Lost my nerve to ride

**motorbyclist** · 30th October 2008, 11:20

Originally Posted by Drider87

no offence meant andrew to you or the club but learners have been totally left behind on club rides, I'm mainly referring to coro loops. Maybe an organised learner only ride as the scenic group usually consists of two or three bikes with the rest boosting into the distance.

i was mainly referring to the chiller and learner rides where me or squigs are present

are you referring to the "fast" (ie, nutter group of cop sweepers) group leaving the "slow" (ie, learners and cruisers) group behind? when was the last time you went riding with squiggles? ehab/dan etc are all nuts and couldn't organise a safe learner ride even when they were learning (though i'd like to be proved wrong)

it's all attitude, and i haven't seen you on a learner ride since... actually i think the the only out of auckland ride i've been on with you, you (it turned out) were still learning quite a bit and had my dad and ixion both travelling with you at your pace throughout the ride were they not?

sure enough you kept her upright, which unfortunately wasn't the norm back then

and i never recommend coro loops to learners - i'm beginning to rep ride organisers in the smc forum to that effect (gotta love the motorb-smc propaganda machine!)

Originally Posted by MSTRS

No disrespect to you Uni guys, but a group ride is no place for a nervous newbie or someone who's lost their confidence. One on one, with a suitable mentor, is the way to go.

you're absolutely right - as above, i was mainly referring to our social chiller and the actual learner rides (mentoring before the mentors came out)

we've in the past run some very successful learner rides, just relaxed pace, two experienced riders taking it easy with two or three learners who are beyond the carpark stage

heck i've even run a few dirt bike ones where less stable riders have had a go on dirtbikes to get a bit more confidence/experience with traction loss/falling without fear of road rash or insurance claims - drider included

in fact one of our learner rides was so relaxed, while leading one of them myself (two learners and chrislost following) 12 months ago i fell asleep and demonstrated how to avoid powerpoles before highsiding in a gravel shoulder while doing all of 40kph in an 80kph zone

- myself learned an important lesson about getting a good night's sleep before a day's ride

**Shaun** · 30th October 2008, 13:21

Originally Posted by kels

Hi
Approx 2 years ago I came off my Bike at a Roundabout (I had always feared of that happening) It was a slow speed but I ended up quite hurt.

Anyway the reason for my post is that I finally got the nerve to buy another Bike, I am really struggling with enjoying the ride. Here I have this beautiful RF400 and she is under cover because I don't have the courage to ride her. I have panic attacks everytime I get on her.

Can anyone offer any suggestions? It would be really appreciated.
Many thanks
Kel

My thoughts

Book your self into a MotoTT track day, and build your confidence up in a safe enviroment with NO tin tops and crap on the raod

Safe Fun Cheap

**ital916** · 30th October 2008, 22:04

Originally Posted by motorbyclist

i was mainly referring to the chiller and learner rides where me or squigs are present
.............

you're absolutely right - as above, i was mainly referring to our social chiller and the actual learner rides (mentoring before the mentors came out)

.....

The last ride I went out on was the one where ehab crashed. And the one before that was when ben...gpx dude got left behind by himself...or was that the same ride, and the uni club ride before that I was miles behind but mind you that is cos I don't boost on the straights (and that my bike can't boost).

I was just implying that if you guys organised some good learner ride it would be cool to a lot of newcomers, with the odd coro for experienced fullas.

