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Rosie
15th February 2006, 07:28
And home from work last night, and around the sleepy little suburb where I live. I was a bit nervous, and having children running onto the road in front of my bike didn't help (they run in front of my pushbike and my car as well, but it still made me a bit jumpy). But otherwise it all went well. I'm having trouble operating my jacket pockets with my gloves on, I need to extract and operate a garage door opener and a security card to get myself to work, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it.
Tonight the Mr is coming up from Taupo and we're going for a bit of a ride around some back roads with a friend from work.

enigma51
15th February 2006, 07:36
And home from work last night, and around the sleepy little suburb where I live. I was a bit nervous, and having children running onto the road in front of my bike didn't help (they run in front of my pushbike and my car as well, but it still made me a bit jumpy). But otherwise it all went well. I'm having trouble operating my jacket pockets with my gloves on, I need to extract and operate a garage door opener and a security card to get myself to work, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it.
Tonight the Mr is coming up from Taupo and we're going for a bit of a ride around some back roads with a friend from work.

Well done you will soon soon have the confidence to do it on a regular basis

crashe
15th February 2006, 07:42
Well done... the more you practise... the better you will be.....

Str8 Jacket
15th February 2006, 07:42
Good on ya Rosie. Just keep going how your going and you'll be fine. I found the best way to increase my confidence was to ride to and from work everyday, you'll be surprised how much your riding will improve just from doing that. And of course just riding anywhere in general helps too!

Colapop
15th February 2006, 07:48
That's cool girl! As said already just keep riding (carefully) and you'll be fine. you may want to get a key chain mounted door opener and card?

MSTRS
15th February 2006, 07:52
Good on you girl. And a session at a trackday will also boost your ability & confidence

phoenixgtr
15th February 2006, 08:07
You're doing well. Keep it up :niceone:

Fishy
15th February 2006, 08:22
Goon on ya Rosie, glad to hear you are enjoying being on 2 wheels!.

Rosie
15th February 2006, 09:07
That's cool girl! As said already just keep riding (carefully) and you'll be fine.
Ha ha, I do everything carefully - thus the new-and-improved 'timid little mouse' avatar. I've been riding a pushbike long enough to know that everyone on the road is likely to kill me.

SDU
15th February 2006, 09:10
Good one, each day you ride will give you more skill and confidence, and hopefully you'll love it more.:2thumbsup
Have you thought of doing a little bit off dirt riding to help increase your skills-it is awesome fun also.
cheers
SDU

WRT
15th February 2006, 09:25
Good on ya! FWIW, I leave my door opener in my pocket with the button facing outwards and then just mash it with my glove still on to open the garage door. Would also advise against having the card on your key chain unless your ignition is nowhere near your steering - you dont want it to jam in around your triple clamps or steering damper (if you have one).

Sniper
15th February 2006, 09:48
Good work :2thumbsup

Rosie
15th February 2006, 10:57
Have you thought of doing a little bit off dirt riding to help increase your skills-it is awesome fun also.
cheers
SDU
On my bike? :scratch: . He-who-knows-everything tells me that Rosie-sized dirt bikes are likely to be a bit heavier than my bike (it's only 120kgs, but I still find it a bit heavy), I'm going to work on handling the bike on the road for a while, and get used to the weight before I go off road (on someone else's bike, of course). I do a lot of mountain biking, and having a bike that would push me up the hills has a lot of appeal.

JWALKER
15th February 2006, 11:32
thats really cool to hear rosie. you will be pulling stunts in no time, lol:niceone:

far queue
15th February 2006, 11:43
Ha ha, I do everything carefully - thus the new-and-improved 'timid little mouse' avatar. I've been riding a pushbike long enough to know that everyone on the road is likely to kill me.

Good work keep it up :2thumbsup oh, and I noticed the "Beaver" avatar had gone :D

Stickman
15th February 2006, 11:48
I remember those first few rides too. Keep it up and you will wonder why you never did it sooner :-)

SDU
15th February 2006, 15:39
On my bike? :scratch: . He-who-knows-everything tells me that Rosie-sized dirt bikes are likely to be a bit heavier than my bike (it's only 120kgs, but I still find it a bit heavy), I'm going to work on handling the bike on the road for a while, and get used to the weight before I go off road (on someone else's bike, of course). I do a lot of mountain biking, and having a bike that would push me up the hills has a lot of appeal.

