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Lessons Learned
I’m sitting here with my ankle packed in ice and throbbing like the beat of a V-twin with straight pipes. How did this happen you might ask? I’m still not 100% sure myself. One minute Debbie and I are sitting on the bike getting ready to pull out of a gas station in Middleton TN, the next I’m pinned on the ground with the my ankle caught between the ground and the passenger floorboard of my 94 1500SE. This, as you might have guessed, was not the high point of my day. In retrospect, this was the only real low point of a day filled with wonderful riding, perfect weather, and great fellowship.
On November 12th six members and two perspective members of W2 went on a ride from Memphis to Sweet Lips. Jim Ragon led the ride and Chuck Caldwell claims to have arranged for the perfect weather. The ride started at the Chick-Fil-A on Germantown Road in Cordova with a light breakfast and coffee. We headed out at about 8:30 with Jim in the lead through some of the most gorgeous and unknown roads in Shelby, Fayette, Hardeman, McNairy, Chester, and Madison counties. How he found these roads is still a mystery, some I’m sure some will soon be reclaimed by Mother Nature.
Our first stop for the day was Middleton for gas and a quick stretch. As we pulled out of the gas station I found myself sprawled on the ground needing the help of the other riders to get unstuck. I and Debbie would like to thank everybody for the help. The causes of this mishap I’ll get back to as they were a blur to me initially.
From Middleton we made our way through the back roads to Sweet Lip where we stopped to stretch again and take a few pictures of the group in front of the sign and store that make up the rustic village.
From Sweet Lips we were off to lunch at the restaurant at Chickasaw State Park. The menu was varied and the food was good, we all ordered from the menu but they also offered seafood buffet that also looked quite tasty. The service was slow but accurate.
After lunch we made our way to Somerville via some roads that I doubt were on too many modern day maps and I’d have to guess, had Jim and Chuck’s GPS units wondering if they were really that lost. Jim did an excellent job leading our group on the ride. After getting off Walnut Grove Rd. we spent less than 5 of the 200+ miles on 4 lane roads until we made it to our final stop in Somerville. All of the roads were scenic and most lacked any lines of demarcation and traffic of any kind. This was the kind of relaxing riding that Debbie and I enjoy the most. Thanks again Jim.
Let me get back to the fall again. The pain in my leg from Middleton to Sweet Lips was minor and I figured it was going to be alright. By the end of lunch I knew I was going to be in trouble, I could feel my ankle swelling in my boot and walking had become painful. From the restaurant to my house the pain grew steadily worse and caused me go consider what had happened and why.
Last month I had completed the Experienced Rider Course for the first but not last time. If you’ve not taken this course I must encourage you to do so, it is money well spent and time soundly invested. The course teaches you how to handle your machine and focuses on slow speed riding skills. The instructors for the course were Mike Taylor and Chuck Caldwell, both did an excellent job.
Chuck demonstrated each of the skills we were to perform and master. As he and I were both on 1500 GoldWings, I quickly realized that the cause of my inability to complete these tasks had nothing to do with the machine and everything to do with the operator sitting on it, and were therefore achievable if I followed the instructions given.
Each of the tasks built on the previous and prepared us for the next set of challenges. Some may ask of what value these slow speed task are when we spend most of our time at speeds closer to our ages. They teach the characteristics and limits of the machine in addition to how to control it in less than ideal situations. Many of these things I thought I knew well enough after 20 years of riding but I was quickly educated to the contrary. While I’ve not needed to put most of these new skills to a practical test yet, vivid memories of past close encounter have shown me how these close encounters could have been handled better.
Like most skills, these require continuous practice to maintain. I’ve made it a point to squeeze in some practice each time I go out for a ride, whether it’s weaving around the manhole covers on my street or a few minutes in the parking lot making tight U-turns or doing figure-eights around Big Mac rappers, it time has its value. So what happened to me in Middleton? I didn’t take into account the additional variables, the exact things Mike and Chucks warned us about during the ERC. The three principles here were:
I didn’t take into account that we were riding 2-up and that this changed the center of balance at slow speed. Because of this shift, the bike did not respond as practiced and I over compensated. The fall begins.
I had recently adjusted my handle bars down so that I could turn them to the full limits without running into the Tulsa windshield. This was to allow me to better perform some of the slow speed maneuvers learned in the ERC, there is good and bad here. I had noticed starting out that morning that the bike felt different due to the new bar positions but did not consider the consequences; they turned out to be significant. The ground approaches.
I did not pay heed to my old friend Mr. Gravel that was laying in wait under my feet. The balance shift and the unfamiliar feeling in the bars caused me to loose control of my well practice low speed maneuver I was trying to perform, old habits kicked in, the foot went down, and Mr. Gravel treated me to my second close-up look at the asphalt for the year, both at his bequest. Contact.
The lessons learned from this entire experience are pretty simple: 1) The ERC course is a great source of knowledge and will help improve your riding skills, but once every year or two in not enough practice. 2)When you change something on your machine, big or small, hardware, tires, or adding a co-rider, anything., practice your basic skills again and refamiliarize yourself with how it handles, even little things can make a big difference. 3)Always be aware of your environment and it’s impact on who your machine will handle and perform.
I was lucky and blessed this weekend, I spent the day with friends riding in a beautiful area I didn’t know existed, my wife was unhurt in our fall, and my ankle is feeling better. Things could have been much worse and painful. My lessons learned were inexpensive yet valuable. A few more days and I’ll be back on 2 wheels again, the first order of business – PRACTICE, PRACTICE, and MORE PRACTICE. |