Scraped my first peg

[bajakirch]

One of the advantages of getting a little experience under my belt is that riding is becoming much more instinctive. Which also means it can be a lot more fun.

One of the things I've been much more comfortable with this year (after putting 6k+ miles on my bike last year) is leaning. I know they told us in MSF class that you have to lean to turn, but it took a while for me to really start trusting that my tires weren't going to skid out from underneath me.

The other day I was pulling out of work and I had to pull out a bit faster than normal to beat some traffic. I leaned pretty aggressively into the turn and.....scraaaaaaaape....my left peg made contact with the roadway. At first, I didn't know what it was. Luckily, I didn't freak out (there's that experience again) and just kept going through my turn. The only other time I got close to scraping a peg was last year. That time, I didn't trust the bike or my skills and I let off the throttle a bit. I ended up having to put my foot down to keep from going over.

Am I ready for the Dragon's Tail now?

[Bumblebee]

Unexpected sound isn't it? You did good by continuing to fly the bike instead of getting all wrapped up in the unexpected sound. That mindset will keep you out of a lot of self inflicted trouble.

If you scrape a peg, the bike can do it however you're starting to run out of control ability. You're near the edge of traction and not leaving yourself many escape options when a cage decides that a squished motorcycle is in the gameplan. It would often be better to sit out the extra few moments at the side road and wait for a reasonable hole in traffic than to hit some unseen gravel, go down and get squished by the cage you were trying to jump out in front of.

Based on Killboy's pictures at Deals Gap, a lot of cagers, and bikes tend to make turns in the wrong lane. (You gotta love Killboy for calling them to task by putting their picture up for the entire world to see what a wreckless inconsiderate ass they truly are  ) Ride accordingly. It looks like a lot of fun there however I wouldn't want to be at the edge of my available traction then find out I have to turn beyond my traction limit to avoid becoming a hood ornament.