On The Road

2 hours yesterday on the road with K for some Mod 2 training. Since we’ve got such a long gap before going up for Mod 1 again we might as well get some road training in 😉

My biggest problem is as always, the bloody nerves! As soon as I get my leg over (no sniggering at the back there) I’m fine, but for 72 hours beforehand I’m a gibbering wreck. My brain is actively trying to kill me. It’s not like I don’t ride most days anyway – why should the rather gentlemanly Suzuki SVF650 (Gladius) be exponentially more scary than Little Mike the Bike? It’s more stable, more responsive, the clutch works, even I can manage the ABS…

Still, as I said, once astride the massive 650 (unrestricted!) I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and by the end of the 2 hour stint was actually getting some real flow going. Well until some oblivious bint simply stopped in the road and reversed at us round a blind bend. I do hope she could hear what K was shouting at her, I missed most of it as the language actually melted my earpiece at that point.

Speaking of which, are those things designed for human ears? Being as I am, completely lopsided, I can only fit it on my right ear, which is of course the ear that doesn’t work so well. Rides with K are a confusing olla podrida of instructions, observations and animadversions upon the parentage of certain other road users interspersed with crackles, bangs, hurricanes and the strange whistling noises he makes when particularly contented. This last noise is always welcome as a sign of his satisfaction in our riding but is a bit like having a large, bald bearded parrot sitting on one’s shoulder.