14-20 March: Where did you ride and what did you practise?

[Terminated]

This week Lissa and Grub are your selectors and they will be looking at good new rider training practice and welcome input from senior riders and mentors.

This week’s review will cover rides from 14th March to 20th March reported here in this thread and selection will be made by Tuesday Evening.


Those selected will have their training comments copied to the Newbie Training thread and they will in turn be the selectors for next Week’s Where Did You Ride and What Did You Practise?.

I encourage all newbie riders to seek out a riding Mentor to review your riding skills and technique periodically throughout your graduated licence time. Go for mentor riding reviews and discuss the matters that have been identified, then practise, practise, practise.

Heads Up and Enjoy
BuckBuckNo1

[quallman1234]

Last week and the beginning of this week i have been practicing and refining counter steering and emergency braking in the wet, thanks to the wonderful weather :P.

My aim for this week is to try and predict what cars have been doing, i personally think is just plain dangerous how many cars just dont indicate, i was driving with my brother this evening to burger king and a back and noticed he indicated maybe once or twice, this is a major concern of mine and will be focusing on it this week :).

Damn the rain just started to coming down again :(.

[TerminalAddict]

shagged rear tyre for the next week and a half .. so nothing interesting to add.

but since last week skelstar *SUCKED* .. harping on about airy fairy dreams and stuff .. I vote skelstar for this week president/prime minister/prince/what ever the title is .. for at least trying last week :niceone:

[Rosie]

On Saturday I did a lap of lake Rotorua, taking a minor detour to the Okere Falls Store to have breakfast with a friend. Focussed on checking my mirrors and being aware of what was going on around me, but otherwise just relaxed and enjoyed the ride.

Went into Rotorua city on the way home and ran a few errands, practised scanning ahead and remaining calm in traffic, and practised identifying, and parking in, motorbike parking spaces (I'm still figuring out where they are).
I then went to work for a good hour of hill starts, u-turns and emergency braking in the carparks. Something I really would like to practise more often, but it doesn't always happen.

Hill starts are still a bit hit and miss, and when I missed, I got practise kick starting on a hill. The bike now has the slightly scratched 'race' fairings fitted, so I'm less nervous about it having a little lie down.

[Wasp]

This morning on the way to work I worked on checking traffic is clear and being ready to jump out of the way once you've been knocked off ya bike in the moddle of the road :(

[Lissa]

Well had an interesting week. I think I went up and down the hill three times, each time it was windy-er then the last.

What did I learn from my experiences. Please note these refer to riding a GN:

1. Don't ride the hill when the weather forecast says its going to be very windy. Being an eternal optimist isnt always a good thing.

2. When riding the hill in the wind, before one of THOSE corners that are exposed to the wind, change down a gear. Getting hit by a gust, bike slows right down. It is better to be prepared for it in case it happens.

3. When going around one of those exposed corners, arm strength might come in handy, so when you are getting pushed over into the other lane, with a car coming towards you, you can safely move out of the way. (yes that did happen)

4. When going down the hill, concentrate. Dont let cars behind you bully you out of the way. Dont pull over... esp onto the side where there is gravel. Because more than likely you will skid into fence post... (yes that happened as well) No damage to me. No damage to bike, I think... not sure what to check for. Tyres seem ok.

Think I might give the hill a miss next windy day. :yes:

[skelstar]

but since last week skelstar *SUCKED* .. harping on about airy fairy dreams and stuff .. I vote skelstar for this week president/prime minister/prince/what ever the title is .. for at least trying last week :niceone:
Farkin eh!!! You're a good man TA...I won't let you down :niceone:

El Presidente!

[Lissa]

Farkin eh!!! You're a good man TA...I won't let you down :niceone:

El Presidente!
If you want to be picked, you had better of practiced something friggin good!!

[skelstar]

If you want to be picked, you had better of practiced something friggin good!!

Gah! ...the people have already chosen. Know your place!

[Lissa]

Gah! ...the people have already chosen. Know your place!
:stupid:

If you hadnt noticed this thread is for newbies... not wannabe evil dictators of the world who dream they are fast and can pull wheelies... you might be well received in rant and rave.

