Sunday Ride to the Cascade foothills

This is one of the scenes I had on my ride Sunday, May 5th, 2008 with my husband and a few friends.

He [my husband] was the lead so we didn't get many pix. Only three to be exact. They all were of this same view. Go figure! He hogged the camera.

It was sunny & warm. I wore my clip-on shades to protect my eyes. I had to open the vents on my jacket and one on my helmet to keep from getting heated. The road was twisty and in the foothills. So, there were lots of hills & twisties. The scenery was breathtaking. Next trip I'm hogging the camera and getting more pictures.

I road alone a lot because I didn't speed along with the others. I was at the tail end and was basically left behind. Occasionally, my husband would stop along the side of the road & wait for me to catch up to make sure I was ok. At one point, which I thought was kind of funny, he had stopped long enough to see me coming and I passed his just sitting on the side of the road... he quickly came up behind me though. He followed me for a few minutes and then, with our communications devices, he asked me if I was OK. I told him I was. Then he asked me why I was going so slow. LOL I was not going "slow". I was just below, at or just 1 or 2 mph above the speed limit. He wanted to whinge at me. But, I just kept my pace. Then he quickly sped up and passed me and went to the lead again. He later was whinging about me being "slow". He quickly surmised it was his problem, not mine. Because, yes, he was speeding. He said at one point later that he gets worried sick when he can't see me and is scared that I wrecked. I told him if he's that worried about me then he should stay closer to keep a good eye on me.

None-the-less I had a great ride and enjoyed the scenery, the sun and warmth.

My motorcycle training journey

My Training Journey

It all started last Summer (2007) when my husband made the decision to buy a motorcycle and was looking at which one he wanted. I told him I was OK with it with one stipulation; I get one too. Maybe not right away, but eventually. To me it would be the ultimate way for us to have quality time outside the house together; something we both like & enjoy.

So, in July 2007 we went and he purchased (got a loan to pay on time) a new Buell XBR12 Firebolt. You can see it here.

Paul's father visited the last week of August 2007. They rented a Harley-Davidson cruiser for him to ride while he was here visiting. Paul took him on a looong ride. Then we took the bike back to the dealership where it was rented. Whilst there waiting for them to finish I tried on some bikes to size them up. I came across a 2003 Harley-Davidson V-Rod 100th Anniversary model. It was all silver with saddlebags. Very nice bike. I sat on it and sized it up. I was in love. I had my mind made up that I wanted that bike or a similar one. It was too early for me to buy one. I had to prove to my husband I wanted to ride bad enough to have one. So, he told me that if I bought all my gear and paid for my MSF class he would get a motorcycle for me for Christmas.

I went online and researched and found the gear I wanted. I bought a helmet, jacket, gloves, chaps & boots. After the gear arrived I discovered the chaps were way too big. I shipped them back and got a refund. I had to purchase a pair on a different website that had a size chart to go by so I got the right size. I was able to have the chaps trimmed to my leg length at the dealership where my husband bought his motorcycle.

I went online to find the MSF classes nearest me and when they were available. I had to come up with $125.00 to pay for the class before I signed up. So, I worked hard to come up with the money. As soon as I had the money I went online and got the info and mailed a check to MSF. The part that's the coolest is I was able to find a class with all women. That turned out to be in November 2007.

A sad thing happened. On October 25th, 2007 my husband was involved in a motor vehicle collision with his new motorcycle. The insurance company totaled it. He was injured enough to miss work the next day. The other driver was in a Cadillac Escalade and was performing an illegal u-turn where my husband was unable to avoid the collision. You'll see later that it didn't deter either of us from riding.

The time came finally for my class. I went to the 1st evening's class. I went the 2nd day. Half was range riding on a bike (MSF provided a bike) and half was class. I took my written exam and aced it. I came the next morning for all day practice riding on the range. At the end we were evaluated on four skills for the exam. We did u-turns, quick stop, swerving & curving/cornering. One thing that was taking place during all my riding is that I had troubles with my foot lever for changing gears. I had to reach with my foot so much I had troubles shifting. So, on the swerving I went too slow twice. On my u-turning I touched my feet to the ground twice & on the quick stop my timing was way off. I failed miserably. One of the instructors talked with me about it and explained that I could take the additional novice training class and retest then for only $100 more! I thought to myself, what a gimmick! So, I went home upset.

The next day I called complaining to the MSF main office. It was a waste of my breath. I was pretty much pushed into taking the next class, in February. So, I went online and signed up for that class.

