Cecilie's Motorcycle Journal

July 6
Got a loaner CS from CalBMW. It was a bit of a comedy - the first bike they gave me was "the new bike", not the bike that Sales intended for me to have. Actually I'm happier with the second bike, it has about 1100 miles on it and ABS brakes, which I am now used to. The levers are "normal", which means I have to choke up on the grips to reach the shift and brake levers, but I can manage.

I'll be riding with Dennis to Alice's again tomorrow, this time on my own (loaner) bike.

July 7
Just as I was leaving to meet Dennis in Redwood City, Karolyn called from Coalinga with an unhappy state of affairs. Her bike's drive chain had broken, second one in two days. I gave her the number of the towing service and told her I'd call her back in an hour. Karolyn has toured for weeks on her own, I'm not worried about her but I will keep in touch during the day.

Met Dennis at the same gas station where we waited for the tow truck a week ago. This time we made it to Alice's with no incidents. Dennis kept his speed down, he makes it easy to ride with him. After lunch we walked around the parking lot looking at the circus of bikes - it is an amazing collection of just about every type of bike. Mine was the only CS out there.

The food is pretty good at Alice's, but according to Dennis, the toilets are sub-optimal, so we headed to the San Gregorio country store which has better facilities. About a third of the way there, he motioned for me to take the lead.

It is easier to look through the curves when I'm not following someone. I settled into the bike and found myself in tuck position. With my weight and body mass centered, moving the bike through the curves takes a lot less effort. Gassho (palms pressed to together) to Karolyn for teaching me compression braking. Riding 84 west is a nice challenge, a good training route.

Dennis suggested a visit to the Pigeon Point lighthouse, which I haven't visited for nearly ten years. The bay to the south is untouched. Dennis sat on one of the benches and zoned out just watching the coastline. During the ride back up the highway I discovered that if I lowered my tuck position even more, I could get below the wind blast coming off my wind deflector, and *increase my speed* without getting blown off the bike. I crossed the 70 mph barrier briefly.

The ride from Alice's back to Woodside was less challenging than I would have liked, but I think that the universe stepped in and kept me from being stupid. I was probably more tired than I realized, so to keep me out of trouble the universe kindly manifested a Winnebago six cars ahead of me. Another bike did pass, on the right, but I didn't feel a need to be out in front, so we just moved with the traffic. I turned off at 280, Dennis kept going on 84 to the other side of the bay.

All in all, a delightful day. Good weather, good company, a new step forward in riding.

I'll ride to work this week, then I'll give the bike back to CalBMW. I've promised to stay out of their hair for a week while they sort things out with my bike.

Karolyn is spending the night in Coalinga, and will trailer her bike home. Even if she could get a new chain, a bike that throws two chains in two days isn't a happy bike, and probably shouldn't be ridden home.

July 9
In our last episode, Karolyn was stranded in Coalinga. Here's her story:

I finally made it back from my 4th of July adventure, and adventure would definitely be the operative word here.

Started out just fine - nice ride down the coast, met up with Ellen and Mark and did some canyon strafing with them through southern California down to Escondido... ok, I attempted to strafe (without passing out from heat stroke) while Ellen and Mark did high speed wallowing two-up on a lovely purple and white Valkyrie... I have pictures... :-p

First indication of trouble came on Saturday when I decided to clean the mustard and lemonade off the bike (never mind, different story). I noticed that the side plate on the chain masterlink was just plain missing. Bad stuff. Looked like the end of one of the pins had sheered right off and dropped the clip just before we got to Escondido. At least it was Saturday and the shops were open - off we went to get parts.

Once back we (Mark) quickly installed the chain and I got a lesson in how to align the rear wheel properly. Bike was ready to go for my crack o' dawn departure next morning.

Sunday morning was a long fast drone up various highways - trying to put some miles on through the Mojave before the heat decided to really kick in. I was looking forward to getting to a town called Coalinga at the beginning of hwy 198 which was where the fun roads would finally begin. Not more than 1 mile from town - I could see the 35 mph speed limit sign indicating that I was approaching civilization - I heard a "spiiiing!, clank clank". I quickly pulled in the clutch and rolled to a stop on the shoulder. Yup - the brand new chain had developed a split personality. One end of it was thoroughly jammed up behind the front sprocket and the other was forlornly trailing through the dust on the shoulder. Bummer.

