Saturday Morning Stroll through NW Houston

[Squeaky]

Ok, I will admit - I was concentrating on the road so much I didn't pay any attention to where we were going so I have no street names or numbers - all I know is that we started up at FM 1960 and Jones Road around 10:30 and just went out to the country roads from there.

It was just four of us, Vittorio :twisted: , Chris S :-P , Steve :-D , and Me :mrgreen: . It was Steve's first ride through the back-road twisties, so I didn't feel quite as intimidated by the two speed demons up front. It was my first real group ride and from the start the intention was to keep a slower than usual pace and stay on clean roads.

Ok, so the second of the two was true - but I stayed at the back and rode my lines and gained some confidence along the way. I learned that I turn left much better than I turn right, but thankfully there were no oncoming cars for my over-the-line veering rights (I gotta watch that more). I wasn't made to feel bad at all when I pulled up to the others at the end of a stretch minutes (or what could have been hours) later. (ok, so the bikes were parked, helmets were off, and Chris had gone through half a cigarette already by the time I caught up-that's not too bad, is it?)

I also learned that I lean on my hands too much. It could have been the nerves and the need to feel as connected to my bike as possible, but even hours later a two-hour ride has my right wrist aching something horrible.

I also learned (gee, this could have been a self-study course!) that you absolutely MUST make sure you have closed all your pockets and zipped your gear before getting back on your bike after each stop. Somewhere between the first gas station and the second I lost my wallet - must have flown right out of the jacket pocket that I didn't realize was so nicely unzipped :angryfir: .

I left the group at 1:00 to head into work (darn shame I felt too guilty to call in sick :roll: ). Back into town on 290, and the bikes were out in the dozens. Mostly cruisers, lots of passengers stretching back and enjoying the ride the way I used to. I hope they get the bug and learn to take the controls the way I did ;-) .

I'll let one of the others pick up where I left off since I only heard it second-hand....

[Tourmeister]

:tab Sorry Deb and I missed you Squeaky. We had a nice lunch at King's with Vittorio, Chris and Steve. We ran into them coming down through the forest.

:tab If you are blowing right hand corners, slow down!!! Slow in, fast out. Chant that in your head when you approach the corner. Don't look at the center line, look up through the corner. We gotta get you up here for a newb ride! I may do one May 16, not sure yet. I'll post up here though so keep an eye out for it ;-)

Adios,

[Vee Dub Nut]

sounds like a lot of fun.. I cant wait till I get mine back on the road :mrgreen:

Adam

[Dirtrideroader]

Time in the saddle. You can't be an expert right off the bat. Take your time and practice what you know. When you feel you have that down, you might consider the ERC. Or even better, a day of school at the track.

Just remember, be smooth. Don't coast through corners.

Good to hear you are out riding.

[GIXXERKELLY]

Keith Code has the Twist of the Wrist on DVD. You should buy it/ borrow it to help with the learning curve. The rest is just spending time in the saddle practicing it.

If you need a slower paced ride, look me up sometime. I have lead a few newbies on some fun roads. Learn to do it slow and accurate and the speed will follow.

So...how many miles are on the bike?

[Squeaky]

I've got her up at 1050 so far. Ever since I passed the 500 mile break-in mark and got the first service out of the way, I seem to be packing them on quite nicely, about 500 in the last week alone.

I'd love to come on a ride with y'all sometime. Just let me know when!
Are Sunday rides an issue? I work Saturdays :-(

[Rdslvr04]

What an excellent day to be out w/ friends/fellow riders. The roads were clean and most were traffic free. And no, unlike Squeaky’s assesment of her performance both Squeaky and Steve were doing very well. While their pace was slower than the rest, so was ours.

As Squeaky said we headed out from our meeting place at about 10:30 and headed Northwest towards 2920. This give everyone a chance to get familiar w/ the pace and w/ each others riding style plus it also gave me an understanding of each of ours strengths and weaknesses.

Once on the corner of 2920 and Musckee Rd. we stopped for a quick fill up, a chance to chat for a few moments and to get a heads up of the roads ahead. From there we headed out towards FM 1488/362 and points beyond.

While on the road the group would fluctuate during the twisties and regroup on the straights or turnoffs overall thou nothing too unusual from the norm. Apart from a flock of big ***** Texas size vultures just lounging in the middle of the road and refusing to yield to us until we were almost on top of them everything was going pretty well.

At our 2nd stop just outside of Hemstead on 290 just prior to heading out to the gas station this all changed and we faced the first of our set backs. As Rebecca removed her helmet the back of her earring fell off. Needles to say it must have look quite peculiar to see four bikers to be on the ground looking for a shiny earring clasp from the windows of the speeding cages that happened to be zooming by. Once that was found we headed to the gas station for some fuel and a needed bit of rest. Unfortunately while there Squeaky found out that she had lost her wallet and now needed to cancel everything in it. Fortunately three of the people there work for the bank that issued the card including Rebecca herself. After all the calls were made and Squeaky was gassed up it was time for her to head to work and for us to continue on our merry way.

