So yesterday Nick finally talked me into riding his father's bike. His father is coming out in August to tour the coast up to Canada, and sent money to purchase a bike. He prefers a sportier ride, so Nick found a 2005 Triumph Sprint ST. I'm a new rider and I like Lucia, so I've been fearful of getting on any other bikes. With my arm injuries I can't really support myself, either, and my arm turns in weird ways when other people's arms would be settled and comfortable. But he finally talked me into trying it. Last night we rode out to see Rock of Ages, then we came home.
The theatre we went to is in our old neighborhood, so I know the streets and I was familiar with where I was going. MUCH better choice than heading off into the unknown on an unknown bike. I was amazed by how different a feel a sport bike is to a cruiser. I felt much more engaged with the bike, and it was like I understood better how to use my body to control the movement of the machine. And it's a smooth ride. Nice and smooth and gliding and...nice. Of course, there's also the difference that it REALLY feels like you're going to just pitch over the top if you have to stop hard. That edgier, more dangerous feel gives huge rushes of adrenaline. On the ride home I just decided to keep going, to really enjoy the bike, and I skipped our exit and rode into downtown. It's about 6 miles from our exit, with an easy turnaround at the bottom. When we got back to the house Nick asked me, "Did you like it?" and I took off my helmet and just laughed. Laughed and laughed and laughed. I was drunk on adrenaline and speed. I asked him what time it was, and he said, "Riding time." We gassed up and went out again. This time we went up and across and back down 805 so I could cross the bridge. Serendipitously my playlist decided that You Could Be Mine by Guns'n'Roses would be a fantastic song to play then. I was flying across the bridge on this bike, listening to an aswesome song, around midnight in a beautiful city.
It's amazing how the world comes together sometimes.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
A joyful ride
Work has been insane and one of us has been out of town or sick quite a bit, but I've still managed to get up to 3,000 miles on my seat. I passed 3,000 just yesterday, actually, coming down PCH around Encinitas. Lucia and I are getting to know each other better, and I'm settling in as a biker.
Last weekend was the best ride I've had so far. We picked up a friend from Capistrano Beach and went up the freeway the back way to Cook's Corner to hang out for a little bit. The first time we went there--this was time #2--Nick teased me mercilessly about not hitting the other bikes and not stalling when I pulled out. It wouldn't do to look foolish in front of the other bikers, and when I saw this looooooong row of bikes pulled up out front I was a bit scared. I mean, here I am on this huge badass bike, and it's just little timid me controlling it, and I barely even know what I'm riding (VStar 1100) much less anything else about it! But everyone there was really nice. Or, at least, no one noticed me at all, so it wasn't an issue. I was up for a second visit.
We came in the back (winding) way, unfortunately behind a VERY. SLOW. Minivan. Ugh. Who would think that I'd ever complain about going SLOW on my bike? But really. As I've gotten a bit more comfortable I can handle a bit more speed, and I think greater than 20mph is generally safe. Sheesh. We finally got to the bar and just hung out for awhile, listened to the band, watched the other riders, and chatted about various and sundry topics. Then we realized how late it actually was and headed out the "fast" (direct) way down El Toro.
El Toro, as far back as we were, is 2 lanes in each direction and wide, swoopy turns. There are trees, which for Southern CA is noteworthy. It was around 6, so the sun was low and we were getting long shadows. No heat, but not cold yet. At the bar I set my Chatterbox to my Favorite Country playlist, and just when I hit a stretch without any stoplights it started playing Highway 20 Ride by the Zac Brown Band. The high, sweet, mournful fiddle played as I glided down the road through the shadows. I was comfortable and completely at home on my bike. I felt like I was in complete control and Lucia and I were symbiotic. Nick has talked a lot about feeling like he was free and happy on Fezik (his VStar) but as a new rider I hadn't yet felt anything other than fear and an overwhelmed sense of impending mayhem. But for those few miles, listening to that high, sweet fiddle, I felt a complete sense of joy in where I was and what I was doing. Everything worked. I was in control, the evening was glorious, the road was my friend and Lucia and I were partners. It was a beautiful ride.
