6 to 12 June: Where did you ride and what did you practise?

[Terminated]

Please spend a few minutes and let us all know, 'Where Did You Ride and What Did You Practise?' during the week. Humour and photographs are welcomed, however please keep in mind the general spirit is to enlighten us all about your riding practice and technique.

By all means if you have any concerns about your riding, ask questions and I am sure a mentor or senior experienced rider will be only too happy to touch base with you in the forum or by PM personal message.

Next Tuesday evening Chanceyy and Zukin will each chose an entry from this thread. The selections will then be copied across to the Newbie Update Blogg.

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/blogs/viewblog.php?userid=1728

Heads Up and Enjoy

[Terminated]

I looked at the forecast and knew that Horowhenua was going to have some fairly windy conditions today.

I knew it would be too ambitious to go all the way to Wanganui, and hence Foxton was far enough as the wind was gusting across SH1. Couple of pictures taken at Otaki on way back.

Four hours and 237 km round trip, was a bit tedious along SH1.

I look forward to doing Pahiatua Track, when it is not too windy, but is this time of year perhaps to be avoided on that route? I have not ridden Pahiatua Track before.

[Stella]

I went out on Sunday with a South African couple I know a little through work. Absolutely lovely people and very ready to give advice in a way that didn't make me feel silly :)

We went from Palmy to Colyton, nice straight road, then to Ashhurst on a road with a good few bends and hills, great practise for a newbie! Then we went through THE GORGE!!! It is narrow and *very* bendy but totally flat, so all I needed to concentrate on was the bends. Thankfully I had no one behind me the whole way, and there wasn't a lot of traffic but still scary to a newbie (especially when one of the cars is a *sheep truck* coming towards you on a narrow, windy road!!). Stopped at a cafe to defrost then came back, same route.

I felt a lot more comfortable on the way back as i had some idea of what to expect and I knew I had done it before. I *highly* recommend this now. That way it isn't all new and scary.

The scariest part was hitting a small rock in the gorge!! Ok, so it was 10cm at the widest, and jagged...... I came around the corner and in about three seconds thought:
1 - It is on my trajectory and I am leaning mid-corner
2 - It is a narrow road and I don't think I have the skill to swerve safely
3 - This may hurt a *lot*
4 - Eyes where I want to go, arms confident and relaxed...
And I was fine!! Handle bars wobbled and shuddered, but I kept looking where I wanted to be and was fine.

My new friend told me about engine braking with the gears. I had been getting up in the gears out of town and staying in the same one, so I thought I would try it...

....on Monday when I went out to Tangimoana. OK, not many bends... but I tried it on the ones that were there and it WORKED :)

Also, with speed, I have been hanging around 80km while I get used to it (and pulling over politely :) but on this trip with such nice long straight empty roads for a bit we were traveling at 95-100km and it felt fine.

I did 170km and learned some good things! Also learned the next day what it is like when a car in the lane beside you hits a large puddle and drenches you.....

[Rosie]

I haven't been out on the bike much over the past couple of weeks, so I decided to make the most of daylight hours and go for a quick zoom during lunchtime yesterday. I did a lap of Mt Ngongotaha, about 40km, a mixture of urban roads, small twisty country roads and a tiny little bit of highway. And I decided to practise something completely different - intentional countersteering. I know I do countersteer normally, and I do notice that I've got a bit more pressure on the inside bar when I'm going around corners, but it's always been a subconcious thing, I've never tried doing it in a concious, purposeful way.

It was fantastic, my cornering was so smooooth, and I felt a lot more comfortable than usual. I wasn't going any faster than I would normally, but it felt like I was doing something right. So this is something I want to keep practising for a while.

On the way back through town I noticed my slow speed riding was a bit rusty. I don't ride in the city much, so can be a bit wobbly starting and stopping all the time. So I will be taking some time out for slow speed riding practise this weekend.

[carbacca]

not so much "practice" anymore as just getting out and about and getting more confident on the two-fiddly

just riding away to whereever my heart took me today. i think the route went something like epsom, mt eden, newmarket, parnell, grafton, quay street , tamaki drive, bastion point, mission bay, st heliers, back down tamaki drive to parnell again, jumped on the north western (my first time on the motorway too) st lukes, morningside, sandringham, balmoral, mt eden (again), mt roskill, royal oak and then back home to epsom. wow that was a mouthful, i m suprised i remembered all that.

