It turned out to be a gorgeous Mother’s Day, so I was determined to get on the bike at least for a little while. Had so many other things I should have been doing, but ya gotta have priorities ya know.

Only spent an hour or so on the bike, and never got more than a mile from home, but I spent the time practicing stops, starts, gear shifts, and general street riding. Still need to get a feel for the bike. It’s starting to come, but I want it to be second nature before I get out where traffic needs to be the #1 focus.

I find I’m a speed pussy. I need to keep revving once I upshift. It’s like I upshift and as soon as the engine smooths out, I’m ready to let it cruise there. When I look down at the speedometer, I realize that I’m not up to the speed limit. I’ve got to practice hitting the speed limit – you know, 30 mph instead of 25.

The other thing I need to work on is throttle control. Need to get smoother at that before I’m going to be comfortable out there. No substitute for time/miles for that one.

Two new things I did today, and things that have had me worried for months, was parking in a parking space and curbside. I was concerned about how difficult it would be to back the bike up to get it into or out of a space. Can’t say that it is easy, but it is manageable. I’m amazed at how much I have to think about things and plan ahead to make them as easy as possible at this point.

I hope the weather will hold so I can get out there every day this week. I’m hoping to be able to ride to work, but I might wait until next week when all the kids are off campus.