Last weekend was the best ride I've had so far. We picked up a friend from Capistrano Beach and went up the freeway the back way to Cook's Corner to hang out for a little bit. The first time we went there--this was time #2--Nick teased me mercilessly about not hitting the other bikes and not stalling when I pulled out. It wouldn't do to look foolish in front of the other bikers, and when I saw this looooooong row of bikes pulled up out front I was a bit scared. I mean, here I am on this huge badass bike, and it's just little timid me controlling it, and I barely even know what I'm riding (VStar 1100) much less anything else about it! But everyone there was really nice. Or, at least, no one noticed me at all, so it wasn't an issue. I was up for a second visit.
We came in the back (winding) way, unfortunately behind a VERY. SLOW. Minivan. Ugh. Who would think that I'd ever complain about going SLOW on my bike? But really. As I've gotten a bit more comfortable I can handle a bit more speed, and I think greater than 20mph is generally safe. Sheesh. We finally got to the bar and just hung out for awhile, listened to the band, watched the other riders, and chatted about various and sundry topics. Then we realized how late it actually was and headed out the "fast" (direct) way down El Toro.
El Toro, as far back as we were, is 2 lanes in each direction and wide, swoopy turns. There are trees, which for Southern CA is noteworthy. It was around 6, so the sun was low and we were getting long shadows. No heat, but not cold yet. At the bar I set my Chatterbox to my Favorite Country playlist, and just when I hit a stretch without any stoplights it started playing Highway 20 Ride by the Zac Brown Band. The high, sweet, mournful fiddle played as I glided down the road through the shadows. I was comfortable and completely at home on my bike. I felt like I was in complete control and Lucia and I were symbiotic. Nick has talked a lot about feeling like he was free and happy on Fezik (his VStar) but as a new rider I hadn't yet felt anything other than fear and an overwhelmed sense of impending mayhem. But for those few miles, listening to that high, sweet fiddle, I felt a complete sense of joy in where I was and what I was doing. Everything worked. I was in control, the evening was glorious, the road was my friend and Lucia and I were partners. It was a beautiful ride.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Hear me roar
Today I was told that I need to change my haircolor. They have, you see, written and issued a "company handbook" and apparently one of the owners has a problem with my haircolor. Apparently it's offensive.
Now I will readily admit that it's bright, and most women would feel awkward with hair as bright and short as mine. But whatever, I'm not most women. Despite the fact that I'm the only one who is licensed for PT in that office right now, they want to push this issue with me. I was...not entirely happy. I came home for lunch, and decided to ride back. Changed into gear, packed a bag, and set off.
I made it to the office and pulled 'round back, jumped off and ran inside while I was still taking my helmet off because I didn't know if I was late and I still had to change. I threw open the back door and rushed down the hallway and all I could hear was chatter.
"Who's that on the bike?"
"Who rides around here?"
"Is that someone who works here?"
Then I rounded the corner into the break room with my helmet in my hand and the room pretty much exploded.
"It's ERIN!"
"I didn't know you rode!"
"Is that bike really yours?"
"We were talking about who that rider could be and it's YOU!"
Everyone was fascinated by my ride. I changed into scrubs and clocked in, but everyone kept commenting to me on how cool it was and how great it is that I'm a biker. When I was leaving that night I had to change again. I was sitting in a chair wearing my leather jacket and tying my boots, and one of the massage therapists came into the room.
"I think it's great that you ride, but I was completely shocked that the bike belongs to you!" She commented.
I looked up. "You never figured me for being a badass biker chick, huh?"
She laughed and blushed. "Well...no. You seem so...quiet."
I grinned at her and just observed, "The quiet ones are the ones with the best secrets." She agreed. Still waters run deep, indeed!
Now I will readily admit that it's bright, and most women would feel awkward with hair as bright and short as mine. But whatever, I'm not most women. Despite the fact that I'm the only one who is licensed for PT in that office right now, they want to push this issue with me. I was...not entirely happy. I came home for lunch, and decided to ride back. Changed into gear, packed a bag, and set off.
