Hmmm Confidence gone..

[Lord Vader]

Went out with young whealie for a nice day of lanes in stunning weather. Just did not turn out that way
Met up with Chris and after a quick coffee we where of to the first lane. Nothing dramatic,a bit slippy do to the mud but ok. Dont know what happened but it felt like i never been offroad before. A little front wheel slipping and the rear stepped out a little a few times but it scared the sh*t out of me.Real strange
Now i had not had a fun ride since may on my bike,all of it just the daily comute.Now my comute is only 16 miles return but i ride everyday in all weathers,so in my head i was expierienced as i was riding daily, WRONG
Completly a different ballgame suddenly. I noticed my decission making on the busy A13 and M25 where not as good anymore as when i still commuted into London every day. I just thought i was a bit slow and did not think more of it. Coming to the lane i started of like i did last time i did a similar lane in shropshire in may. Neary dumped her after the first 100m. Took it slower than and tried to get into a rytham but somehow it never clicked today. At the end of the lane i had a quick chat to chris and told him my head was not right and to stick to the easy lanes
Now maybe it was my accent or maybe chris did not have all his wires plugged in yet but the next lane he took me up was a bit too much for both of us
I dumped mine first,by the time i caught up with chris he discovered that the combination of a steep,wet,leafy chalk Hill and fat bikes with useless riders are a bad combination
I might have been slow to catch up but quick enough for these





Didnt help my confidence a bit
Did a short stretch of the pilgrims way but by than i had enough. Didnt want to do anymore lanes,Sorry Chris
We had a cuppa in a cafe in Otford and went our ways
Now i made a decission to get out more with the bike for fun even if this is a bit tricky financially at times.
Just thought if this sort of thing can happen so quick even with my daily comute how do the guys cope which put their bikes away over winter?
I would love to see a statistic of "Rider error" accident at the beginning of the riding season compare to the end

 

[Whealie]

Only afterwards did I notice that the problem byway had been closed to motor vehicles (oops), but the others were straightforward. We all have those days, on the road too sometimes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Philwhiskeydrinker]

We all have days like that Pete, my ride back from the NEC bike show was dreadful!
Hopefully the next will feel better for you

 

[hotbulb]

Or was it just that the bikes were a bit tired after the Christmas/NewYear festivities, and needed a lie-down?

 

[Lulu]

While accepting that I am very much a novice rider and therefore comparison may not be useful (and certainly I am not brave enough to mess with the muddy stuff) I know exactly that feeling of lack of confidence. Sometimes I start off a ride and it all comes together and feels smooth and easy and overwhelmingly enjoyable. Another time I get off to a bad start and it all goes to pieces. I think tiredness is a big no-no for me and I also think that once I've lost confidence on a ride, it all goes downhill rapidly (and not in a good way!). Sometimes better just to turn round and start again another day. :|

 

[Lowflyer]

Wouldn't worry Pete, we all have off days. Seen myself turning the bike around and going back home due to " not feeling in the groove "
More practice in drier conditions I would say

Good luck

 

[africajim]

Agree with most here, good days and bad days. I've had days where confidence is dented and at speed that can be more deadly than a drop on a muddy track. Try a VFR1200 on a bad day with traction control coming on mid corner!

Maybe just too big a change of riding style too fast Peter, don't lose hope mate, better says will come!

By the way, your book arrived in the post on Hogmanay, a very lovely city to explore mate!

Speak soon.

 

[Barftone]

Heavy bike, no grip, wet on the ground....not that surprising. If you had been out on a KTM200 with new knobblies it would have been a fun piece of cake.

 

[austin]

I often have bad days on the bike and its usually due to not relaxing on the bike....sort of perching on top of It, stiff shoulders and tight arms on the bars and legs all tense. As a result everything feels all on edge and the bike feels like its got no grip as I "thrupenny bit" my way round corners coz I am looking at the road in front rather than through the corner.

The solution is easier said than done - consciously relax and almost slump into the bike and start looking ahead rather than just in front. And I know it's wrong, but a 1/2 pint of beer don't half help too.

 

[Rubberchicken]

Now maybe it was my accent or maybe chris did not have all his wires plugged in yet but the next lane he took me up was a bit too much for both of us

Whealie's been taking tips from J then?

Just thought if this sort of thing can happen so quick even with my daily comute how do the guys cope which put their bikes away over winter?
I would love to see a statistic of "Rider error" accident at the beginning of the riding season compare to the end

Just check the obits after the first nice spring weekend...

I'm always reminded of this muppet I once spoke to on that first sunny weekend, he said it was so hard to get used to the bike again at the start of this new "season" thing he kept going on about, he said he was all over the place, like there was something wrong with the bike instead of him being a bit rusty. Aa-yup, 20 psi front and back does that...

Oh and Pete? It happens. Just keep swimming.

 

[varaquiero]

Maybe it's just a run to Specsavers you need ?

 

[OhJ]

Guys your all being PC and considerate to Pete's feelings of his off road abilities. For one I would say riding a GSA off road takes balls of rubber (steel ones would dent the tank) second you need a good sense of humour whilst riding a GSA OFF ROAD. Thirdly. Never show weakness to other lower mark riders you German Poof. Come to Wales and we do proper Off road tracks. Did I say POOF again POOF

 

[Lord Vader]

Guys your all being PC and considerate to Pete's feelings of his off road abilities. For one I would say riding a GSA off road takes balls of rubber (steel ones would dent the tank) second you need a good sense of humour whilst riding a GSA OFF ROAD. Thirdly. Never show weakness to other lower mark riders you German Poof. Come to Wales and we do proper Off road tracks. Did I say POOF again POOF

Bugger, somebody left the door of the cage open again