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ever since my wife started riding her own bike in 2002, I've always let her take lead. she has no problem in keeping up with me, never has, but for my own peace of mind, I like her to be in front of me so that I can watch her with my peripheral vision while also watching what is going on in front. with her in the rear, I tend to spend too much time watching the mirror.
You said the right thing to her. Give her a little space. There isn't a person here who hasn't screwed up, people with lots of experience. It happens.
True!
And then it can happen, again! Not much you can do about the elevation change, but...
Get some tennis ballz and cut them in half. Go to a parking lot and set up that turn as best you can using the cut ballz. Have her do it 10 or 20 times. You practice it too. Have her do it until she can make the turn 9 out of 10 tries. Then, go back to that intersection, again and again. Conquer that intersection! I want her to become so proficient, that she looks forward to that intersection with confidence, rather than fear.
Ibfuelish, man, that's right down the road from where I live. I use that road all the time.
I would agree with with skratch. Let her lead. The parking lot idear is good.
Maybe some reading on technique will help her. "Mastering the Ride" is a good resource for newer riders. She's probably looking at the space directly in front of her rather than where she wants to go. She most likely just needs some practice in that rather than looking where she don't wants to go.
And like Norty says, everyone screws up. When a section of road gets the better of me, I'll make it a point to go out there again....and again.
Except once. Just about a year ago, I was up on Old Millerton Road. You probably know it since you're in the area. It's a single lane road, with no dividing line. Gently curvy, but a lot of 'em are blind curves. I was out there on my Triumph Bonneville, riding a bit above my pay grade, rounding a corner somewhat aggressively, when out of no where a coyote was directly in front of me. I made the rookie mistake of grabbling too much front brake, and the next thing I know, I'm sliding on pavement. It wasn't pretty.
I don't go on that road anymore. I think it's too dangerous. I've encountered a few cars that cut the corners too often.
Got the wife out on her Sporster today. Had a great time on some foothill roads. We were headed home westbound on 168 and had to make a right turn at this intersection. As I look in my side mirror to see her behind me, I see her swing way wide and enter oncoming traffic lanes. I winced and was very happy she didn't center punch a car. But she did panic. It was only a couple more miles to home. She got home, took off her helmet and began to cry. Basically she scared the crap out of herself and me. After settling her down, I explained that she just transferred some luck out of one saddle bag into the other bag marked experience. I reminded her that she has to fill that experience bag before she runs out of luck and that I Have screwed that intersection up not once but 5 times (not that bad, but poorly executed). It is a very difficult intersection with an apparent greater than 90 degree right hand turn AND the roadway slopes hard down to the left so a correct lean angle to the right seems really steep to a newbie (see blog re: She'll never ride). Basically, she just didn't push that right hand grip far enough to negotiate the turn. She thinks she was going to fast.
Anybody have experience or suggestions for dealing with the confidence fallout from a near miss? I'm expecting she'll be a BIT skiddish next time riding, which is never good. I'm thinking back to a parking lot to work on leaning the bike over. Or should I just do what I did when I screwed it up and simply tell her to be more careful? I just called myself a dumba$$ and continued on my way when I did it.
Don't make a big deal out of it, re-assure her and forget it. Maybe explain Target Fixation. After that, leave it alone. Less said, less remembered.
I did the same thing when I first came back to riding 6 years ago. Took a 20mph off camber blind right curve on Hwy 138 and needed half the oncoming lane to finish since I really hadn't developed the counter steer skills I needed to make it at the speed I was at. If there would have been a vehicle coming I would have been a hood ornament.
My wife took the confidence hit for good on her second Sporty for no real reason other than fear of traffic. She'd had a couple incidents like that while learning but it was dealing with other vehicles that killed it for her. She loves riding with me but still doesn't care much for riding in city traffic. Some people just aren't made for riding and that's ok. Some people don't like flying- me for instance- and that's ok too. We're all a little different.
I agree it's on me.,, I've over cooked a few corners myself,
Sorry I came off so harshly,
I hit a sharp curve going too fast on a road I've not been on just this Sunday. It was a county road that was marked for reduced speed but I still hit it too fast and was well into the center of the oncoming lane through much of the curve,, if there had been an oncoming car it would not have been pretty.
Believe it or not, as soon as I came out of it I remembered this thread and thought how it can happen to anyone.
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