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You're not doing it fast enough...

I agree with those that have said that J should figure it out for herself a bit. My boyfriend and I go on rides together often. He in no way "babysits" me which I have always appreciated. He realizes that I can take care of myself and I am not an irresponsible rider. His concern shows through at times but in general he is nothing but supportive of my progress as a rider.
In the dirt it is basically a fend for yourself type attitude amoung him and his friends. I have to say I wouldn't want it any other way. There is something very empowering about having to figure out for yourself how to pick a bike up on a steep hill and get it going again. Ya sure ther is quite a bit of cursing going on but it really changes your confidence level.
In short I think that my boyfriend shows me quite a bit of respect in allowing me to find my own way.
 
Nothing gave me a bigger smile than when my wife decides I'm leading her too slow so she hops to the fast lane on the highway and zips by. It was one clear indication that at that one moment in time, she was truly enjoying riding the motorcycle and wasn't just on it because I coaxed her. With a newborn (and the sale of her bike), this hasn't happened for awhile and is unlikely to happen in the near future; but I sure hope it's not the last time.
 
I was surprised to see my wife pick up the pace and do pretty well while following a group ride that we were once on. I was telling myself that damn, I should have brought her on one of these group rides a lot sooner.... then, after about 2 minutes or so of what I thought was 'very nice' pace for her, she target fixated while through a turn and pulled out of the road onto gravel on full brakes.... luckily, she came to a complete stop and slipped and dropped the bike from stand still. She was scared, and I learned a HUGE lesson:

I need to make sure the person I am mentoring doesn't fall into a 'try and keep up' trap, and continue to ride at the pace that I KNOW from experience she is comfortable with.

A few months later, she was doing a lot faster pace up hwy 9 and 35 to Alices, and I wasn't even worried. I knew she had enough experience by then to keep that pace 'safely'.
 
Feanor said:
hitting the apexes late like the riders in front of her and accelerating hard out of each turn.
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Make sure she's got her oxygen plugged in Stefan...one moon trip: coming up!

Seriously, this is no joke: get her to a Zoom Zoom (or like provider) trackday and let us evaluate her. Bad habbits make for bad crashes. I'm only trying to sell you safety here...and I'll work with her ALL day if you want.

Otherwise, tell her to "relax" when it sends her sky piloting!
 
Sounds as if J is refusing, quite firmly, further babysitting. Not neccessarily wisely, though. Perhaps a second lap at a faster pace would have been wiser? Keeping up with the squidses is a recipe for...well, not for a fabulous apres-ride boeuf bourgignon, c'est vrai.
Perhaps a helmet-to-helmet communicator set is in order? Or at least a set of agreed-upon hand signals for pace, I wanna pass you, let's slow down, pull over, etc.? A track day, that's for damn sure. Hell, she can get new leathers for something like that. Why not base twisty riding on sound, observed training, especially as she comes off an injury?
 
lol, I tried to reply to your post Ntula, but you deleted it in time!

une moto, une mobilette, un scooter, un velo.

Don't ask why some things are masculine and other feminine, it doesn't follow much order or logic :p
 
plumber said:
I took "Sheila" for a 2up ride circa' 1983. We went over to 35 and 84. I was following another buddy and was taking it easy for Sheila. She told me to get after it, so I did. We kept a brisk pace through the hills and she was fine with it. We then went back across the San Mateo Bridge. Now mind you my '82 Seca 750 would get speed wobbles at around 100 mph. It was a natural governor that kept me in check. Well that day my buddy took off and rolled up to about 105. I rolled on fully expecting the impending wobble to slow me back down. The wobble never showed so I tapped out the bike around 125ish. Those speedometers only went up to 85 and that went away a long time ago. We pulled over a few miles later and Sheila was noticeably shaking. She said she wasn't scared and it was OK. Sheila lived next door and left that night never to be seen again. I think she got more than she asked for.:teeth
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Interesting... When I've taken chicks for rides, as long as I maintain a pace (well within my limits) that to them feels a bit dangerous, but is not terrifying, I've had some very "happy endings".
 
Nemo Brinker said:
Sounds as if J is refusing, quite firmly, further babysitting. Not neccessarily wisely, though. Perhaps a second lap at a faster pace would have been wiser? Keeping up with the squidses is a recipe for...well, not for a fabulous apres-ride boeuf bourgignon, c'est vrai.
Perhaps a helmet-to-helmet communicator set is in order? Or at least a set of agreed-upon hand signals for pace, I wanna pass you, let's slow down, pull over, etc.? A track day, that's for damn sure. Hell, she can get new leathers for something like that. Why not base twisty riding on sound, observed training, especially as she comes off an injury?
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I thought the universal signal for "you're going too fast" is disappearing from their rear view mirrors :p
 
zeefrenchspy said:
lol, I tried to reply to your post Ntula, but you deleted it in time!

une moto, une mobilette, un scooter, un velo.

Don't ask why some things are masculine and other feminine, it doesn't follow much order or logic :p
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un motorcycle...as in motocicli ducati... what are you, canadian? :p

do please feel free to go back and correct all my english posts as well.. and have janna double check those... :twofinger

besides.. i am only half french, so i only have to be half correct and that half of me would never admit to being incorrect even if you are 'more right'.
 
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We talked about what happened on Mines (not so much on Del Puerto Canyon). J let me know that she felt very comfortable going a little faster and though she stayed in contact with the other three riders that went by for about 2 or so miles, she slowed down and "let them get away" :) when several of the blind right handers made her nervous at the speeds they were taking them. This made me feel VERY relieved in the area of her not losing herself in someone else's pace.

