Hi All,
Well, since the last ride, we set the sag on the bike, it's a little more than 4" but the bars were dropped to correspond, we shaved the seat down a bunch, and put on a gripper seat cover ( boy that's going to take some getting used to! It's not just stand up and go anymore, it's part knees a little further, stand, sit, put knees back against bike. Between the texture of my pants, and the seat, I tried to stand up at one point and didn't go anywhere! :eek: )
The good news is I can now touch the ground with the balls of my feet. This brings my confidence way up. I still find starting it to be terribly difficult, since my leg is practically up to my chin when I first get on the kickstarter. Not a lot of power up there. How do you ladies and slightly more "height challenged" males do this? I've taken to putting the kickstand down, then standing on the left peg and kicking from that height. That is, in the absence of a picnic table or nicely placed rut or other natural formation. (We're going to make a habit of checking for bends and sheering bolts on the kickstand mount part of the regular maintenance.)
We talked to some people while we were there, cos one of them had this nifty shock loaded gizmo on the back of his truck that allowed him to load on the ground, then crank it up so it sat not unlike a mountain bike on the back of a truck hitch. Since I'm fairly sure that at my height I'll never be able to load my own bike, I wanted to know more. We chatted with them for a while and learned about a nice flat part of the park ( Back at Blackfoot again) where I could practice my turns and not have to worry about the cars in the parking lot.
So I played at practicing my starting in 2nd, not too bad at that, unless I let it idle a bit, then I stall it almost every time out. Starting it in soft sand is not a lot of fun, for lack of "suitable terrain" but otherwise I'm getting better. My cornering is getting pretty good, in fact, the BF said that it was pretty impressive for the length of time I've been on the bike.
Then I decided to tackle the track that I'd had so much trouble on last time around. Following about 1/4 of a lap behind the BF, I got on and started riding, as I came up the first hill I had my well programmed ( from the TTR) reaction, "Ahhh Crap", then remembered I was on a different bike, and just twisted the throttle a little more. Up I went. No paddling required. :)
Then I noticed as I came up the first corner, that he was at the third, off his bike. Hmmm... So as I came up to him, he gestured at me, not sure what it was, I stopped, and crashed. ( I think we need to work on our communication. :clue: He'd meant for me to keep going.) So now there are 2 bikes down on the track. This is where I learned how nasty it is to start on soft sand. Eventually I got it started, and got going, only to stall it around a particularly scary turn ( for me anyway ) so I bump started it and kept going. Then on the last downhill, I stalled it again.
Determined not to have that track beat me again, I went for another couple of laps, and did fine. Then we played in other parts of the park on a few of the trails and stuff, and I wound it up a bit more ( tried out 3rd gear. LOL )
Eventually we made it back to the track again and I went booting around it. I came into one corner too fast and the front tire swapped out, then the bike crushed me into the ground. My boot actually dug toe first more than 2 inches into the sand. I squirmed out and stood up, surveying the situation. Tires above the bars on the slope, and me absolutely beat from riding. Luckily my BF came along at that point and helped me out. Again, determined for that not to be the last ride, I did a few more laps with my cornering getting faster and better then we called it a day.
The next day, my rear didn't hurt nearly as much, so I'd say the seat modifications were a success! I was stiff and a little bruised but felt a lot better than the previous ride. I think I have to learn to not hold on as tight though, because I find my shoulders hurt a fair bit and I have to rest often. Of course in the 'break in" phase with the bike, I guess this isn't a bad thing. In the book it says to be gentle with the bike for the first 500K or 5 hrs.... I have 14.6K on it so far... I think I'm always going to be in a break in phase! By the time 500K is up, I'll have to do the piston again! :laugh:
Anyways, I've decided I might be jinxed. Some might remember that I mentioned that when we got back from the track the first time, that it started snowing again? Guess what? We came home sunday, and it started snowing on tuesday. We're at about 4 -6 inches right now. So I'm averaging a ride a month.... I wonder, what are the odds I'll be ready for the Canada Ride?
On another note, I had my last ride on the TTR, we sold it on tues. It felt a little like a volkswagon bus, hardy, but not a lot of power. :) Really slow compared to the ride on the weekend. A little weird too with snow falling around me and really wet slippery (dirt) road under me.
