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first ride of the season
Mar. 18th, 2010 11:28 pmlovely ride tonight
took a while to get warmed up. first off, i had to find my moto keys. i didn't ride much last year; and they weren't in the usual place, so I had to hunt for a wasted 30 or 40 minutes, stressing out because i only have one set...but found them.
yay, Honda; purred to life, no problems. i always feel nervous on the first ride of the season; this time especially, 'cause i hadn't ridden in a pretty long time. (trick is, just don't think about it...muscle memory takes over on a skill like this. like riding a bike. you don't think about shifting, your hands and feet just do it.) but yeah, always twitchy on the first ride. potholes, cars, and deer, oh my! windshear from trucks. and i tend to overthink at first. caution and paranoia. always, always, my mind goes to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, when Indy and a grail-guardsman are about to be sliced to pieces by a boat propeller, and the guardsman is like "My soul is prepared, how's yours?" that's kind of the mindset i aspire to. i'm not quite there, but i try. but I also think back to advice i got skiing, from a former Ski Patrol guy (now deceased, come to think of it); he told me that what would help my skiing is to keep my balance forward, always. aggressive, aggressive, leaning forward, never back...you get less control when you sit back on your skis. I try to bring that to riding as well...lean forward, not back...meet that raised manhole like you *want* to jump it and you're on a dirtbike, instead of all ohshit and wobbly. etc. and it was chilly. wore tights, workout pants, jeans, teeshirt, longsleeve teeshirt, fleece hoodie, and my North Face, and still felt cold...this is why people wear leather. blocks the wind. i just don't have real cool weather gear. worst part is the hands. on the way back on 78, i had my poor 250 wide open, and it could only hit 75...even hunkering down, i couldn't get it to 76...boo. but now my wrist hurts from keeping it cranked in that position. oh well, it should be fine by tomorrow; wanted to testdrive so i could take the bike to work tomorrow. excited because it's my mom's "Green" blacklight show, and also friday. been stressed at work; thats one of the great things about riding...your concentration is so total; as le philosophe said, you get the ability to let that which does not matter, truly slide.
rode and ran some errands; dropped in on some old friends in Bridgewater, Poppy-style, without warning...good to see people!
watching project runway. missed most of the season, but the people who i thought were talented in the beginning are still there, so thats cool.
took a while to get warmed up. first off, i had to find my moto keys. i didn't ride much last year; and they weren't in the usual place, so I had to hunt for a wasted 30 or 40 minutes, stressing out because i only have one set...but found them.
yay, Honda; purred to life, no problems. i always feel nervous on the first ride of the season; this time especially, 'cause i hadn't ridden in a pretty long time. (trick is, just don't think about it...muscle memory takes over on a skill like this. like riding a bike. you don't think about shifting, your hands and feet just do it.) but yeah, always twitchy on the first ride. potholes, cars, and deer, oh my! windshear from trucks. and i tend to overthink at first. caution and paranoia. always, always, my mind goes to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, when Indy and a grail-guardsman are about to be sliced to pieces by a boat propeller, and the guardsman is like "My soul is prepared, how's yours?" that's kind of the mindset i aspire to. i'm not quite there, but i try. but I also think back to advice i got skiing, from a former Ski Patrol guy (now deceased, come to think of it); he told me that what would help my skiing is to keep my balance forward, always. aggressive, aggressive, leaning forward, never back...you get less control when you sit back on your skis. I try to bring that to riding as well...lean forward, not back...meet that raised manhole like you *want* to jump it and you're on a dirtbike, instead of all ohshit and wobbly. etc. and it was chilly. wore tights, workout pants, jeans, teeshirt, longsleeve teeshirt, fleece hoodie, and my North Face, and still felt cold...this is why people wear leather. blocks the wind. i just don't have real cool weather gear. worst part is the hands. on the way back on 78, i had my poor 250 wide open, and it could only hit 75...even hunkering down, i couldn't get it to 76...boo. but now my wrist hurts from keeping it cranked in that position. oh well, it should be fine by tomorrow; wanted to testdrive so i could take the bike to work tomorrow. excited because it's my mom's "Green" blacklight show, and also friday. been stressed at work; thats one of the great things about riding...your concentration is so total; as le philosophe said, you get the ability to let that which does not matter, truly slide.
rode and ran some errands; dropped in on some old friends in Bridgewater, Poppy-style, without warning...good to see people!
watching project runway. missed most of the season, but the people who i thought were talented in the beginning are still there, so thats cool.
