01-22-2018, 06:29 PM
That's incredibly kind feedback Ulvetanna. While I've never aspired to be a fast rider, I've always wanted to become a smoother rider. Whenever the ferret talks about his rides, the image that sticks in my mind is one of smooth riding, linking turn after turn in a very efficient way. I picture quite a few guys on this forum with lots of miles under their tires much in the same way. It seems to me that this is how many people become at any variety of things they might do in life. If you spend enough time doing something, you end up making things look much more "routine" to someone who might be new at that particular endeavor. That's partially because it has become routine of course, but I still admire the skill set on display that the person now takes for granted. Since I'm never going to be a high-mileage, iron butt kinda guy I figure that if I want to look like those guys I'm going to have to work at it.
That's not to imply that guys like you and VLJ aren't smooth, it's just not the image that you guys paint of yourselves. I always marvel at guys who ride that still manage to look unhurried, even when they're traveling at a fairly fast clip. (I'd just like to look unhurried when I am unhurried.) But rather than riding smooth at higher speeds, my goal is to ride smoother amongst the more typical everyday kind of obstacles one might face like rough pavement, potholes, gravel, etc.. I'm constantly trying to be aware of as much that faces me down the road as possible and then envisioning the line I want to follow through what lies ahead as well as possible. It's that seemingly endless flow of information processing that gets my mind off of everything else in life. It provides me with a nice "mental reset" and it keeps me entertained. (I never said that it takes much to keep me happy when it comes to motorcycling.) That's probably why the few times that I've ridden with other people, I'm always more than content to just follow everyone else. Stick me at the back of the pack and I'll manage to keep myself entertained just fine, lol.
That's not to imply that guys like you and VLJ aren't smooth, it's just not the image that you guys paint of yourselves. I always marvel at guys who ride that still manage to look unhurried, even when they're traveling at a fairly fast clip. (I'd just like to look unhurried when I am unhurried.) But rather than riding smooth at higher speeds, my goal is to ride smoother amongst the more typical everyday kind of obstacles one might face like rough pavement, potholes, gravel, etc.. I'm constantly trying to be aware of as much that faces me down the road as possible and then envisioning the line I want to follow through what lies ahead as well as possible. It's that seemingly endless flow of information processing that gets my mind off of everything else in life. It provides me with a nice "mental reset" and it keeps me entertained. (I never said that it takes much to keep me happy when it comes to motorcycling.) That's probably why the few times that I've ridden with other people, I'm always more than content to just follow everyone else. Stick me at the back of the pack and I'll manage to keep myself entertained just fine, lol.