Kinda mundane stroy, but it was my wife's first "long&q

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Kinda mundane stroy, but it was my wife's first "long&q

Postby Ron P » Mon Aug 25, 2008 2:37 pm

Linda got through the MSF course August 8th and we've spent time working in the neighborhood roads to get her used to riding in traffic. We continued on that course of action yesterday with a plan to incorporate some lower speed main roads. She made her way onto the neighborhood roads and worked her way up to Braddock Rd. It wasn't too bad for a Sunday morning and so we headed west for a little bit.

After a while, I suggested we turn onto Clifton Rd. to get her off Braddock and do some backroad riding. So we made our way down to Clifton. I had never been on that road before and we both enjoyed it. All the time, she said she was feeling fine.

We stopped at a Texaco station at the intersection of Wolf Run Shoals Rd. and Clifton Rd. for a break and Linda mentioned that she was "leaning" too far forward on her bike. We decided that we'd ride over to Whitt's HD and see if a mechanic could tweak her bars. A Fairfax County cop gave us directions to Manassas and we were off.

We headed out Wolf Run Shoals Rd., turned right on Henderson Rd. and made a left on Yates Ford Rd. That brought us out to Prince William County Parkway for about a mile until we got to Liberia Ave. From there, we picked up Rte. 28 through town to Whitt's.

The trip home was a stright shot up 28 with a right turn on Braddock. We logged in about 40 miles. Not a big deal for us experienced riders, but it quite an accomplishment for my wife. She only one mistake when she took the turn too wide leaving the Texaco station and veered onto the shoulder a little, but she's getting the hang of riding very well. She did well in traffic and stayed within her limits. We're planning to make our future rides about 40-miles and increase the speeds as she gets better.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera with me to document the event, so you'll have to take my word for it. :)
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Postby pjamet » Mon Aug 25, 2008 3:00 pm

Awesome. Sounds like she did well and you too had a good time. :D
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Postby Maria V » Mon Aug 25, 2008 3:00 pm

YAY for Linda!
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Postby Flash! » Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:31 pm

This thread and the thread about another spouse, Beth, who's learning to ride, have taken me back about 4 years when I first started riding. It sounds as if they're both taking their time and doing really well. Hooray for both of them!

My experience, unfortunately, was a little different. More than once early on I headed out early Sunday morning by myself, and ended up calling John out of bed to come help me right my bike. Once, in a turn, I fixated on the huge rocks lining the ditch, and of course ended up there. That's learning about target fixation the hard way. :oops:

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Postby Ron P » Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:42 pm

That's so true about the target fixation part. I stress to my wife that the bike is going to go where she looks. She's getting better at "looking through the turn" with the one exception of leaving the gas station lot.
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Postby ERC Scott » Tue Aug 26, 2008 7:44 am

Ron P wrote:That's so true about the target fixation part. I stress to my wife that the bike is going to go where she looks. She's getting better at "looking through the turn" with the one exception of leaving the gas station lot.

Could it be be too little throttle and a full-out clutch. You see that a lot with new riders going wide on slow corners. Might want to mention that using the friction zone can come into play as well as head turns.
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Postby RJP3579 » Tue Aug 26, 2008 8:14 am

My wife did the same thing. Went a bit wide on a turn looking at a minivan stopped at the intersection. Scared us both as I was behind her watching it.
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Postby Ron P » Tue Aug 26, 2008 10:04 am

Good points. I'll mention them to her. Thanks.
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