I made it to the office and pulled 'round back, jumped off and ran inside while I was still taking my helmet off because I didn't know if I was late and I still had to change. I threw open the back door and rushed down the hallway and all I could hear was chatter.
"Who's that on the bike?"
"Who rides around here?"
"Is that someone who works here?"
Then I rounded the corner into the break room with my helmet in my hand and the room pretty much exploded.
"It's ERIN!"
"I didn't know you rode!"
"Is that bike really yours?"
"We were talking about who that rider could be and it's YOU!"
Everyone was fascinated by my ride. I changed into scrubs and clocked in, but everyone kept commenting to me on how cool it was and how great it is that I'm a biker. When I was leaving that night I had to change again. I was sitting in a chair wearing my leather jacket and tying my boots, and one of the massage therapists came into the room.
"I think it's great that you ride, but I was completely shocked that the bike belongs to you!" She commented.
I looked up. "You never figured me for being a badass biker chick, huh?"
She laughed and blushed. "Well...no. You seem so...quiet."
I grinned at her and just observed, "The quiet ones are the ones with the best secrets." She agreed. Still waters run deep, indeed!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
1,000 miles!
At some point yesterday I broke 1,000 miles on my seat. YAY ME! Nick woke me up early and we first went up 15 to Del Dios highway, which is a windy road back in the hills that takes you across to the ocean. He told me the time when we were in Del Mar, and I realized I wouldn't have time to go home and change before teatime. So I went to tea in biker gear!
I take teatime very seriously, and I'm always nicely dressed and I ALWAYS have a hat on. Well, I had boots, jeans, a long sleeved shirt, and helmet hair this time. They all were entertained by it and were very amused by the idea of a "costume change". "From badass biker to sedate tea drinker!" So all was well.
When I pulled up to a parking spot outside of my tea shop there was a man wearing a Harley Davidson jacket. He stopped to talk and ask where we had been, that sort of thing. I observed that it was a beautiful day in a beautiful city, and I felt pretty sure that everyone in their cars, looking stressed and zoned out as they drove, was missing how amazing the city is. On a bike you can feel the air cool as you ride into a shadow, smell the salt from the ocean or the citrus or the eucalytus from the trees, or get a sense of just how high and fast you are when you go over Mission Valley on the 805 bridge. In a car you miss all of those things.
Then I did the drive home from tea all by myself. Nick volunteered to come be my wingman, but since it's a drive I've done hundreds of times and it's only 3 exits on the freeway I said I would try it myself. It was quiet and easy and...blah. I made it just fine, no mishaps or anything, but there was none of the sense of being powerful and "out on the road" without Nick behind me. It was just...transportation. I infinitely prefer riding with him. Maybe it was too mundane a drive, but the magic of it was diminished. So even the things you can notice on a bike that you miss in a car were kind of lackluster. I think the difference is being out with a partner, and the experience of feeling like you're doing this together.
Or maybe I just like having a big all-black tough biker behind me? There is that... ;)
I take teatime very seriously, and I'm always nicely dressed and I ALWAYS have a hat on. Well, I had boots, jeans, a long sleeved shirt, and helmet hair this time. They all were entertained by it and were very amused by the idea of a "costume change". "From badass biker to sedate tea drinker!" So all was well.
When I pulled up to a parking spot outside of my tea shop there was a man wearing a Harley Davidson jacket. He stopped to talk and ask where we had been, that sort of thing. I observed that it was a beautiful day in a beautiful city, and I felt pretty sure that everyone in their cars, looking stressed and zoned out as they drove, was missing how amazing the city is. On a bike you can feel the air cool as you ride into a shadow, smell the salt from the ocean or the citrus or the eucalytus from the trees, or get a sense of just how high and fast you are when you go over Mission Valley on the 805 bridge. In a car you miss all of those things.
