90%angel Posted June 18, 2002 Share Posted June 18, 2002 Wow, what a weekend. As I mentioned in the Ride Together forum, this was my longest ride. Approximately 300 miles to Glenoz and 300 back. I gained experience riding in many diverse conditions: intense heat ( 109 in Baker ), gusty winds, butt-ugly traffic, and even fog on our way home this morning. Friday: Friday Russell and I commuted to work on the motorcycles. We left at noon and met up with Brian and Meghan in Corona to fill up. After a huge Gatorade and a PowerBar, we were off. Hit patchy traffic on the 91, but nothing too terrible. It got hotter and hotter as the day went on, and as we got more in the desert. Heat is very fatiguing! Kept downing the water and Gatorade at our stops, and we’d shower ourselves down with the gas station water hose at every stop. The water was HOT, but after you get going on the freeway at 80, it feels so nice! I dried off in 8 minutes, that’s how hot it was! I was very comfortable going 80mph on the interstate. At times, we even picked it up to 85, and for passing (on occasion on up to 90). I didn’t think my unfaired bike would do this, but it does with no questions. At one point, I was trying to get by someone so I would no longer be in his blind spot, and I recall seeing the needle slow down to 90. I don’t know if I got it up to triple digits, but it may have been close. This was not my aim if I did. In fact, I was concentrating on the flow of traffic and the road, and not the speedo, so that is why I don’t know if I hit 100 or not, but I may have been close. I only mention this because I never thought I’d ever go that speed. I thought it would be too dangerous and unbalanced etc. etc., and that it would scare the crap out of me. However, the bike did it so smoothly, I was surprised I was actually going that fast. I will have to keep an eye on this so I don’t get in over my head in the future. The bike is so smooth, it just goes! You don’t even know you’re going that fast. Anyway, I’ll skip ahead some here. As soon as we filled up in Searchlight, we were on our way again. It was starting to cool off, the sun was setting, the mountains were darn gorgeous, and I was having a fabulous time. Then bam. My first brown moment on the motorcycle (and I hope my last). All of a sudden, I was being pulled to the right. Instead of correcting the problem immediately, I was stunned. I sat there looking at my left hand trying to figure out why it was no longer working (I had noted earlier that due to the cross wind on 95, I was having to maintain slight pressure on that left hand at all times to keep the bike pointing straight). I believe that part of my problem was weight imbalance. As I was looking left, I had shifted right, therefore putting weight on the right and making me careen toward the shoulder even faster. Scariest damn feeling in the whole world. Suddenly losing control at 75mph. I’m in control, then I am out of control, just that fast. The wind caught me, and just gently (but forcibly) pushed me on over. I wasted precious time trying to figure out what was going on. And then I hit the shoulder and my brain engaged (sort of). I remember saying “I do NOT want to hit that dirt and fall off this damn thing!” so I turned the bike left and applied maximum straight line braking, in a fairly smooth manner. I did one dumb panic thing and put my foot down, but just as quickly as I put it down, I picked it up again, as clearly that wasn’t right! I didn’t hurt my foot…really, it was a quick thing, that I quickly rethought, so my foot was fine. I got myself stabilized, and slowed down to about 35 or 40 in the shoulder. Brian was riding sweep and had pulled over to the shoulder with me. I got it together with out stopping completely (which, in retrospect, I probably should have done, to get Brian and Russell’s opinions on what happened so I could keep it from happening again, and so that I could shake it off). Anyway, I managed to get an “OK” sign up to Brian so he’d know I was OK, and we kept rolling. Serious brown moment for me. I was pulled like this two other times. The second time, I fought with the bike like a bitch to keep going straight! NO WAY was I going to the shoulder again. The third time, I overcorrected. Didn’t go over the yellow lines or anything, but was disappointed to have overcorrected anyway. I just was so upset, and so did NOT want to have anything to do with that shoulder again, that I fixed the problem a little too hard core. Brian, Russell and Gleno believe that I just lost my focus. It was the end of a long hot day, I was almost to Glenoz, I was noticing the beautiful scenery, and I didn’t notice what the wind was doing. I believe they are right. Anyway, this incident affected the ride home as I was petrified of the wind, and I think this is what wore me out so soon. I was so stressed over it, I had sort of a death grip on the bike, and was using a lot of mental energy to keep the bike where I wanted it to go. I had no problems on the way back. Brian and Russell said I looked great. And oh by the way, the winds were a lot