Jump Creek

All of a sudden an entire month had gone by and I'd never once ridden on my new motorcycle, how sad is that? It's just the way it goes with incredibly busy schedules and always having at least one child in tow.

So last Sat. SD and I took advantage of an opportunity to go ride together. We decided to do some sight seeing and visit a nearby waterfall attraction called Jump Creek. SD had been there once about 10 years ago and I had never seen it before.

Yes, I know it doesn't make much sense that we've lived here almost 14 years now and haven't seen so many local sights, but I think that's just the way life ends up when you're always busy with kids and you never end up with free time to explore...plus I've found most people who live right there never see the local sights, no matter what city you live in.

Anyway, the drive was really nice and scenic, and the weather was perfect...not too hot and we just managed to miss the rain storm. These pictures seriously don't begin to do justice to how unbelievably enormous these rock cliffs actually are!!!

I felt great riding my bike as we headed out there, stopping only once to get a drink. It felt like we were on vacation together and it was so quiet and enjoyable...right up until the point where I became pinned underneath my bike!!!

We arrived at Jump Creek, where the last mile or so leading up to it is a gravel road. The road isn't too bad, although it's a lot more bumpy and you have to go slow and be more careful. There's a day use area at the entrance to the trail that leads to Jump Creek...and a curvy, VERY steep hill that leads down to the parking area.

It was EXTREMELY bumpy!!! And full of huge rocks and loose gravel. SD went down ahead of me very slowly. I was pretty nervous about this incredibly steep hill, but figured if SD could do it on his bike then I should be able to make it too, right?

Well, I did make it about halfway down the hill and then all of a sudden I hit a huge rock and a slippery patch of loose gravel in a big bump in the road and totally lost control of my bike. I tensed up and mistakenly applied a full front brake but forgot about my rear brake.

I was halfway down the "hunormously" steep hill and I knew if I tried to keep going I would end up tumbling down on top of SD and probably end up far worse. So as I lost control of my bike I leaned over to the right and crashed. The bike fell on top of me and I quickly hit the kill switch and pressed my horn loudly so SD could hear it.

I tried to get up but I couldn't move. My entire right leg was pinned underneath my bike. SD wasn't quite down the entire hill yet when it happened, so although he heard my horn he couldn't stop on the steep hill and had to keep going until he reached the bottom safely and could park his bike and come back up after me.

There was a small handful of people at the base of the hill who saw what happened, and when they realized I had fallen and was stuck a man came running up the hill to help me. He began to lift the bike high enough for me to slide out, but my boot was caught back near the rear peg used for a foot rest for passengers. Soon after the man ran up the hill SD followed and together they lifted the bike up and after a couple of tries I managed to unlodge my foot from the bike.

I was covered in dirt and my big toe was really sore, but otherwise I felt fine at the time. The worst damage was to my pride, because it's never fun to crash in front of an audience and feel like such a big idiot for attempting to ride down this really steep hill.

SD turned my bike around and drove it back up the hill and parked it in a safer location. Then he came back and decided to move his bike back up the hill as well, which turned out to be somewhat difficult as he slid and skidded back up in several spots. It's one of those hills that honestly doesn't look so bad...until after you're already on it. SD told me later he felt fine as we started down the hill, but once we made the final turn into the REALLY steep area he said to himself, "okay, seriously, what was I thinking?"

I dusted myself off and waited for SD at the base of the hill. Fortunately I had my heavy duty jacket on (the one with the built in armor/padding that's intended to protect you in a crash). My bike ended up with minimal damage too...since my whole right leg was underneath the bike it saved it from a lot of impact, so there's only some minimal scratches mainly near the front handle bars, right side mirror and right foot pedal.

SD felt awful about the incident, but I told him not to worry about it. I was fine, and as I said the worst damage was to my pride feeling like and idiot in front of an audience. And now I had my first crash story on my bike. So we shook it off and headed down the short little trail to Jump Creek.

I wish I had taken this photo with SD in it to show the true context of how truly enormous these boulders are! Walking through the trail makes you feel like a tiny little ant.

See? No worries, this is sans crash and I was fine.

And here's the tiny little waterfall. It's honestly not all that much, but waterfalls are still cool, big or small. There's a small natural pool at the base that isn't very deep and is great for swimming.

A few more scenic shots around us. The next 2 pictures go together one on top of the other, which gives you a little better grasp of just how tiny people are in comparison to these huge rocks!

Looking the opposite direction.