With cellphone in hand I started making calls.... hmmm, who has a truck within about 3 hours? Of course being the long weekend, no one was home. Ok, plan B. Tow trucks - made several calls trying to track down a towing service with varying degrees of luck. As I was making these calls a small thought occurred to me - where exactly would I get it towed to? Coalinga is in the middle of nowhere - a small farming community about 80 miles southeast of Hollister in the hottest part of the valley. Bike shops aren't exactly common 'round here and besides, I still have to get back home.

At this point, a fellow who owned the farm whose driveway I was parked in drove by and offered to help. I took him up on his offer and we proceeded to try and figure out what to do. About this time a really old (and incredibly garrulous) guy on a Harley stopped and insisted that he could fix everything in his shop over on his ranch. To make a very long and tortuous story shorter, Bill (the farmer) managed to get the chain off. The end links were bent, Johnny (the old Harley dude) was sure he could straighten everything and use a new masterlink off his old '36 panhead to make it all work again. Of course Bill disagreed and proceeded to drive all over town looking for masterlinks and chain. I kind of waited to see what the outcome would be as I didn't really have any alternative at this point. Eventually, chain not being found, straightening being abandoned as a bit dodgy, I said I would stay in Coalinga overnight and rent a truck the next day to drive back. Johnny gave me a big hug (it is California after all) and took off at this point, Bill drove me over to the least seedy hotel in town to book a room. Ask me later about the tarantula wasp in the bathroom. I ended up having dinner with Bill at some kick-ass steakhouse outside of town called Harris Ranch.

Rest of the story is pretty straight forward - rented a _HUGE_ U-Haul (only one they had) and drove it back to Mountain View. Stayed there overnight with a friend who plied me with beer, wine, and hot tub and offered to help with the logistics the next morning of getting the bike to the shop (closed on Mondays of course) and getting the U-Haul returned (thanks Cecilie). Finally got to work around noon Tuesday. What a weekend!

keeping the rubber side down,

-karolyn

* * *

As for myself, two riding "firsts" today: Coming home in rush hour traffic at 75 mph in the car pool lane I actually passed another rider. He pulled into my lane as soon as I passed him, we rode together for a while. And ... I got up to 80 mph, held it for a few minutes, then decided that was enough and pulled back into lane three. So, 70 mph barrier broken, but I am not ready to sign up for any track classes just yet.
Returned the loaner bike, and will wait to hear if the new wiring harness does the job on my bike.

July 10
I have no idea what is coming over me - I just put myself on the waiting list for the Keigwin's Novices Only track day at Thunderhill.

July 16
The CS is back in it its place in my garage - Jim, the technician who has been dealing with my bike, has blessed the new wiring harness. Eli and John, the customer service guys, have been very nice and did a good job keeping me informed. I'm glad to have the bike back, and they are glad to have that diagnostic nightmare resolved.

July 21
Met Amanda in Daly City at Lake Merced on Saturday. She rode down from San Francisco, I rode up 280 to Skyline. I haven't found a way to make the wind die down when I'm riding the bridge over the reservoir. This was Amanda's third time on her new (pre-owned) Suzuki 500cc twin, the model escapes me at the moment. We had lunch, rode around the lake, then got on the stretch of the Great Highway that runs along the beach, then into Golden Gate Park, back down to the lake, then home. About 100 miles round trip. Not much twistie action, but this was just Amanda's third time on her bike.

So I get home, and what do I find in the mail? A BMW recall notice for my bike - the installation of the rear brake caliper "may be" faulty. Yes, the rear brake could malfunction. The service guys are going to be upset when they see that bike again, but maybe they'll be happier when they realize all they have to do is tighten the brake caliper to the correct torque setting.

Monday night I ride with Bart to Willows (Thunderhill). Tuesday he takes a track class, I wait for the 2-up session, which is track time riding 2-up. We head home in the evening. I thought about riding up on my own bike, but I'm still not riding at night, and both the ride up and the ride back will be at dusk, if not later. I also thought about driving the car so that if anything happens, I can get us both home. Bart is planning to ride conservatively on the track, and there is a U-Haul a few miles from the track. I'll light incense for the 2-up gods.

Even though I won't be doing much at the track, I'll know how to get to Thunderhill for my own class at the end of August (fingers crossed that I get in), and, maybe I won't puke when I get on the track on my own bike.

