Mystery
21st April 2007, 18:30
Today I graduated from the carpark to the road :shit:
This morning "The Stranger" arrived at my house and announced that I was going on my first road ride. So I said goodbye to my kids, told them I loved them , got my riding gear on, got on the bike, rode to the end of the driveway and chickened out. I know, I know :dodge: but I live on a really busy main road and the traffic was just constantly flowing past the gate. I felt really angry with myself for giving up, but I just couldnt imagine riding in all that traffic.
At 3.00 we looked out to the road and the traffic had disappeared. So said goodbye to the kids again (they have more faith in my ability than I do and knew I would be back) got the gear on again, rode to the end of the driveway and off following "The Stranger".
The bastard took me straight onto the NW Motorway, holy crap, panic, thoughts of dying a very painful death cross my mind but I was OK, I survived, no major panics but I was shaking so much that it was affecting the bike, which also started to shake, which made me shake more! So we got to Westgate and I had to stop. I rode into the carpark and realised that I had made a huge mistake and of all the places I could have pulled over, that was the wrong one. There were cars and hill starts and traffic islands everywhere. So I got off the bike, had a sit down and a smoke, stopped shaking and we headed home via Triangle Rd.
The trip home was good, I didnt shake and actually got to enjoy being on the bike, I didnt make too many mistakes and there were no "Oh Shit" moments (it defininely helped that all the traffic lights were green). I got home and the realisation of what I had just done hit me. I am so pleased with myself for finally getting the courage up to do it but I realise that I have a long way to go both skill and confidence wise.
Will I chicken out at the end of the driveway tomorrow? No way!:scooter:
This morning "The Stranger" arrived at my house and announced that I was going on my first road ride. So I said goodbye to my kids, told them I loved them , got my riding gear on, got on the bike, rode to the end of the driveway and chickened out. I know, I know :dodge: but I live on a really busy main road and the traffic was just constantly flowing past the gate. I felt really angry with myself for giving up, but I just couldnt imagine riding in all that traffic.
At 3.00 we looked out to the road and the traffic had disappeared. So said goodbye to the kids again (they have more faith in my ability than I do and knew I would be back) got the gear on again, rode to the end of the driveway and off following "The Stranger".
The bastard took me straight onto the NW Motorway, holy crap, panic, thoughts of dying a very painful death cross my mind but I was OK, I survived, no major panics but I was shaking so much that it was affecting the bike, which also started to shake, which made me shake more! So we got to Westgate and I had to stop. I rode into the carpark and realised that I had made a huge mistake and of all the places I could have pulled over, that was the wrong one. There were cars and hill starts and traffic islands everywhere. So I got off the bike, had a sit down and a smoke, stopped shaking and we headed home via Triangle Rd.
The trip home was good, I didnt shake and actually got to enjoy being on the bike, I didnt make too many mistakes and there were no "Oh Shit" moments (it defininely helped that all the traffic lights were green). I got home and the realisation of what I had just done hit me. I am so pleased with myself for finally getting the courage up to do it but I realise that I have a long way to go both skill and confidence wise.
Will I chicken out at the end of the driveway tomorrow? No way!:scooter: