September 1, 2008
I thought I was ready for this event, but though I thoroughly enjoyed the ride to Port Alberni (it really is such a scenic and wonderful ride with loads of twists), my shoulder wasn't ready for the parking lot practice.
One of the PA riders, Chevy, has set up the parking lot by the College and Multiplex in Port Alberni. It has the slowcone weave, figure 8, slalom, intersection, and even a snowman marked out in paint, and Chevy (aka Wayne) also brings small traffic cones to really help with the visuals. The end result is a perfect "Ride Like A Pro" practice lot. It was terrific to see the huge turnout, and Dave Hay, the RCMP Motorcycle Trainer here on Vancouver Island, was there to give us his experience and some terrific training. He ended up setting up another rather difficult practice pattern called the Texas Star as well.
Stephen excelled at all of the patterns and sure made me proud. Vic does well with his riding too. I started the slalom and the off-set cone weave, but my shoulder was just bitchy with ache and the slow friction zone maneuvering wasn't kind. Oh well, it did give me the opportunity to watch everyone else and to sit and chat with friends.
The PA group is wonderful, and they had a barbecue set up cooking hotdogs for the riders and a huge cooler full of very icey water to keep us all hydrated. What an incredible day for all of us. We ended it with a ride to Starbucks and another delightful gab session before heading out to the highway and home again. Memories are made of days like this and I'm sure thrilled to have become a member of this fine group of people. Gosh how I've changed. I can remember driving to BC in 1992, and as I got to the midwest, I began to notice more and more motorcycles on the road. By the time I got to the Dakotas I couldn't find either a restaurant or a motel that didn't have more bikes than anything else in the parking lots. I actually started to feel nervous about this. After all, I was driving through the States all by myself. Where were all these bikers coming from? Where were they going?
Now I realize they were the best safety factor for me on this solitary journey. They were all heading to Sturgis where every year a good half-a-million riders come together to celebrate their bikes, each other, and all things to do with riding. Maybe some day I'll make it to Sturgis and enjoy that celebration with them... although maybe that's more bikes and people than I can cope with. It's something to think about.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
This Much Time Has Passed?
August 3, 2008 -- Rod Wiseman Memorial Ride
Well holy Hannah, I had no idea that it has been so long since I took the time to add to my blog. All I can say is that riding became a lot more fun and much more important than keeping track of it all. It seems every time I go out the door, provided it's not raining, it's on my Little Hussy.
There was a stretch of almost a month when I didn't do much riding because of a shoulder injury. That truly stressed me out. After all, this is still my first year as a rider, and I sure didn't want to be stuck here at home unable to go out.
I took part in the Rod Wiseman Memorial Ride, meeting riders from Victoria through to Cobble Hill in Ladysmith to head out to the parking lot at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo. That was on August 3rd... and it was great being with so many of our biking community here on the island. It tugs deeply at the heart to know you're riding in memory of someone who spent so much time on a motorcycle. There's a truly emotional ache when you put your passenger pegs down in honour of that rider who is no longer with you. Rod was a motorcycle instructor, and many of my friends learned to ride with him and his wife Wendy.
On our way up island, we encountered an accident in Nanoose Bay, and we were fortunate to get past before all the emergency personnel came to slow traffic down to an impossible and impassable crawl. We'd broken up into 5 or 6 riding groups with a leader and tailgunner for each group. We did a nice little ride around Schooner Cove before getting back on the highway in Parksville and heading to Qualicum Beach... yep, to the Beach Hut. Oddly enough, thinking that we'd slowed some because of our little detour, we still managed to be the 2nd group in. And the waiting began! And some more waiting, and waiting. Another group finally arrived and informed us that they'd been held back because of the accident in Nanoose Bay.
Things became even sadder as we waited because the next group to arrive informed us that there'd been a crash between a couple of the bikes. It had happened just as they were heading out to the highway from Nanaimo. It was really shocking to hear that one of the riders had run into Wendy Wiseman, Rod's sister-in-law, and her new Harley. She was wearing all the right gear though, and despite minor damage to the new bike, as well as having her jacket shredded to the arm, she wasn't too bad. They did have to take her to the hospital and it sure put a damper on all of us to hear about this happening.
At this point I realized that my aching shoulder wasn't going to let me finish riding all the way to Campbell River... which also meant a three-hour ride home after that... so I said my sad goodbyes to all the great folks on the ride and headed home again. It was actually the start of a real slowing down for me, though I wasn't aware yet that it would mean no riding at all for a little while. But that's another story.
Well holy Hannah, I had no idea that it has been so long since I took the time to add to my blog. All I can say is that riding became a lot more fun and much more important than keeping track of it all. It seems every time I go out the door, provided it's not raining, it's on my Little Hussy.
There was a stretch of almost a month when I didn't do much riding because of a shoulder injury. That truly stressed me out. After all, this is still my first year as a rider, and I sure didn't want to be stuck here at home unable to go out.
I took part in the Rod Wiseman Memorial Ride, meeting riders from Victoria through to Cobble Hill in Ladysmith to head out to the parking lot at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo. That was on August 3rd... and it was great being with so many of our biking community here on the island. It tugs deeply at the heart to know you're riding in memory of someone who spent so much time on a motorcycle. There's a truly emotional ache when you put your passenger pegs down in honour of that rider who is no longer with you. Rod was a motorcycle instructor, and many of my friends learned to ride with him and his wife Wendy.
On our way up island, we encountered an accident in Nanoose Bay, and we were fortunate to get past before all the emergency personnel came to slow traffic down to an impossible and impassable crawl. We'd broken up into 5 or 6 riding groups with a leader and tailgunner for each group. We did a nice little ride around Schooner Cove before getting back on the highway in Parksville and heading to Qualicum Beach... yep, to the Beach Hut. Oddly enough, thinking that we'd slowed some because of our little detour, we still managed to be the 2nd group in. And the waiting began! And some more waiting, and waiting. Another group finally arrived and informed us that they'd been held back because of the accident in Nanoose Bay.
Things became even sadder as we waited because the next group to arrive informed us that there'd been a crash between a couple of the bikes. It had happened just as they were heading out to the highway from Nanaimo. It was really shocking to hear that one of the riders had run into Wendy Wiseman, Rod's sister-in-law, and her new Harley. She was wearing all the right gear though, and despite minor damage to the new bike, as well as having her jacket shredded to the arm, she wasn't too bad. They did have to take her to the hospital and it sure put a damper on all of us to hear about this happening.
At this point I realized that my aching shoulder wasn't going to let me finish riding all the way to Campbell River... which also meant a three-hour ride home after that... so I said my sad goodbyes to all the great folks on the ride and headed home again. It was actually the start of a real slowing down for me, though I wasn't aware yet that it would mean no riding at all for a little while. But that's another story.
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