Then I did the drive home from tea all by myself. Nick volunteered to come be my wingman, but since it's a drive I've done hundreds of times and it's only 3 exits on the freeway I said I would try it myself. It was quiet and easy and...blah. I made it just fine, no mishaps or anything, but there was none of the sense of being powerful and "out on the road" without Nick behind me. It was just...transportation. I infinitely prefer riding with him. Maybe it was too mundane a drive, but the magic of it was diminished. So even the things you can notice on a bike that you miss in a car were kind of lackluster. I think the difference is being out with a partner, and the experience of feeling like you're doing this together.
Or maybe I just like having a big all-black tough biker behind me? There is that... ;)
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Ride #9!
Yesterday we went out for what was my ninth ride. It seems so...low...a number. I'm feeling much, much more comfortable. Nick said he wanted to see how Lucia rode on the freeway, so we traded bikes at a gas station and pulled back out onto 5.
You know what I discovered? I actually REALLY LOVE my bike! Nick's bike is heavy and cumbersome, and I never feel like I'm really in control of it. I have a half-windshield on Lucia (the old owner had it that way and we didn't take it off) and Nick has nothing. The combination of wrestling with the bike itself and fighting the wind at 70+ mph was not one I care to repeat, I can tell you that. I never felt like I had a solid grip and a solid seat. Then he suggested I put my feet on the pegs, and...oh, gracious. That just was not a good ride. I gave him about 5 miles on the freeway, then I pulled off and said, "GIVE ME MY BIKE!" Back on Lucia, I was all settled and happy again. :)
It's nice to know that we actually found the right bike for me. She and I are definitely getting to know each other, and I'm feeling--a little bit--like I can handle her.
And I have to confess, now that the terror of being OUT of a car, in the MIDDLE of traffic, HURTLING through space at 70mph has abated a bit I am liking the idea that I'm a woman who rides. I want people to notice that I'm female when I take off my helmet. I want people to notice the helmet next to me when we stop to take a break. In my jacket you can't really tell I'm a woman, but I gotta confess...
I kinda want a pair of leather pants. ;)
You know what I discovered? I actually REALLY LOVE my bike! Nick's bike is heavy and cumbersome, and I never feel like I'm really in control of it. I have a half-windshield on Lucia (the old owner had it that way and we didn't take it off) and Nick has nothing. The combination of wrestling with the bike itself and fighting the wind at 70+ mph was not one I care to repeat, I can tell you that. I never felt like I had a solid grip and a solid seat. Then he suggested I put my feet on the pegs, and...oh, gracious. That just was not a good ride. I gave him about 5 miles on the freeway, then I pulled off and said, "GIVE ME MY BIKE!" Back on Lucia, I was all settled and happy again. :)
It's nice to know that we actually found the right bike for me. She and I are definitely getting to know each other, and I'm feeling--a little bit--like I can handle her.
And I have to confess, now that the terror of being OUT of a car, in the MIDDLE of traffic, HURTLING through space at 70mph has abated a bit I am liking the idea that I'm a woman who rides. I want people to notice that I'm female when I take off my helmet. I want people to notice the helmet next to me when we stop to take a break. In my jacket you can't really tell I'm a woman, but I gotta confess...
I kinda want a pair of leather pants. ;)
Saturday, January 7, 2012
OI
I need a PinLock! Oh my goodness. We were out of town for a week and when we came back we wanted to go on a ride. It was my first night ride, and I was a bit nervous. I was also a bit annoyed--I was wearing the gimp suit and a long-sleeved shirt and my extra elbow pad, and my jacket sleeve wouldn't go quite all the way up. So I was struggling with that and with getting my glove to fit and trying to fasten the sleeve on my jacket and it was just not working well. Finally I twisted it round to something of a working proposition, and we went out.
When we first started out we were on surface roads, and I ride with my visor slightly open anyway. Didn't realize there was a problem. By the time we got going up the 805, though, we realized there was a misty fog coming in and it was making vision a serious problem. Nick said, "Do you want to just say this was a bad idea and head home?" and I nodded and signalled toward the exit. We turned around and were coming home and the fog got worse.