By the time I moved back in front, she says, she was done with pushing a little to see where she started to feel uncomfortable, and she wasn't planning on riding that pace the entire way.

It was a good talk (and a good dinner too!) and even at the time when I was irritated, I wasn't REALLY irritated as much as I was shocked and proud? Does that make sense?

On Del Puerto Canyon about a mile or two after we left the Junction, there was a large section absolutely covered from one side of the road to the other with pea sized gravel (perhaps dried asphalt fragments? Since the debris was blacker) it was in a moderately steep short downhill straight leading right up to a sharper left hander and I began braking far in advance of the corner when I saw it such that J ran up and was right on my back wheel. We ended up both crunching over the section and thru the turn in a slow, clutch-in coast. After we got home she admitted that that was the scariest moment in the ride because she was watching me so intently that she didn't notice the gravel and was surprised when I began braking so "early".

I could tell from the way she recounted the moment that it had scared her, and was something she filed away in the "important section" of her mental database. Also very reassuring.

I admit that I was riding a bit too relaxed at first this first time around since her accident because of worry, but I think that after a few more times thru, I won't have nearly as much of a problem with her leading at her pace and me following.

She knows that I can ride faster than her at anytime, but what she doesn't know, and what I admit freely now, is that I suspect that I "bull" the bike; using bursts of acceleration followed by heavy braking, to outpace her by essentially "muscling" my way thru the twisties. With her though, it consistently astounds me how smoothly and in effect, "gracefully" she rides the twisties, using less brake and less throttle with more "flow" whereas I feel alot of the time as if I'm riding by "connecting the dots".

I know from watching her that she has more inherent or natural aptitude, with less experience... When her experience equals mine I have no doubt she'll be faster than me.

..but I'll always be able to bench press more than her :p :teeth

Stefan

p.s. Oh, we ordered a set of GMRS chatterboxes from kneedraggers.com last night :) But I'm sure we'll run into the same problem as when we used two-way comms on the jetskis once; She gets so excited and focused that she forgets and starts babbling in French, so I might need a Bi-lingual translator with a chatterbox riding in position two to relay me her messages in English :laughing
 
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Feanor said:
On Del Puerto Canyon about a mile or two after we left the Junction, there was a large section absolutely covered from one side of the road to the other with pea sized gravel (perhaps dried asphalt fragments? Since the debris was blacker) it was in a moderately steep short downhill straight leading right up to a sharper left hander and I began braking far in advance of the corner when I saw it such that J ran up and was right on my back wheel. We ended up both crunching over the section and thru the turn in a slow, clutch-in coast. After we got home she admitted that that was the scariest moment in the ride because she was watching me so intently that she didn't notice the gravel and was surprised when I began braking so "early".
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Even though you've ordered the Chatterboxes, you may want to consider using hand signals for times like this. It's fun to ride close behind someone else, but one downside is the following rider cannot see nearly as far down the road with the leader in front.

When I lead others, I try to use a hand signal to slow down even before I roll off. That way, a following rider can begin to slow down even before I do. It eliminates that moment of panic and narrowing of attention that happens when the guy in front of you suddenly throws out the anchor.

Your observations about how each of you go fast; you with force and she with finesse, is interesting. My wife and I were the same in climbing. She had good flexibility and balance and would rely on her feet to climb. I tried to do that, but when the chips were down, I'd just crimp onto whatever I could and yank myself up the wall.

If you want to level the playing field a bit and develop both of your senses of speed, try riding one of these roads with no brakes. You find yourself thinking about your entry speed much sooner and much more. You also tend not to pull the trigger as hard coming out, since you know you're going to have to slow down with no brakes again anyway. It brings your straightaway speeds down some, which isn't a bad thing, and tends to keep you together. Use the brakes if you're going to get in too hot, but consider it an error. This exercise will help you both develop the same skills and it may play more to her strengths than yours.
 
isn't she in her 2nd year of riding? i was told that the sophomore year of riding was the most dangerous, as you have learned the basic skills of handling your motorcycle and this creates a perception of skill and control they don't actually have yet. i'm glad she was able to back off when she felt uncomfortable, but chasing after a group of riders with unknown riding skills seems a bit foolish.
 
Feanor said:
She knows that I can ride faster than her at anytime, but what she doesn't know, and what I admit freely now, is that I suspect that I "bull" the bike; using bursts of acceleration followed by heavy braking, to outpace her by essentially "muscling" my way thru the twisties.
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That's why I like bikes with huge engines. With the ZX9R, TL1000S, and to a lesser extent the R1100S, half the fun in the twisties is the hard braking before a corner that makes the rear wheel dance, and the hard acceleration out of it that lightens the front wheel and stretches your arms. I would much rather vary my speed between 50-70mph in the twisties than do a constant 80.
 
^ ^ ^ ^ Notice how Feanor COMPLETELY ignored the trackday comments? There's some kind of mental block going on or something...
 
Mortifer said:
Track? anything?:(
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I keep telling her, "ok, I'm signing up!" (actually I've told her this about a dozen times now with the credit card out and the Keigwin's page up) and she tells me not to sign up without her because she wants to go too and needs to check her calendar.

Then it's always something! Trip to East Coast, important client coming in, meeting she can't miss etc etc. I won't ever "blame" her for anything, but this time, yes, it's her fault! :teeth

Is there a shelf life for Pilot Race tires? Mine have been sitting in the garage for a while now!

Stefan
 
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