And I'm gonna set the crash record straight. Four bins, all minor no injuries and lessons well learnt i.e. get good tires, watch front brake on gravel, look through corner(one from dropping it a day after i got it, it wa sheavier than i thought). yup four. I don't count the stationary ones I had when learning to gravel ride in da middle o nowhere. So that umm stacks me up pretty close to you with three motor b, toto has had two, stephens four/three, jafas had is one serious one, hows the arm going by the way jafa, I heard you have another op coming. Hanne has dropped her bike how many times while stationary haha, slyer binned on the way home from picking up his bike, Isaac had a biggie, nishs bike was gone, ehab...well fuck I don't know how many ehabs had, yui who tried to ride to fast and rode into the motorway barrier and also drops the gn everynow and then lol, kyles written off one bike etc etc. So the mythical drider crash rate is actually not as eventful as everyone elses crashes. haha

, see you tomorrow

**motorbyclist** · 30th October 2008, 22:45

Originally Posted by Drider87

The last ride I went out on was the one where ehab crashed. And the one before that was when ben...gpx dude got left behind by himself...or was that the same ride, and the uni club ride before that I was miles behind but mind you that is cos I don't boost on the straights (and that my bike can't boost).

dude, ehab always crashes

Originally Posted by Drider87

I was just implying that if you guys organised some good learner ride it would be cool to a lot of newcomers, with the odd coro for experienced fullas.

yeah i got that and you're right - we've been slck lately but not to worry, i've already put up a thread for the next learner ride, first weekend after exams

Originally Posted by Drider87

And I'm gonna set the crash record straight.

four bins in as many months

vs my 3 bins in almost 5 years - with better excuses and witnesses to attest to the facts too

course i had the luxury of learning on a dirtbike, while you were on a two stroke for your first bike and really jumped into rides far sooner than you should.

if you didn't keep reminding us about it we wouldn't keep giving you shit about it. just chillax!

yeh see ya at the chillar rather than drag this further OT

/smc girltalk

back somewhere in my first few months of potting round the farm i remember i did my self a rather painful (though not serious) injury that had me off for a few weeks. i remember once my foot was all sweet i was scared to get back on, but pretty quickly got myself back into it and never looked back since

that sense of foreboding the first time you hop back on after a painful injury is normal - body thinks "well that hurts so i don't like that; will fear it to keep safe"

stupid body

**ital916** · 31st October 2008, 10:32

I wasn't draggin nuthing out haha, you guys keep draggin it out

, haha,.

I want a dirtbike, mind you I want lots of bikes.

On topic though, hey kels if your still monitoring this thread, that offer of a riding buddy if your keen to do some short rides around town or to the wednesday learner nights is still on. I'm always keen to learn more about my riding.

**rocketman1** · 5th November 2008, 19:28

My advice to you, if you have not done it before is go and ride a dirt bike for awhile.
I fall off several times every ride, some hurt some don't, but it gets you used to falling off.
By doing this you will get courage up to go back on the road and have more experience to control a road bike.
Rossi learnt to slide bikes on the dirt. It doesn't do any harm to transfer that subconcious knowledge to road bikes, after all its the same physics, on road or off.
If you fall off your road bike again I suggest (if you can ) just get back on the thing, learn from the experience, Good luck

**jrandom** · 5th November 2008, 19:57

Originally Posted by Drider87

that offer of a riding buddy if your keen to do some short rides around town or to the wednesday learner nights

Fuxache, she's 43, bro, chase chicks your own age.

**kels** · 13th November 2008, 08:10

Originally Posted by jrandom

Fuxache, she's 43, bro, chase chicks your own age.

LOL ! Im a young 43!

Just needed to say thank you all for your posts. I really appreciate the support and also I appreciate the posts that seemed harsh. Made me sort out what I really want.

And I want to ride again.

I am going to take my Bike out this weekend, I am going to clear my mind and I am going to be riding as I was taught.

Again...thanks so much for the offers of riding buddies, the kind words of encouragement and the support.

**Blossom** · 13th November 2008, 08:31

You go girl!!!

**kels** · 14th November 2008, 08:44

I DID IT!!!

I rode in to work this morning!!! I loved it!!!

I didn't want to stop, I just wanted to keep on going. I am still going to take up the mentor and riding buddy offers as I know how important it is and the support has made all of the difference.

Thank you everyone for helping me through this, I can't wait to finish work : )