heavier than on the way out. Yay me, I guess. But I still wish I could take back what happened on Friday. L One positive note though. I did keep the rubber side down. I did hear the words of Master Yoda and my MSF instructors come screaming into my head when I was headed for trouble, and it helped me get out. With the exception of putting my foot down, I did stabilize the bike fairly well. It is encouraging to know that I can keep at least keep some wits about me in a crisis situation. If not, I surely would have gone down. Well, that, and I truly believe God was with me that afternoon. I don’t know how many of y’all are Bible-believing fellas, but I am, and I know God helped me out that day. I just feel the need to take this time to get in some good PR for Him. Thanks Lord for bailing me out again. Anyway, we arrived at Glenoz shaken, not stirred, and had pizza, shot the breeze, and had a birthday party for his son Andrew. A good time was had by all. Hit the sheets late that night. We were having too much fun to go to sleep! Saturday: Saturday was cool! Well, actually it was hot since we were near Vegas, but whatever. After Russell and I returned from K-mart (it seems some motorcycling wife that goes by the name 90%angel forgot to bring some shorts and flip flops for padding around at Glenoz and at the Gugg, and had to go to the store and get some. If I see her, I’ll make sure to remind her to remember to bring non-moto clothes as well as moto clothes/gear on the next trip) ahem. Anyway, when we returned, Gleno and Brian were well underway strippin the RTs down nekked. We discovered that we needed some additional parts, so off Russell and I went to Yankee Cycles in Vegas. Sort of half BMW, half Harley stuff in this store. A weird combo to be sure. We fried. It was already in the 100s, at 10AM! Eesh. Spent the day working on Bikes. I read back issues of BMW ON, as well as Motorcycling magazine. Neither Russell or my bikes needed service so we just watched the others get their service and helped out where we could. Never thought I would be interested in spending a day working on bikes, but that crew made it fun. When Gleno got his throttle cable out, he was glad he replaced it. – it was worn out for sure! For lunch this day, we had bacon wrapped hot dogs. YUMMY! For dinner, we had bacon-wrapped shrimp and smoked salmon! (bacon-wrapped stuff is a deeeelight!) Brian and I aren’t seafood eaters and we loved the fish. Brian liked the shrimp too. I thought the flavor was excellente, but couldn’t get past the shrimp texture. My loss, I am sure! But now Terri gets some leftovers when she returns home (she was actually brave enough to let this crew go unsupervised for the weekend…left early Saturday for her parents wedding anniversary! We missed you Terri! Hope to hang out with you in Gunnison!) Anyway, Terri had also made up this awesome potato casserole dish before she left. AWESOME. I totally want the recipe. Put all that alongside sweet Hawaiian bread and some salad and we had a meal to behold. You’ll never leave Glenoz hungry. You can count on that. We crashed that night fat and happy. Sunday: Woke up and after an exciting moment wondering if we were going to get back into the “Garagemajal” (Glenoz garage) we hit the Gugg. “OK, what happened?” you ask. Well, when the guys completed their work on Saturday night, Gleno shouted to Brian and Russell on his way into the house to “lock up and turn the lights out when you leave” Well, the guys locked everything up tighter than a drum…including Glenoz keys in the garage! So we found ourselves in a bit of a pickle. Thankfully, Meghan don’t eat much or something, and her tiny butt fit in the side window of the bathroom. I still can’t get over how she fit in there! I wish I had thought to take a picture of the window. So she had to listen to Brian and Gleno call her a “tiny rock smoker” the rest of the weekend (as only a tiny rock smoker should have been able to fit…haha) Anyway, off to the Gugg. The gents rode the RTs, while us ladies took Glenoz truck. That way, the guys had a place to store their gear while at the Gugg. The Gugg was AWESOME!!! So much history. I was bummin’ that we couldn’t touch or photograph the bikes. I highly recommend a visit to the museum if you love motos. Very cool. We chowed at the food court at the Venetian, I lost a quarter to the slots, and then we headed home. Brian had a couple more tweaks to make to his bike, so I took that opportunity to score a short nap. Wanted to rest up for the ride ahead. We shot the breeze with Gleno some more, and some more, and some more…none of us wanted the weekend to end! I let Uncle Gleno ride Charlie around some. Hehe, he rode a bike with a sticker that says “90% Angel” on the back! Ha ha! His opinion was about like Russell’s – smooth moto and fun. Add the RT’s suspension and ABS and you’d have an awesome machine. Gleno hooked me up with a BMWRT.com reflective sticker before I left, as well as some highway peg brackets so next time I visit, I can ride out in comfort! Awesome. As soon as we get those installed and the