From the gas station we head south again to Texas Hwy 6 and to 3090. Once we reached 3090 and the proper warnings had been given we headed out to enjoy some of 3090’s little evils :twisted: . Once we reached FM 244 we stopped to rest, bench talk and let our loved ones know that we were still ok. While resting it was also notice that our few hours ride had turned once again into a few Italian hours ride :oops: :oops: :oops: . Needles to say that it was now time to head down to kings for a much-needed lunch. Too bad b/c on the way back down towards Anderson on 3090 we came across the Porsche Club out on one of their weekend jaunts which in and of itself is as Sacrilegious as one should dare to get, oh well at least they were the right types of cages.

After stopping in Anderson for some fuel we entered the forest. Unfortunately this was also where Steve, who had been riding really well, had a mishap. Steve all the way up to that instant had quite skillfully navigated even the most demanding parts of 3090 and as he would pull up to us or as he would crest the hills or negotiate turns would display quite a good command of the bike. Unfortunately though like I said things in the forest got quite dangerous.

This was not b/c our lack of common sense our reckless disregard for our own well being but, b/c we unfortunately happened upon a large group of Harleys who were going so slow that they were even forcing trucks to attempt to pass everyone, including motorcyclist. Even pulling over proved to be of no avail. The only two choices left were to either risk passing the Harleys or sit and risk getting hit by a truck. Hopefully b/c Steve was going slower he did not have to put up w/ that whole mess. Unfortunately b/c of we were able to pass that mess we later found out when we doubled back and saw Steve riding w/ Scott and Debbie that we had unfortunately fallen. Except for some minor damage to his bike Steve, very luckily was ok and so we all headed up to King for our meal w/ our new found company.

As always the Lunch/Dinner company was gracious and welcoming, the back patio was quite refreshing/rejuvenating after being in the sun all day long and the garden burger was quite a treat. After Lunch/Dinner we divided and Chris and I headed down 105 to Egypt Honea Rd. while Scott, Debbie and Steve headed out to I-45. At that time of day Egypt Honea was a dream. While it is always a bad idea to speed on that rd. not just b/c of how heavily it is patrolled but, b/c of all the hidden driveways it was however void of any traffic or leos in order to afford us the opportunity to take full advantage of the smooth surface and perfectly cambered turns to practice those ever crucial techniques. To put all quite frankly that was more fun than mere mortals should have, but what the hey. From there we took some more back roads across 249 to 1960 and Jones.

All in all it was an eventful day of riding that left us a little spent but ready to do it again the following day. Never mind the the few Italian Hours had turned into being more like eight. :oops: :eek: :angel:

[Squeaky]

Vittorio, One of these days I'm going to buy you a big 'ol American clock and krazy glue it to your tank!

Great recap, I had forgotten about the earring. DOH!

[strat1701]

Yeah, how could we forget the earing backing! ;)

strat1701

[pdef]

I saw your group in Anderson that day! I was heading through to Magnolia and wished I was on a motorcycle too. :-|

[Snoopster]

Rebecca~ it's too bad Scott & I missed you. I'm so glad to hear about your ride. I can relate to the story about losing things. I lost my cell phone about a month ago. I had it zipped up in my jacket pocket but I think when I stopped for gas I placed my ear plugs in that pocket and forgot to zip it back up. Beth claims that I accidentally :eek: tossed it out seeing that I had commented about wanting a newer phone. Now I keep the new phone zipped inside my jacket.

Vittorio & Chris ~ it was nice seeing you guys again & having lunch together.

Steve ~ I hope you are doing okay. I bet you were a little sore for the next day or so.

[strat1701]

Yes my hip is doing much better. Not walking with any list or limps, now my left arm, that's another story. dr had me go for MRI of neck and arm as he thinks there is a nerve pinched in there somewhere which is resulting in the loss of mobility/ strength in my left hand and arm. Won't know those results till monday at the latest. Very odd since all the impacts were on the right side. Everybody be careful out there, I know we all know it, but take it from me, you don't have to be going fast to do some damage, all I need to do is turn right!! :D BUT on the bright side, I did get my tour master riding pants today. I shall ride and play guitar again! Thanks to all for the well wishing, I'm sure I'll be seeing some of you soon! Be safe!

steve
(don't have the heart to sign as STRAT since I can't play...yet!!)

[Squeaky]

Snoop, If I knew you guys were in the area I would have followed my instinct and called in sick. It was a toss-up, really. The weather was great and all, but I've called in a few too many "beautiful" days this year already.

