So my husband and I finally got our motorcycle yesterday after weeks of waiting! That’s the one problem about living on a remote island; it can take ages for stuff to get sent to you. It arrived on island at Christmas time and we were so excited! We rushed down to the shipping docks to pick it up, only to discover that the battery was completely kaput… We even tried to jump start it, but it couldn’t hold any charge. We ended up having to push the 200kg bike up the slight incline to the mechanics not far away. I tell you, that hill looks like nothing until you have to push a giant weight up it! I think it took us almost half an hour to get it to the mechanics which was barely 150 metres up the road! I got sunburn that day… π
Anyway, they said that they could order us a new battery, but it would take some time to arrive on the next barge delivery. Four weeks later, we were finally able to pick it up!! π
When we got it back home, I wanted to ride it straight away! I’ve never ridden a motorcycle before, so it was my first time and it was super awesomely fun! My husband and another friend of ours helped me get used to it and I did a few laps on it without too much trouble. I was grinning in my helmet the whole time! I think I averaged about 12km an hour and didn’t go above 1st gear, but that was all I was comfortable with for my first go.
I fell off once – after I had stopped moving! I didn’t realise quite how heavy the bike was until I stopped and tried to put my feet down. It got the best of me and toppled over, taking me with it, but at least we both landed on soft grassy (and slightly muddy!) ground.
I rode it again today and it was even better than yesterday. I was much more confident on it (didn’t fall off it at all!) and I even got
it above 20km an hour! π I also did some right-hand turns as yesterday I had only done left-hand circles. I found the right-hand turns a lot harder than the opposite direction, because the throttle is on that side and my hand automatically pulls on it, making it jump forward a bit faster. After some practice I managed to get the hang of it and I’m doing much better on the bike now! Not up to changing gears yet though… I think that’s still a bit out of my league! It was a fantastic hour and I can’t wait to do it again soon! π
I love new experiences. I like to use them in my books and for my characters, so I was excited to try my hand at riding a motorcycle. Once I’ve mastered it, I am totally going on a road trip on it!! Maybe I could write a book about that! π
Have you had any new experiences lately? Sometimes you just need something new to get the creative juices flowing again!