July 24
We got a late start out of the bay area. Bart maneuvered us through rush hour traffic on 280, 101, across the bay bridge, 80, across another bridge, more 80, 505, to 5. I got my first taste of lane splitting. After about an hour my legs started cramping, I started squirming around to relieve the cramps but that did no good. Zazen tricks of "just accepting the pain" were less than effective. After thirty more minutes of discomfort, what rang Bart's bell was his inability to see out of his helmet, his face plate was plastered with dead bugs when we finally pulled into a gas station.

A quick bite to eat at Wendy's and off we went again, the last leg of the trip up was only 45 minutes. The Best Western parking lot already had a few trucks pulling trailers with race bikes, and trucks with race bikes in the back. I think we and one other guy were the only people who rode up on the same bike that went out on the track.

The ringing in my ears lasted a lot longer than I wish it had. Took a couple valerian capsules and watched a bit of mindless TV to lull the brain out of road mode, battled with the room fan (how do people sleep with those things running?) and finally fell asleep. Up at 6am - this inn provided a decent breakfast with the room price.

The 2-up session was right after lunch. I told Bart, "take it easy, don't blow me off the bike". He gave me clear instructions:

"Stay rigid with the bike" which I took to mean, "become part of the bike, I do not want your body movement to become another variable that I have to deal with"

"When you hear the pegs scraping the asphalt, do not freak out" - that was clear enough

Look through the turns.

The unspoken instruction was "trust me". As I put on my gear, all my emotions burrowed down where they would not cause me to react physically until after I was off the track.

As we leaned into Turn 1 of the first lap, my body tensed. "Holy shit, this is what you call 'taking it easy?!'" We were already into the corkscrew, turns 3 and 4 approaching the blind drop off on turn 5 and I'm thinking, "breathe, Cecilie, breathe, because when we get to the top of the turn 5 hill....", ugh, my stomach just dropped. I don't ride rollercoasters - I get motion sick. The whole first lap was one shock after another. In the straight section between the last turn and the first turn I was telling myself, "adapt, adapt, you must adapt".

In lap two, I started looking through the turns. That adjustment to my sighting, plus having an idea of what was coming made it better. Not easier, just better. The leaning was a severe test of my ability to remain calm. I was forcing myself to relax. Midway through the lap I noticed I was no longer talking to myself out loud.

In lap three, after turn 5, although I continued leaning on Bart, I unclasped my hands from around his hips and pressed them against his gas tank, I was concerned about impeding his mobility. In turn 10 or 11, we dragged a peg - I'm glad Bart mentioned that likelihood because I was able to just accept the sound of the metal scraping the asphalt, and the sensation of the scrape as it translated through the body of the bike and into my bones.

Lap four I had a pretty good idea of the turns as they were coming. There was no point in the track to relax, each stretch put its own demands on bike and riders. I'm still breathing while Bart passes two other riders. We see the checkered flag, one lap to go.

A teacher caught up Bart in the fifth lap. Bart matched the teacher's pace, and around we went. My body was the most relaxed it had been on the track. I was craning my neck to look through the curves. I was in that space I have only found in zazen, a deathly quiet space in my own existence. In this case, zazen at 80 miles an hour. I was connected to the bike, to Bart, and nearly connected to the track. I was also on overload.

We exited the track. Bart wanted to get back out there immediately, time with me took away from his own session. I got off the bike and he asked, "so, was that fun?" Karolyn asked the same question in email.

"Fun" is not the word I would use to describe the experience while it was happening, nor the state of shock afterwards. I called Peter on the cell phone to let him know I was okay, then I walked over to the hill where I could watch riders come through turns 13 and 14 to decompress.

The only thing I can think of as a similar experience is an Aikido seminar. While I'm on the mat, it is not "fun". Bodies are moving all around on different trajectories in a tight space. My own body is getting slammed into the mat, or I'm feeling stupid because I can't figure out what Sensei showed, and my knees are killing me. Ten minutes after we bow out, if you were to ask, I might say that it was fun, but I would also be steeling myself for the next class. It won't be "fun" until after the seminar is over, I've had a shower and I have a beer in my hand.

Later Bart told me that each lap he increased both speed and lean angle. I was most comfortable in the fifth lap, I had adapted enough to just accept what was happening. It is now a bit more than twenty four hours after the track day, and I still would not call it "fun". It was an intense amount of stimulation. I am really glad for the experience, and grateful to Bart for inviting me not only to ride 2-up with him, but for giving up some his own track time. And, given that he was having trouble finding his own orientation on this track, I'm impressed that he pushed his limits, rode some good lines, and kept control of the bike on a track he was riding for the first time.

