Not Falling Off is Good, Right?

[HanaBelle]

Well, someone bet me I couldnt shut up for a year and..they were right.

Popping back in now the sun is shining again (occasionally, this IS Ratshithole aka Auckland). Not that I didnt ride thru winter, cos who's a wussy...but alas, do I feel sunny and confident of long days enjoying two wheels in the summer breeze?

No. I do not. Im thinking of selling the trusty Vulcan, who has carried me to and fro reliably this whole past year. Im too scared to ride her.

On the way home from Taupo on Sunday, surrounded by traffic, I smacked into the right rear panel, (you know, the one by the back wheel) of this blue car who had decided to seriously brake in my motorway lane, with the front tyre of the bike leaving a big ole rubber smear on their car paintwork, at 110ks, on the Southern M ...and did NOT bin it and die. It was a tres surreal experience. Ive since been told things like angels watch over me and Im here for a purpose and it wasnt my time and I still have some kind of Godly work to do and its NOT HELPING ME PROCESS.

At the time, I got back on Le Trusty 245kg low-centre-of-gravity (I love that) Vulcan with brand new two day old tyres, but more nutters appeared in front of me including one in a fire engine (I kid you not - merged on from onramp and then stopped dead on the motorway AFTER pissing water out of its backside causing me to aquaplane) so we did leave at Otahuhu and limped home quietly on surburban streets obeying speed limits like a granny.

I rode again today but I feel sick to my stomach and Im not keen on getting back on. Didnt even want to drive the stupid car. If not binning is good, how come I feel so nauseous?

Hana

[avgas]

Ah the 'Whatdafuckhappendjustthen?' syndrome, dont worry she passes quickly.
Chuck the bike in the shed, put her on the stand, sit on her and fire her up - you will find feeding the revs while on the stand will help. Ol' school trick that one.

[pritch]

Sorry to hear of your travails.

Guess it's the old "Get back on the horse" deal.
Sometimes there are moments like those you mention, and just ocasionally there are the others (like the coast road Blenheim to Kaikoura?) that make the rest of it seem worthwhile.

Whatever you decide good luck :-)

[Zapf]

you brain is playing with you....

go to the beach and just clear your mind out for a few days... then you'll love your bike again.

or just soak this up

[rfc85]

hope it all goes well for you-BUT if you want to sell the vulcan-sing out

[kro]

My first couple of nears misses really shook me up quite bad, to the point of tears one time as I remember (silly hormonal 17 year old !!)

Because things like this will happen, despite all your best efforts to avoid them, I found I had to stop, and assess the occurence, and see what part I played in the whole thing. If I was not to blame, I told myself so, all the way home, or to wherever I was headed.

Confidence is key to riding a bike, and if your confidence is shaken, and you can't get it back, you will find these things happen more often. Take control of the thing, own it, and then go for a nice leisurely cruise on some piece of road you know to be less inhabited by nutters, and see if the lack of confidence still plagues you.

Hope this helps.

[Xtat1k]

know the feeling, but at least your alright. Like they said just get back on the horse, take your time and take it easy till you feel right on it again, it will come back

[Toast]

Heck I've had that feeling sometimes when I'm just riding along in the country...that sudden, 'fark I'm vulnerable sitting here'...but life is full of fears we need to overcome

Big ups for not binning it...and if you bought a 636 you'd have mad brakes and wouldn't have hit the care...

No offence, but ummm...if you couldn't stop in time to avoid contact...maybe you were following a bit closely for the givens of: your reaction time/braking potential/the perceived nuttiness of the driver?

[inlinefour]

Took me 6 years to get the itch for biking enough to actually purchase another motorcycle. But it does eventually happen. Have since needed to get a bigger/faster bike since then and Ive reciently been told that my riding is improving. However when I first got the CB400, I rode like a nana and was too scared to lean it over in town. Now Im back to wanting to lean over the sprotbike again and feel like a teenager all over again. Confidence is something that can be developed again, I have learnt. Maybe not to the same level of confidnce (and in my case stupidity), but I regretted selling all my bikes back then (I can think of two that I now wish Id kept). Do whatever you feel you need to, but have a very good think about it first. Dont go doing anything rashly that youll regret in the future, like me...

[HanaBelle]

No offence, but ummm...if you couldn't stop in time to avoid contact...maybe you were following a bit closely for the givens of: your reaction time/braking potential/the perceived nuttiness of the driver?

It was absolutely my fault. I was a fuckwit, no doubt about it. I was watching the truck merging up ahead and the two lanes we were using as ours, and NOT the car immediately in front of me (who was also watching the truck and decided to way slow down). By the time I looked at HER rear end I was mere feet from it and catching up very rapidly indeed.

Im sorry I implied she was a nutter. Actually, there WERE the usual number of bona fide nutters present, including me that day, but the actions of the first driver were A1. She even took her foot off the brake when we hit her and that saved the life, Id say.

Im pleased I could react fast enough and well enough to get over on her right (thus only contacting that far right side) and slow down to almost the same speed she was travelling at. Id been thinking of practising emergency braking earlier that day. I shoulda wondered why, eh.

Hana

[HanaBelle]

Confidence is key to riding a bike, and if your confidence is shaken, and you can't get it back, you will find these things happen more often.

Exactly what happened immediately afterwards. I got back on, feeling ok, a bit wired is all. Next onramp comes the fire truck that stops 50 yards down the road while gushing water out of its rear end, blocking completely the left lane. Then the Chinese girl in the red sports car who thought she had to be going 30ks before making a lane change from left to mid lane. Oy.

Ive had a charmed run to date. Including Sunday. Lost my whole sense of safety now though. And yes I do believe if I got out on the road now I would attract every bike hating loser in the city.

Hana

[HanaBelle]

I regretted selling all my bikes back then (I can think of two that I now wish Id kept). Do whatever you feel you need to, but have a very good think about it first. Dont go doing anything rashly that youll regret in the future, like me...

Im giving it a couple of weeks. Love your "perfect safety" signature. Its all related. ;-)

H

[Keystone19]

Hmmm, don't know if it's helpful but recently I was feeling a bit 'off' on the bike. New bike and all, it was taking me a while to get my confidence up. I decided to go for a blat on a nice sunny afternoon, dry roads, a bit of a confidence boosting ride, one that would just help me get into the groove.

Headed up to Wellsford and all was good. On the way home, the heavens opened and it persisted down. Damn, I thought (I ride like a nana in the wet) and slowed down accordingly.

Came around a 35kph corner and managed to get the bike into a huge fishtail. It was so violent I thought for sure I was going to get thrown off. I don't know how I stayed on. Luck I guess.

I was scared, I was wet, I was crying (which doesn't help when it is wet and your helmet is already fogging up). I was so angry at the weather, at the wet roads, at myself, at everything. What was supposed to be a confidence building ride turned into the scariest moment I have ever had on a bike.

Anyway, I rode home. Put the bike in the garage and felt shattered.

I got back on a few days later in the sunshine and went for a quiet, conservative ride. It didn't rain, I had no 'oh shit' moments and all was fine. But every time something like that happens to any of us I think, it takes a while to get it back. Give yourself a break, but don't leave it too long...

[Lou Girardin]

Not falling off is the best.

[vtec]

Hey Lou,

Saw that letter you wrote to the Herald... nice.

Also with regard to fishtail girl. Crying is a last resort, not a first. Ha, I'm being insensitive, but hey, every time I have a bit of a moment like that fishtail in the wet or something, I'm like cheering inside my helmet for my apparent luck or skill at staying upright. I seem to get a buzz out of it. But yeah it does affect how I ride for a few minutes at least. Also I learn from every single one.