I’ve ridden bicycles since I was 5 years old. I’ve raced BMX, cross country, cyclocross, downhill, and dual slalom. There is no denying that I love being on two wheels. Surprisingly, the first time I got on a motorcycle wasn’t until I was 18 years old, possibly even 19. My boyfriend, Doug, was the one who introduced me to it. He’s had motorbikes on and off since he was 8 years old.
The first time I was on a motorcycle I rode double with him. I’m not going to lie, I was terrified. My heart was racing and I think I may even have been shaking slightly. All we did was ride from his driveway to the end of his dead-end street and back. I was probably holding on just a little too tight.
Over the next few weeks, I rode a few more times on the back. Eventually, Doug decided I was ready to ride on my own. He took me took a little circle court nearby, hopped off the bike, and gave me a brief rundown. By this point, I already knew which brake was which and which how to shift, he was mostly just giving me a pep talk. It helped that I knew how to drive a manual car, I understood how to use a clutch already.
It was kind of exhilarating. That first ride by myself. I felt a bit unsafe, with so much power and so little protection. But I was going very slow, I think I was only in first gear.
I didn’t touch dirt or ride much more until the next year. Doug got me on a little dirt trail by his house. Nothing extreme, just some little rocks and a dip in the path. Once again, he jumped off the bike and I slid forward. He gave me the all-clear and I was off.
On mountain bikes, I’m the type of rider who will follow anyone off anything. I will follow my mum off anything, and things she can’t do we find someone else to follow. I figured out the same applies for motorbikes. After I started to get more comfortable on the bike, Doug and I would go out on separate bikes. There is one little off-road hill that can be used to get between his subdivision and the one next to it. The hill is small, but it’s still a bit intimidating because there’s so much gravel on it. Doug went up it, and I followed without a problem. A little later we came back and went down it, and again no problem.
Going forward another year, I rode my first street bike. Doug had bought a Ninja 500 the previous fall and I was back from school for the summer. By this point, I believe I had my endorsement. Doug rode us over to the local Meijer and I rode around the parking lot. It was a big enough parking lot where I could practice stops and accelerating while keeping an eye out for traffic.
OMG was that bike fun… I did a few laps of the parking lot. Once I got comfortable, I hit it along the back of the building where I knew there were no cars or doors that would fly out at me.
Another first for me was when Doug and I rode the enduros on the backroads to Rochester to get ice cream. While most of the time we were on the dirt roads, we spent a bit of time on some busy roads, kind of scary. But even though it was scary, I had a lot of fun! It was a new adventure, and in the end, we got this awesome pic.
After that, I was having some bike problems. It was a good thing we were near home because I was pretty much stuck in first gear. Old bikes for you, the transmission overheated, and I was practically breaking my toes trying to shift.
I still think I prefer riding down mountains on my bike, but it is quite thrilling to go fast on motorbikes. I look forward to having some more adventures with them.
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