Nearly 5 months down the line, it is time for an update, I think. If I don't record how I have felt in the last few months, I will forget that it was ever that bad. Correction, I will forget that
I was ever that bad.
Various short and longer rides since March. Each ride followed by a long delay - weather too wet; too hot; lack of enthusiasm. Each time I went out, our downhill, rough surfaced road which slopes to the right rather than being level or crowned, was very un-nerving, making the tryke want to veer right and putting me off balance in the seat. The first left hand turn was met with care and trepidation. I had to force myself to go through it all again.
Each time I came back the bend and the sloping road was no bother and I was feeling much more positive.
We had a target in mind - to have a 2 day tour - to Scotland and back, stopping in Moffat - half an hour after the Scottish Border. It had been a regular stopping point at the start and end of every 10 day/2 week tour to Scotland.
If I couldn’t handle that first leg, our touring days were over and I didn't want that to happen. But I was never very enthusiastic about that first turn out of our drive and the first 100 metres down the road at an odd angle. I had to force myself to go out on it. I wanted my ST1300 back to go out and have some fun. This still wasn't fun. I was getting better, but I wasn't really enjoying it.
So I had a couple more practice runs through the Yorkshire Dales. Here is a photo taken near Ribblehead Viaduct on one such ride.
But still I could not get excited about the trip to Scotland.
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The day came last Wednesday. Hot. Very hot, but with quite a breeze. The plan was a compromise between length of time in the saddle and the roads I would normally love to ride on the ST1300. So we had an hour on A roads that we had ridden with the Spyder before, and a break. Then we'd decide whether to take the motorway or the delightfully twisty A6. We decided to reduce the time in the sun and took the motorway. No problem with squaring off tyres on a Spyder.
My confidence could be measured by the speedo. 45-50 was my norm so far - on A roads, and as for overtaking, no way - the road slopes the other way after crossing the white line. The Motorway seemed the better option.
My confidence grew, and we cheered the display of the 50, 60, 65, and 70 on the dash. It felt fine. As long as I relaxed my grip it was good. The wind was buffeting on the front, and the bow waves from the large trucks were considerable - and punching through them to the relatively windless section in front of the truck was ‘interesting’. I hesitated in overtaking on left hand bends - the outside of the truck in the UK. I still have, apparently, the trepidation of left hand bends from my days of riding with a left hand sidecar many years ago. The sidecar is prone to lifting. But I needed to commit and get it over with - it felt very much like the first time I sat in a Canoe at the top of a rapid, knowing full well that at the bottom was a drop with a stopper wave waiting to spit me out and churn me round and round forever. It’s all in the head and in fact, I knew what to do, but never having done it before…
No problem. I was worrying about nothing again.
We took the B road after the Scottish border and a diversion took us onto some twisty single track roads which tilted left, right, up, down. Nothing phased me about it.
The trip home was similar - armed with brand new confidence, the ride was enjoyable. Motorway for the first half and some Dales roads for the last couple of hours.
My confidence was growing. I didn't have a single accidental countersteer correction reflex. I was still gripping the steering way too tight, but I was noticing it and loosened my grip completely so that the bars could wander in between my relaxed thumb and index finger hold. Then I'd forget and find I was gripping tight again. And I even dared to take one hand off the bars to operate the stupidly placed windscreen switch somewhere between my knees. Honestly - a volume/channel switch on the left bar and I have to grope around between my knees for something that I cannot see, to adjust the screen? Someone at BRP neeeds to sort out what really matters.
Brilliant Ride. At last, the Spyder has started to be fun. I still miss the ST1300, but a year down the line, my leg is almost mended, my fitness is starting to recover, and we can see some new adventures beckoning us.
And after arriving home on Thursday night, for the first time in a year, I started looking at roads, hotels, and routes for our next touring adventure. I’m not 100% there with the Spyder yet, but I’m not frightened of it any more, and it has started to be fun. I was told it would take about 500 miles. My odometer tells me I have ridden 1000 miles to date. I met
@weeneil quite by chance at StumpCross Caverns a couple of months ago. There were only two vehicles in the car park - both of them Spyder RTLs. We compared notes. He reckoned about 2000 miles to become completely at ease with it. I reckon he is right. The second half is going to be much more fun than the first half.
He got in touch the day before we were about to leave, asking on my progress. Sorry we couldn't meet up at Moffat, Neil. I was knackered. 150 miles to Moffat. Nothing compared to what we have done on the ST1300 - but we get older and the 'learning to Spyder' thing is remarkably tiring. We had tea, had a brief wander around Moffat, and that was us for the evening.
Keep in touch though - there will be another opportunity.
