Fear, head-on
Yesterday was a telling test for me — Would I be able to get back on a motorcycle as a passenger, and not go out of my mind with fear.
I knew it was coming, when Jer asked me for confirmation that I’d like to ride on the back of his Ninja to go shopping for my necessary gear: “Ride or drive,” he asked, “It’s up to you.”
With some trepidation, I said “Ride.”
So we head over to his place to pick up the bike and the gear that I’d left there… And off we went on his bike. I asked him to make sure he was extra careful, not to go highway speeds if he could, and take the backroads until I was able to muster up the guts to pick up where I left off four weeks ago: Pure excitement and enjoyment on the back, not to mention, careful anticipation of driving on my own. I obviously won’t get there in an hour of driving.
We drove around for about an hour, and I told him to go ahead and take the freeway to Langley to drop in at Holeshot. By the time we were negotiating the entrance to the freeway, I felt lightheaded and genuinely ill. All I could think about was how damn much that pavement would hurt as I hit it, or how an impact at those speeds would crush every bone in my body.
Jeremy on his Ninja
I closed my eyes, and tried to remind myself why I loved being on a bike so much… Unfortunately, not much was coming to me at the time, because my left knee was aching under the tension of the left pant leg. But, before I knew it, we were back to managable speeds on 200th Street, and then I was getting off the bike at Holeshot.
I have to say, that those were the scariest few minutes of my life, but once I got past the fear, the memories of the adventure and freedom of being on a bike were starting to come back into my mind. (How easy it is to remind oneself, when you aren’t actually doing it!)
A super-amazing deal was found at the shop for a leather Icon jacket, so I picked it up… And I also picked out the gloves and helmet that I wanted but felt that the pricing was pretty extreme and thought I’d hold off until I checked the ‘net for some deals — Both of these things weren’t imperative as I had something to use in the meantime.
I’ve now ordered kevlar Icon jeans as well, and am looking forward to picking up a pair next weekend.
After the shopping ceased, we headed off to Penney’s (my Stepmother) for dinner — It was great to catch up with her, and she decided to join us for a ride to the night market in Richmond after we ate. This time, I elected to get on the back of her Harley, since it had been a long time since I rode with her… It was a fun ride, and my fear level dropped again.
Wow, I’d forgotten how comfortable the passenger seat is on a Harley!
Funny thing happened at the night market that night — Someone walked up to me and asked me how my leg was… I looked at him, and had no idea how he knew about my leg other than the obvious limp I was still sporting? He introduced himself: It was MJ! I laughed, because I really hadn’t seen many photos of him on his blog, and he’d never been out to a meetup when I was there. I had no idea how he recognized me because my hair was a mess, (from all the helmet wearing that day) and much shorter than what’s currently shown on this site. We talked for a few minutes, and then went our separate ways. It’s fun to run into people you’ve never met, but still seem to know so well from their blog!
And then, it was time to go home. We actually ran out of gas right in front of a gas station on the way, and when I got back on the bike, it clicked. I no longer felt like I was going to die, or was wondering how the pavement on that particular road was going to feel as it ripped apart my new jacket and pants.
I was back! And, it felt great.
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that rocks SO MUCH!
I remember after a car accident I had when I was 17, I was petrified of driving for a while. (I had hydroplaned & spun off the road at about 120kph… scared the dickens out of me.)
To this day, it makes me slightly nervous to change lanes in the rain on highways that have those big bubble markers instead of painted white lines, like basically every street in the US. But the overwhelming fear of driving faded pretty quickly. Phew.
All-right, that’s the way to go! Get back in that saddle.
And remember: Foamy Rules.
Nice photos of the ride.
spam
WooHoo!!! Back in the saddle again! Good on ya.
I just did a ride on the Sunshine Coast today, and look forward to doing a similar ride with you and Jeremy.
Yay, that’s awesome!
You are brave and wonderful (and beautiful too). Your courage inspires me!!
Really like the jacket… And here I was thinking I was going to impress you with the Master X hip hop jacket I smuggled into the country.
Hey, thanks guys! It felt good to have that ‘click’ finally (I say ‘finally’ after a WHOLE day) happen for me. I am not sure what I was expecting, but at least, I was able to overcome the intial terror. Yes, you heard me right… TERROR.
I guess I should have labelled that: Terror, head on… You get the point.
J: I’m *so* looking forward to finally doing any rides with you!! This has been a bit of a gong show so far, but I promise I’ll be fun to ride with when I do end up getting out there!!
V: Glad you like the jacket!! I should have gotten you to smuggle in some gear for me! (I’m quite sure you didn’t use your whole allotment)
Hi Tanya, I recognized you instantly, it was great to finally meet you and your beau, I hope I didn’t scare ya when I walked up without introducing myself right away, and I could tell you were thinking, “who *is* this guy? do I know him? And if hes a weirdo Jer could take ‘im…” What can I say, Im a blogger groupie.
So you say you were terrified, but it didnt stop ya from taking pics from the back of a speeding bike. For us! Your fans! You’re crazy! Er, I mean, courageous!
Your new jacket is super cool too.
So, my turn to say– “we totally should get together for coffee/tea/lemonade/drinks/cheesecake sometime in the near future!” Tee hee hee, we’ll catch up this summer, Im sure.
Hey MJ! (I’m busted, you’re right… I was totally thinking that [grin])
Taking photos on the back of a Harley which has a seat that feels like a carseat, and a backrest is easy! And, the shot of Jer behind us was simply me knowing how my camera shoots — I just turned the camera around and clicked! LOL!
How about next week (Thurs?) for that long-awaited catch up! We have tons to talk about, and I want to hear about how your job is going since *you never post anymore*
yay glad to hear you’re back in the saddle–err seat
I’m glad to hear you’re getting back into the saddle
Thursday would be spiffy, I’ll planit so I wont have to work late that night. I’ll send ya an email. Cheers!