"I DID IT!!!" or "I completed my first loop"

[jenmom22]

This was my third time on my Spyder (Charlotte), and it was fun. I mean, it was still scary at times, but I didn't feel that I was going to lose control, and I had a good time.

I talked to Dudley while at work, and he gave me some pointers. Thank you to a wonderful guy (and his beautiful wife).

My history so far --

First time out was Saturday evening (right after getting Charlotte) and rode up to the mailbox and back (.5 miles). My husband tried her out too - and fell for her too.

Second time was Sunday, where I drove up the hill, up to the deadend and went back home. Nice turns, only one spot where the road went tight and I felt like I was going to lose control. Later in the afternoon, I went back out and went down the hill (instead of up). Almost lost control a couple of times going down the very steep hill. Bucking, trying to go when I was braking, and then having the throttle get away from me once I began to acclerate out of the bottom curve put a huge damper on the riding. Got home without incident.

Didn't ride on Monday, was too tired by the time I got all the chores done. Made a pact that I would ride every day once I got home.

Today I did a complete loop (about 10-12 miles total). I was able to use the throttle more, instead of the brake and so was able to keep the byke in 2nd gear, instead of dropping into 1st do often. I actually moved into 3rd a couple of times, along the drive, but I think I'll keep it to 2nd and just let the rpm go up some (it didn't go higher than 4,000 when I did this). At the end of the first road, I stopped and made a left turn (wasn't as scary as I thought) onto Park Road 37. The speed limit there was 50, but most of it was 30 or so because of the twists. I only had one car come up behind me, and he was nice to give me room. I got up to 45 towards the end, so not bad. PR 37 emptied in Highway 16 (the way home). I waited until no traffic (cross traffic is running at 65-70 if they aren't speeding) and crossed to the middle part - where a biker went around me, flashing a smile. I made a left turn onto the right side and was able to quickly gear her up to 4th. That was fun! The road narrows to two lanes (one for each side), and since I was still running at 45, I pulled over and let everyone go on (did this 3x). When the lanes spread out again, I just stayed on the right and got up to 5th gear (do you ever get used to the wind?). The only real scary part to that was moving to the left lane, to make the left hand turn onto the side road. I had to stop, in the 'fast lane,' while getting into position to make the left turn. After that, piece of cake all the way home. The road is 20mph because it turns and then goes straight up (that was fun). The trip was a test, I think, and I think I'll do it every day, until I get comfortable going faster on the highway, and the twisties.

More later. I do love this Spyder!!!


:2thumbs::2thumbs::2thumbs:

[Dudley]

Good job! Confidence will come with time and miles. Stay within your window. You did great today. Quite a bit of travel from your last time. Remember, trust your Spyder. Anticipate your next move. Let your mind steer it through your arms and hands. Each day will get easier.

[Kjen]

Sam, once you get over the actual "fear" of the machine itself, it's great. I am just the passenger but have had a few turns on it myself. I think it's great and love the feel of the power in my hands. BUT, I like to sit and look around, and take pictures and just be, so am content to leave the driving to Dudley. Now and then I get tired of riding back there with nothing to do, but I don't want the responsibility of always being on the alert as the driver;), so it's the back seat for me:2thumbs:.
Enjoyed my brief chat with you earlier and look forward to some day riding in your direction.
Have a wonderful time getting to know Charlotte. No rush, take your time and relax.

[bikeguy]

:congrats: and so glad you're having fun on your Spyder (Charlotte). Keep at it. Experience is the key. The more you ride, the more at ease you will be. Do you ever get used to the wind? Yep, you do get used to it. I can remember when I said that I would never ride behind a windshield or fairing because I loved the wind. But I'm an old man now and I love the protection that the fairing and windshield on my RT gives me. Well, time changes everything. Ride safe, jenmom, but keep riding. It just keeps getting better.

Cotton

[CyncySpyder]

Just a quick note, I too am not fond of getting beat up by the wind, especially at higher speeds. I'm only 5'9, so for me, I've found that if I adjust the wind shield all the way up, it does a gr8 job of keeping the wind off me, but then i get an eddy (?) on the back of my helmet. So then i adjust the shield one notch lower & it's perfect for me. Granted, no wind shield on a byke is going to deflect all the wind, but this works best for me. Try playing with the adjustments & get it just right for you. I know once i figured this out, it made ryding at higher speeds even more enjoyable.
:congrats: & keep getting out there, it's a pleasure and a thrill every time :2thumbs:

[jenmom22]

I wasn't going to ryde today, got home kinda late (had to go grocery shop, whoo hoo).

Fixed dinner and settled in to get some computer stuff done. First email said the Blockbuster dvds were due back. I mentioned it to Joe, but he was watching another movie and just reminded me I could return them in the morning. No, I really wanted them returned on time (they were on my account).

