So i put in over 200 miles on the bike today, without even realizing it was friday the 13th. i'm not a superstitious person, but considering the amount of riding i did today, in retrospect maybe it was a dumb thing to be in the saddle that long on a day like today.
Which is all hogwash. Perfect SoCal weather, though a tad windy. Made my way out to idyllwild and the 243 to meet up with C, whom i've never ridden with before. C is young and a little crazy, but a good kid, and not without hope. The 243 was characteristically beautiful, but uncharacteristically trafficky. Ended up stuck behind Vans, SUV's, Campers, and slow drivers in every good section of the road, and didn't get an opportunity to work up a rhythm on what is a very rhythmic road. There was a moment, early, on the 243 where we were passing a RV over the double yellow and i rolled on a little too hard--grip on the double yellow paint is much lower than it is on asphalt, as i found out. Felt the rear end slip out about 8" on me, but caught it before it got serious. Felt like Vale for a second. A dumb, slow vale...
Made my way up to Big Bear with C after that (he lives close to there) and got my first taste of the 18. Jesus H. Christ, is that road incredibly fast. It helps that it's 2 lanes up to the crestline (CA 138) junction, and it's mostly fast sweepers all the way up. We were flying up the 18, and i started to get tired and had some issues in a long carousel when i touched down a hard part, lost concentration, let off, and started to fall even futher in a lean without the speed to maintain it. I straightened the bike up and went on my merry way, but it was a sobering moment--i'd never touched a hard part previously on the 675, and it was WAY down there. I'd have to be going really fast to do it. And i was. Scary at that speed and on a road like that. That incident, in combination with my double yellow "back it in" moment on the 243 was perhaps Friday the 13th being passive aggressive about trying to kill me.
Stopped and turned around, and realized that i was making a subtle form mistake when i was hanging off. I was getting my butt off the seat, but i wasn't moving my upper body with it. On the way down, i felt much better hanging off the bike and the bike was much smoother, though i realize i need to work on the smoothness with which i transition from one side to the other.
It was a good day of riding, and there's more in store for tomorrow.
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