fairing/windshield that Russell surprised me with (more on that later!), I’ll be set! OK. I will take a break from the play-by-play to tell you about this windshield business of Russell’s. He wanted to surprise me on the morning of the trip, by having me get on my bike and about 10 minutes later, shouting in the FRS “COOL, YOU INSTALLED A FAIRING!” Or the fantasy went something like that. Anyway, after much work with Rifle getting the right one, with the right paint, and trying to ensure it would come in on time, it finally showed up on Thursday night. “Perfect!”, he thought. An evening to install and we roll the next morning. Well, it turns out there were two blues for the K75 that model year, and he ended up with the other one. We were going to install it anyway, and just paint it the correct color when we got back, but alas, it’s kind of a bitch to install, and he didn’t want to install it, only to uninstall it, and then have to reinstall it! SO no fairing for me this time. Thanks for trying anyway, honey. OK. Back to the weekend. We ended up buggin out of Glenoz around 6:30pm on Sunday. A tad late. We took some fun little back roads to avoid the traffic on the 15 out of Vegas. Rode past the tiny town of Nipton, through the deserted town of Kelso and such. Nice and cool, as we left so late (well, not cool…had to be about the high 80s or so, but compared to the trip out there, that’s cool!) Ended up hopping on I 40, filling up in Ludlow, then stopping for dinner at Denny’s in Barstow. That’s when I decided I was toast and needed a nap, if only for a few hours. Brian and Meghan decided to plow on home. They saw flames on the 15 as they past from the latest So Cal brush fire, but unfortunately had no way to reach us to warn us. Fortunately, we squeaked through ourselves before they closed it on Monday afternoon. I was a bit disappointed in myself that I didn’t make it all the way home, but from the posts on this board, and what I have learned in my MSF class, part of motorcycling is knowing your limitations. It was midnight, I was tired, it was windy (which is hard on me mentally, and physically), and I just felt it was best to call it a day. Monday: As we were supposed to get in on Sunday night, but didn’t, and of course, Russell had an 8AM meeting he had to be back for, we got up at 4AM this morning and headed back into Orange County. We sure saw and smelled the smoke when we rode past where the fire was! L Anyway, the butt-ugly traffic part happened this morning on the 91 right after we got on it from the 15. An absolute parking lot all the way from the far side of Corona, to the 241 toll road escape… ur, exit which we took to whisk us away to OC. About 15 miles of stop and go hell ensued. Since I am a rookie, I wasn’t real comfortable lane-splitting. I felt bad for Russell hanging in there with me, even though all the other motos were splitting past us, probably wondering what our problem was! I sorta kinna split when we crossed over from the carpool lane (which was as slow or slower at times than the regular lanes) over to the 241 exit. I basically just snuck in to tiny holes that one can only fit into when on two wheels! I figure I need to put a few more miles on the bike, work on slow speed maneuvering a bit (although, I am getting a whole lot better at that I think) and perfect the art of braking smoothly, consistently (right now, I can brake smoother than a baby’s butt sometimes, and real wobbly other times…I need to be consistently smooth) before lane-splitting will be an option for me. Thanks to Russell for hanging in with me. It must have been tempting to say “f*#*@ this” and just split it on home. Especially being on the RT who hates to run at slow speeds like that. Muchos garcias for sticking by me! You da man! Summary: Well anyway, that’s my story and I am sticking to it. All in all, a good first ride. Learned some tough lessons, had a good time, kept the rubber side down, so it’s all good. Where am I going now? Thanks to Russell for being an excellent ride leader, and Brian for being an excellent sweep. It was nice being escorted by you fellas. Meghan, get your license girl! We’ll have a ton of fun. Gleno thanks again for being an awesome host and a wonderful human being. Terri you are awesome [give me the potato recipe], thanks again for opening up your home [give me the potato recipe], and hope you had fun at your parents [Lisa really needs the potato recipe] Peace out, don’t get blown over, and all that good stuff. P.S. Glenoz dog Hennessey is cool…next time I’m bringing an extra helmet and she’s coming home with us. Glenoz bike gets nekkid As does Brian's Gleno and Russell messin with Glenoz "equipment" The Bitchen Belair (not Fernando) in Glenoz garage Russell gets a "time out" after loosing Glenoz belhousing plug Hennessey trying to relax Prepare to BBQ... Glenoz digs Glenoz refrigerator really speaks to me Dr. Meghan prepares RT parts for surgery Brian's shirt says it all Henny Lovefest - part 1 Henny Lovefest - part 2 Russell gets in on the action Link to comment