got a crash course in hillstarts when i decided to turn around at the end of tamaki drive, tried to do that by turning into a side street and doing a u-turn but i didnt see how #$^#$% the side stree was, i swear it was at least a 15 degree incline. went in the wrong gear, and ended up hard on the brakes and stopped, and in order to get myself going again had to do my first hillstart and happy to say that its not as hard as i though. got myself over the hill and turned back round the otherway, and ended up at the bottom of parnell again. quick zip up on the north western to experience the motorway. it got a little bit windy then and i was getting blown around a fair bit so only went as far as the st lukes off ramp, got off there and went home for lunch

made another quick run out in the afternoon (just now infact) to go to motomail outlet store to have a look at some pants (am still needing a pair of cordura or soemthing or rather road pants, to wear over whatever i am wearing to go to work) but didnt see anything in there i could throw my credit card at. back down st lukes road-balmoral road to go home again.

tomorrow i am going to try and practice my commuting route

[Terminated]

The ride today was very timely, I clicked up 20,000km today since I began riding in May last year. As an insight today's ride presented numerous situations, some addressed below. I look back on the past 12 months and feel very pleased with myself, from not having ridden at all and today to take on some good personal challenges.



What did I practise?
Well both the Castlepoint and Pahiatua Track rides have been my longest so far. Today riding with Sels and KoroJ was very enjoyable and doing the Pahiatua Track for the first time. Practise - hazard detection, three key items today:
1. Wind conditions briefly after we left SH1 heading out to Shannon

2. Top of Pahiatua Track stock being moved, ah hum say no more.

3. Riding my own ride. Sels1 and KoroJ have been in the saddle longer than I have and this was a good ride for me. Self Discipline was an important personal key.

Thanks guys for your patience and taking me over the track today.


Heads Up and Enjoy

[Rosie]

On Saturday I met up with a friend to do some low speed practise in the carparks at work.

He doesn't have a bike, but is thinking of getting his licence, so we set up some of the BHS obstacles and took turns weaving between cones etc on the KR. He did pretty well, I did somewhat less well, but did improve with practise.

Then we practised emergency braking from 50km/h. I tried to mix things up a bit, changing down as I was braking, sometimes coming to a complete stop, sometimes accelerating off. The back was squirming a bit, so I'm probably getting towards the limits for the back brake, but I should be using the front a bit more, I think. And practise braking from higher speeds.

[Kinje]

So not all exactly within this time period, but i rode around the South Island over the last couple of weeks- details here (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=51451)

I learned that its really hard to pay attention to the road sometimes when riding through spectacular scenery, that motorcycle touring is frekin awesome, and that hitting the white line as you twist the throttle to pass in the damp is change of pants material.

[Bass]

We (my good lady and I) went down to Waipawa (Hawkes Bay) and back- about 450 km each way

Practiced freezing my tits off (and various other bits when the rain got through the wet gear) on the way home across the Napier-Taupo road.
Also practiced wondering where the road was, when we hit some really cold gullies and everything, including the mirrors, suddenly fogged up in the pissing rain.
However, the really interesting part was wondering if the temporary puncture repair in the back tyre was going to get us home again.

Yeah, yeah..... I know........ HTFU.

[Stickchick]

Well I'm a real newbie as I had only ridden 4 hours for basic handling course and Gixxer 4 Ever was kind enough to teach me to ride on his farm in a flat paddock using his farm bike. First i was pootling around in first gear turning corners etc, then he suggested changing of gears, so i thought ok why not I'll give anything a go and yahoo!!! Managed to get out of first gear and ride about changing up and down gear from first to second to third and back again. Did this for a while then he decided that he would be a target and I would ride around him which I thought was ok until he started getting closer to the fence and making my turns alot sharper but I managed to stay on and moving so alot of prayers helped. Then came the road.....that was actually pretty cool, not as scary as i thought it would be and once again managed to stay on and upright which I grateful for. managed to get into 4th gear but speed wise was only going about 40k. Only time I dropped the bike was when i was stationery...Go figure. I'm sooo looking forward to a couple of weeks to be able to do it again

[Jeaves]

Had a small ride from Auck to Te Awamutu along sh1 & sh3 with a few stops inbetween, around 350km all up. Was on Saturday so the weather was fair. As it was on the main highways it was pretty uneventfull , but enjoyed it none the less. Didnt leave Hamilton till about 6:30pm so practised being cold in my summer gear :cold: . So it looks like a visit to motomail is in order to update my gear for the coming winter missions ahead :rockon: .

[Terminated]

I came across this thread:
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=51357

Heads Up and Enjoy

[vamr]

well I finally had my first truly "oh fuck" moment today during my daily commute.

Riding along new north road when an indian chap in an undercover taxi pulled out in front of me, leaving no room to squeeze between him and the parked cars on the left.

