Ride Your Own Ride
Riding through Northern New Mexico the vistas and terrain are ever-changing; from the colorful sandstone formations near Chimayo to the majestic peaks and green valleys of Cundiyo and Truchas.
Last Sunday was a perfect day for a ride from Santa Fe to Taos. The air was crisp and the skies were clear blue. Three friends and I took off up hwy 599, through the Tano Road area, to Tesuque. At the intersection to 285, we changed leads and I followed at the rear. (Two of my friends were riding on one bike so there were three bikes all together.) Traffic was not too heavy and the roads were dry. Just past Pojoque, we turned right on CR503 to Nambe. Shaded by a canopy of cottonwoods we made our way up the valley to the intersection of CR503 and CR520 to Chimayo. We decided to continue on 503 to the small town of Cundiyo. The sandstone, soon turned to pinon covered foothills making for a twisty, rolling ride. This road dips through several arroyos and after heavy rains, such as those the night before; the pavement becomes more of a dirt road. The small town of Cundiyo is quite charming; reminiscent of a small European town with narrow roads and small, charming homes. Just as we started out of town, a small grey kitty, decided to meander across the road. I slowed as he made a leisurely crossing and thought he must have a pretty good life here.
The road climbs out of Cundiyo and makes a rapid, steep decent to the next valley. The pavement is uneven and tight curves are thrown in for extra measure. I was now in the between the other two riders. I kept my speed down and stayed to the outside in order to avoid the traffic from the other direction. Whew! That was exciting.
From here we turned north on CR76 which took us up to the towns of Truchas and Trampas and Chamisal. I continued to follow in between the two bikes and kept my focus on the skills I’d learned throughout the MotoFemina project; taking an inside, outside, inside path of travel, countersteering through the curves and keeping my speed at one that I was comfortable maintaining.
Turning onto CR 75, it’s a short jaunt before the intersection that takes you up to Taos. So we were about ¾ of the way through our trip. As I came up on a curve, I noticed a Winnebago coming around the corner and crossing the center line by about 2 feet. I came out of the lean to avoid the Winnebago and just as you would expect, the bike took a straight line and I went straight into the guard rail, slid along the guard rail for approximately 15feet. The bike came to a stop, fell onto the guard rail and sent the front fender flying. I won’t go into how the rest of the day went but I would like to share what I learned.
Obviously I over reacted; coming to an upright position rather than coming out of the lean just enough to avoid being scraped but continuing to countersteer all the while.
Katherine (from MSF) was scheduled to come down this past weekend to train us on more advanced riding skills. Ironically those skills included stopping and braking in a curve, emergency reactions, countersteering and delayed apex to name a few. Since the bike was out of commission she was not able to train us on the road but rather went through these skills in a classroom setting. Her thoughts, her experience, and her lessons were eye-opening. After talking over the crash with Katherine, I realize I was riding above my mental skills and that going slower could possibly have prevented the crash. RIDE YOUR OWN RIDE. It’s easy to get caught up in following someone else. I did it on the race track some months back; trying to catch someone on a straight away only to have to brake before the corner because the speed was beyond my capability.
The TAKE HOME I got from Katherine: when you come to a turn that you can not see through, keep riding on the outside line, delaying the apex, until you can see, and then countersteer through the turn. Whenever you feel you are about to lose control in a curve, countersteer even more. As Laura said she learned from Torsten, “trust the bike”.
5 Comments:
Wow, Synth, I'm glad you're alright. Up until your crash the ride sounded great. Because I ride in groups fairly often, I'm a big advocate of "Ride your own ride." Luckily, the group I ride with is exactly that way, too.
My husband can take the twisties faster then me and I tell him "You go at your speed and I will catch up." He respects that. Usually he will go slower so we can stay together. Sometimes he will have me take the lead, as he gets tired of looking in his rearview mirror to see if I'm still there or not. LOL.
Don't let that incident get to you. Just take it slower. You've learned a lot and I know you will do great.
Betty :)
Synth, nice write up. I felt like I was riding through Northern New Mexico with you. So glad you are okay and still out riding. I really liked Katherine's suggestion last Saturday about taking rides and while riding thinking about all the different scenarios and how we would react to them if they were to manifest themselves. I'm eager to get more practice out on the road and really prepare for stuff like what happend to you on your ride. Phew! Again, I'm really glad you are okay.
Hi Synth,
My hat is off to you for getting back on your bike after the crash. The "What ifs" can play real head games with a person. I'm glad to hear, thru Laura & Jessica, that you are doing okay. I'm sure you got a few bruises and, if so, I hope they're healing fast.
Thanks for visiting my blog. As I wrote on my blog, wish I could come to the BMW rally and meet you, Laura & Jessica. After following your adventures this summer, I would love to be there to see who wins. I vote that all three of you win!!!
I had it on the calender months ago in hopes it would work out. My eldest son starts his first year of college in a couple of weeks, so we have this extra expense right now. Hopefully, some day we get a chance to meet.
I do hope to stop by the BMW store here today, just to see the motorcycle you are in competition for. I also have another incentive, I just got a coupon out of the newspaper last week for a chance to win an ipod there, lol.
Good luck to you and the others. The rally is around the corner.
Betty :)
I got out to the BMW dealership today and can you believe? They don't have any F650GS's in stock. I was told that particular motorcycle is so popular they can't keep it in stock. They do have one, but it's still in the box right now and is sold. It's 28" high, which may be just a tad too high for me. They can't get anymore in stock for quite a while.
Oh well. But I did manage to get my name in the drawing for the ipod AND!!! I was able to get another scavanger hunt photo while there. Eric, who works there, was kind enough to get his pic taken with my bike outside their dealership. I needed a photo of a motorcycle dealership with one of the dealer employees. So all was not lost, lol.
Great Summer Journeys, Betty:)
Hi,
Just had to let you know that I actually won the IPOD from the BMW dealership here in town!!! I got a call yesterday morning and went early afternoon to pick it up. I had them take a pic of me receiving it and posted it on my blog. They also took a pic and said they're posting it on their website soon.
They actually had a F650GS and let me sit on it!! I had Eric take a pic and just posted it on my blog yesterday. Sadly, it's about 2" too high, even after they lowered it. The new owner had it lowered at the factory, but not low enough for me. I'm told they can't get it much lower. I couldn't believe it when Eric told me the new owner was called a week ago that her bike was ready and she hadn't picked it up yet!?! I told him if it was mine I'd been there within the hour, lol. Most people I know would be like me, too.
I can definitely see the excitement over this motorcycle. When I sat on it, it felt sooo comfortable (aside from the fact I was on tippy toes, lol). It's silver and just beautiful. If I had been in the market for a bike and it was lower, I would have loved to take it for a spin. I would probably want to upgrade to more cc's, but this probably runs different. My current bike vibrates starting at 45-50 mph and I'm told this doesn't.
I haven't heard anything recent about your project. If you're like me, summer is just plain busy with everything going on. Have you ladies been doing anything special with the project lately? I'm getting excited with Sep 9th around the corner, I can only imagine how you feel. I wish all three of you the best of luck. I'm sad I won't be there in person, but I will be thinking about you all day. Please post quickly who won, or I will be dying here in Colorado of curiosity, lol.
Happy Journeys, Betty :)
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