So.. I just had to take the Spyder...

Same as before, took the back road in (there is only a 2 or 3 mile difference, but a lot more hills/gentle twists and NO steep steep hill), to Park Road 37 to Highway 16. This time, I didn't use the brake to take the turns as much at all, used all throttle. Foot felt more comfortable in the outward position, and even opened her up more on the short straight ways. The Park Road 37 was devoid of any traffic on my side (lots of commuters coming home on the other side), and although I slowed down on the twisties, I felt good on the road. When I reached 16, I merged right into it (turning right, away from home) and got up to 5th gear quickly. She did tend to 'clunk' when changing gears, but I think this is normal. The wind is still a small issue, but it did feel good. Someone was bbqing, and the smell of rain was in the air. I did not go past 50, but I also did not slow down too much on the curves.

When I got into town, the speed dropped to 45 and I actually had to watch it to make sure I wasn't speeding... one of the Helotes cops even waved at me (cool!). Dropped off the dvds and headed back into the thill country. It wasn't hard to get back onto the road and stayed with the traffic, even when leaving the town (where the road kicks up to 65). I didn't go faster than 50-55, but it was a good ride. I did have to pull over to let one car go past me (when the 2 lanes drops to 1), but that was okay. Eventually, I'll be able to maintain the speed needed. The ride home was uneventful, but full of wind, warm Charlotte keeping the chill off and such freedom.


Great time!
:spyder2:

[8LEGS]

:congrats: Thats awesome. It will just keep getting better. :2thumbs:

[Texmac1011]

Sounds like you are fast becoming a Spyder addict. Not to worry, there are many of us around. We just ride instead of attending meetings!

One suggestion: You said you "got up to 5th gear quickly" and "I did not go past 50". 5th gear is not really necessary unless you are going to sustain speeds around 65+ mph. If you keep the gear low and the rpm's up, you will find you have more control of "Charlotte" and she will respond to the throttle better.

Good luck, congratulations and keep at it!

[jenmom22]

Sounds like you are fast becoming a Spyder addict. Not to worry, there are many of us around. We just ride instead of attending meetings!

One suggestion: You said you "got up to 5th gear quickly" and "I did not go past 50". 5th gear is not really necessary unless you are going to sustain speeds around 65+ mph. If you keep the gear low and the rpm's up, you will find you have more control of "Charlotte" and she will respond to the throttle better.

Good luck, congratulations and keep at it!


Thanks! I spoke with Dudley (through messages), and he mentioned to keep the rpms around 4,000 - so I don't need to put her in 5th gear. I will keep the gears lower - and shift when I get to 4,000. I'm not used to the higher gear ratio, I think (my Miata liked to be shifted sooner).

The road into town (highway 16) is listed as 65, but I felt comfortable going 50-55 (in 5th gear), so I think it might be easier to go 60 while in 4th. I usually go 60 in my Nissan (Versa), so 60 might be just a good speed for me.

I didn't get to ride today because it was physical therapy day (I have R.A. in my hips), and that means probably no riding tomorrow. I have a ride planned on Saturday though - going to try to plan out the path I want to go, in order to ride to work. Other than the highway 16 (no other way than that one!), I want to pretty much stay away from the bigger roads (at least for now).

Will let you know! Thanks to this forum, for giving me a place to record successes, worries and questions.

Love ya all!

:clap:

[jenmom22]

Got super busy with work, and then we went to the twice yearly spritual retreat. I didn't get a chance to ryde my beloved Charlotte for two solid weeks - talk about withdrawl!

But -- I climbed back onto the earth, brushed myself off and got to go on my first group ride!

Several years ago, when I had my MP3 (awesome scooters, btw), I joined a group of really cool scooter riders (Alamo Scoots). The only criteria back then was to have a scooter - be it a 50cc or 500cc (like my MP3) or even higher. I am part of the Spyder Riders of San Antonio, but we've been missing each other with my out of town committments.

I checked in with the Scoots, and they had a run scheduled for this past Sunday. They didn't mind that I no longer rode a scooter (they were also eager to see Charlotte).

I was meet the group at highway 1604 and Bulverde (about 30 miles away) at 10:15, so I left the house at 8:45. I got to the highway without incident (it's a road I have now traveled several times), and decided to try the highway. It was Sunday morning, not much traffic and I had Dudley in my head, telling me "Ride within your window!" It was good, I stayed in the slower lane, and stayed within 10 miles of the speed limit (I did 60, instead of the 70 posted). I stayed on for 2 exits and fled to the slower frontage road. I then noticed that the speedometer on Charlotte was displaying metric instead of imperial (which would explain the 100 on the speedometer while on the highway!). I couldn't exactly remember the difference, but I figured I would just stay in the right lane and enjoy the trip. The frontage road went all the up to the road I was aiming for, so that went well. I don't think Charlotte liked going so slow (45 was the posted speed, but with all the stop signs/stop lights it was slower). I made it the Valero by 10:00, explained the workings of a Spyder to a couple people threatening to drool on her and waited for the group to get there.

