Years ago as a small child my brothers all had bikes. They would take me on rides and I loved it, but thought that only boys rode these things.
Well in 2007 (many many years later) I came home from visiting my children and grandchildren, out in CO and my husband had bought a Shadow 1100. I enjoyed riding on the back for the summer and then asked if he thought I could handle one for myself. He said sure, so Sept. of that year I found one I liked also a Shadow, a 750 Aero, on ebay. I won the bid and brought it home that weekend. It only had 3800 miles on it. So excited, once we got it home I jumped on without any training and rode up and down my road, but then on our first real ride, all geared up, I dropped it on the first big curve. Och, what a shocker, I decided to back off and I take the class. Got that done in Oct. but still scared when I would get on the 750. I would take to parking lots and ride and ride, but I could not conquer that fear. I found a 250 Rebel, and rode that the next year when ever I went out by myself and the 750 when riding with my husband. By 09 I only rode the Aero. I now have 30,000 miles on it and love the freedom of riding. I would love to hit every state here in the US some day. I am a 51 year old grandma of 9 beautiful grandbabies and 2 more on the way, that loves to get out and explore the roads less traveled.
That first real ride must have been a setback for you, dropping the bike so early in the ride. Many riders have started out with much smaller bikes that are much easier to handle and in hindsight you probably felt more at ease on your 250 Rebel. What is impressive is the obvious commitment you had to learning and then eventually conquering the fear of riding the Aero, as putting 30,000 miles on it is quite an accomplishment!
ReplyDelete