After getting my Rebel I soon discovered that learning to ride in a closed-off parking lot is nothing like being on the real road.Needless to say, my first time out on the little roads in our community filled me with apprehension and anxiety. It had been a few weeks since the class, and you tend to lose new skills if you don't use them again right away.
So, there I was, struggling with the concept of watching out for everything around me while trying to keep the motorcycle under control and exercise all of the skills and knowledge that I had learned during the MSF class. Long story short, near the end of my first time out I dropped her as a car was starting to back out of the driveway. I couldn't decide what to do... so I braked... while the handlebars were turning... and the throttle was... twisting? My darling boyfriend said I popped a wheelie, but all I know is that when the throttle opened wide everything was complete chaos, and I was laying on the ground with the bike on top of me. We got back up, made another lap around the neighborhood and went home, with me a little bruised and my pride severely beaten.
(Fortunately I dropped her on the same side the previous owner had. So, no damage was done, or at least nothing that was worse than the half-dollar dimple that was already on the left side of the tank.)
For several weeks I stayed confined to the so-called "safety" of my community, which really isn't as comforting as you'd think because everyone in a car is pulling out left and right without stopping and looking regardless of whether someone is coming along on two wheels or four. Some guy even made the mistake of trying to walk out in front of me. What I really needed to do was get out of there and to the confines of an empty parking lot to be able to practice my quick-stop and swerving skills, but that would involve getting out on the busy three-lanes-in-either-direction street. Finally my amazing boyfriend gently coaxed me across the busy road into the next community to try some different small neighborhood roads.Okay, I'll admit I made a mad wild-eyed dash across the street as soon as the light turned green, leaving him in my dust.
After a couple of weeks of creeping around the back streets, my wonderful boyfriend and I woke up at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning to venture out along the big three-lane road so I could fill my gas tank with some brand-new fuel and Seafoam. We continued on, driving on the roads with cars. Okay, so there weren't many cars, but it was something other than the community back roads. Filled with a little more courage and a bit more experience, we went out again following Saturday morning to get a bite and ride around until the inspection station opened. So YAY, I finally made it out onto the real roads! With demonic attack squirrels and inattentive motorists!
I am still filled with apprehension and anxiety every time we're going to go out. I've heard that you should still feel a little bit of fear every time you're on two. So there really isn't anything zen-like about riding for me just yet, but it is still a lot of fun... and my awesome boyfriend and I are enjoying our adventures on two.
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