Well, since the last ride, we set the sag on the bike, it's a little more than 4" but the bars were dropped to correspond, we shaved the seat down a bunch, and put on a gripper seat cover ( boy that's going to take some getting used to! It's not just stand up and go anymore, it's part knees a little further, stand, sit, put knees back against bike. Between the texture of my pants, and the seat, I tried to stand up at one point and didn't go anywhere! :eek: )
The good news is I can now touch the ground with the balls of my feet. This brings my confidence way up. I still find starting it to be terribly difficult, since my leg is practically up to my chin when I first get on the kickstarter. Not a lot of power up there. How do you ladies and slightly more "height challenged" males do this? I've taken to putting the kickstand down, then standing on the left peg and kicking from that height. That is, in the absence of a picnic table or nicely placed rut or other natural formation. (We're going to make a habit of checking for bends and sheering bolts on the kickstand mount part of the regular maintenance.)
We talked to some people while we were there, cos one of them had this nifty shock loaded gizmo on the back of his truck that allowed him to load on the ground, then crank it up so it sat not unlike a mountain bike on the back of a truck hitch. Since I'm fairly sure that at my height I'll never be able to load my own bike, I wanted to know more. We chatted with them for a while and learned about a nice flat part of the park ( Back at Blackfoot again) where I could practice my turns and not have to worry about the cars in the parking lot.
So I played at practicing my starting in 2nd, not too bad at that, unless I let it idle a bit, then I stall it almost every time out. Starting it in soft sand is not a lot of fun, for lack of "suitable terrain" but otherwise I'm getting better. My cornering is getting pretty good, in fact, the BF said that it was pretty impressive for the length of time I've been on the bike.
Then I decided to tackle the track that I'd had so much trouble on last time around. Following about 1/4 of a lap behind the BF, I got on and started riding, as I came up the first hill I had my well programmed ( from the TTR) reaction, "Ahhh Crap", then remembered I was on a different bike, and just twisted the throttle a little more. Up I went. No paddling required. :)
Then I noticed as I came up the first corner, that he was at the third, off his bike. Hmmm... So as I came up to him, he gestured at me, not sure what it was, I stopped, and crashed. ( I think we need to work on our communication. :clue: He'd meant for me to keep going.) So now there are 2 bikes down on the track. This is where I learned how nasty it is to start on soft sand. Eventually I got it started, and got going, only to stall it around a particularly scary turn ( for me anyway ) so I bump started it and kept going. Then on the last downhill, I stalled it again.
Determined not to have that track beat me again, I went for another couple of laps, and did fine. Then we played in other parts of the park on a few of the trails and stuff, and I wound it up a bit more ( tried out 3rd gear. LOL )
Eventually we made it back to the track again and I went booting around it. I came into one corner too fast and the front tire swapped out, then the bike crushed me into the ground. My boot actually dug toe first more than 2 inches into the sand. I squirmed out and stood up, surveying the situation. Tires above the bars on the slope, and me absolutely beat from riding. Luckily my BF came along at that point and helped me out. Again, determined for that not to be the last ride, I did a few more laps with my cornering getting faster and better then we called it a day.
The next day, my rear didn't hurt nearly as much, so I'd say the seat modifications were a success! I was stiff and a little bruised but felt a lot better than the previous ride. I think I have to learn to not hold on as tight though, because I find my shoulders hurt a fair bit and I have to rest often. Of course in the 'break in" phase with the bike, I guess this isn't a bad thing. In the book it says to be gentle with the bike for the first 500K or 5 hrs.... I have 14.6K on it so far... I think I'm always going to be in a break in phase! By the time 500K is up, I'll have to do the piston again! :laugh:
Anyways, I've decided I might be jinxed. Some might remember that I mentioned that when we got back from the track the first time, that it started snowing again? Guess what? We came home sunday, and it started snowing on tuesday. We're at about 4 -6 inches right now. So I'm averaging a ride a month.... I wonder, what are the odds I'll be ready for the Canada Ride?
On another note, I had my last ride on the TTR, we sold it on tues. It felt a little like a volkswagon bus, hardy, but not a lot of power. :) Really slow compared to the ride on the weekend. A little weird too with snow falling around me and really wet slippery (dirt) road under me.
