[ST] Am I healed enough for the Rallye?

["William A. Flowers" <wflowers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Well, this weekend I think I answered the question of whether or not I
am up to riding the Rallye -- whether my hand is healed enough for me to
do an all-day demanding ride.

The answer is a resounding YES!!!

I did 300 miles of moderately aggressive sport riding on Saturday.  The
pace was set by my friend Bill Nielsen on his non-stock Bandit 1200. 
He's opened the airbox, rejetted it and fitted a Holeshot muffler, IIRC.
Bill is a very experienced rider who does over 50,000 miles per year on
his pair of bikes!

I was also in the company of Keith, another rider I know on a Trophy
1200.  He too is a very experienced rider, but more of a long-distance
rider than an agressive sport rider.  I really noticed this when I was
tail-man following Keith and I was riding up his tail in the corners! I
eventually got in the habit of falling back before the corner so I could
take it at the pace I wanted.

Later Keith left for other commitments and Bill and I had a great time
chasing each other through tight twisty country roads.

Only once did I find myself going into a corner too fast (too fast for
my comfort, that is).  I mentally took hold of myself and forced myself
to look completely through the tight 90-degree turn to where I wanted to
go.  I could feel the bike lean over even further -- it seemed to do it
all by itself as if by magic and not by any concious act on my part.  I
could feel the suspension load itself even further.  The bike tracked
around that tight left corner like it was on rails.  I came out the
other side without ever coming close to the edge!

Needless to say I had a big grin on my face!  :-)

I did have to take some Ibuprofen for the pain in my hand at our first
stop (I forgot it before we left), but by doing so I rode for 8 hours
(including stops).  The weather varied from the mid-70's to over 100. 
The only constant was high humidity.

So bring on the Rallye!  :-)

- --
Bill "Bench Dawg" Flowers
Clearwater FL
'00 Sapphire Blue ST "Jewel"


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