18. On the Road! Woohoo!

Today, Mr V and Mrs V come around to help me with the dreaded evil roundabout. I'm able to go around it with a bit more confidence now although at an incredibly incredibly slow speed. If you're walking, you're probably faster than me but I'll get there with more practice.

Mr V recommended that I should practice the clutch, throttle and rear brake combination to ride around the roundabout. This should prevent the jerking normally experience when riding in first gear. And it is something I'm going to have to learn for the Ps test.

We did quite a few laps and Mr V asked if I wanted to take on some traffic. I figured with Mr V in front and Mrs V behind, it would be silly of me to not take the opportunity. It would also be a good test to see how "afraid" I am of cars and what I can and can't do on the road.

We did about 4-5 laps in traffic... probably more (didn't keep count). And it was really really fun!! I managed to get up to around 50km/hr which is the fastest I've been on my little VTR and surprisingly, I was less tensed on the road than I was on that dreaded evil roundabout! The traffic didn't fazed me as much as I thought it would.

I have to admit that I did however stuff up a few times with my take off into a turn and during a couple of the turns. In the meantime, I'll just have to try and keep safe while I practice. I also found that leaning the bike into the turn also makes turning a little easier.  

Some of today's key lessons::
1) Start my turn as wide as my lane allows and finish up on the correct side of the road.
2) Check for traffic before taking off like you would normally do in a car
3) Remember to turn off the indicator - unfortunately, motorbikes aren't like cars.
4) Be a bit more confident with taking off and don't get pressured by the queue of cars behind.  
5) Practice clutch release SLOWLY!. I never used to stall that badly and today, I stalled so many times I can't keep count of it. It was shocking.

Some of the improvements and the few things I am ok at::
1) I'm starting to learn to handle the weight of my bike a little better. Its now wobble wobble steady as opposed to wobble wobble Arghhhh drop!
2) Gear change is now much smoother than before. I no longer feel like I'm being thrown off the seat and than roughly placed back into the seat! As Mrs V said, its a combination of clutch and throttle. I think I'm starting to get the hang of that now.
3) I apparently have good balance and can maneuver at slow speed. The Mr thought I was going to drop but I kept on going.
4) I'm a lot calmer that I normally am given the situation.
5) I can't think of a 5th thing I'm good at. I will at my next practice! =)

I'm planning for more practice tomorrow and Monday! Fingers and toes crossed for no rain!