I am looking forward to Keigwin's Novice Day at the end of August, even though my heart is in my mouth. I have to figure out how to get myself to Willows - I still haven't even ridden across the Bay bridge.

July 28
It is a pleasure to have someone to ride with, being a novice, having a more experienced rider to ride with makes it even better. The ride to Alice's on 84 West, then the ride on Skyline was a joy. Perfect weather, good pace, thank you Dennis.

There was a Doc Wong riding clinic at Alice's today. Seems like there were hundreds of bikes up there. Found a couple of interesting things, a "bike delivery" service, Pit Tunes, and the San Francisco Medical Emergency Response Corp (SF Merc). I might use the bike delivery service to get my bike to Thunderhill if I decide to not ride it there myself. Here's an excerpt from the SF MERC's website:

The Motorcycle Emergency Response Corps hopes to save lives by moving personnel and supplies around the city in the event of a disaster.

MERCury will be coordinating with the Office of Emergency Services and San Francisco Fire Department to provide trained citizen volunteers who can safely and efficiently move through the congested, and possibly damaged, streets of the City after a natural disaster such as an earthquake, or an act of terrorism. They will ferry supplies and rescuers, make damage assessments, and work with the Neighborhood Emergency Response Teams.

Members of MERCury will be trained in First Aid, light search and rescue, amateur radio, and advanced motorcycling skills. They also will participate in twice-yearly disaster drills in concert with the Fire Department, Neighborhood Emergency Response Teams (NERT), and the bicycle-based Courier Disaster Response Team. In addition, they will be trained in motorcycle-specific First Aid.

Good idea - we should have the same sort of thing here in the South Bay. I signed up but I won't be experienced enough to be a member for another year or so.

As for the bike, it had its 600 mile check up and it is doing just fine. Eli tells me I'm babying the bike, and not doing it any favors. He wants me to crank up on the rpm in all the gears. Getting onto the freeway I'm holding it in third longer and watching the rpms climb - touched 7k rpm on the way home today. The bike red lines at 8k. Also rode most of twisty section of 84 in second gear - I'm getting to know the bike better now.