Alright, enough photos. We walked back up the trail to our bikes and headed out. On the way home we stopped at Givens Hot Springs, another place we had never been. It has a small camp ground and a very large natural hot springs that they've converted into an indoor chlorinated pool.

We stopped in and checked out the pool, which was really nice and would be great for a day trip. But it felt really muggy outside and the bugs were horrible, so camping here might not be such a great experience. I'm not sure what this pose was, something in mid sentence I think.

This was the smile anyway shot despite my complaining about how the wind had picked up and a few of those gusts were pretty scary at 55mph on my really light little bike, and whenever the wind gusts pick up I tend to tense up my grip really bad, so I was dealing with a lot of problems with my right hand going numb over the throttle...something I need to work on as a novice rider.

When we got home I took off my boots and that's when the real pain started. I think my stiff boot was acting like a firm brace for my foot, but after I took it off and tried to walk around I began having some extreme pain every time I applied any weight on my right foot.

So I grabbed a large ice pack and propped up my feet as we ate dinner and watched some TV. By the next morning my foot was still really sore, but not as bad. If I tried to stretch out or extend my foot it really hurt, but otherwise I was okay, so it really felt like a very deep bruise. I also had several large bruises on my knee, thigh, and elbow.

It's been a week now and I'm fine. No major pain just still a deep bruise feeling when I stretch out my foot or twist it to the side. I'm so glad I wasn't injured any worse because that would have completely ruined my plans to run in my first 5k in a few more weeks!

All the troubles aside, the best part was that we rode a total of 77 miles, without the kids, enjoying an evening with no agenda together...and that part was awesome!!! And yes, I absolutely can't wait to go for another long ride on my bike again soon!!!

I PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been practicing and practicing and practicing to retest on my motorcycle skills test to receive my STARS course certification and in turn my motorcycle endorsement.

If you recall here I had taken the weekend course with SD last month and the weather on Sunday during our skills test was a freakish NIGHTMARE that we rode in for 5 hours with very few, short breaks to warm up. The weather was extremely COLD, with huge wind gusts that literally blew a bike over at one point and there was SNOW blowing horizontally! Not exactly ideal riding conditions.

So it goes without saying how incredibly disappointed I was to be told I came very close but did not pass and would have 1 shot at retesting. Since then I've felt INCREDIBLY defeated over this!!! I've had so many negative, depressing thoughts about this whole life long love of motorcycles I've grown up with, and how we've wanted it to be this amazing, wonderful new hobby for us to share together, has instead become this awful, frustrating situation where I seem to totally suck at it.

For the most part SD has gone with me to help coach me each time I find a day to practice. And every time, despite how patient he's been, I always do terribly and want to break down and cry. Then last week on Wed. I went out by myself and drove to the course where I would be retesting to practice the 5 skills I have to pass...and I felt like I did really well! I gained some confidence and figured I might actually have a shot at passing this time.

The painted marks on the course for the cone weave, however were somewhat confusing to figure out, so on Friday night SD and I drove out there with some cones to practice the skills one more time...and I was AWFUL again!!! I found myself very nervous for some strange reason when SD was with me...taking much longer pauses to feel ready to pull out in traffic, shifting through my gears more roughly, etc.

I tried to do the cone weave at least 30 different times and just barely got through it maybe 3 times total. I did fine on the fast speed wide curve, the fast speed sudden stop, and the swerve an object tests, but I really struggled with the cone weave and the short, tight turn skills.

By the time we drove home, SD went to pick up the kids and I totally let down and bawled over how awful I was...fully defeated and completely sure I would fail the test on Sunday. I had no confidence left.

Sunday arrived and SD left with the kids for church. The weather was fairly breezy, but also sunny and MUCH better in comparison to the first time I took the test. Steve tried to encourage me on his way out the door, and while I fully expected to fail, I decided I would at least try to give it my best. I arrived about 30 min. early to the course and met one of the instructors who was busy setting up. I asked her if she'd mind if I practiced for a little while on the course until we were ready to start and she said that'd be fine.

I practiced each skill, but really concentrated on the 2 I had the most trouble with: the slow, tight turn and the cone weave...and I found myself completely BAFFLED!!!! Because all of a sudden I was performing these skills EXTREMELY well!!! I couldn't understand it at all???!!!!

A few more people showed up while I was practicing. In total there were 6 of us there to retest and one man testing as part of the requirements to become a course instructor, so it made me feel better to know I wasn't the only one retesting, and in fact I learned that in most of the classes only about 1/2 of the students pass the first time they take their skills test.