Had to brake on the front wheel as the rear became progressively airborn (a sight to behold for those behind me). Luckily was awake enough to pulsate the braking pressure without locking the front (insert Red Bull plug here).

Felt the rear come back down. Pulled up next to his driver side where his window was wound down to facilitate the traditional one finger salute (cliche but wachagonnado).

Guess my prize was watching him nearly crash into a car in a panicky get away up sandringham road.


In reflection, if I did bin it I would have no one to blame but myself (as the driver certainly wouldn't have noticed me sliding down the road). Guess I'll have to keep the whole "emergency exit" scenario covered in the future (and perhaps learn to use that rear brake one day).

Good times.

[chanceyy]

I went out on Sunday with a South African couple I know a little through work. Absolutely lovely people and very ready to give advice in a way that didn't make me feel silly :)

We went from Palmy to Colyton, nice straight road, then to Ashhurst on a road with a good few bends and hills, great practise for a newbie! Then we went through THE GORGE!!! It is narrow and *very* bendy but totally flat, so all I needed to concentrate on was the bends. Thankfully I had no one behind me the whole way, and there wasn't a lot of traffic but still scary to a newbie (especially when one of the cars is a *sheep truck* coming towards you on a narrow, windy road!!). Stopped at a cafe to defrost then came back, same route.

I felt a lot more comfortable on the way back as i had some idea of what to expect and I knew I had done it before. I *highly* recommend this now. That way it isn't all new and scary.

The scariest part was hitting a small rock in the gorge!! Ok, so it was 10cm at the widest, and jagged...... I came around the corner and in about three seconds thought:
1 - It is on my trajectory and I am leaning mid-corner
2 - It is a narrow road and I don't think I have the skill to swerve safely
3 - This may hurt a *lot*
4 - Eyes where I want to go, arms confident and relaxed...
And I was fine!! Handle bars wobbled and shuddered, but I kept looking where I wanted to be and was fine.

My new friend told me about engine braking with the gears. I had been getting up in the gears out of town and staying in the same one, so I thought I would try it...

....on Monday when I went out to Tangimoana. OK, not many bends... but I tried it on the ones that were there and it WORKED :)

Also, with speed, I have been hanging around 80km while I get used to it (and pulling over politely :) but on this trip with such nice long straight empty roads for a bit we were traveling at 95-100km and it felt fine.

I did 170km and learned some good things! Also learned the next day what it is like when a car in the lane beside you hits a large puddle and drenches you.....


my pick this week is Stella .. its only 4 months since I felt like she does, & every lil accomplishment is a huge achievment .. might not seem much to the more experienced rider but to overcome your fears & have an excellent ride sets you up to try something new next time.

on reflection, also how far you have come in a relatively short space of time is amazing .. I think back to my first half a dozen rides, & the difference in my ability since that time ..

always ride to your own ability never anyone elses ...

[Zukin]

not so much "practice" anymore as just getting out and about and getting more confident on the two-fiddly

just riding away to whereever my heart took me today. i think the route went something like epsom, mt eden, newmarket, parnell, grafton, quay street , tamaki drive, bastion point, mission bay, st heliers, back down tamaki drive to parnell again, jumped on the north western (my first time on the motorway too) st lukes, morningside, sandringham, balmoral, mt eden (again), mt roskill, royal oak and then back home to epsom. wow that was a mouthful, i m suprised i remembered all that.

got a crash course in hillstarts when i decided to turn around at the end of tamaki drive, tried to do that by turning into a side street and doing a u-turn but i didnt see how #$^#$% the side stree was, i swear it was at least a 15 degree incline. went in the wrong gear, and ended up hard on the brakes and stopped, and in order to get myself going again had to do my first hillstart and happy to say that its not as hard as i though. got myself over the hill and turned back round the otherway, and ended up at the bottom of parnell again. quick zip up on the north western to experience the motorway. it got a little bit windy then and i was getting blown around a fair bit so only went as far as the st lukes off ramp, got off there and went home for lunch

made another quick run out in the afternoon (just now infact) to go to motomail outlet store to have a look at some pants (am still needing a pair of cordura or soemthing or rather road pants, to wear over whatever i am wearing to go to work) but didnt see anything in there i could throw my credit card at. back down st lukes road-balmoral road to go home again.

tomorrow i am going to try and practice my commuting route

Hi
This is my pick
Practice makes perfect
Sometimes all you have to do is take your time, think about it and you will figure it out just like carbacca

Cheers Scott

[Terminated]

Thanks to Chanceyy and Zukin for their respective choices, Stella and Carbacca.