Once the group was together (we were now 8 strong), and everyone took a turn sitting on Charlotte, we were off. We rode the back roads, where I had the chance to finally ride with others. It was great! I rode in the 2nd to last spot, and we stuck to about 50 to 55 mph, which was good. The roads were really windy/twisty, and it's hard to do the left-handed twisties. I know, something to work on.

We rode from San Antonio, to Bulverde and then over to Boerne. It's a beautiful little town, and we stopped at the duck pond to meet up with the last member. From Boerne, we rode to Sisterdale, where we visited a winery (pretty good muscat too). From there, we continued on really tiny roads, very twisty to Comfort and finally stopped at Camp Verde. Camp Verde is a sleepy town, famous for being the place for an experiment involving camels (to be used for army transportation mainly). We stopped for lunch, and a nice long break. By this time, I am soooo hot, but really enjoyed the company. I was looking forward to getting home though.

After Camp Verde, we headed up to the next town, which was thankfully the town next to mine! We rode through Bandera (had to wait for about 20 horses to cross the road) and then hit Highway 16 (the road that goes past my house). We kicked it up to 55-60, and the group basically split up a bit, and when we got to the road that goes up to mine, I honked and peeled off. It was about 4:00pm. Wow, what a day!

It was about 142 miles - I think Charlotte is getting about 29 mpg (not bad) and now she has 298 miles on her! I am windburned, lips chapped, and a smile that still hasn't quite come off my face. It was so much fun! I had to cross (small) highways, got stopped by lights, and then floored it to catch back up with the group, practice left hand turns at very low speeds, and got to show off the wonderful 'reverse' that our Spyders have.

I can't ryde this weekend, but maybe I can do some tomorrow or Friday. It's been kinda raining (okay, we had hail on Monday night - I put sleeping bags all over her), so no ryde yesterday or tonight.

:2excited:

[Yazz]

So happy you're getting the hang of ryding Charlotte. She will take you to many wonderful places.

Its good you have riding buddies. Ryding with others really helps build up confidence, doing twisties is an added bonus. Glad you had a great day!

[jenmom22]

I think I am going to try and ryde in once a week. Today was fun! I was a little concerned over some sounds I was hearing coming out of my little girl, but, it was so much fun to ryde into work!

It is about 30 miles to work from the house, and there are so many twisties in the first part, I have to watch myself so I don't smile too much (I'm sure I look like a lunatic, not to mention the bugs). I found myself going a bit faster on the turns, but I have to pratice that more. Once I get past the part that is just two lane traffic, I enjoy it more - I hate having someone come up behind me and they have to slow down...

This morning, it was very foggy, and who knew it got you wet? It was a fun ryde - even managed the merge to the pseudo highway, and then scoot over to the far left lane to make a turn onto another road (that can be hairy in a car in the mornings).

The ryde home was nice - had to stop at the store to pick up some meds for Joe, so I had to find a parking spot (not easy as doing that with 2 wheels). I had a little boy look up at me in the line for the pharmacy (I was in the jacket, holding my helmet), and ask me if I was a biker...

:2thumbs:

[flamingobabe]

So glad you are enjoying Charlotte...I also love my Spyder...in 5 months I've put 13,000 miles...going to go today and take pics to send in for the calendar on the main board.....

[ThreeFeet]

I have 2:spyder2:'s anRS Se5 andan RT-S. The RS is my corvette and the RT is my Buick!!! I have over 14,000 miles on the RS (Baby) and get good gas millage but I rarely get into 5th gear. Only if I am going to go over 65 do I go to 5th. With the RT it's only got 1300 mi on it and the milage is still kinda bad getting better with more miles tho. I have a few twisties here in Mo and ryde alone but haven't had any problems on the road. Once you learn to trust the bike you can really get a lot of fun out of the rydes. I was in a really heavy downpour on a back road and going to fast at 55 mph and the bike(baby) started to tell me "YOU ARE GOING TO FAST!!!" the strangest feeling I've ever had coming from the bike and when I looked at the speedo I realized what the problem was and got off the throttle. No problem just dumb on my part.The bike has taken care of me like that acouple times. Just goose her and go. She can take it and let the wind be darned and go for it. You are getting there and YOU CAN DO IT!!! Like I said the RS Se5 is my corvette!!! So's your's.