Jim Moore Posted June 18, 2002 Share Posted June 18, 2002 Good story. It sounds like it was a fun ride. I'm sure that you have gotten plenty of advice about riding in the wind, but I would like to throw in my two cents worth. I read in one of Kieth Code's books that the key to riding in crosswinds is to maintain a very light grip on the handlebars. The theory is that the gusts move your upper body around. If you have a tight grip on the bars, that movement is transmitted to the handlebars, which causes large, unpredictable turning movements in the bike. This causes you to grip the handlebars tighter, which makes the situation worse. Whenever I get into a high crosswind situation, I force myself to almost let go of the handlebars. I still get moved around in my lane a little bit, but it seems to work much better than holding on for dear life and screaming bad words in my helmet, which was my old technique. Link to comment
Bill Poche Posted June 18, 2002 Share Posted June 18, 2002 What a treat to read about those riding conditions we never get to see in Kentucky. Great story and great pics too! Would love to see a pic of Charlie. I don't know much about his breed. Link to comment
90%angel Posted June 18, 2002 Author Share Posted June 18, 2002 Jim, Yes, Russell told me about riding loose as the best option in the wind before we left. I tried, but my brain just kept saying "hang on!" I would wiggle my arms around every so often to try and loosen up, but my body remained pretty rigid (I hardly moved at all other than to shift weight based on what the wind was doing, whereas I usually move around often so I don't get sore) and my grip was pretty strong (judging by the cramps in my hands at stops!). I will keep working on this. It is the opposite of what you "feel" you should do, but I know it is the right thing to do. Thanks for the advice...keep it coming. It was the advice from this board that I heard in my head during the time of the incident! Link to comment
Kathy R Posted June 18, 2002 Share Posted June 18, 2002 Awesome report Lisa.....I felt like I was there. Infact, while you described that wind getting ahold of you it brought to mind the many times that has happened to me too. Your candor is intoxicating. Your attitude is powerful. What a terrific first ride! With your ability to ride your ride you'll have many, many more great trips. And someday, you will love lane splitting. I think that is the greatest game around. I might ride out there just to do it! Loved seeing Gleno & his beastly Henny. What a sorry mug on Russell....he really was so sad about that rubber thingy!! Thanks for a great story. Link to comment
PhillyFlash Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Thanks for a great report, Lisa. Sounds like you learned a few lessons. Don't be too hard on yourself, though. This was your first "real" ride, and we've all been there. Some things you can't learn until you're out there - like riding in the wind. With experience it all comes together. Young Jedi is a good teacher. Just take your time, go at your own pace, and before you know it, things like riding in the wind will become second nature to you. Link to comment
Guest Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 In reply to: things like riding in the wind will become second nature to you. Even fun to do.... hard as that is to believe right now. Sometimes when the wind is up I go for a ride just to enjoy it. It's like dancing, once you know how, it's fun. Link to comment
Gleno Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Gurlfriend, great post, great pics. 'Specially like the one you opened the post with. Never seen a pic of my plate on the BBS before. Glad you had a good time here. That's all that really matters anyway. Now you see what all the fuss is about when two or more of us gets together. Ride, eat, repeat. Life is good. I tole Ter you want the tater recipe & she said what I said, "too bad, no way, uh uh, nope, not gonna happen, fergit it, nay, nil, nyet, nada, zip, tough cookies &.......ok, we'll email it to ya. BTW, Tommy Roe would purt near beat down his gramma just to get a peek at those bacon wrapped shrimp you passed on. Not to mention the hickory smoked, teriyaki glazed salmon topped with mango salsa. You be illin' sister. Anyol'way, it's always a treat to have the krew here, & now you've sampled the forbidden fruit. So get on your bad motor scooter & ride. Keep with the learnin'. Link to comment
90%angel Posted June 19, 2002 Author Share Posted June 19, 2002 Hey Gleno, I LOVED the salmon! Just filled up on so much of Terri's taters, I couldn't eat the entire humongous slab of fish you slung in front of me (seriously foks, had to be enough for 3 people!) Very bueno, indeed. I never eat fish, and I liked this one. FOr that, you can be proud! As for the shrimp, again, most excellent flavor, but I have a hang up with certain textures. I'm sure this is my loss. Next time invite Tommy and we'll share! Had a tremendous time. Next time I'd like to help out more too. (did you hear that Russell...me, your wife just volunteered to work on bikes!...This site is changing me...) Link to comment