Go to August entries


July 6	Got a loaner CS from CalBMW. It was a bit of a comedy - the first bike they gave me was "the new bike", not the bike that Sales intended for me to have. Actually I'm happier with the second bike, it has about 1100 miles on it and ABS brakes, which I am now used to. The levers are "normal", which means I have to choke up on the grips to reach the shift and brake levers, but I can manage. I'll be riding with Dennis to Alice's again tomorrow, this time on my own (loaner) bike.
July 7	Just as I was leaving to meet Dennis in Redwood City, Karolyn called from Coalinga with an unhappy state of affairs. Her bike's drive chain had broken, second one in two days. I gave her the number of the towing service and told her I'd call her back in an hour. Karolyn has toured for weeks on her own, I'm not worried about her but I will keep in touch during the day. Met Dennis at the same gas station where we waited for the tow truck a week ago. This time we made it to Alice's with no incidents. Dennis kept his speed down, he makes it easy to ride with him. After lunch we walked around the parking lot looking at the circus of bikes - it is an amazing collection of just about every type of bike. Mine was the only CS out there. The food is pretty good at Alice's, but according to Dennis, the toilets are sub-optimal, so we headed to the San Gregorio country store which has better facilities. About a third of the way there, he motioned for me to take the lead. It is easier to look through the curves when I'm not following someone. I settled into the bike and found myself in tuck position. With my weight and body mass centered, moving the bike through the curves takes a lot less effort. Gassho (palms pressed to together) to Karolyn for teaching me compression braking. Riding 84 west is a nice challenge, a good training route. Dennis suggested a visit to the Pigeon Point lighthouse, which I haven't visited for nearly ten years. The bay to the south is untouched. Dennis sat on one of the benches and zoned out just watching the coastline. During the ride back up the highway I discovered that if I lowered my tuck position even more, I could get below the wind blast coming off my wind deflector, and increase my speed without getting blown off the bike. I crossed the 70 mph barrier briefly. The ride from Alice's back to Woodside was less challenging than I would have liked, but I think that the universe stepped in and kept me from being stupid. I was probably more tired than I realized, so to keep me out of trouble the universe kindly manifested a Winnebago six cars ahead of me. Another bike did pass, on the right, but I didn't feel a need to be out in front, so we just moved with the traffic. I turned off at 280, Dennis kept going on 84 to the other side of the bay. All in all, a delightful day. Good weather, good company, a new step forward in riding. I'll ride to work this week, then I'll give the bike back to CalBMW. I've promised to stay out of their hair for a week while they sort things out with my bike. Karolyn is spending the night in Coalinga, and will trailer her bike home. Even if she could get a new chain, a bike that throws two chains in two days isn't a happy bike, and probably shouldn't be ridden home.
July 9	In our last episode, Karolyn was stranded in Coalinga. Here's her story: I finally made it back from my 4th of July adventure, and adventure would definitely be the operative word here. Started out just fine - nice ride down the coast, met up with Ellen and Mark and did some canyon strafing with them through southern California down to Escondido... ok, I attempted to strafe (without passing out from heat stroke) while Ellen and Mark did high speed wallowing two-up on a lovely purple and white Valkyrie... I have pictures... :-p First indication of trouble came on Saturday when I decided to clean the mustard and lemonade off the bike (never mind, different story). I noticed that the side plate on the chain masterlink was just plain missing. Bad stuff. Looked like the end of one of the pins had sheered right off and dropped the clip just before we got to Escondido. At least it was Saturday and the shops were open - off we went to get parts. Once back we (Mark) quickly installed the chain and I got a lesson in how to align the rear wheel properly. Bike was ready to go for my crack o' dawn departure next morning. Sunday morning was a long fast drone up various highways - trying to put some miles on through the Mojave before the heat decided to really kick in. I was looking forward to getting to a town called Coalinga at the beginning of hwy 198 which was where the fun roads would finally begin. Not more than 1 mile from town - I could see the 35 mph speed limit sign indicating that I was approaching civilization - I heard a "spiiiing!, clank clank". I quickly pulled in the clutch and rolled to a stop on the shoulder. Yup - the brand new chain had developed a split personality. One end of it was thoroughly jammed up behind the front sprocket and the other was forlornly trailing through the dust on the shoulder. Bummer. With cellphone in hand I started making calls.... hmmm, who has a truck within about 3 hours? Of course being the long weekend, no one was home. Ok, plan B. Tow trucks - made several calls trying to track down a towing service with varying degrees of luck. As I was making these calls a small thought occurred to me - where exactly would I get it towed to? Coalinga is in the middle of nowhere - a small farming community about 80 miles southeast of Hollister in the hottest part of the valley. Bike shops aren't exactly common 'round here and besides, I still have to get back home. At this point, a fellow who owned the farm whose driveway I was parked in drove by and offered to help. I took him up on his offer and we proceeded to try and figure out what to do. About this time a really old (and incredibly garrulous) guy on a Harley stopped and insisted that he could fix everything in his shop over on his ranch. To make a very long and tortuous story shorter, Bill (the farmer) managed to get the chain off. The end links were bent, Johnny (the old Harley dude) was sure he could straighten everything and use a new masterlink off his old '36 panhead to make it all work again. Of course Bill disagreed and proceeded to drive all over town looking for masterlinks and chain. I kind of waited to see what the outcome would be as I didn't really have any alternative at this point. Eventually, chain not being found, straightening being abandoned as a bit dodgy, I said I would stay in Coalinga overnight and rent a truck the next day to drive back. Johnny gave me a big hug (it is California after all) and took off at this point, Bill drove me over to the least seedy hotel in town to book a room. Ask me later about the tarantula wasp in the bathroom. I ended up having dinner with Bill at some kick-ass steakhouse outside of town called Harris Ranch. Rest of the story is pretty straight forward - rented a _HUGE_ U-Haul (only one they had) and drove it back to Mountain View. Stayed there overnight with a friend who plied me with beer, wine, and hot tub and offered to help with the logistics the next morning of getting the bike to the shop (closed on Mondays of course) and getting the U-Haul returned (thanks Cecilie). Finally got to work around noon Tuesday. What a weekend! keeping the rubber side down, -karolyn * * * As for myself, two riding "firsts" today: Coming home in rush hour traffic at 75 mph in the car pool lane I actually passed another rider. He pulled into my lane as soon as I passed him, we rode together for a while. And ... I got up to 80 mph, held it for a few minutes, then decided that was enough and pulled back into lane three. So, 70 mph barrier broken, but I am not ready to sign up for any track classes just yet. Returned the loaner bike, and will wait to hear if the new wiring harness does the job on my bike.
July 10	I have no idea what is coming over me - I just put myself on the waiting list for the Keigwin's Novices Only track day at Thunderhill.
July 16	The CS is back in it its place in my garage - Jim, the technician who has been dealing with my bike, has blessed the new wiring harness. Eli and John, the customer service guys, have been very nice and did a good job keeping me informed. I'm glad to have the bike back, and they are glad to have that diagnostic nightmare resolved.
July 21	Met Amanda in Daly City at Lake Merced on Saturday. She rode down from San Francisco, I rode up 280 to Skyline. I haven't found a way to make the wind die down when I'm riding the bridge over the reservoir. This was Amanda's third time on her new (pre-owned) Suzuki 500cc twin, the model escapes me at the moment. We had lunch, rode around the lake, then got on the stretch of the Great Highway that runs along the beach, then into Golden Gate Park, back down to the lake, then home. About 100 miles round trip. Not much twistie action, but this was just Amanda's third time on her bike. So I get home, and what do I find in the mail? A BMW recall notice for my bike - the installation of the rear brake caliper "may be" faulty. Yes, the rear brake could malfunction. The service guys are going to be upset when they see that bike again, but maybe they'll be happier when they realize all they have to do is tighten the brake caliper to the correct torque setting. Monday night I ride with Bart to Willows (Thunderhill). Tuesday he takes a track class, I wait for the 2-up session, which is track time riding 2-up. We head home in the evening. I thought about riding up on my own bike, but I'm still not riding at night, and both the ride up and the ride back will be at dusk, if not later. I also thought about driving the car so that if anything happens, I can get us both home. Bart is planning to ride conservatively on the track, and there is a U-Haul a few miles from the track. I'll light incense for the 2-up gods. Even though I won't be doing much at the track, I'll know how to get to Thunderhill for my own class at the end of August (fingers crossed that I get in), and, maybe I won't puke when I get on the track on my own bike.
July 24	We got a late start out of the bay area. Bart maneuvered us through rush hour traffic on 280, 101, across the bay bridge, 80, across another bridge, more 80, 505, to 5. I got my first taste of lane splitting. After about an hour my legs started cramping, I started squirming around to relieve the cramps but that did no good. Zazen tricks of "just accepting the pain" were less than effective. After thirty more minutes of discomfort, what rang Bart's bell was his inability to see out of his helmet, his face plate was plastered with dead bugs when we finally pulled into a gas station. A quick bite to eat at Wendy's and off we went again, the last leg of the trip up was only 45 minutes. The Best Western parking lot already had a few trucks pulling trailers with race bikes, and trucks with race bikes in the back. I think we and one other guy were the only people who rode up on the same bike that went out on the track. The ringing in my ears lasted a lot longer than I wish it had. Took a couple valerian capsules and watched a bit of mindless TV to lull the brain out of road mode, battled with the room fan (how do people sleep with those things running?) and finally fell asleep. Up at 6am - this inn provided a decent breakfast with the room price. The 2-up session was right after lunch. I told Bart, "take it easy, don't blow me off the bike". He gave me clear instructions: "Stay rigid with the bike" which I took to mean, "become part of the bike, I do not want your body movement to become another variable that I have to deal with" "When you hear the pegs scraping the asphalt, do not freak out" - that was clear enough Look through the turns. The unspoken instruction was "trust me". As I put on my gear, all my emotions burrowed down where they would not cause me to react physically until after I was off the track. As we leaned into Turn 1 of the first lap, my body tensed. "Holy shit, this is what you call 'taking it easy?!'" We were