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Ode To A Newbie - Part I
aka "41 Mile Journey Report" |
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Just listening to Kobi discuss our grand ride was a trip down memory lane for me. Her enthusiasm was
intertwined with anxiety; her longing for an unknown experience fueling both. How refreshing it is to
be around a new rider (no offense to my Iron Butt riding buds though) and witness how a 41 mile ride in her
world was on the same scale as the Four Corner Tour in mine. I mentioned to her how I wished there was
a way I could share her enthusiasm with other riders, particularly new riders, who have the same bone-chilling
fear about hopping on two wheels and diving into traffic. She said she wished there was a way that
experienced riders could be reminded that they too were newbies once and to be gentle... and thus the idea
of this 41 mile Journey Report was born.
When I met Kobi I was sitting on a motorcycle surrounded by several other friends who were also mounted on
their favorite two wheels. She said something about she would never get on a motorcycle, thought they
were dangerous, etc., and I think I replied something along the lines of I'd never, ever heard of a motorcycle
assaulting or killing a person, that motorcycles hurt people as much as forks make people fat.
Kobi had decided that riding to White Tank Mountain Regional Park in west Phoenix would be her next big challenge to tackle after many miles of two lane neighborhood jaunts. The plan was we would ride over to the park, ride through the park, then ride back to the starting location. There would be no interstate (that's probably Step 24 from now), no fast speeds (“fast” being defined by Kobi as “above 50mph”), but we would see several red lights, merging traffic, and possibly a slight road construction delay. This is Phoenix for goodness sakes so weather would be clear, sunny, and dry. Kobi said she had figured out there would be a grand total of 5 turns and 19 miles going, 7 turns and 22 miles returning, which included riding through the park itself. I don't know if she used a mapping program or not to determine this information. Nonetheless, we set a date for the adventure and this report details the journey.
I thought it most appropriate that I join Kobi for our big ride on my very first “real” bike, a 1991
CBR F2 (yes, it has F3 plastics for the astute reader). Many bikes have come and gone in my stable
but for some reason I've kept my first new bike. My friends joke that when it is finally put out
to pasture I'll probably make a flower box out of it or something. Despite newer and bigger
stablemates, it still gets ridden regularly; in fact, I did what I called the “Memory Tour” on it a
few summers ago running amuck on the East Coast. Anyway, I elected to take the CBR for this
grand event. We didn't even get out of my neighborhood before Kobi decided we should pull over and take a photo... of me:
The reason for the rare pic of me on the CBR (or any bike for that matter) is because of what happened a few miles later:
That's right, the little one turned 60,000 and runs like a champ!
We continued on and crossed over the railroad tracks, went through several stoplights, and saw several stop signs. Each brief pause at the stops allowed me to insure that Kobi was still breathing. I either heard “I'm fine” or saw a thumbs up each time so onward we went. After taking side streets 16 miles we make it to the turn off to the White Tank Regional Mountain Park and so I pulled over to take this pic:
You can't tell from the photo but Kobi is quite anxious. The combination of the speed limit sign (her highest speed ever) and the “whoop-dedoo” of the road ahead was causing self-doubt in handling the situation. “I didn't plan for the road to do this ya know.” Yes, I know it is completely desolate, but when you're a new rider it doesn't matter. Fear is fear. After reassuring her that she could indeed handle the road, we proceeded on.
The road leading to the park gate is several miles long and is one of the only few roads in the greater
Phoenix area that is not completely straight and flat (I live off the other such road). We make it
to the entrance gate only to find there is a wee bit of gravel due to construction that we must
cross. Uh-oh. I was prepared to hear Kobi say – or scream – that she wanted to turn around,
but, alas, her confidence was rolling and I heard a “Let's Go!” so I snapped this and off we went:
Here she is after dancing a jig in celebration of making it this far:
After stopping at the gate she said she wanted to take a break so we decided we'd take a short break at the pullouts, which would allow her to feel more comfortable in the rare case that someone else might actually come up behind her and wish to pass:
We proceed through the park at park speed which was a blazing 15mph. After rounding a turn, I saw this sign and decided I better pull over just too make sure my dear friend wasn't going to be freaked out with seeing a deer warning sign:
I told her that the sign was likely erected for legality reasons since someone probably spotted a single
deer in the vicinity a decade ago and I wouldn't worry about Bambi jumping out in front of us. I think
I added something like “Aside from the fact we're cruising at walking speed, don't worry about deer ...who
ever heard of deer around here anyway?”
Just off to the right in the photo across from the red vehicle is the park's Visitor Center, which is a converted mobile home. According to the map Kobi consulted in preparation for this journey, after passing the Visitor Center the road simply loops backs to the VC. We decided we would stop when we passed back. Here's another “Let's stop for a minute and take a break” picture:
So, we loop back around and get to the Visitor Center. Bikes are successfully parked (“Wow, I feel like a real rider!” she said), and as I was taking a photo of our bikes with the VC sign in the background, Kobi forfeits her victory pose and energetically yells “LOOK” and points:
What would you guess she's pointing at?
