My First Highway Ride

I took the class to learn how to ride motorcycles in April and took the written test in May. I got my license and immediately started a more fervent hunt for my new bike. I looked at new bikes, used bikes, Harleys, Hondas, Ducatis and some things that looked like they needed to be put back into the scrap heap. I checked out cruisers and sport bikes, dirt and pit bikes, classic Indians and new bobbers. Many of the bikes I looked at were out of my preconceived price range. I wanted something that I could learn to ride. Something that if I "laid it over" (crashed) it would not break my heart (or my bank account). I loved the Harley Wide Glide. It was bigger than the Sportster line, but smaller than the Softail line. Truly, even the wide glide was out of my price range. Saving the entire long drawn out drama for another time, I finally purchased a 2006 Kawasaki ZZR from my husband's buddy. I wrote the check on June 21, 2010 and became the proud owner of a sport bike. I only got to practice two days that week 'cause my seven year old nephew came down for an extended weekend. I put a whopping five miles on that week. Friday, July 2, I left the neighborhood and rode the twelve miles to my office after work. Saturday, July 3rd, I rode on the back of my husband's motorcycle to Forman Harley Davidson in Stillwater and that was an all day event. Sunday the 4th, I felt brave.
We decided to take on OK State Hwy 33, Westbound.
Let me say this: it is windy in Oklahoma. Average wind speed is 12.2 miles per hour (Doyle Rice, USATODAY.com weather editor., June 23, 2005 ) That wind gusts.
We leave the house and cruise up Broadway between Waterloo Road and Hwy 33. At the itersection, we turn left and I start to get up to speed. We are going west. I am going a whopping 55 miles an hour. (Speed limit is 70). The wind gusts so hard from the south it blows me from the left of the lane to the shoulder. Scared me silly! So I really need to get off of this road. I pick up speed to get to the next turn as quick as possible for me. So I am shaking and going 60 mph. Big improvement, right? I have never been so glad to see State Hwy 74 South. It felt like an eternity to get to that light. I turn south into the wind and am able to do the speed limit (65 mph). Nothing too scary happens while we are headed south. I get excited to see that I am only a mile from my turn on to Waterloo and that puts me east bound and five miles from home.
We got home, put the bikes up, and had ice cream.
Whew!


Thanks for stoppin' by!

Jen