First Moto Trip - Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of the trip!  There is just SO much to share that I couldn't fit it on one post.

During the clam chowder lunch, I talked to the BF about my lack of thrill...lack of adrenaline.  I'm still too focused on how to ride.  I talk to myself A LOT about what to do.  "ride your own ride.  shift down.  release the clutch slowly.  how fast are you going?"  GAH!  I want my FREEEEEEDOM!

After chowder samples, a bowl of chowder, fried calamari, and fish tacos, I was hurting full.  Did I mention that I wasn't hungry after the samples?  I love food so much, I should have a separate blog about it.  Now I needed coffee and a walk to settle this belly.  Haha.  Curing full-belly pains by putting more things in it...makes sense to me!

Posing with the pelicans!

Ice cream in cold weather?  He loves ice cream in any weather =)

Dessert on the wharf.

We walked off the full belly and came across a museum.  Look at what they had!

The Back to the Future car!  Only 3 of the 7 made are left!

What the?  Where am I??

Ohhh I'm on a pirate ship!

Don't worry!  I'm a friendly pirate!

After wandering for about an hour, we decided to head back home.  I didn't want to be too tired for the ride and wanted to avoid crazy sunset rays to get in my eyes.  BF found out that you can ride your car/motorcycle to the edge of the wharf.  You know what that means...picture time!  *Cue "I'm Too Sexy" song*

Roxy and Gigi

Vroom VROOM!

Neat-o sky water shot.

Good job today Gigi!

Ahhhh it's time to go back!!  Do I have the energy to fight the wind for another hour and a half?  Well I'm not sleeping over in Monterey so here we go!

Got gas, headed to the highway, then BAM!!!  Bumper to bumper traffic.  I freaked out, pulled over to the side, lifted up my face shield and told my BF, "I can't do it."  I've never ridden in these types of conditions before.  He said okay and that we could take the next exit.  We got back on the road and side by side we were crawling through traffic.  I had to practice using the friction zone and good clutch control.  I was worried about either my bike stalling or ramming myself into the car in front.  Luckily, neither happened!  And super luckily, I had a great time in traffic!  It really tested my skills and the whole time I was like, "omigosh I'm good at this!!!"  I'm in California where it's legal to lane split (ride on the lines that divide the lanes) buuuut I didn't feel comfortable doing that at all.  It felt too risky.  We just kept walking along.  The exit just would not come!!!  Thanks honey for walking all those miles with me!  Finally after what felt like 10 miles, an exit came, I headed towards Starbucks for a much needed break.  By the way, there was still an insane amount of traffic further ahead!

Cheers to a great ride!

Sat on comfy couches and talked about the exciting and terrifying things that went through my head that day.  After a while, I knew it was time to hit the road again.  Hopefully traffic has died...so what if only 30 minutes had passed?

Of course there's was still a ridiculous amount of cars out there.  Altogether it was about 11 miles riding through the "parking lot" but fun, fun, fun!  Once things cleared, the rest of the ride went smoothly.  I finally got to do the wave to other motorcyclists, coolest feeling ever!  My BF and I rode side by side (each in our own lane) through the slight curves of the freeway.  Wheeeeee!!!  We were nearing home, and my body was feeling tired.  I only have about 15 miles go, I can suck it up and power through!  So, I was going 75mph in the left lane, and I see flashing lights behind me.  OH SH*T IT'S A COP!  I glance at my speedometer and think, "he can't be pulling me over for speeding!  WTH??  Ugghhh I don't have money to pay for a ticket!!"  I try to move to the right lanes but there are cars in the way.  I try to pull over to the shoulder but there's debris or cones in the way.  Next thing I know I'm driving a full minute with this cop behind me flashing his police lights.  Haha it probably looked like a slow chase scene.  Here's a summary of what I remember from our conversation:

Cop (in a nice tone):  Are you a new rider?  How long have you been riding?
Me:  (oh crap it's obvious I'm a newbie!) Just a few months.
Cop:  The reason I pulled you over was because I was called for a Code 3 and you weren't pulling over.
Me:  (what??  I didn't see him in my mirror for a while)  Oh I'm sorry officer!
Cop:  Why did it take you so long to pull over?
Me:  Because I couldn't find a place I was comfortable with.  (yeah I reek of newbie-ness right now)
He encouraged me to practice stops in parking lots and to ride in the right lane since I'm newer.  He wanted to make sure I was a "competent rider."  God I felt embarrassed, but knew he was right.  He let me go with a warning even though he didn't take any information.  Phew!  Glad I didn't get a ticket for getting in his way of an emergency.  Wait a sec...if it was an emergency, how did he have time to pull me over???  Well I was glad this cop was cool and I didn't get a ticket.

Made it home feeling super exhausted!  What can make this day even better?  A spaghetti dinner and chillin in the hot tub after!  Felt so good on my sore muscles.  My favorite thing about this day was that riding finally became fun.  Stressful on the way to Monterey, but had a great time on the way home.  So I guess riding IS for me!!

A ride like this can't go without important riding lessons!
#1:  Look in your mirrors!  If I had looked, I would've seen that cop a while ago.  I think I was too tired.
#2:  Take a break if you're tired! It'll prevent me from making mistakes.  Taking a break won't kill me, but riding tired might!

Thanks for reading this crazy long post!


Happened on 8/24/11.