I was 4th up as went through each test. Just like the initial class, the group tests one skill at a time, individually, but we're lined up all together...so they call your name and the first person in line goes through the skill and then drives around to the end of the line, followed by the next person.

When it was my turn I performed each skill BEAUTIFULLY!!!!! In fact, at the end of the test (which took a little over an hour for the group to complete) when I received my individual feedback the only slight point deduction I had was during the fast speed wide turn that I slowed down a little too slow...but the instructor said she was fine with that because I need to be able to complete the turn at a speed I'm comfortable with.

I was totally ELATED to hear I PASSED the test!!!!! Now I'll receive my STARS course certificate of completion in a couple weeks which I can take to the DMV and receive my motorcycle endorsement, which fully licenses me to ride whenever I want.

I decided to come home and pretend that I had failed miserably when SD asked me how it went...and he totally bought it at first and started to ask me what happened, what went wrong, but then I couldn't hold in my smile any longer and we laughed and I told him all about how awesome I did.

So we've figured out that my problem all along was HIM!!! It's really silly to think that after 14 years of marriage I still get totally nervous in front of my husband sometimes, but apparently I do. Which makes me so glad my retest happened at a time when he couldn't come with me...because I'm sure my performance was much better because I knew he wasn't watching me...although it would've been nice for him to have seen how well I did.

And now, I have a whole new HUGE sense of confidence in my accomplishment passing this test, knowing now I can ride whenever I want because I PASSED!!!!! Whoohoo!!!!

New Toys

FINALLY!!! Finally, a sunny, nice weather day where we had an opportunity to take some more pictures of our bikes, and our first opportunity to take some photos together. While we're still novice riders, this new hobby is becoming a really fun, enjoyable activity we can share together.

On Saturday evening right after my training session we went for my first long ride with my trainer, S, and his daughter on his bike. We rode for about 30 miles, and it was fairly windy, but otherwise a lot of fun, and great practice for me. Right now, much of it feels like total information overload with everything I'm constantly trying to remember as I'm riding, but just like a brand new driver, eventually that will become more like second nature, right?

We're already dreaming about trips we'd like to take once we become more experienced riders. There's an excellent, very curvy drive about 100 miles from here up to McCall, Idaho...which is a beautiful tourist town, both in the summer and winter. We'd love to take a day trip riding up there for lunch and then back home...but I need to gain a lot more confidence first. And practice, practice, practice!

Ready to go!

Obviously we don't like all of the same things, or enjoy the same hobbies, but this is one we're really enjoying experiencing together. It's so fun to reconnect with your spouse with new interests.

See ya on the rode!

Weekend Fun & Disappointment, part 3

Finally, after all that fun and increasing desires to have our own bikes, after tons of careful searching, researching options, figuring out the finances, etc. now in 2009 SD and I FINALLY have our own bikes!!!!!!

First, SD's bike is a 2006 Suzuki M50:

We bought it from someone who works out at the Guard who had basically never ridden this bike, since it only had 1,700 miles on it! The bike was paid off, they added a windshield and small saddle bags.

This bike currently retails for over $6,000 but we managed to buy it for only $5,000! I took these photos on one of the few perfectly sunny afternoons when SD was able to ride it home from work.

SD's loves, LOVES, L-O-V-E-S his bike!!!! Having loved bikes for so long it's awesome that my husband shares this love of bikes too.

Nothing but pure JOY all over his face!

The kids were really excited too. We let each one of them sit on the bike for fun. After seeing how much fun SD and I are having, IK is VERY anxious to be old enough to start riding on his own!

And look at how grown up and mature he looks sitting on his dad's bike already! I love that we're continuing on with the family tradition of riding that I grew up with and hopefully can make this a fun family shared activity when our kids get a little bit older.

Okay, maybe a LOT older for some of them. Although KW's more than ready to go for a ride!

And here's MY new bike!!!! I now own a 2009 V-Star 250, black cherry color:

Unfortunately, MOST of the weather recently has been extremely awful and rainy, so these photos were taken the first day I got my bike. I'm really hoping to take some much better photos soon...if the weather would start cooperating!

The purchase of my bike was another excellent deal! SD found it listed on Craigslist from a local man who had purchased it brand new for his daughter last fall. But she became pregnant & decided she doesn't want to ride anymore.

They added a front windshield and the bike only had 43 miles on it! It currently retails at a base of $4,000 but we bought it for only $3,200!!!!!