That's right, two damn deer!
Here's more of the rarity:
Maybe it's just me but there's something odd looking to me about seeing a deer and a Saguaro cactus together. Kobi and I both wondered what these deer do in the summer when it's 250 degrees outside and there's no shade and no water. Here's the VC....
... and here are the GPS coordinates of the White Tank Mountain Regional Park: N33 34.15 W112 32.81
We quickly perused the Visitor Center and looked at desert creatures in cages that I'd prefer
never to see outside of a controlled environment like snakes, scorpions, Gila Monsters,
etc. All I kept thinking about was the deer while I'm guessing all Kobi kept thinking
about was a stiff drink. Kobi said she was ready for the return ride so we mounted up
and proceeded to exit the park. We were back on the 50mph whoopdeedo road then after
topping the last “do”, I saw a black dog in the middle of our lane charging straight at
us. I think my heart stopped. I was confident I could maintain control of my
bike in a slide but I wasn't sure about Kobi, nor was I sure if she even saw the dog, or
better yet, what direction the dog would take after seeing me. I jumped on the horn
and the brakes and decided to see if I could slide the bike to the right to give Kobi more
of an exit going left (no cars in oncoming lane) and hopefully avoid me and the dog. I
slid right, the dog went to the right off the road and Kobi reacted perfectly. She
locked up the rear wheel but did exactly what she needed to do, which was to stay on the
brake and ride the slide out. After both coming to a stop we got the bikes off to
the side of he road. I had no idea what expression and subsequent emotion was going
to come after she lifted her helmet but I was guessing maybe tears from sheer fear. Instead,
she whipped her helmet off and was smiling from ear to ear. “I did it!! I handled
a bad situation!” Thank freakin' goodness!! I couldn't have been more relieved at
the outcome of the situation..... not only did we successfully avoid disaster but Kobi gained
some much needed confidence. Woo-hoo!
We made it back to the starting point where Kobi quickly dismounted, took her helmet off and proclaimed: “Victory!!” followed by “Now I need either a shot of hard liquor or a nap, or both! I'm worn out!!” I could see that the intense concentration and emotional whoopdeedos had taken their toll and that the real celebration would need to commence later. I said I completely understood since I can clearly recall going on my first big excursion across town from where I lived and felt as if I had traveled to another state. Who doesn't remember those early days of riding and all the mixed emotions that the process involved? I try to remind Kobi that every rider was once an intimidated newbie too, and that everyone must go through a learning curve (ok, so some rider's apex is a little tighter than others) but with practice the anxiety eventually gives way to all that reasons that keep each of us longing for the next ride. Thanks, Kobi, for letting me be a part of your journey! AGirl P.S. Here's Kobi on her next bike, a 2007 Hayabusa ....ok, just kidding, this was while she was perusing the Phoenix International Motorcycle Show
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This is a 41
mile Journey Report. Yes, 41 round trip miles. Throughout my website are reports of 7,780
miles (
In the world of motorcycling there is no standard of what “hey, wanna join me for a ride” might entail. I
mean, if someone called and said “Hey, wanna play a game of tennis?” or “How about let's go golfing?” you'd
have a really good guess what this invitation was involving. With motorcycling, you don't have a clue
about what you're being asked to join. I mean, I've answered the phone to “Wanna go on a ride?” and
after further details the ride involved going somewhere rather quickly (such as 1631 miles in 24 hours) or
rather lengthy (AZ to VT). Recently, the caller was my dear friend Kobi who enthusiastically announced
“Please, please go on a really big ride with me?!” Being that Kobi is a recent MSF (Motorcycle Safety
Foundation) school graduate, it might be easier to understand not only her enthusiasm but that the “really
big ride” part translated to 41 miles.
Somehow by the end of the meal I was explaining not only about the basic motorcycle training classes (MSF)
but answering where she could sign up for a MSF class. Fast forward a year or so and here she is a
licensed operator whose experience amounts to side streets, neighborhood roads, a few stop signs, a train
track, one red light, and a top speed of probably 45mph. Like many riders, and it seems to me
particularly female riders, Kobi has the skill and the knowledge but she lacks the confidence. I
encourage her but never, ever have I pushed her to go beyond what she feels is comfortable; I've joined her
on numerous neighborhood rides, typically using the time to warm up my chain for cleaning (hey, the rides
are that short). When she called and asked if I'd join her Grand Debut Outside The Neighborhood Ride
I obliged and said such a monumental occasion would certainly necessitate a Journey Report.
Not bad for a race bike, eh?
Even worse, they cross the road where we had just been! I couldn't believe it.
Look closely in the photo on the left side of the road and you'll see one of the deer. Just
behind it you can the back side of the yellow deer warning sign. Oh, geez.