russell_bynum Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 In reply to: Next time I'd like to help out more too. (did you hear that Russell...me, your wife just volunteered to work on bikes!...This site is changing me...) Ask and ye shall receive. The RT's on the high side of 34K...36K service will be in a week or so. You'll get your chance to get down and dirty with my nekked RT soon enough. Link to comment
90%angel Posted June 19, 2002 Author Share Posted June 19, 2002 What's this about being dirty and nekkid with the RT?!? . Please honey, this is a family site!!! Link to comment
daryll Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 I had the same sort of trouble with gusty winds during my first ride to Vegas. http://potassium.synclogic.net/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=UBB3&Number=12516&Search=true&Forum=UBB3&Words=gusty%20winds&Match=Entire%20Phrase&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Old=allposts&Main=12516 Glad you had a good ride and want to do more. I hope I get to see you soon. Link to comment
Jim Moore Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Russell- Are you going to do the throttle cables on your 36K? If so, can I come watch? Link to comment
russell_bynum Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Jim, I replaced the spare that Fernando gave me (after mine broke at DVD) right after I got back from DVD...around 28.5K...so I won't need it for a little while. But...if you want me to come down and help you do yours sometime, I'd be happy to. Link to comment
Jim Moore Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Russell- Thanks. That's an extremely generous offer. It won't be for a while, because I've been riding my GS alot. I'll let you know, and see if we can make it an "event." Link to comment
russell_bynum Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Poor bastard...has to decide between a new GS, and a well accessorized RT...and I'm not even going to talk about what you "have" to drive at work. Sounds like a plan. Maybe a Mini-SD-Tech Daze or somethin. Uh Oh...that's how it all starts. Next thing you know, you'll have 30 RT's in your driveway with the tupperware off. Link to comment
Sean Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Hey Lisa, Thanks for sharing your ride report with us. Sounds like you all had too much fun! Congrats on your progression in motorcycledom--your first long-distance trip on your own bike! I've ridden a K75 before (loaner from Brown BMW) and although I recall that it was a fun bike to ride, I do remember feeling quite "beaten up" after a short ~50 mile ride back down to Orange County since the K75 doesn't have a fairing. So, that's quite a challenge to ride an un-faired bike as far as you did! Take care. Link to comment
PhillyFlash Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 In reply to: Sounds like a plan. Maybe a Mini-SD-Tech Daze or somethin. Uh Oh...that's how it all starts. Next thing you know, you'll have 30 RT's in your driveway with the tupperware off. What? Did I hear someone say something about a mini tech daze in San Diego? I'm in! Link to comment
Sean Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Lisa, Looking at the Gunnison "Final Attendance Survey," you and Russell are both listed separately, both with attendance of "1." So does this mean that you're riding your K75 to Gunnison instead of riding pillion on Russell's RT? Link to comment
Shelly Posted June 20, 2002 Share Posted June 20, 2002 All I have to say is that you are awesome! You made your first big run. You should pat yourself on the back. Job well done! I enjoyed reading the account of the whole weekend! Link to comment
Gleno Posted June 20, 2002 Share Posted June 20, 2002 In. Hey Jim, make it for a time I can be there huh?? I missed all the good stuff at your place in Yuma, & I haven't ever really been to SD, 'cept when I was a kid. I need to come hang with the ToolMan someday soon anyway. Prolly not before Gunny tho'. Think you'll need to do it before then?? The only problem with tech stuff happening here is that I don't get to ride or see new places. Link to comment
90%angel Posted June 20, 2002 Author Share Posted June 20, 2002 No, I'll be two up. I wasn't sure how to do the Gunnison survey. On the one hand I am a passenger, but I am also a member of the site, so I didn't know if they wanted the members of the site to register individually so they could see who all was coming, or if they just wanted riders. They probly just wanted riders, in which case, I did it wrong. Oh well. Link to comment
Brant Herbert Posted June 20, 2002 Share Posted June 20, 2002 I didn't know if they wanted the members of the site to register individually so they could see who all was coming, or if they just wanted riders.color=blue> Either way was fine. You got counted and got to provide your input. That's all that mattered Link to comment
Brant Herbert Posted June 20, 2002 Share Posted June 20, 2002 Another Deck Taze in San Diego???? I'm in, too Link to comment
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