Dear
VTwin Mama,
Firstly, I want to say THANK you to all of you (esp you Mama) . . .
this is THE best site ever! I have learned so much from reading the
massive amount of info available here. You girls all Rock!! The
camaraderie I can feel between you all is fantastic. I belong to the
Ulysses Club here in Brisbane, Australia and get the same kinda thing . .
. it is so nice ( I think to be getting the same from a group of
sisters would be even more special tho) ;-) !!
I really need some words of advice from you and your lovely readers. About 6 months ago I encouraged a dear friend, who is very new to riding her Virago 250 (is on Learners), to join me on the Pink Ribbon ride to help raise money for Breast Cancer. It was a huge ride -- about 1000 bikes!!! BUT . . . as much as I thought (and had also checked with the ride organizers) that a learner would cope with it . . . on a twisty left/right/left curve (remember we ride on the other side of the road to you grrls) . . . we came across some gravel and an off camber road surface. My friend came down and ended up with 4 broken ribs and some really nasty bruising.
Now the physical wounds have healed and she has been going back to riding lessons where her instructor assures her that her skills are all fine BUT she is still feeling really shaky and is getting to the point where as much as she loves it -- she is thinking about selling her bike!!
My question is what can I do to help her??? She manages turns, slaloms and circles fine!! But put her on a sweeping corner and she is convinced she is going to straighten the bike up too soon and leave the road -- because of this she is fixating on the shoulder of the road instead of looking out of the sweep!! PLEASE help.
I feel so bad cos I encouraged her to join me on the big ride. If only I had been a little more patient she may not be facing this crisis now :-(
Love to you all, Ride Often and Stay Safe, – Maxine, aka Max
Dear
Maxine,
Boy, do I KNOW how your friend feels about taking sweeping turns
again . . . she seizes up, probably is taking a death grip on the
handlebar, tightening her body, and as you mention, looking the wrong way.
This happened to me after an accident where I missed the second part of a
sweep and hurtled off the road at 70mph.
Honestly, I can say that for years after that, I always had problems with left hand sweeps as that is the side I made the mistake on (panicked, looked down at the line, and went straight off). I gritted my teeth for every left sweep I had to take.
How did I get over it? I kept riding. I KNEW what mistake I had made and continued to work on correcting the mistake. At first I had to always throttle down a lot and take that sweep slower . . . ok on a solo ride, not so great within a group, so I tended to ride at the back of the pack.
Over time, taking left sweeps slower, I was able to loosen up my body again and keep my eyes focused correctly. So what is my advice? Your friend should do as many solo rides that have sweeps, but do them at low traffic times so that she can concentrate on re-training her body for the correct technique. There is no shortcut to this process. She needs to reset her "body clock" for the sweep so it becomes naturally correct again.
After all these years (about 12) I will tell her that to this day, although I have no problems with sweeps, I do enter sweeps thinking about my technique and making sure that I'm not overly confident (in other words, I'm not taking for granted that my technique is perfect unless I am thinking of my technique and ensuring that it is perfect).
I have come to terms with the mental aspect of this and it no longer bothers me. I have incorporated the mental reality for me into my ride . . . on solo rides I often rethink my exact technique to make sure my body position "clock" is set correctly. This continuous fine-tuning of technique is essential to me.
In my estimation, riders should always be periodically reviewing their technique, no matter what the skill is. This ensures that the mind/body are at the ready at all times.
What can you do? Encourage her. Print out this letter so that she knows she is not alone. That a rider with 27 years experience understands and that joy CAN be regained. Ride with her. Let her talk out how the sweeps are feeling each time you go out.
Some accident survivors don't want to talk about the accident right after it has happened. Some eventually want to review what happened. Remember, let her talk and for your part, keep any observations simple and drama-queen free. Talk in a calm way. Re-share what the joys are and remember good rides and times. If she is willing to do a bit of work, she can reclaim that dream that got her started in the first place. I did and am thankful I put forth the effort to do that. – Mama
Wednesday, April 18
For Maxine whose friend had an accident and is questioning whether to ride now:
I am so sorry to hear about your friends accident. Sadly this is not the first nor last time I will read about such things happening. Unfortunately, in our joy of having a friend become a fellow rider, we sometimes push them into things they are not yet ready to do. BUT do not feel guilty as each one of us must ride our own ride and have the balls to say no if we don't feel comfortable about something. Be patient with your friend and once she heals offer to ride with her on roads similar to the conditions where she went down. Take the ride at her speed.
I always tell my students that group rides are not for newbies. There is an awful lot of pressure on newbies as each rider in the group must respond "on cue" and without hesitation in order that the group progresses smoothly. New riders usually won't feel right at the same speeds with everyone else, they are distracted by attempting to see and do hand signals and they feel like everyone is watching them which gives many "stage fright" and causes additional problems.
I feel new riders should explore their new skills and gain riding techniques on their own or with an experienced patient rider. If new riders are involved in a group ride I think it is best to have a smaller group of newbies riding at the rear with a lead and sweep rider just for them. Remember probably 85% of all riders think they are better than they really are. If you know a rider who needs more skill training -- do them a big favor and gently offer to help them. You most likely will be saving their life or possibly the life of another rider whose space the unskilled rider suddenly invades. – Ratzuki (note from Mama: thank you for strengthening the message that confidence can be regained if this rider goes back to basics and works on the curve-handling skill.)
Monday, April 9
Hi Ma,
I've been reading a lot of postings about automatics and just wanted to put my
two cents in about the Honda Silverwing (600cc). I was born without lower limbs
and wanted a bike that I could hold up weight-wise and that had enough ummmmph
to handle the highways for touring, but didn't require the use of ones legs to
operate.
After 4 years and 60,000 miles (two USA crossings) I have nothing but good things to say about this bike, both in the handling and maintenance dept. Extremely low center of gravity and for you short folks, just carve down the foam seat an inch or so (I did this myself with an electric kitchen knife) for a solid flat footed stance.
The only reason I bought a newer one was that some lady rear-ended me at a stop and totaled my last bike (her insurance company bought my latest one). I wasn't even scratched (my legs did take flight though which kinda freaked out some local construction workers, heh heh)! Keep on RIDING ! – Shawn
Dear
Shawn,
I'm so glad to hear that the rear-end collision didn't result in
bodily harm to you, although I was laughing out loud with you as I
visualized those construction workers' mouths gape open at the sight of prosthetics
flying about.
Tired about hearing what an inspiration you are? Tough . . . here at VTwin Mama we say what's in our hearts and I for one am sooooo glad you wrote in to share a motorcycle that not only works for you but has carried you so many miles. 60k miles is nothing to sneeze at and I smiling because I know you have a memory that relates to many of those . . .
Thanks for the tip on carving down the seat . . . for those who don't own an electric knife (!) or simply wish to leave it to professionals, look for local upholstery shops . . . they can usually handle a seat modification.
Ride on, ride on . . . we'll be looking for you and won't hold back on any biker waves! – Mama