At the end of November 2007 my husband & I went to look at a Harley-Davidson model that we found online like the one I tried on at the dealership in August. It was in Seattle owned by an individual. On Tuesday when the dealership was open we went to have them check out how much credit we could get a loan for. While there the sales guy chatted with us and started helping us look at pre-owned bikes online at their other store. Then he looked at the price of one they had that was still brand new in the shop because we could get a better loan for a new bike than a pre-owned one. They gave us a really sweet deal. Since it was the last one and it was end of the year they gave us a great big discount on the price. So, I ended up with this for Christmas, early Click here to view. Since my husband's bike was gone he didn't have a motorcycle to ride for a while. He hi-jacked my VROD. He claimed he was helping me break it in, but he rode it until January 15th when he acquired his brand new motorcycle to replace the wrecked one. Click here to see the new one.

Guess what happened on my 2nd MSF skills evaluation? I failed the second time by one lousy point. However, they offered me the opportunity to retest once again in a basic training class (like my 1st class). I called the main office the next day, Monday. They put me on the schedule for February 24th. That gave me two weeks to practice until the last test.

We went out and rode a few times in two weeks. The part that made it so much better for me is that my husband went out for a ride with me on the 23rd, just before my 3rd try for the endorsement, so I had a chance to practice again. He gave me one very valuable tip to help me with my exam. Using the back brake as a drag on slow maneuvers to stabilize the bike better.

Sunday, February 24th came and I went to the class to retest. I got on the bike MSF provided and did the practice run of the skills evaluation. The only thing I was frustrated with is my quick stopping. I did the retest. I felt confident that I did well. The time came for the instructor to hand out completion cards for the course. I wasn't sent away without a completion card this time. "I PASSED" Yay!!

So, now begins my journey on two wheels.

My 1st solo group ride

1/20/2007

On a Sunday morning it didn't totally clear up but we rode to church on our motorcycles anyway. There was a bit of a mist, but tolerable. I had prayed for sunshine before church. While pastor was doing his sermon about 1/2 an hour before church was over we noticed in one window that the sun was starting to shine outside. We were excited. People were excited to see us at church. LOL there was one guy who seemed like he didn't recognize us. He passed us in the parking lot and stopped briefly to say "It was nice to see you at church, Come again". I just responded, "Yes". We've been attending there for over 2 yrs now. Oh well.

We went on a group ride after church. I was doing really good, I thought. We were on our way to meet the group after church. We met at the mall in Federal Way.

We were all going forward so we could get out on the road. I was the last one. I went to go around a turn and I dropped my bike on my foot. I smashed my right pinky toe a bit, nothing major. The bike has very minor scratches in a couple spots. The tilt sensor was triggered and cut the engine off. Immediately the other seven bikes stopped. My husband, Paul, and one other guy sat my bike back up. Paul, managed the situation and moved the bike out of the driveway to a parking spot. He then turned the key switch off to reset the bike computer. He started it and made a loop in the parking lot to make sure the bike had no damage. Then he pulled it up where I could hop back on and he was like "don't do that again, you scared the crap out of me, please do not hit anyone." [he told me that twice, LOL] I didn't plan on hitting anyone. I'm sure I scared the crap out of everyone. I was just glad I didn't do any damage or hit anyone. I was inches away from the back bumper of an SUV.

We'd been riding for hours without stopping. We then stopped so others could take a potty break. Everyone was coming and asking me if I was ok and if the bike was ok... blah blah blah.... One guy said I was braver than him that he wouldn't have been able to continue the ride. I just said "ah, I'm ok. I could probably die and still be ok". He looked at me weird and walked away. I've been told many times that I'm *weird*.

Getting to see & take in God's wonders of nature was the most precious thing during the ride. I got to feel the warmth of the sun on me. I got to see the snow capped mountain tops as we passed them. I partook in the curves of the road and felt it in my body. I glanced over at a river momentarily as we passed it. It was a fantastic ride.

The only part I didn't like was that they waited almost to the very end of the ride to make any kind of stop. We stopped and took one potty break. Upon leaving where they took a potty break they decided to go somewhere to eat. We went to a place that was in the same city we made our first stop in that was probably like 3-4 miles away. The neat part about this little hole in the wall place is that it used to be an automobile service station converted into a Mexican restaurant. It has the original floor the service station used. It is an interesting little Mexican eatery. After everyone ate they were tired and didn't want to continue. I'm sure some still rode a bit afterward and then went home. It was getting colder as the sun was setting.

The sun had been shining and felt good on the black leather I wore. I need to get my special riding glasses. The sun was almost murder in spots. I couldn't see a thing for about 3 seconds at times; and going around curvies you NEED to see.

I did well despite the bright sun and my sore foot. My father, a Gold Wing guy, was the very first person I shared about my very 1st solo group ride. His response was, "beautiful, did you have a good time?" I replied, "It was a beautiful day & the ride was awesome. We rode the curvies".

My foot is working on a bruise. However, I've been taking Arnica Montana. I think the bruise should be gone in a day or so. Instead of being all black it's just red this morning. I'll be alright. It was a blast none-the-less.

I hope the group I rode with reads this and enjoys my little story.