Ok here's my hall of shame story for this week...
Did my first canyon ride this weekend with some friends up Azusa canyon. (yay!) This was only my 3rd time riding with a group, and we had about 10 or so people- with me being the only newbie... xP
Anyhow, the ride went fairly smoothly... I stayed at the very back of the pack cuz I simply couldn't keep up with those guys at all. (Not on the freeway where they were splitting traffic, nor on the canyon either.) I just went really slow at my own pace- averaging about 40-45 mph- since it was my first time on the twisties on a motorcycle. Was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed the scenery! One of my friends was nice enough to ride behind me to make sure I was okay... And, that really helped out a lot, psychologically...
Anyhoo... All went well until when I got to the very top to the parking lot area and came to a full stop though... I didn't realize my body had become SO incredible tense and SO locked up that after I parked, for some reason my right hand went into a numb, death grip in neutral gear- right before I could cut the engine. For some reason I just couldn't let go of the throttle and the more I tried to let go, the more it was revving in neutral. And, the combo of panic and brain fart, I just tipped over to the left at a stand still... <lol>
SOOO friggen embarrassing with everyone watching. <ack!> But, they knew it was my first time, and they all came over to help me get up. They immediately knew what my problem was and told me that I needed to learn to try to relax my arms and hands on the straight-away sections of the road, cuz it's easy to tense up after all the continuous turns- concentrating so hard. Just total lack of experience on my part I guess.
Anyhoo... Again my Intuitive Racing frame slider saved my bike. A few minor scratches/ rashes to the left turn signal light, left mirror edge, clutch lever tip, and rear seat cowel- but all very small and not really a big deal. I'll cough it up to "growing pains" + "battle scars" I guess. With each fall, I'm learning something new and hopefully will get better because of it.
But, I'm really happy and excited I went on this ride, and I can't wait to go again.
It was super hot though, and I felt somewhat like a tool being the only one wearing full gear. (Everyone else just wore jeans, jacket, gloves.) But, I guess since I was the most inexperienced, I would've needed the protection the most- had anything happened. Just sucked that I had no problems riding, but brain-farted during parking... ahahaha LOL
Did my first canyon ride this weekend with some friends up Azusa canyon. (yay!) This was only my 3rd time riding with a group, and we had about 10 or so people- with me being the only newbie... xP
Anyhow, the ride went fairly smoothly... I stayed at the very back of the pack cuz I simply couldn't keep up with those guys at all. (Not on the freeway where they were splitting traffic, nor on the canyon either.) I just went really slow at my own pace- averaging about 40-45 mph- since it was my first time on the twisties on a motorcycle. Was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed the scenery! One of my friends was nice enough to ride behind me to make sure I was okay... And, that really helped out a lot, psychologically...
Anyhoo... All went well until when I got to the very top to the parking lot area and came to a full stop though... I didn't realize my body had become SO incredible tense and SO locked up that after I parked, for some reason my right hand went into a numb, death grip in neutral gear- right before I could cut the engine. For some reason I just couldn't let go of the throttle and the more I tried to let go, the more it was revving in neutral. And, the combo of panic and brain fart, I just tipped over to the left at a stand still... <lol>
SOOO friggen embarrassing with everyone watching. <ack!> But, they knew it was my first time, and they all came over to help me get up. They immediately knew what my problem was and told me that I needed to learn to try to relax my arms and hands on the straight-away sections of the road, cuz it's easy to tense up after all the continuous turns- concentrating so hard. Just total lack of experience on my part I guess.
Anyhoo... Again my Intuitive Racing frame slider saved my bike. A few minor scratches/ rashes to the left turn signal light, left mirror edge, clutch lever tip, and rear seat cowel- but all very small and not really a big deal. I'll cough it up to "growing pains" + "battle scars" I guess. With each fall, I'm learning something new and hopefully will get better because of it.
But, I'm really happy and excited I went on this ride, and I can't wait to go again.
It was super hot though, and I felt somewhat like a tool being the only one wearing full gear. (Everyone else just wore jeans, jacket, gloves.) But, I guess since I was the most inexperienced, I would've needed the protection the most- had anything happened. Just sucked that I had no problems riding, but brain-farted during parking... ahahaha LOL