For all new riders I have and will continue to say:
Practise your slow bike control:
Counter steering routines through markers in the carpark,
Slow u-turns in a marker box,
Standing start to second gear and emergency brake (in through the box),
Figure eight and look where want to go during this routine (you can’t help but look back across over your shoulder…that is a good exercise in itself the ‘head check’)

Stella and Carbacca congratulations on your selections this week, taking it easy and having someone to ride with you now and then to review your progress is time well spent. We look forward to next week’s entries and your selections.



my pick this week is Stella .. its only 4 months since I felt like she does, & every lil accomplishment is a huge achievment .. might not seem much to the more experienced rider but to overcome your fears & have an excellent ride sets you up to try something new next time.

on reflection, also how far you have come in a relatively short space of time is amazing .. I think back to my first half a dozen rides, & the difference in my ability since that time ..

always ride to your own ability never anyone elses ...


I went out on Sunday with a South African couple I know a little through work. Absolutely lovely people and very ready to give advice in a way that didn't make me feel silly :)

We went from Palmy to Colyton, nice straight road, then to Ashhurst on a road with a good few bends and hills, great practise for a newbie! Then we went through THE GORGE!!! It is narrow and *very* bendy but totally flat, so all I needed to concentrate on was the bends. Thankfully I had no one behind me the whole way, and there wasn't a lot of traffic but still scary to a newbie (especially when one of the cars is a *sheep truck* coming towards you on a narrow, windy road!!). Stopped at a cafe to defrost then came back, same route.

I felt a lot more comfortable on the way back as i had some idea of what to expect and I knew I had done it before. I *highly* recommend this now. That way it isn't all new and scary.

The scariest part was hitting a small rock in the gorge!! Ok, so it was 10cm at the widest, and jagged...... I came around the corner and in about three seconds thought:
1 - It is on my trajectory and I am leaning mid-corner
2 - It is a narrow road and I don't think I have the skill to swerve safely
3 - This may hurt a *lot*
4 - Eyes where I want to go, arms confident and relaxed...
And I was fine!! Handle bars wobbled and shuddered, but I kept looking where I wanted to be and was fine.

My new friend told me about engine braking with the gears. I had been getting up in the gears out of town and staying in the same one, so I thought I would try it...

....on Monday when I went out to Tangimoana. OK, not many bends... but I tried it on the ones that were there and it WORKED :)

Also, with speed, I have been hanging around 80km while I get used to it (and pulling over politely :) but on this trip with such nice long straight empty roads for a bit we were traveling at 95-100km and it felt fine.

I did 170km and learned some good things! Also learned the next day what it is like when a car in the lane beside you hits a large puddle and drenches you.....


Hi
This is my pick
Practice makes perfect
Sometimes all you have to do is take your time, think about it and you will figure it out just like carbacca

Cheers Scott


not so much "practice" anymore as just getting out and about and getting more confident on the two-fiddly

just riding away to whereever my heart took me today. i think the route went something like epsom, mt eden, newmarket, parnell, grafton, quay street , tamaki drive, bastion point, mission bay, st heliers, back down tamaki drive to parnell again, jumped on the north western (my first time on the motorway too) st lukes, morningside, sandringham, balmoral, mt eden (again), mt roskill, royal oak and then back home to epsom. wow that was a mouthful, i m suprised i remembered all that.

got a crash course in hillstarts when i decided to turn around at the end of tamaki drive, tried to do that by turning into a side street and doing a u-turn but i didnt see how #$^#$% the side stree was, i swear it was at least a 15 degree incline. went in the wrong gear, and ended up hard on the brakes and stopped, and in order to get myself going again had to do my first hillstart and happy to say that its not as hard as i though. got myself over the hill and turned back round the otherway, and ended up at the bottom of parnell again. quick zip up on the north western to experience the motorway. it got a little bit windy then and i was getting blown around a fair bit so only went as far as the st lukes off ramp, got off there and went home for lunch

made another quick run out in the afternoon (just now infact) to go to motomail outlet store to have a look at some pants (am still needing a pair of cordura or soemthing or rather road pants, to wear over whatever i am wearing to go to work) but didnt see anything in there i could throw my credit card at. back down st lukes road-balmoral road to go home again.

tomorrow i am going to try and practice my commuting route

Selections copied across to Newbie Update Blogg:
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/blogs/viewblog.php?userid=1728&entry=181

Heads Up and Enjoy

[Stickchick]

I'm unsure as to what you mean by "slow Bike Control" The fastest I have ever been is 40K isn't that slow enough? Sorry must be having a blonde day

[MSTRS]

Slow is relative. eg 25kph is about minimum to be able to countersteer.