Fantastic Fear or Frantic Panic....

[ThreeFeet]

Or am I just a coward? LOL I'm really new to the riding world and have only begun to ride my new spyder around the city. I've done several "in-town" activities, i.e. grocery store, gas station, and the license bureau and then experimented with just riding around to get a better feel of the bike. :clap:

I feel confident with city traffic BUT...I haven't yet gotten onto the interstate. My top speed to date is (do I really admit this?) 62 mph. There is a state road I travel to get to my daughter's house (she lives about 4 miles from me) where the speed limit is 60. When I'm in my car I've gone much faster. hehe

Is there a trick to the highway? Any tips you all can give me? I want to participate in the rides when I get to Spyderfest next month <---can you believe it's almost here?..and not be the straggler of the bunch or either not have the confidence to get out on the freeway and let it rip!!!

Where I live in the St Louis metro area, Hwy 70 is a pretty busy roadway. Traffic is nightmarish in the morning and afternoon. :sour: Plus my DD informed me yesterday that according to the census, our county is now bigger than St. Louis county. Yikes!!!! There are always tons of truckers (the big ones with 18 wheels) tooling down the road at speeds that sometimes unnerves me when I'm driving my car and it doesn't help that we have 5 lanes of traffic just a couple miles from our exit. :shocked:

I know for you seasoned riders, this is probably a no-brainer. Yet for this newbie who LOVES her :spyder:, how do I conquer my..ahem..fear?

At this point, hubby and I are contemplating trailering the bike to Cuba, which is a little over a 2 hour drive away so that I wouldn't have the pressure of HAVING to ride on the highway. :thumbup:

Thanks in advance for any info.:chat:

Terri

Lady you have more guts than I do driving around St Louis!!! I bend over backwards to try to find ANY way to get around that city when I am in the truck(PU). Wouldn't EVEN go thru there on my :spyder2: I finally went on I 44 but only because I needed to get to Cuba a little faster than the outer road would let me. I didn't start ryding a :f_spider: till I was 65. Am now 67 snd having a blast. I drive it like I do the truck or the car. Just watch out a LOT more carefully for other drivers that FLAT OUT DON'T SEE YOU. Have had more close calls in town than on any hyway. You'll get the hang of it in no time. Just it's kinda nice if you are going about the same speed as the folks on the interstate and you MERGE. Makes it a lost easier for you. and you really don't notice how fast you are going untill ya look at the speedo. So don't look for just a little longer. But if you want PANIC get the darn thing into KM and not KNOW that!!! WOW "I can't be going 60 mph in town!!!" Took me awhile to see that KM sign!!! Seemed to take me forever to get it back toMPH!!! Great advice all over the place and the practice thing is ALLWAYS a good thing to do. AND:congrats::welcome: see ya at the FEST!! ThreeFeet.

 

[Bob Denman]

So are you feeling overwhemed with all of the advice yet?? :2thumbs:

 

[SpyderMeLucky]

I'm loving all the advice, thanks.

We may still trailer it but now for different reasons. Hubby works from home and says if I would drive the truck, he could continue to work (he's in IT and needs to be on the computer). Otherwise he'll have to work on Friday to catch up (he works 4 tens). Even if it's two hours, he wouldn't lose the time and would continue to work once we got to the motel.

As for the tiara, I'll wear it happily if it ends up we do indeed traler the bike. My goal is to practice in the meantime between now and the meet, weather permitting. Now it's snowing without end and it's not supposed to end until we end with between 4-5".

I realized just yesterday, we have an interstate that is relatively quiet during the day--not Hwy 70--that I could get on. It's also close to where I live and I could get there by taking city roads.

You all rock and I'm looking forward to meeting everyone.

Where is everyone staying? We're set for Super 8.

 

[ScreaminMeanie]

I had the same problem when I started riding on 2 wheels. For me the thing that helped the most was taking turns at very comfortable speeds first, then gradually building speed as my skill and judgment allowed. If you're scaring the heck out of yourself on turns and curves then you're going too fast. Ride within your skill and ability, which only you know.

Excellent advice! I am taking it easy for now, and getting more comfortable with it. Took it out for about 100 miles today - mostly mildly curvy 60 mph stuff with little traffic. By the end of the ride, the only places I was still getting a bit of a *gulp* feeling were curves with some combination of reverse camber, bumpy pavement, or crosswinds. I still have a ways to go before it's "natural" to me, so the quest continues. Meanwhile, it sure is FUN! When I got home, I couldn't believe I'd gone almost 100 miles!

 

[Sny]

Frankly I HATE to drive in St. Louis in a car and even riding with my husband in a car or truck makes me nervous. The first time I rode in St. Louis traffic on a two wheeled motorcycle I was very nervous and hesitated to get up to speed (on 270 most were buzzing by in the 70's & 80's) and had to push myself to follow my husband - but that was not a route we often use (mostly use 64/70 and 170) so I wasn't sure when to change lanes and where we would be exiting so I had to try to keep right up with him as to not be caught if he signaled to exit.

I don't blame anyone for not wanting to ride the interstates through St Louis. I ride in Chicago so I think I know traffic pretty well, but riding in St Louis has always made the hair on my neck stand up for some reason.

Tons of great advice. My 2 cents? Relax. Do what you feel comfortable with. Take a route that avoids heavy traffic areas or ride at low traffic times of the day. You're supposed to enjoy riding, just avoid everything that's not fun

 

[SpyderWolf]

Where is everyone staying? We're set for Super 8.

Here is a thread that will answer this question, and you can add your info to the poll as well:

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24011

 

[napper39]

all i can say is you got all the help you can ever get ,i love this form and all the grate people talk about help you cant go wrong now they told you everthing you need to know welcom to the best form for info. on the:spyder2: ill see you in spiderfest.:congrats: your going to do fine.:2thumbs::chat: