My birthday and my first real ride!

June 1, 2008

Happy 37th birthday to me! I had lots of practice in the driveway and up and down our little road but hadn't been able to get out for a real ride as our friend Bob had surgery on his wrist and had been unable to ride at that point. For a birthday gift he said that he would supervise me while I practiced at the Juan De Fuca parking lot. He was going to meet us there I didn't want to ride the bike there so Peter rode the bike for me and I followed him in the car.

Bob asked me to do a few things like an emergency stop, and some u turns so he could see how I was doing. After about 10 minutes he told me to go out of the parking lot and ride down the road and turn back into the parking lot. There are 3 lots connected together by this one road.  As long as he could see me it was okay for me to do this. Meanwhile I was trying to remember to look after I stopped and use my turn signals (and remember to turn them off). After about half an hour of riding all over these 3 lots, Bob and Peter looked at each other then looked at me. They agreed that I was ready to ride in traffic. I asked them if they were sure and they told me that I was more than ready to ride the bike home!

So, they all hop in the car and they follow me out of the parking lot. That first ride was a bit scary but I was confident that I could do it. I didn't even stall the engine! Now I just had to take my course and my road test and I was ready to ride my own!

Next...VILR and the Canada Day Ride!