Fair enough. I had meant on a trail bike.
My old trail bike was fairly light, they are around.- It was KLX125L so it was low to the ground too. It is cheaper to have ago on someone elses first.
You will find handling your bike a breeze in no time and you sound like you already ride like everyone is out to get you. :ride:
Stay upright!

Al
15th February 2006, 15:53
well done!

Al

Hawkeye
1st March 2006, 23:07
Well done Rosie. Done the same thing myself today. Rush hour traffic to Wellington. Down the gorge, through Thordon and up the Terrace. Even managed to lane split a couple of times (when a more experienced rider went passed and I followed). Nothing too ambitious but finding the more I ride, the more confident I become. Keep it up.

Rosie
2nd March 2006, 07:47
Well done Rosie. Done the same thing myself today. Rush hour traffic to Wellington. Down the gorge, through Thordon and up the Terrace. Even managed to lane split a couple of times (when a more experienced rider went passed and I followed). Nothing too ambitious but finding the more I ride, the more confident I become. Keep it up.

I'm getting a lot more confident, I'm trying to avoid traffic at this stage, but on Sunday afternoon I rode into town to meet some friends at a cafe, and managed to u-turn, park the bike etc without getting run over. But this week has been crazy, so I haven't been on the bike since. Maybe after work today.

vifferman
2nd March 2006, 07:53
I'm having trouble operating my jacket pockets with my gloves on, I need to extract and operate a garage door opener and a security card to get myself to work, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it.
Hi, Rosie! Welcome to Kiwi Biker!
I too have a garage door remote and security card. What I do is put the door opener in my lower jacket pocket, with the button facing outwards, and I can press it through the jacket material. As for the card, well, I usually just push the button and the receptionist opens the door, but otherwise I hang it on my trousers, with my jacket over the top to stop it flapping in the wind. It has one of those retracting lines with a clip to hook it on to a belt, so I can just grab the card, reel it out, swipe it, then let go and it retracts again.

Blairos
2nd March 2006, 08:16
Hi Rosie! Nice work!
I am yet to face the loonies on the motorway into work, but a few rides with my more-experienced mates will hopefully sort that out over time (I am certainly in no hurry at this point!) :chase:
As for the garage door opener - I just stop the bike then try to press the button thru the pocket material - the security card I use has a rectractor on it, so this will be tested once I go back to work after my month's holiday I am on :wari:

Cheers

Nicksta
2nd March 2006, 18:27
Hey...Good on ya chick.....
keep it up... you'll be surprised how quickly you improve...

Macktheknife
2nd March 2006, 18:41
Good for you Rosie, practice practice.
Keep up the good work

Rosie
3rd March 2006, 07:48
Hi Rosie! Nice work!
I am yet to face the loonies on the motorway into work, but a few rides with my more-experienced mates will hopefully sort that out over time (I am certainly in no hurry at this point!) :chase:
As for the garage door opener - I just stop the bike then try to press the button thru the pocket material - the security card I use has a rectractor on it, so this will be tested once I go back to work after my month's holiday I am on :wari:

Cheers

Luckily Rotovegas doesn't have a motorway for me to contend with. And I live 1.5k's from work, so if I ride the bike to work I try to take a scenic route and stretch the trip out a bit.
But this week I am organising bikewise week at work (push biking), so it would be bad form to be bringing the motorbike to work.
I'm getting better with the garage door opener, I leave it in my pocket and prod around trying to find the button, and I aspire to being able to do it before I turn into my driveway (like I do with the car and pushbike), rather than waiting in the middle of the driveway for the door to open. I'm getting better at finding my security card in my pocket, operating the zip on the pocket etc. I'm sure it all comes with practise.

Bonez
5th March 2006, 08:37
Little steps Rosie. You'll get there.