Back Brake Practise And More Mileage Helps The Confidence - Feb 2014

The riding and confidence re-building was helped by a wonderful trip to Shrewsbury for my birthday trip which was written about by Ren and you can read that here Shrewsbury 2014

However a nasty chest infection put me out of action on the bike for a while so with a two week break I was a little worried about how I would fare this weekend. The weather was rather blustery too and I am not too keen on windy conditions on the bike. Being small and on a small light bike I get blown around a fair bit.

So Sunday arrives and I decide to risk going out despite it looking a bit windy and feeling quite chilly. I tell the boyfriend I am a little nervous of the wind. After becoming an onion with my 6 layers of clothing to keep me warm I nervously climb on my bike. What can 6 layers consist of? Well, here goes. Thermal vest, thermal long sleeved top, thermal t- shirt, fleece, light summer jacket and then motorbike jacket. Sorted, onion layers equals warm and cosy. My bottom half only gets two layers, thermal leggings under bike pants with two pairs of super fluffy thermal socks. The only place that gets cold really are my hands. My furry super furry warm gloves are pretty good but if I could ride with two pairs on I would.

The ride starts out pleasantly enough, it is actually going ok at first. Much better than I expected after my break. But soon enough Ren is taking me on some pretty twisty roads. They are wet, they twist and turn and the wind is throwing the bike around. Bloody hell he must have no idea how shaky my confidence is still right now to be taking me this route. But Ren is carefully guiding me from the front. Showing me when to use the back brake and when to slow right down. With Ren's expert guidance and by taking it slow the bike grips around the scary wet corners and each corner is rounded with success. I even manage a switchback to a hill climb without stalling the bike thanks to getting the revs right. I love riding these kind of roads it is what I want to do but they still scare me.

We leave the twisty lanes for a stretch of open road with a 50mph speed limit. I open up the revs, change up the gears and the bike picks up speed nicely, until the wind hits me and the bike head on. The next thing I know the bike is red lining, the throttle is pulled back to the max and we are achieving an amazing top speed of around 35mph. Well I guess if there is a down side to a trusty fun little 125cc then this is it. I turn out of the wind and once again the bike can pick up speed. I suspect the line of traffic behind me will have no idea why I seem to be changing speed so erratically. They probably think I am just a loon. Well the bike screaming away and trying to push its way through the wind does bring a loon's smile to my face so they might be right.

I begin to relax for a while along this road but then I begin to feel uneasy as I begin to recognize the route Ren is taking me on. I shake my head. Surely after me telling him about me being nervous of the wind he is NOT going to take me over the tops of Rivington Road in this weather?? A sharp left confirms that yes indeed we are going over the tops. Just to add to the joys of riding the tops with a gusty wind it also begins to rain. I grit my teeth, curse the boyfriend from behind and follow him ..... very slowly. I am taking no chances in this weather and in this weather slow is my only option in my hope to stay shiny side up. My slow speed keeps me on the level despite being buffeted and blown about by the wind and my vision obscured by the rain. With teeth now ground to stumps I finally make it down to Rivington barn.

With a sigh of relief I stop the bike and pull of my helmet ready to shout at the bf and ask him what the hell was he thinking. But when he pulls of his helmet he has such a boyish happy grin on his face I can't bring myself to shout at him. Ren is very pleased with himself and the route he took me because he says the only way to get over a fear of something is to do it. Well yeah sat now in the warmth of the barn laughing about it all he is indeed right. I did some some twisty, gnarly roads today in some pretty miserable weather conditions. I guess I am better than I give myself credit for. Without the boyfriend leading me I doubt I would ever dare push myself to these extremes. I would never dream of riding the tops in the wind and tackling switchbacks and wet uneven twisty roads. I have to hand it to Ren that is because of him leading the way today I take on these challenges. Yes I have to give myself the credit for the skills involved but the opportunity to test those skills is def down to one experienced and gnarly boyfriend.

I scared myself while doing the route we went on but sat here now with a warm cup of tea in my hands chatting to some biker friends about it I am well proud of myself. Ren even admits he scared himself a bit today especially when he saw some unexpected ice across the road we were on at one point. I think about giving the bf a big kiss to say a big thank you for pushing me to my limits and making me be braver than I ever thought I was capable of being but that would have been just plain soft. I will just give him a smile and he will have to figure out how great I think he is another way.

I am not a adrenaline junkie but sometimes scaring yourself can make you feel so alive. I think the pair of us may be a bit mad riding the way we do in the wind and rain along twisty lanes but wow I love this kind of madness.
 
Monday, Ren and I have a ride out to Preston Honda. This is the place with an awkward U turn and where I took the bike for a lie down in the middle of the road last time I attempted it. So I approach it with some apprehension. I could avoid this U turn by turning into a side street but I decide to girl up and give it a go. I do it slowly but successfully. Phew...
 
Honda Preston does not have the bike we hoped to see so we decide to carry on and go to Honda Blackpool. It is a good ride and I can begin to feel the confidence coming back. I am beginning to relax again and it is so good to feel the tension finally begin to leave my body. Blackpool also do not have the bike we came to see, the Honda Wave 110. Looks like they are on pre-order only at the moment. Blackpool do have the full colour range of the Honda MSX in. This is the bike I was considering buying before I saw my Keeway. They are cute these MSX's there is no doubt about that. But they are tiny and I decide I made the right choice in the Keeway. Not only was it over a £1000 cheaper but it is bigger. They share the same seat height but the Keeway has bigger wheels and more road presence. Once outside I give Zen a little pat. I love my bike I do.

The sun is out and we do not want to go home just yet so we wind our way to Lytham. We park up by the beach, free parking for bikes, bonus! We have a little walk along the prom in the sunshine. It is still cold but what a treat to see the sun and it brings smiles to both of our faces. What a lovely day.

Tuesday and the bike is due for its 6 months service. Before going to Motorcycle Centre Orrell we decide to go and wake up our friend Jeanette and drag her out of bed for a ride with us. We knock on the door and success! Rob, her boyfriend, is awake but Jeanette is still tucked up in bed. While we wait for Jeanette to get ready Rob supplies us with tasty bacon butties and cups of tea. Yum well worth waiting about for a bit in the house.

The rain eases off while we are inside and the ride to Orrell with Jeanette and Rob goes just fine. Apart from finding neutral instead of first gear while cornering into Orrell's car park that is, but no big deal. The bike gets booked in for its service with 2400 miles on the clock. Not too bad for a beginner I think.  If you recall I planned to do at least 2014 miles this year well from January I have done 650 miles in 6 weeks. Well on target so far. I don't really like leaving my bike all alone in the car park while I climb on the boyfriends bike for the ride home. Goodbye little friend I will see you next weekend.  

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