For those folks with seasons...

va_rider

va_rider

Wizard
fz1boone.blogspot.com
Meaning... those folks that have to put up the bike for a while every year.....

What do you have to remind yourself of every year when you start riding again?

For me, I have to remind myself to look through corners... and that the signals don't cancel by themselves... and to use a loose grip on the bars...

At the beginning of each season, I seem to always have a death grip on the bars... look right in front of the bike instead of through the corner... and I'll ride for 20 miles with the dang turn signal on....

how about you?
 
Got to get the two stalls out of my system right away.... Then there's the cold tires, or, me forgetting about them but remembering (time to change the shorts!) when I dive into the first good curve on that cold spring day.

To prepare, I always read The Pace by Nick Ienatsch. This gets me mentally prepared for the first few rides of the season and sticks with me when I have the urge to do what I shouldn't.
 
I read Twist of the Wrist 1 & 2 starting in about February each year.... you're right... that helps.

Once I get all psyched up and excited... there's a website I go to in order to remind myself of the "What If's" of riding... it's pretty gruesome... but... it reminds me to keep my wits about me for the first few rides...
 
Top 2 are definitely loosen my grip on the bars and look through curves. Oh, leave the perforated gloves at home this time of year! ;) Mornings are still too cold for fancy shmansy riding gloves.
 
I have to remember to cancel the turn signal and loosen the death grip on the handles. Sometimes I forget to look through the curves, but there aren't very many between home and work.
 
Turn signals, looking through turns, watch for blind spots for cages, watching for cagers with their cell phones stuck in their ear, sand/gravel on the road.
 
Definitely having the "death grip" on the bars for me as well. I actually don't even feel comfortable at all for the first three rides and if you remember my previous post this season, I actually even brought the bike back home. That was a first! But I'm over all that now and it's smooth sailing from now until next Spring I guess.
 
Where I live, a lot of salt and sand are put on the roads during the winter. The most important thing is to keep a good eye on the surface of the road because until a couple really good spring rains, there won't be a safe corner anywhere. I've already had my rearend cut loose in a corner from a stop and I didn't get on it at all.
 
Lonerider59 said:
Where I live, a lot of salt and sand are put on the roads during the winter. The most important thing is to keep a good eye on the surface of the road because until a couple really good spring rains, there won't be a safe corner anywhere. I've already had my rearend cut loose in a corner from a stop and I didn't get on it at all.
Click to expand...

Well, you got your wish! The roads here are a disaster. My normal 20 minute drive to work took me 55 this morning!
 
Like everyone else here, the death grip on the bars has to be one of the top things for me. Also remembering that the roads are cold and the tires are not getting warm quickly so I have go to more easy on the on ramps and whatnot.
 
I remind myself to check my tire pressure, brake lever play and to watch for remaining anti-skid on the road. Oh, that and the fact, my bike can and will power wheelie if provoked.:teeter:
 
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