I'm sure we'll meet up for a ride sooner (rather than later). Are you doing the Ride for Kids this Sunday?

[varnado]

I need to ride that area more. Last year i did a group ride in the Natl Forest and it was great. Well, till one of our riders went down and needed to be hauled off by EMS. He eventually healed up and is riding again. I'll give a shout when I ride over to that neck of the woods.

[ZapataZR7]

Don't coast through corners.

When I started into this great sport (2001) I used to do that a lot......!!!!!
even tought they teach you the right stuff at the MSF course I was afraid of getting out of the twisties fast....!!!!!! but after some practice I learn to over come that. Slow in-fast out, The bike feels more responsive when you are building speed at the exit.

SQUEAKY: Sorry to hear about loosing your wallet.....

SQUEAKY/VITTORIO: Great report..!!! Thanks for sharing.

[Tourmeister]

Slow... LOOK... lean... ROLL! It's all right there.

Don't rush into the corners, it overwhelms your brain's ability to process info and causes brain lock, especially for newbs. Newbs try to pay attention to every little thing because they have not learned what can be safely ignored.

Looking thru the corner is by far the single most important thing of all, even if you blow the other three! Keep your head up, turn your entire head the direction you want to go. Don't keep your head straight and just turn your eyes, trust me. Point your nose and chin where you want the bike to go. Keep your eyes up the road, not right in front of you. If you stare at something, you'll go right at it.

Leaning the bike requires that you understand countersteering. I have seen a lot of new riders do all kinds of gymnastics on their bikes trying to get the bike to lean using body english. Push right, go right. Push left, go left. It really does work. If you haven't gotten comfortable with this, then I HIGHLY recommend finding a long straight road with little traffic, get up to about 40mph and let go with your left hand. Use your right hand to steer and gently weave back and forth while maintaining your speed. Push with the right hand and you'll weave right. Pull back with your right hand (same as pushing with left hand) and you will weave left. Do this over and over until it is second nature. Why is this so important?

When you go into a corner, you will want to enter on a delayed apex. This means that if you are going right, you want to enter wide to the left. If you are going left, you want to move over and enter wide from the right. This is especially important when riding roads with limited visibility through the corners. It allows you to see further through the corner before you are totally committed. However, it also means that you will run deep into the corner and then have to lean the bike over fairly agressively. This is where using proper countersteering pays off. You will be able to precisely and deliberately lean the bike into the corner rather than flailing around hoping to get the bike leaned in time to avoid flying off into a ditch.

Why should you not coast through the corners but instead roll on the throttle from the time you start leaning? Bikes work best and the suspension works best when we have the proper weight distribution between the front and rear tires. If you go in a straight line and jam on the brakes or roll off the throttle, the bike tips forward. This means that the weight of you and the bike is shifting onto the front tire and that the rear tire is carrying less weight. Conversely, if you are cruising at a slow speed and pin the throttle WFO, the front end gets real light and the back is carrying much more weight than normal. Now that you understand the physics of weight transfer, here's why it matters.

When you enter a corner, you are generally slowing down. This means more weight is being put on the front tire. As long as you are still straight up, this is great because it gives more traction for slowing you down. However, once you start to lean the bike, part of the front tires' available traction now has to be used to maintain your lean. If you are still slowing down, either by coasting or braking, you are using up traction that should be going towards maintaining your lean. If you do it too much, the front end will slide right out from under you and the result is a lowside. This is probably what happened to Steve.

The proper way to use the throttle in a corner is to open it up right when you start to lean the bike. This does not mean you have to accelerate through the corner!! As you lean the bike, you will get over onto the sides of the tires. This means that the effective diameter of the tire is smaller. A smaller tire has to spin faster for a given speed than a large tire. So if you just hold the throttle steady and lean the bike, you will actually SLOW down!!

Ideally, at a minimum, you want to roll on the throttle at least enough to counter act the change in efttective tire diameter so that you maintain a constant speed through the corner. This will result in the weight distribution being properly spread between the front and rear tires. This allows for the most available traction to keep you on two wheels. It also let's the front and rear suspension work best.

A common mistake for riders when they get into a corner too hot is to either hit the brakes or chop the throttle closed. This will cause a sudden weight transfer to the front tire. If you are already hot and heavy in the corner, chances are the front tire is using a lot of its' available traction just to keep you up. When this weight transfer occurs, it can overwhelm the tire and down you go. Other than miraculously saving the bike in situation like this, loosing the front is generally the most desireable result, a lowside.