already into the corkscrew, turns 3 and 4 approaching the blind drop off on turn 5 and I'm thinking, "breathe, Cecilie, breathe, because when we get to the top of the turn 5 hill....", ugh, my stomach just dropped. I don't ride rollercoasters - I get motion sick. The whole first lap was one shock after another. In the straight section between the last turn and the first turn I was telling myself, "adapt, adapt, you must adapt". In lap two, I started looking through the turns. That adjustment to my sighting, plus having an idea of what was coming made it better. Not easier, just better. The leaning was a severe test of my ability to remain calm. I was forcing myself to relax. Midway through the lap I noticed I was no longer talking to myself out loud. In lap three, after turn 5, although I continued leaning on Bart, I unclasped my hands from around his hips and pressed them against his gas tank, I was concerned about impeding his mobility. In turn 10 or 11, we dragged a peg - I'm glad Bart mentioned that likelihood because I was able to just accept the sound of the metal scraping the asphalt, and the sensation of the scrape as it translated through the body of the bike and into my bones. Lap four I had a pretty good idea of the turns as they were coming. There was no point in the track to relax, each stretch put its own demands on bike and riders. I'm still breathing while Bart passes two other riders. We see the checkered flag, one lap to go. A teacher caught up Bart in the fifth lap. Bart matched the teacher's pace, and around we went. My body was the most relaxed it had been on the track. I was craning my neck to look through the curves. I was in that space I have only found in zazen, a deathly quiet space in my own existence. In this case, zazen at 80 miles an hour. I was connected to the bike, to Bart, and nearly connected to the track. I was also on overload. We exited the track. Bart wanted to get back out there immediately, time with me took away from his own session. I got off the bike and he asked, "so, was that fun?" Karolyn asked the same question in email. "Fun" is not the word I would use to describe the experience while it was happening, nor the state of shock afterwards. I called Peter on the cell phone to let him know I was okay, then I walked over to the hill where I could watch riders come through turns 13 and 14 to decompress. The only thing I can think of as a similar experience is an Aikido seminar. While I'm on the mat, it is not "fun". Bodies are moving all around on different trajectories in a tight space. My own body is getting slammed into the mat, or I'm feeling stupid because I can't figure out what Sensei showed, and my knees are killing me. Ten minutes after we bow out, if you were to ask, I might say that it was fun, but I would also be steeling myself for the next class. It won't be "fun" until after the seminar is over, I've had a shower and I have a beer in my hand. Later Bart told me that each lap he increased both speed and lean angle. I was most comfortable in the fifth lap, I had adapted enough to just accept what was happening. It is now a bit more than twenty four hours after the track day, and I still would not call it "fun". It was an intense amount of stimulation. I am really glad for the experience, and grateful to Bart for inviting me not only to ride 2-up with him, but for giving up some his own track time. And, given that he was having trouble finding his own orientation on this track, I'm impressed that he pushed his limits, rode some good lines, and kept control of the bike on a track he was riding for the first time. I am looking forward to Keigwin's Novice Day at the end of August, even though my heart is in my mouth. I have to figure out how to get myself to Willows - I still haven't even ridden across the Bay bridge.
July 28	It is a pleasure to have someone to ride with, being a novice, having a more experienced rider to ride with makes it even better. The ride to Alice's on 84 West, then the ride on Skyline was a joy. Perfect weather, good pace, thank you Dennis. There was a Doc Wong riding clinic at Alice's today. Seems like there were hundreds of bikes up there. Found a couple of interesting things, a "bike delivery" service, Pit Tunes, and the San Francisco Medical Emergency Response Corp (SF Merc). I might use the bike delivery service to get my bike to Thunderhill if I decide to not ride it there myself. Here's an excerpt from the SF MERC's website: The Motorcycle Emergency Response Corps hopes to save lives by moving personnel and supplies around the city in the event of a disaster. MERCury will be coordinating with the Office of Emergency Services and San Francisco Fire Department to provide trained citizen volunteers who can safely and efficiently move through the congested, and possibly damaged, streets of the City after a natural disaster such as an earthquake, or an act of terrorism. They will ferry supplies and rescuers, make damage assessments, and work with the Neighborhood Emergency Response Teams. Members of MERCury will be trained in First Aid, light search and rescue, amateur radio, and advanced motorcycling skills. They also will participate in twice-yearly disaster drills in concert with the Fire Department, Neighborhood Emergency Response Teams (NERT), and the bicycle-based Courier Disaster Response Team. In addition, they will be trained in motorcycle-specific First Aid. Good idea - we should have the same sort of thing here in the South Bay. I signed up but I won't be experienced enough to be a member for another year or so. As for the bike, it had its 600 mile check up and it is doing just fine. Eli tells me I'm babying the bike, and not doing it any favors. He wants me to crank up on the rpm in all the gears. Getting onto the freeway I'm holding it in third longer and watching the rpms climb - touched 7k rpm on the way home today. The bike red lines at 8k. Also rode most of twisty section of 84 in second gear - I'm getting to know the bike better now.
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