pushing you. But, I do not want to steal Susan’s thunder. Take out a piece of paper and draw thee a road with a left and right hand corner. This is not a track day “road.” This is the real world of two-lane riding. Run your finger down your two-lane road and miss the right hander then miss the left. You’ll get the picture of why these corners are psychologically different. Make either of them blind corners, and that just makes it more fun. I asked Susan recently if I was getting
slower as I got older or were the guys I was encountering going faster on the current generation of BMWs. Her response: “You’re not slower. They are faster. And once they crash, they’ll learn to be Quick riders rather than Fast riders.” Now all of this came back with a rush this
year as I encountered a member of this new generation that includes a bunch of guys who haul their “track bike” to the track or just trailer it to great riding roads. That whole concept was new to me.
Ron signs on for the First Annual Raider
Fall Rendezvous held this year in West Vir- ginia. Ron is a guy who hauls his bike to the twisties but wants to do a bit more “Iron Tush” style riding, or so he asserts. As it turns out, the route on the way to WVA includes great roads he knows well. “Dave,” he emails, “there are great riding
roads across Kentucky on the way to West Virginia. I know them well. Meet me in Dry Ridge, Kentucky, and I’ll lead the way.” Well now, that seemed like a great idea. But Dou- ble D is nobody’s fool. “Ron,” I respond, “what’s the route? I’ll create a GPX file and share it with you.” Meaning, I want this locked and loaded in my GPS. Naturally, Ron didn’t need a GPX file, as he knows the roads. And I didn’t have the heart to tell him that DD needed the GPX file because I expected him to leave me in the dust and wanted to make sure that eventually our paths crossed when he bothered to notice and stopped. As it turned out, he did not notice and
eventually did lose me, but before that hap- pened he did stop to get off the bike and take a picture. I can still see him. He pulled off the road and is facing me 100. I stop. In my mind’s eye I see the road in reverse per- spective from his point of view. I realize that if a bike were coming at me they’d be seeing a sharp enough right hand turn, slightly off camber.
“Ron, somebody crashed here,
didn’t they?” He laughs. “Yes, and every time I’m here I stop take a picture and send it to them.” That’s tough love and a devilish sense of humor. I sit there, wondering for a moment if there is a corner coming up that Ron plans to help me remember. But all goes well, and the trip was great. Each Spring I keep telling myself that this
year is my year to practice going FAST. But then I confront that next blind corner on some technical road, and I tell myself to just keep going Quick. Maybe though, this is the year you want to practice getting up to speed. I’ve got a camera. See you down the road.
www.ilimworks.com
May 2016 BMW OWNERS NEWS
103
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