*ouch!*

[Trudes]

I took my new jacket for a ride up the hill. Didn't really think to practice anything, just enjoyed my new jacket and the fact that it actually fits fairly well, is visable and doesn't flap and drag in the wind. Enjoyed the ride, managed to keep up with the hubby up the hill without having to push it (Ok, he'll say he was going slowly, but meh), didn't bin it like most of the rest of KB and got to say hi to Mel at the top of the hill just as we were about to head back home as the wind had picked up a bit. Hopefully will be able to report my new pants ride soon too.:Punk:

[Lissa]

I took my new jacket for a ride up the hill. Didn't really think to practice anything, just enjoyed my new jacket and the fact that it actually fits fairly well, is visable and doesn't flap and drag in the wind. Enjoyed the ride, managed to keep up with the hubby up the hill without having to push it (Ok, he'll say he was going slowly, but meh), didn't bin it like most of the rest of KB and got to say hi to Mel at the top of the hill just as we were about to head back home as the wind had picked up a bit. Hopefully will be able to report my new pants ride soon too.:Punk:
Whoo hoo.. look forward to the "pants report" trudes.... just after you left the hill, is when I hit the fence.. :innocent: Maybe I should have stayed up the hill a bit longer... but was lonely.

[Kinje]

Another couple of observations.


When riding the hill in the wind, before one of THOSE corners that are exposed to the wind, change down a gear. Getting hit by a gust, bike slows right down. It is better to be prepared for it in case it happens.

Good point. The wind can slow you right down and disrupt your line if hit by a gust. I find being in a lower gear can help you get a better response from the bike to maintain your line through the corner.


When going around one of those exposed corners, arm strength might come in handy, so when you are getting pushed over into the other lane, with a car coming towards you, you can safely move out of the way. (yes that did happen)

Though I have found recently that being a lot more relaxed in my arms (and on the bike in general) has helped me deal with those types of situations. I have been using more movement of my weight to steer the bike and kept my arms quite relaxed. A by-product of this tho may be that because my arms are in a lower and more bent elbow position, I am able to apply greater force to the bars when necessary?


Please note these refer to riding a GN:

Yeah, probably somewhat different setup and behaviour of bikes and riding styles.

I rode the hill on Friday night a couple of times up and down. Have just got new front brake discs so didn't want to push them to hard just yet, so tried to use less braking. Found that this worked really well as I backed off the throttle a bit earlier than usual, and was able to set up my line and get through the corner with a lot smoother line and felt less rushed. Made for a more enjoyable experience and still felt just as quick.

[skelstar]

...you might be well received in rant and rave...

You think you're Chairman Mel or something? :shutup:

[Lissa]

Thanks kinje... I still need more practice I think. It was really scary. Not sure what I could have done about going on to the other side of the road though... it was really strong, I couldnt fight it. Lets practice the hill again sometime!!




Yes Citizen Skelstar... now bugger off!

[Kinje]

I'm free tommorow after work, and Wed after work, and...

Yay 100 posts :Punk:

[Terminated]

I've been resting up the last few days, taking it easy and gradually tackling the alloy work on victor Lima Xray. Waited for the rain front to pass on Sunday and then did a coffee run out and around Pauatahanui Inlet.

The following extract commenced last Tuesday and the emphasis being my focus on moving up from the GN250 to the VLX600 Shadow.


[
Day1
Focus:
Engine Torque and gear changing up and down.
Bike balance and counter steering
Emergency Braking

Environment:
Quiet rural region, hills sweeping curves and also gradients up and downhill.
Quiet highway conditions.

Day 2
Focus:
Smooth controlled speed accelerating, down shifting and breaking to stop maintaining safety bubble.
Counter steering
12 second horizon hazard detection

Environment:
Morning - motorway and inner city also anticipating changing weather conditions to wind and rain.
Evening – small group ride [ 2 groups of 3 each] sunset, twilight and dark. [Haywards around inlet to Mana coast and return]

Day3
Focus:
Consolidating days 1 and 2.

Environment:
Morning – SH1 Lower Hutt to Carterton and return. Quiet traffic conditions over Rimutaka Hill.
Evening sunset – Blue Mountains Road up and down, Wallaceville and Mangaroa Hills, and Rimutaka Hill.

Day4
Focus:
Mirrors / Signals/ Headcheck, intersection turns, real hazard detection [How many will I see when I ride out of local valley? I often do this when leaving home.]

Environment
Morning: Quiet suburban district.
Evening: Busy Peak traffic.



Generally I am very pleased with the transition progress in this the first week.

Heads Up and Enjoy