The least desireable result is a highside. When all the weight shifts to the front tire, the rear tire unloads. In this case, it is quite easy for the rear tire to slide out from under the bike and try to come around the outside of the corner to pass the front of the bike. In extreme cases, the bike can literally look like it is trying to go down the road sideways. THIS IS BAD!! If/when that rear tire regains traction and stops sliding, it will flip the bike over sideways tossing the rider up into the air out in front of a tumbling heavy chunck of bike. Many a collarbone has been shattered this way. If you're lucky, the bike comes down somewhere other than right on top of you. Watch racing for any length of time and you will see this happen. It is usually spectacular, and the bikes flip and tumble sheding parts like hair off a Persian cat in the heat of summer! THIS IS BAD!!

Rolling on the throttle gets the bike where the suspension is working best and the tires are working best. Acclerating just makes it more fun :twisted: However, if you cannot see all the way to the exit of the corner, you will want to maintain a constant speed and not be accelerating!! If something pops out and you are accelerating, then you are stuck with trying to dodge it midcorner or either coming off the gas or braking. Wait until you can see the exit of the corner before accelerating out of the corner! Then the only thing holding you back is the rear tire traction.

If you are accelerating out of the corner and are still leaned over, the reat tire has two jobs. It has to generate enough traction to keep you up and enough traction to accelerate the bike. Given that there is only so much traction available, if you use it up with the acceleration, there won't be any left to keep the tire from sliding out from under you!! Again, this can result in a scary slide that you manage to save, or it can result in a low side, and worst of all, a highside.

One last word of caution. Don't go bonkers accelerating out of corners, there may be another corner just ahead and you have to get setup for the next corner. You don't want to come screaming out of one that you perfectly executed only to blow the next one.

Okay, now that I have freaked you out about slowing down in a corner, let's get real for a second. Generally, unless you are riding at break neck speeds on the road, the tires have a lot of traction reserve not being used, not always, but often. This is what we want. We want to maintain a safety cushion for those times we don't perfectly execute a corner. In those cases, we will actually slow the bike midcorner after leaning. This is to be done GENTLY!!!! Let me say that again, GENTLY!!!! The idea is that we want the weight transfer to be slow and deliberate. This way, if we do start to overload the front tire or lose the back, ideally we will have time to feel it before it starts to let go and get back on the gas to save it.

It is important that you get ingrained in your head the idea of flow, uninterupted smoothness without any sudden changes. One action should smoothly flow into the next without being jerky. Bikes like smooth flow. They do not like sudden inputs from the rider or the pavement. Even when panic braking, you want to smoothly set the brakes and then progressively squeeze harder and harder. If you grab the brakes, chances are you will lock the front and be on the ground before you even know what happened. Same for the back brake. This is why it is so important to practice these skills. In a true panic situation, your body will do what you train it to do. If you have not trained it, you will almost always do the wrong thing.

When cornering, go deliberately slow, think about where you are on the pavement, think about where you want to be when you are done slowing down, where you start to lean the bike and start to roll on the gas. Look for the exit of the corner. Pay attention to how the bike feels when you are in the corner. Practice slowly and gently rolling off the throttle mid corner or gently engaging the brakes. Feel what this does to the bike. Train your brain to recognize those sensations. This will really help with your riding instincts!

When you get all this down, come riding in the rain with me :twisted:

Adios,

[Squeaky]

Slow... LOOK... lean... ROLL! It's all right there.

Yesterday on our pre-work ride, Vittorio had me roll through some corners around him while he watched what I was doing to see how my technique was progressing. When I repeated the MSF class' Slow, Look, Lean, Roll theory, he told me his version included "believe".

I have to agree with him, and confidence (although less important than the technical skills) is a big part of getting on the bike and making a good day of it. This is not, however, to be confused with super-big egos and unrealistic expectations of what you can and cannot do.

Very good write-up Scott, and thanks from me and all the other newbies on here that may not say so.

Now about that rain ride - WHY ?? I just spent all that time cleaning her off!

[Tourmeister]

Now about that rain ride - WHY ??

Living in Houston, you will eventually get caught out in the rain. This is not something to be feared. riding in the rain will force you to be smooth. It is a great sink or swim experience. Once you have done it, and done it well, it will do wonders for your confidence. Also, it is like my night rides. It is a whole other world of experiences while on the bike. Believe it or not, it can be very fun and rewarding.

Vittorio was referring to the Look, Lean, Believe. I whole heartedly endorse that thinking!! It has saved my bacon on several occasions!

Adios,

[ZapataZR7]

it is like my night rides. It is a whole other world of experiences while on the bike.


Thats's the only part of riding that I'm missing....!!!!!

My only night rides are in the City....So I guess those do not count...... :-(

Anyone remember those JCI nights...????

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4291473525

[Tourmeister]

Anyone remember those JCI nights...????

I recall hearing about them in the news... :roll: :lol:

Adios,