Road King Blog

Well, I passed a pretty significant milestone during the Loop ride last weekend - the first 1,000 miles ridden.

Looking back through the blog, and feeling the difference in my riding, it has certainly been an interesting time.  My first rides on the Road King are still clear in my recollection.  My first baby steps in the neighborhood, riding on the side streets during lunch, when there was nobody around.  Wobbly starts, shaky stops, poorly executed turns (particularly right turns from stops) and target fixation.  Canceling a ride and returning home because my head wasn’t in it was difficult, but it was the only wise course.  And I’d do it again in a moment.

And parking lot practice.  Lots of parking lot practice.  A ride might consist of 5 minutes of road travel followed by 30 minutes of riding around (and over) split tennis balls in the school lot, followed by 5 minutes of travel home.

And discovering that lifting an 800 pound touring bike back onto it’s wheels after a low-speed brain fart is a lot like work.  And a massive (no pun intended) disincentive to screwing up….

Venturing out into traffic was thrilling, and terrifying at the same time.  Other motorists can be counted on to do the wrong thing at the wrong time whenever you’re least expecting it - so expect it all the time and have a plan to deal with it.

With each passing week, adding short intervals of new challenges (higher speeds, more lanes, more traffic) sandwiched between periods of familiar riding helped me progress without getting in over my head.  Information overload is a real hazard, and you cannot afford to go into deer-in-the-headlights mode on the bike.

And more parking lot practice.  I still try to stop in a lot at the beginning or end of every ride and do some tight slow speed turns.

And today, I am much more comfortable on the bike.  Which begs a question - how comfortable is too comfortable?

I’m getting a good hold on the foundations of bike control.  Smooth starts, proficient turns from a stop into the lane I want, avoiding target fixation, smooth shifts and stops.  The mechanics are becoming natural, and I don’t have to think through them as I do them.

My worry now is complacency.  Not with the mechanics of operating the bike, but with the larger picture items of hazard identification, reaction and mitigation.  But, I guess that’s a battle every rider must face, and re-face, every time they ride.  I’ll just have to make sure I actively watch for it.