sketched the fuck out

[SoarAndEnvision]

Alright I got my bike parts in after 2 weeks post crash - hooked them up an 9k loud ass rpm off we went wheelies and all....


then I hit some mostly familiar twisties with one of my more aggressive rider friends on his gixxer that always brought the squid in me...

however I was really off my game.
Every turn I took I was nervous, my peripheral vision racing, not wanting to fixate, not wanting to do anything stupid and not understanding why I was being so apprehensive.

My friend said it was a natural post-crash reaction.

Opinions.

 

[SuperMike]

Slow down. Get your legs back before you speed back up.

 

[machete]

go to a trackday. and quit riding over your head. a friendly comment, so don't feel you are being bagged on.

but if you are having problems dealing with riding after a crash...why are you kicking it into high gear in the twisties? recipe for disaster...just ask urineclit over in the southbay.

 

[MrCrash]

Some structure might do ya well. A novice track school maybe?

 

[Z3n]

Go to the track. It's cheaper than a speeding ticket, it only requires that you buy the gear you should already own. Reg pridmore's class is good too, as are any of the other schools.

Stop riding with friends that make you ride like a squid.

 

[SoarAndEnvision]

hmm. interesting thoughts. I guess the tone of this thread came off wrong.

I think everything that was going on yesterday was very psychological, and had nothing to do with my riding ability. I had just taken a midterm in the morning and I think there has been an excess of nicotine and other stimulants in my body over the last couple months.

But those that know me know the big joke about me and a track day, but I think it'd be a big step toward being a better rider.

Thanks again.

 

[machete]

hmm. interesting thoughts. I guess the tone of this thread came off wrong.

I think everything that was going on yesterday was very psychological, and had nothing to do with my riding ability. I had just taken a midterm in the morning and I think there has been an excess of nicotine and other stimulants in my body over the last couple months.

But those that know me know the big joke about me and a track day, but I think it'd be a big step toward being a better rider.

Thanks again.

denial of your skills can get you hurt. make sure you are being true to yourself about how well you ride. cause if you get sketched out, then maybe you don't ride so well right now. that could be influenced by not only your mad cornering skills, but also by outside events, and mental thoughts. nobody likes to be told that they don't ride well at the present moment, but you yourself said, that your friend brings out the "squid" in you.

so others have said...don't ride with them. for now at least.

besides, if school and outside things are affecting your riding ability, you should be able to recognize that before you get on your bike...it's part of being a responsible rider. i'm just saying....
:2cents

 

[budbandit]

I am confused, are you rippin' off wheelies and bangin' off redline or are you nervous and wobbly and riding like shit? Generally speaking if you have been off the bike for a while and especially if you have been off the bike for a while because you wadded then you should chill the fuck out and take some time working back into it.

It is also probably a good idea to get a handle on why you wadded and if you are talking about all sorts of stimulants I suspect you might want to be careful about riding under the influence or while hung over from whatever.

Slow and steady wins the race.

 

[edmo]

You're going to die trying to keep up with your "friends".

 

[Calyel]

it's never a good idea to try and chase someone you know or race someone you don't. if you know the destination, just get there. if they're leading you, its everyone's responsibility to get everyone there.

I think it takes different people different amounts of time to "shake" that feeling of being off your "game" as you called it. took me months to get comfortable splitting lanes, and doing twisties after my crash. didn't mean i didn't do it, i just modified it.

For me I got tense, makes it more difficult to ride if i'm tense so I slowed down to feel more relaxed, to enjoy the ride not the speed. It's not the tendancy to lose skill necessarily, but just loss of some comfort on being on two wheels.

IMO, motorcycling is a life long learning process and it takes practice, anyone who thinks they can't improve or learn something new is just kidding themselves.

 

[aszrael1266]

After my acident it took me some time to get the feel of it again. When i do go out for a ride if i ever have a bad feeling like somthing is wrong or doesn't feel right i pull over check the bike make sure its in order then take a look at how im riding.

 

[Dove]

Just go to a track day - you'll find that riding on the street like a "squid" (as you so eloquently put it) isn't nearly as much fun as riding like a complete and total throttle-happy-ham-fisted-wheelie-monster-hero on the track.

Money spent on a trackday is money well spent imho. :2cents

 

[SoarAndEnvision]

Rick I think thats a pretty on-point analysis. A lot of why I had so much second guessing going on is because I went down on a maneuver that was way below my ability and there was no reason why it "should" have happened.

But yeah getting on the bike with a clear mind is probably something I should watch for with everything going on.
Althought there's always that "maybe when I ride I'll be able to calm the hell down from everything" which works a lot of the time - I'm sure all of us have used our horses for theraputic reasons in that regard.

Leyla - that's exactly what I ended up doing and by yesterday things were a lot better and I'm gonna hit skyline later and I have a feeling things are back where they are supposed to be - so we'll see.

Whats funny is I usually lead that guy which is why he was like "dude are you okay?" lol

But yeah Chris, basically that's been the conclusion that I'm gonna be reaching for the reasons you stated . Maybe a few more drunken campaigns by Shawn will set me straight.

Thanks again for all the input

"I got ma' mind right boss!"

:teeth