In one word...Thrilling!

Synth getting tips from Tina


Jessica getting ready for her ride


Me... having fun dusting off the bike?

I took some time to reflect on the weekend and wondered how I would describe the feelings of accomplishing the challenges that were thrown at us. Knowing that I can pick the GS up if I were to drop it (knocking on wood) and riding the bike safely on gravel and dirt roads thrills me. With those two nuggets of knowledge I feel such freedom.

When we arrived at Santa Fe BMW for our mechanical challenge on Saturday I was a bit nervous. Word on the street was that there was an ad in the paper inviting people to come watch. The idea that there might be a few spectators added to my already budding nervousness. Jess and I were smart enough to let Synth go first. She seemed to have studied the technique and didn't have any problem getting the bike up. I followed using the same technique. I remember a moment of panic when I first tugged on the bike... it didn't move! All these things started racing through my head. I hadn' t made a plan B if following Synthia's lead didn't work out. What if I couldn't pick up the bike? As I started to panic, I pushed back on the bike at the same time that I was trying to lift and it slowly started to come up. Phew! Congrats to Jess who also didn't seem to have a problem lifting the bike and won the prize (have you seen her guns? - pictured above - no wonder).

The dirt! Well I have to admit I was feeling pretty confident about the dirt challenge - until I drove my car up the road. Whoa. I've ridden mountain bikes a bit and remember riding my cousins little fat tire motorcycle on gravel roads when I was young but wasn't sure if I was ready to maneuver the bike through what I had just driven up. I was glad the mentors were going to coach us through it. I remember feeling a bit of trepidation coming down the steeper part of the road. I took Tina and Patti's advice and kept the bike in first gear on the steep part. I also only used my back brake. I kept telling myself "it's okay if it fish-tails a little bit - that's perfectly normal" but luckily I didn't have to stop fast enough to make the bike do that. Going up hill almost seemed more technical in some ways. I had a good time standing up on the pegs and practicing using my weight to make the bike more stable. It felt adventurous.

Thanks to Tina and Patti (and Mike and Horst) for their guidance and patience riding with and mentoring us. I really do feel very lucky to be a part of this project and have a built-in knowledge base and support group. Your coaching and advice helped us all to progress faster than we thought possible. I can't wait to ride with all of you.