On Two Wheels--The First Week

This has been an interesting week. Last Friday my motorcycle, a used Honda Rebel, was delivered. For a few days I rode it in our neighborhood practicing turns, stopping, starting, and shifting. Then on Wednesday of this week, I took and passed my test for a motorcycle endorsement on my driver's license.

Late Wednesday afternoon I left the neighborhood and rode down a fairly well traveled road to Highway 80 and back...a distance of 5 or 6 miles. Got the cycle up to 50 mph for a short period but mostly drove at about 45 mph. It was exciting to be on the road for the first time.

On Thursday I rode to the bank and did a transaction at the drive through window. Then I drove on to the post office to mail a package that I carried in my saddle bags. That brief trip put me in real traffic for the first time. Overall I did pretty good but stalled out trying to start up in traffic. That happened twice. Note to self: practice dude, practice, practice.

Then on Thursday afternoon I drove out to a local park that has huge parking lots. I practiced turning to the left, turning to the right and starting. I started on level ground and on an incline, over and over and over.

Feeling good about my practice, I left the park and headed down Shiloh Road about ten miles to Shiloh Campground and returned to the park. It was a nice drive as I had nobody behind me and nobody in front of me going and only two vehicles in front of me on the return and they both turned off leaving me with an open road. I drove 45 mph for the most part but did touch 50 a couple of times.

That evening I decided I should get some experience in traffic at night. So I drove from my house to Trustmark Park in Pearl and returned using Highway 80. Traffic was medium with cars in front, behind and beside me. There were about a dozen stop lights in each direction and a couple of stretches where the speed limit was 55 mph. I did not experience any problems. The only time I felt uncomfortable was following a car that would speed up and then slow down and speed up and slow down. I didn't feel comfortable trying to pass the car due to traffic in the outside lane. So I just carefully followed.

In my first week of ownership, I have put 114 miles on the little Honda. It's been an exhilarating experience. I've named the little bike "Casper". Casper and I have bonded this week and I'm looking forward to sharing many more experiences with him.