17. Saturday Morning Carpark Practice

I woke up real early this morning!! I was feeling all excited about getting out on the bike. It was going to be in a controlled environment but at least I'm still riding and learning. I'll eventually get on the road but I'd like to be sensible about it. I want to be comfortable with my own skills before I take on buses and cars.

At about 9am, I started gearing up. I also gave the bike a bit of a quick spot clean to get rid of some dirt. At around 9.30am, I heard a loud roar from around the corner and before I knew it, Mr S rocked up with his Kawasaki ZX14 (I'll find out on the next meet if I got his bike right). It looked really really big compared to my little VTR. It's real nice looking too and if I'm not mistaken, it is currently the most powerful sport bike in the the Kawasaki motorcycle line.

Anyway, Mr S took me and my bike to our first destination. It is normally a big empty carpark but unfortunately for us, there were heaps of little kiddies playing netball. 

We moved on the location B which was a carpark at a port. It was mostly empty except for a few parked cars and their boat trailers. Here, Mr S got me to just ride around in circles to get use to my bike. I was initially a bit wobbly but before I knew it, I was doing quite ok in the circles I was creating. I also learnt from Mr S that riding in first gear is quite a bit harder and started doing the circles in second gear. It was much smoother. Not long after, the port personnel came up to us and told us we weren't allowed to practice here and recommended another site.

Location C was a stretch of 1.5km road and at the end of the road, a triangular roundabout. Here, I practiced going around the roundabout and also practiced doing U turns on the way back. I did this plenty of times and I was getting quite comfortable doing it. At one point, I went around too quickly and normally, I would have tried to come to a complete stop, instead, I gently gave the rear brake a soft tap and continued the turn like I would in a car!! YIPEE!! I thought this was at least some tinny bit of progress... I think I'm starting to get the concept of controlling the bike and not the other way round. Not long after, Mr D turned up on his Yamaha R6. This was also when I decided to take a short break and both Mr S and Mr D gave me few tips to park the bike. I than continued on my rounds but this time, doing left turns. 

We left around mid day and I got home with the biggest smile on my face!! =)) I was also feeling a lot more confident. Can't wait to keep getting better!! 

In the afternoon, I decided to practice more on my own. I went around the block a few more times but was still quite scared of the evil roundabout at my place. I managed to get through it at each go but there was still some nagging fear. I nearly didn't make it once but I made myself look where I wanted to go and only just made it!! Well, it looks like more practice and a few tips might be the way to go!  

Before I finish up, here's a quick peek at the horrible bruise I copped. Its been over a week now but it is still looking pretty nasty... I'm hoping it would recover ASAP so I get to wear my dresses to work again.