And...Action!
The last couple weeks have been busy for the MotoFemina cast and crew. We invaded the shop at Santa Fe BMW on a Sunday morning and were transformed into MotoFemina. Thanks to Angela and Chaunda who both helped us play with the theme of being feminine along with serious motorcycle riders. We also learned a bit about the women's specific line of riding gear BMW offers - it was like Christmas morning when we realized the big pile of boxes were ours. We each got a full BMW riding outfit - I got the InoTex2 suit, boots, gloves and a beautiful (and expensive) Arai helmet (Astral-X).
After much anticipation, we finally got to ride the F650 GS. What a great bike! Katherine and her husband Ashley were a good teaching tag-team and eased us into our first day on the bike. The 650 felt quite a bit different than the small bikes we rode in the MSF course. After a bit of practice handling the bike in a parking lot, it wasn't long before we were ready to hit the open road. On Sunday, with Patty in front and Tina behind, we explored the roads of Santa Fe and got a bit more experience on the bike. Tina showed up with her new Ducati Monster (just one day old) and Patty shared some of the tips and tricks she's learned from her BMW 650 CS. Dealing with traffic, the sites and sounds, and the bike was what I had been waiting for. I stalled it a couple times at a few stop signs but I just kept telling myself "okay Laura, you know where the clutch and starter button are, if it stalls, just start it back up and go." A little self help pep talk going on under the helmet.
Pictures: 1) Taking over the shop 2) Chaunda shows us the finer points of makeup application 3)Getting a few last minute tips from Katherine. 4) Patty in the lead. 5) Tina showing off her hot new bike.
posted by Laura at 8:10 PM
3 Comments:
I'm laughing! Your comment about having your own pep talk, so true!
I had a few of the not so peppy talks too with the "geez,not again, if only the blinker went off automatically".
I wonder what the conversation will be the next time out.
By the way, you looked great out there Laura!
Hi Laura,
That is so cool that you three ladies are able to participate in this project. I really enjoyed reading your post about this last weekend and I felt your excitement as you got your gear and rode your bikes.
Like I told Jessica, the clutch and throttle is the one thing that most motorcyclist have the hardest time mastering and each bike is different. All of us have been there, and yes, at the stop sign or stop light (sigh). And that is something that still can happen. So don't let that bother you. It just takes practice. When you stall, just say to yourself "Oh well, I will get better" and before you know it, you will have mastered it. We all want to be able to just jump on the bike and be a master and most people just can't.
Everyone looks great in your new gear. I am having a lot of fun hearing all about it. Best wishes to all, Betty :)
What's bad is if you want to hit your horn and keep getting the turn signals (ugh!!). Once when I needed my horn, I couldn't find it. A lot of good the lights were going to do me with a car coming into my lane from my side. After that every now and then I practice going for the horn. Those two switches are too close together.
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