Nervous as hell

[Grub]

I live in a busy area on a main road, .

That is just crappy tryiing to deal with that! As you're feeling, you need somewhere to just ride the bike without any damn cars/trucks/buses to watch out for.

Do you have a flattie or friend with their license who can take the bike to a quiet road? It depends where your are of course, I took Nasty to a rural road only about 2km from where we are. Because it was a dead end, it was residents only on the road and in the middle of the afternoon, hardly any of them.

It was brilliant, the road was 4km long and we just went up and down there for days until one day she felt comfortable to ride it from there to our house (via SH58) Because we had the car, I would follow and we'd have a de-brief every couple of 'laps'.

[klingon]

... I would follow and we'd have a de-brief every couple of 'laps'.

That's just rude!

[candyshot]

Hey! Like everyones saying, stay at it at your own pace. You'll be sweet as! Is that your own work in your profile/avatar? Nice.

Thanks to everyone who posted all the positive replies in this thread. I took all the advice I got and used it... wore the helmet in front of tv, practised in the carpark everyday, took all the baby steps possible.
And then one day, it happened! I rode to work, and back, and it was great!! Don't know what I was afraid of in the first place, although still get the jitters when I know I've got to get on the bike and ride somewhere. But once I'm on it, its all good! If I think I'm holding up traffic I just pull over and wait till its clear again.
PuppetMaster - I WAS really, really nervous.. but got over it with perserverance. I wasn't about to give up. I'm glad I didn't!
Pancakes – Yep, that's my work on my avatar. I'm a bit better at digital art, than riding :-)

[Ocean1]

Cool, love a good sucess story.

Confidence is a very strange thing, I swear it affects everything from balance to traction. As your skills build so will your confidence... or is that arsy boo?

Edit: If you're still not comfortable with your helmet then rather than use an open face one you could try one of the hybrid dirt/road or motard helmets. They're more dirt shaped, with a chin bar much further from your face. I've got an Airoh S4, love it.

[Rosie]

Good work!
I'm glad you persevered.
When I was learning, I found that going on lots of little short rides helped to improve my confidence, and reduced the pre-ride nerves.

[canarlee]

pm "the stranger".


he is auckland based (i think lol), he instructs *is that the right word?* on the ride right ride safe (RRRS) courses which would be ideal for you.


you want references? ask "yungatart" and/or "stickchick". 2 ladies he has, and still does give mentoring.

[klingon]

Thanks to everyone who posted all the positive replies in this thread. I took all the advice I got and used it... wore the helmet in front of tv, practised in the carpark everyday, took all the baby steps possible.
And then one day, it happened! I rode to work, and back, and it was great!! Don't know what I was afraid of in the first place, although still get the jitters when I know I've got to get on the bike and ride somewhere. But once I'm on it, its all good! If I think I'm holding up traffic I just pull over and wait till its clear again.
PuppetMaster - I WAS really, really nervous.. but got over it with perserverance. I wasn't about to give up. I'm glad I didn't!
Pancakes – Yep, that's my work on my avatar. I'm a bit better at digital art, than riding :-)

Yay for you! Good job! Things will get better and better - and the weather will be on your side for the next few months.

[Pancakes]

......Pancakes – Yep, that's my work on my avatar. I'm a bit better at digital art, than riding :-)

Real nice, I hav to look at the big one to see it was digital, thought it was stencil/brushed outline at first.