Fog I can handle. It gets foggy around here a lot, and I'm used to it. BUT. In a motorcycle helmet, when hot breath is hitting one side of the visor, the mist and fog hit the other, you're travelling at speed and can't crack the visor because it dries out your contacts and makes them stick to your eyeballs like suction cups? NOT GOOD. I seriously felt like I didn't have contacts in at all. Everything was blurry and misty and there was no depth perception. One merge had a car trying to come through me from my left, a big rig trying to come in from the right, and me with no vision to speak of. NOT FUN!!
We made it home safely, though, which was the important part. And we're getting me a PinLock (it's like an anti-fog plate on the inside of your visor), so all is good. :)
In happy news, my license plate holder came! The top of it says "BADASS BIKER" and the bottom says "CHICK(en)". I'll post a picture later.
I'm happy to be home and back to my bike! I think we're going out later today, which should be awesome.
When we first started out we were on surface roads, and I ride with my visor slightly open anyway. Didn't realize there was a problem. By the time we got going up the 805, though, we realized there was a misty fog coming in and it was making vision a serious problem. Nick said, "Do you want to just say this was a bad idea and head home?" and I nodded and signalled toward the exit. We turned around and were coming home and the fog got worse.
Fog I can handle. It gets foggy around here a lot, and I'm used to it. BUT. In a motorcycle helmet, when hot breath is hitting one side of the visor, the mist and fog hit the other, you're travelling at speed and can't crack the visor because it dries out your contacts and makes them stick to your eyeballs like suction cups? NOT GOOD. I seriously felt like I didn't have contacts in at all. Everything was blurry and misty and there was no depth perception. One merge had a car trying to come through me from my left, a big rig trying to come in from the right, and me with no vision to speak of. NOT FUN!!
We made it home safely, though, which was the important part. And we're getting me a PinLock (it's like an anti-fog plate on the inside of your visor), so all is good. :)
In happy news, my license plate holder came! The top of it says "BADASS BIKER" and the bottom says "CHICK(en)". I'll post a picture later.
I'm happy to be home and back to my bike! I think we're going out later today, which should be awesome.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Biker chicken workout
As I said, emphasis is on posterior chain, dynamic effort. This isn't in any particular order, I'm just getting ideas out.
Assisted pull ups
Back extension
V-rows
Bent over single arm rows with rotation
Ball jack knives
Medicine ball rotation
Hip rotation
Wood choppers
Reverse wood choppers
Delt press, lateral and posterior
Pullovers
Walkouts
Hmm hmm hmm. Delts definitely need to be in there because the upper traps tend to overdevelop, so they need to be balanced out. Some abs need to be in there also, as their role in the body is to supportand stabilize the back, but there needs to be plentiful oblique work, too. After Ll, on a bike, you're constantly fighting the wind (abs) but also using your body to stabilize the bike itself (obliques). Back, obviously, needs to be strong because you're fighting th wind pulling against you at all times. Lower back for seated support. Hmmmm....
Back:
Assisted pull ups
Back extension
V-rows
Bent over single arm rows with rotation
Abs:
Ball jack knives
Walkouts
Pullovers (kinda, among many things)
Obliques:
Medicine ball rotation
Hip rotation
Wood choppers
Delt presses
...I must think.
Assisted pull ups
Back extension
V-rows
Bent over single arm rows with rotation
Ball jack knives
Medicine ball rotation
Hip rotation
Wood choppers
Reverse wood choppers
Delt press, lateral and posterior
Pullovers
Walkouts
Hmm hmm hmm. Delts definitely need to be in there because the upper traps tend to overdevelop, so they need to be balanced out. Some abs need to be in there also, as their role in the body is to supportand stabilize the back, but there needs to be plentiful oblique work, too. After Ll, on a bike, you're constantly fighting the wind (abs) but also using your body to stabilize the bike itself (obliques). Back, obviously, needs to be strong because you're fighting th wind pulling against you at all times. Lower back for seated support. Hmmmm....
Back:
Assisted pull ups
Back extension
V-rows
Bent over single arm rows with rotation
Abs:
Ball jack knives
Walkouts
Pullovers (kinda, among many things)
Obliques:
Medicine ball rotation
Hip rotation
Wood choppers
Delt presses
...I must think.
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