickedly windy. Gusts of 50 mph +. And it was cold. The high was 44. Add the wind factor to that and burrrrr. H decided he's riding. I asked him how could he ride with this hellacious wind and cold? He's like, "Cuz I'm on my bike." Cork nut. Well call me a weenie. I wasn't goin. This n3wbee figured she didn't need the extra stress out there. H comes back after about an hour and a half. I see him quietly standing in front of the stove. I know what he's doing. He's turned on the gas burner and is warming his hands. heh
Sunday H told me wind gusts were down to 10 – 20 mph so it shouldn't be a big deal for me. Alrighty then. First stop was getting gassed up. H and I have taken this route once before so that went fine. One thing H told me was to be careful on those right turns. I turned a little wide and straddled the double yellow lines at one point. There was no oncoming traffic, but that's no excuse. Those dang right turns! [Mental note made.]
H had a route in mind and so we got started. Well I'm guessing this is just another one of those things n3wbees like me have to get used to. I felt like I was being buffeted around pretty good out there. And then when I got up to 50 mph + I was like dang. I hope I can hang on. Sheez I didn't very much like it. About 15 miles in at a traffic light I told hubby I wanted to turn back. So we pulled over and we talked a little. I like that about H. When we stop at a stop sign or traffic light he always asks me if I'm doin all right. So H boosted my confidence and we continued on.
After a bit we pulled off the road. H gives me breaks to clear my head and get recharged. :D A guy in a crotch rocket who had been following me pulled over along with us. He told us that it looked like my tail light was stuck on. We got that fixed. [Mental note number two: take responsibility for my own ride and do T-CLOCKS every time I go out.]
After the Good Guy left I told H this time I felt like I wanted to head back for sure. The wind gusts sure felt < 20 mph. To me anyway. I felt like if I didn't have a death grip on my handle bars when the wind decide smack up against me I'd blow off. So that was fine by him. I also asked H if he happened to see me go over the double yellows a bit ago. I did this once the last time I was out too. Both times it happened when I was rounding a gentle right hand bend in the road. I remember thinking lean but the bike wouldn't respond. Then I would remember to push the right hand grip. Geez. [Mental note number three went something like this: "Wake up girl! Get your focus on and keep it on. Forget the word 'lean'. It's PUSH PUSH PUSH those handlebars!"] H was a bit surprised – and concerned.
So, we headed home. We got stuck at this traffic light along with another pair of bikers behind us. The light would stay red for us and cycle through for everyone else. Dang. So we had to take a right turn to get outta there. It ended up being a 42 mile ride for me. So pretty good for this n3wbee. Plus came away with some lessons learned. As much as this is a sport and fun it's still serious business out there.
Saturday was wickedly windy. Gusts of 50 mph +. And it was cold. The high was 44. Add the wind factor to that and burrrrr. H decided he's riding. I asked him how could he ride with this hellacious wind and cold? He's like, "Cuz I'm on my bike." Cork nut. Well call me a weenie. I wasn't goin. This n3wbee figured she didn't need the extra stress out there. H comes back after about an hour and a half. I see him quietly standing in front of the stove. I know what he's doing. He's turned on the gas burner and is warming his hands. heh
Sunday H told me wind gusts were down to 10 – 20 mph so it shouldn't be a big deal for me. Alrighty then. First stop was getting gassed up. H and I have taken this route once before so that went fine. One thing H told me was to be careful on those right turns. I turned a little wide and straddled the double yellow lines at one point. There was no oncoming traffic, but that's no excuse. Those dang right turns! [Mental note made.]
H had a route in mind and so we got started. Well I'm guessing this is just another one of those things n3wbees like me have to get used to. I felt like I was being buffeted around pretty good out there. And then when I got up to 50 mph + I was like dang. I hope I can hang on. Sheez I didn't very much like it. About 15 miles in at a traffic light I told hubby I wanted to turn back. So we pulled over and we talked a little. I like that about H. When we stop at a stop sign or traffic light he always asks me if I'm doin all right. So H boosted my confidence and we continued on.
After a bit we pulled off the road. H gives me breaks to clear my head and get recharged. :D A guy in a crotch rocket who had been following me pulled over along with us. He told us that it looked like my tail light was stuck on. We got that fixed. [Mental note number two: take responsibility for my own ride and do T-CLOCKS every time I go out.]
After the Good Guy left I told H this time I felt like I wanted to head back for sure. The wind gusts sure felt < 20 mph. To me anyway. I felt like if I didn't have a death grip on my handle bars when the wind decide smack up against me I'd blow off. So that was fine by him. I also asked H if he happened to see me go over the double yellows a bit ago. I did this once the last time I was out too. Both times it happened when I was rounding a gentle right hand bend in the road. I remember thinking lean but the bike wouldn't respond. Then I would remember to push the right hand grip. Geez. [Mental note number three went something like this: "Wake up girl! Get your focus on and keep it on. Forget the word 'lean'. It's PUSH PUSH PUSH those handlebars!"] H was a bit surprised – and concerned.
So, we headed home. We got stuck at this traffic light along with another pair of bikers behind us. The light would stay red for us and cycle through for everyone else. Dang. So we had to take a right turn to get outta there. It ended up being a 42 mile ride for me. So pretty good for this n3wbee. Plus came away with some lessons learned. As much as this is a sport and fun it's still serious business out there.