Here's the best pic we managed so far. Such a beautiful bike!

Okay, so finally onto the "disappointment" part of the title of these posts I'm sure you've been wondering about.

A couple of weeks ago SD and I passed the written exam at the DMV and received our instruction permits. It was a multiple choice test where you had to answer 20/25 to pass. We did, and now our permits allow us to ride and practice with only a few restrictions (only riding in the daytime, no riding on the highway, and no carrying passengers).

Then last weekend we signed up to take the beginners STARS motorcycle training course. It's a 2 1/2 day course where you learn a TON of information, both in the classroom and on a practice range.

There's another written exam at the end of the course and a skills test on the bike where you have to successfully maneuver on the bike through 5 main skills:

weaving through a series of sharp, close together cones
swerving away from an obstacle at a specified speed
a sudden, sharp stop within a certain distance after a specified speed
a wide right hand turn following a specified speed
a sharp right turn

Friday night was spent in the classroom. Saturday morning, bright and early at 7:45am we arrived dressed in all our gear for the first session on the practice range. The weather that day couldn't have been more perfect...not too hot and not too cold, just right.

Our class size was only 11 people, all of whom were beginner riders, with 2 instructors. We did very well on Sat. practicing many skills in addition to those on the skills test. I believe there was a total of 20 different skills we had to practice and master over the weekend.

We went home Sat. night feeling very good about the day, having gained a ton more confidence in our abilities on the bikes. Then, Sunday morning arrived...and the weather changed DRAMATICALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All of a sudden, it was 32 degrees outside...with 35mph EXTREME winds, making it feel more like 20 degrees...and if the insane wind wasn't enough we also had SNOW!!!!!!

***********SNOW that was blowing HORIZONTALLY!!!!!!!***********

Despite the information in the instruction manual for the course that discusses the negative impact of riding in these types of extreme weather conditions, the STARS course rules state they proceed regardless.

We did our best to stay alert through all of the skills that day...even though our fingertips and toes were completely BURNING from the extreme cold. We had on long john's under our clothes, I was wearing 2 pairs of gloves, and it didn't matter...we were still freezing!!!!

We spent 5 HOURS STRAIGHT riding out in that weather! We had 3 very short, 15min. breaks during that entire period of time where we were allowed to dismount and go inside a heated room. The wind was so incredibly fierce that you really had to plant your feet firmly on the ground and sometimes grip the front brake just to manage not to be pushed over by the wind.

There were several moments where I thought I might actually be pushed over by the extreme wind that morning. And at one point, as the class was standing, gathered around the instructor listening to the next set of instructions, one of the bikes actually was blown over and dropped because of the wind!!!!!! HELLO!!!!!! At the end of the day I actually had the inside of my cheeks in my mouth somewhat chewed up because my teeth had been chattering so badly.

Well, at the end of that day of riding...after being in those conditions for almost 5 hours straight...that's when we had to take our physical skills tests on the bikes. Several students had lots of difficulty with the test.

SD performed beautifully and passed the skills test. I did really well...and was told I came VERY close, but unfortunately I did not score high enough to pass the skills standards.

......................SOOOOOO depressed at that moment!!!!......................

SD and I firmly believe that I would've passed the skills test if the extreme weather conditions had not been a factor. I did my best to put on a brave, it's-not-affecting-me face for the rest of the afternoon, but truthfully I was severely disappointed!!!!

We'd been looking forward to this weekend together for several weeks and that's not at all how I anticipated our weekend would turn out. Now, I have to continue to practice on my own and then schedule a retest of the skills test sometime within the next 90 days.

I have one shot at trying to pass this skills test again for free. SD is now waiting for his STARS completion card/certificate to arrive in the mail so he can take it to the DMV and receive his endorsement, which allows him to ride his bike anytime without restrictions (so just like passing and receiving your driver's license).

While I still have the added stress of having to find the time to keep practicing (and days when the stupid wind lets up and the weather actually cooperates) so I can attempt to retake the skills test and pass so I can get my endorsement too.

I'm really frustrated & disappointed at this outcome, and the confidence I had gained after Sat. has definitely taken a big blow. The weather for the next few days is supposed to continue to be horrible, with extreme winds and rain, but hopefully I'll find some time to ride maybe on Sat. if the weather lets up.

I sure would like to post a much happier update to this story soon! Keep your fingers crossed for me, because I really, REALLY want my endorsement!