Noob Journal: My First Ride... sort of

[emt250]

So after a painful process getting the title transferred from the previous owner to me (3 extra trips to the DMV), and waiting 15 days for my MSF waiver to arrive in the mail, I finally got to ride yesterday. I wrote up a little blog/journal thing mostly for myself, but I figured I would share it here and see what you all thought.

If you're thinking TLDR and don't want to read it all, here is the short version: I had fun, and didn't wreck my bike or hurt myself. If you're curious and don't mind wasting 5 minutes of your day, please read on.




The last time I sat down and wrote anything was a grocery list, and the time before that was a college research paper about propaganda in the First World War. I do, or rather, I did enjoy writing when I was younger. Never being very good at it, I kept everything I wrote to myself, but it was a hobby of mine nonetheless. Then I enrolled in college as a history major and every research paper I wrote slowly but surely killed my enjoyment of writing. That being said, today I hope to rekindle the love of an old passion of mine with the start of a new one.

I’m not sure there is really anyway to easily describe how I felt yesterday. I could put in writing a long list of mixed emotions along with some confusing metaphor but ultimately anyone reading this who has ever ridden a bike before knows exactly how I felt. You remember that first time you rode on two motorized wheels, don’t you? I think everyone does and although we all shared that experience on different streets, roads, cul-de-sacs and parking lots around the globe we all had that same sh*t eating grin on our faces and were probably thinking something along the lines of “this. is. awesome!”

My first experience was short, sweet and very humbling. I didn’t strap on my gear, start the engine and hit the open highway with the wind rushing through my visor and "born to be wild" playing in the background. I could instead almost hear the Yakity Sax music from the Benny Hill Show playing while I fumbled around with my new helmet, dropped my gloves (twice) killed the engine after I thought I had choked it enough, and made other stupid errors. I was, to say the least, a little nervous. Still, I knew getting into this that my first days, months and years of riding would always be a continual learning process. With that in mind and some help from a friend I got out of the driveway and onto the street.

My buddy and I had planned to travel to the parking lot of a local university which is only a few miles away. It was around 7pm and the ride there is fairly easy, but after riding up the street and back to get the feel of the bike I knew that idea was out of the question. I had to remind myself that even after the msf course I was still 99% a newbie. After all, I had only graduated from an enclosed parking lot environment. Could I have made it to campus though? Yes, with a few hiccups and maybe a stall or two I probably could have okay. Was it worth trying? probably not. My friend assured me that it was no big deal as he only wanted to help me learn, and that getting comfortable with my new bike and the skills I “learned” at the MSF course were the best goals for the evening.

So I rode up and down the street and around the neighborhood a little, all the while practicing shifting, stopping, and turning slowly. My first ride was probably only a little more than a mile or two in distance, but I was too happy to care that I didn’t make it off my own street. Even though I did not do everything correctly I didn’t hit anything or drop the bike, which is a good enough start in my book. All in all I did not travel far that day, and I doubt I will go very far the next time either, but I do hope that it was the beginning of a very long and exciting adventure.




So there it is. Leave comments if you want, Im open to advice, compliments and criticism. I'm planning on writing more everytime I reach a new milestone in my riding career so If you enjoyed this and want to read the next one I'll post that as well.

Thanks,

-Scotty

[Alex]

Good work! If you are planning to post up on the first few rides, consider putting it up into the Blog section of the site; it may be an even better way to organize your thoughts than in the thread-only format...

[CC Cowboy]

Short verson was just perfect. Keep up the good work.

[kkim]

welcome to the club.

[emt250]

Originally Posted by Alex

Good work! If you are planning to post up on the first few rides, consider putting it up into the Blog section of the site; it may be an even better way to organize your thoughts than in the thread-only format...

Didn't realize that was even there. Will put em there from now on. Ty ty.

[talldrink]

Nice write-up Scott. I remember the feeling very well.

[komohana]

Originally Posted by emt250

I didn’t strap on my gear, start the engine and hit the open highway with the wind rushing through my visor and "born to be wild" playing in the background. I could instead almost hear the Yakity Sax music from the Benny Hill Show playing

enjoyed reading bout yer first time. definately worth the extra minutes. looking fwd. to more scotty.

aloha

[g21-30]

You can do it! Just keep at it.

[BlueTyke]

Very nice!!

[tjkamper]

Nice job!

[almost40]

Baby steps, but still moving forward. Enjoy the ride.

[noche_caliente]

Baby steps are important! Without them, we wouldn't learn to run. I think it's great that you are taking it slowly and not pushing yourself onto busy streets before you are absolutely ready!

[OldGuy]

Thanks for sharing Scott. Got a lot of confidence in you just based on your smart decision on the first night. Have fun and remember ATGATT.

[Strider]

Congrats Scott
It's always fun to read/hear about other people's experiences, and I'm glad you took the time to write all this up to share it with the rest of us

and as OldGuy says : ATGATT !!! Remember it , it saved my life.

[Angel-be-Good]

Why yes, I do believe my first ride involved a super-sized S.E.G.

In fact, most of my rides illicit an S.E.G. You can now look forward to one every time you go somewhere

[Neema12]

I rode for the first time outside my msf yesturday the story is almost identical to yours

[emt250]

Thank you all for the comments. I'm very proud of my baby steps And I will definitely be ATGATT.

I finally got out there again and made it to that elusive parking lot. It was a nice, fun little ride with low traffic. Also the roads were very familiar so, while it wasn't making me complacent in looking for hazards, I at least knew ahead of time where all of the turns and signals were going to be.

Originally Posted by Neema12

I rode for the first time outside my msf yesturday the story is almost identical to yours

Congratulations! How far did you end up going?



Oh, and as a little post script, my old college roommate just bought a 2005 Ninja 250 with zero prompting or anything for me. I'll direct him here for sure

[zenxfour]

My story is similiar...but I bought my bike first, got the gear...then had a friend ride it to a parking lot for me. He had me do everything correctly. Finding the friction zone, rocking back and forth until I was... off... my legs magically wanted to get on the pegs and they did and I was riding... confidence rised and by the end of the 2 hour session, I felt that feeling we're all talking about... 'this is awesome'... scary at first but it's a good scary, it will tame you. I rode twice more in a lot, got my permit then started my MSF class a week later (alternate+late guy=happy me). Rode on the street for the first time last Sat... zipped all over my town, had some uncomfortable moments..but didn't drop it, or do anything severly wrong. Did stall in front of 5 cars..but I got her going and again my confidence rose. Thinking about riding to work to see the ride...but..it's 8 miles and maybe I'm not ready. This Sunday is my final range ride... just got a 100 on my multiple choice test last night.

This is going to change my life...

[tjkamper]

way to go Fredie!