Robin: Hey everybody, Robin Dean here for The Riding Obsession. Travis Burleson could not be here with us today for our regularly scheduled monthly podcast. He's a little bit under the weather, so we're wishing him well. In the meantime, our own wives have agreed to take on the podcast themselves in a back and forth interview discussing all things motorcycling for your entertainment. Again, I'm Robin Dean, and this is The Riding Obsession Podcast.

Laurel: Do you want to start? Do you want me to start? I can start. So my first question was about the track day, because I know you had crappy weather too, right? Yes. I was wondering, did you feel a lot of pressure to perform a certain way? I don't know, because that's kind of my biggest anxiety with potentially doing a track day is I feel like, okay, group two, go, and you have this long to do it, and you have to go back, you have to do it right, that there's all these rules and restrictions, and if you screw up, besides falling, of course, but it just seems like a lot of pressure. And I was wondering what your experience was like, if that's how you felt, or if that's wrong?

Maggie: It's not wrong, but the pressure is the pressure that you put on yourself, just like anything else. And I find this in every class I've ever taken, when you're trying something new that you don't like the back of your hand, it doesn't matter if it's an art class, it doesn't matter if you're learning, whatever it is, when it's something new that you don't necessarily know, or have much experience with, like you come in with all these high expectations of yourself, and you can't help but compare yourself to the other people in your group. And that just kind of naturally happens. Right. So one thing that helps is, you know, they have the different writer groups based on experience. And even if you've been writing for 30 years, if you've never done a track day, they're making you go into the beginner class, the beginner group.

Laurel: Oh, sure. Okay, that makes sense. Yeah.

Maggie: Yeah. So, you know, I started out in the beginner group. And it was, it's always intimidating, because I had this little 250, and everyone else in the group had above 500 CCs. Everyone else had some type of sport bike, and I had a standard, you know, so I kind of felt like, okay, they put you in the group, and then you do you do a classroom first. And then when you get out, and you actually do the writing, they have several coaches, and they're watching all, you know, they're watching all of you. And you kind of once you're on the bike, and you start going, and you try to apply what you've learned in the class, it kind of you forget about everyone else. One thing that's nice, one thing that's actually really great about track day is since you're on a track, you don't have to do all the things, all the looking around that you normally do on the street. You're not looking for street lights, and animals, and people, and cars. And they tell you, they make a point, they tell you do not turn around. Don't worry about what's happening behind you. Do your thing. And if everyone's following the rules, and following what they've set out, you're not supposed to be worrying about anybody else, just your own thing, what you're trying to learn. So that's nice. Yeah. That's really nice. It's like one thing you don't have to worry about, like looking behind you during the check, because you don't even have any mirrors. You have to block off. Oh, sure. Right, right, right. So that's nice. And then I had a great time, but the weather was shitty. It was raining, and it would stop raining. There'd still be puddles out there. They'd wait, to see if they could dry up. And then it would be, the perfect combination of the worst riding conditions could be, it'd be slightly slick, not quite dry. And then the sun would come out, and it would heat it up a little bit, and it just made it more slippery. So I had, I think I went out there three times. They finally did end up canceling. Well, they didn't cancel, but there were people, a lot of people left. A lot of people just left. They're like, no, I'm not riding this. And I had two instances where I fishtailed badly, but it was because I did something incorrectly. I was, I gunned it. I gunned the throttle coming out of a turn, right in a puddle. So I fishtailed badly twice. And one time I really thought I was going to go down, and I moved over to the right. I saw, and I was actually in the front, in the lead, and I didn't want to be a hazard to the other bike. So I moved over to the right, got out of everyone's way. And I saw one guy watching me, like, oh my God, because I was fishtailing so badly. You don't really have much of a choice. You can't put on the brake. You can't try to do anything except ride it out. And when you get into a weird situation where the bike feels unstable, the bike is always trying to correct itself. So I just let it do that. And I never fell. Wow. And I would just keep on riding. But I can still remember how that feels. And I hate it. Yeah. If I think about it, I remember how it feels. And that's something. So it was great. It was great. You're not under pressure by anyone. As many of you as there are, they'll pay attention to every person. And if someone is improving, they kind of try to help each person improve. And they give each person tips and pointers. And some people, there were a couple of crashes. There was one in my group. And it's so bad that they actually had to shut down the track because his bike leaked oil and he was taken by the ambulance.

Laurel: Oh my God.

Maggie: And it was a guy that was going fast. So I don't know exactly what happened, but he was one of the ones that would speed around in every corner. It was fun. I want to do another one. But I've told Robin that I definitely won't do another one if it rains. If it rains that day, I'm not doing it. I did one. I got through it. And it was fun. But the weather sucked. But yeah, there's no pressure from anyone else, like from the coaches or the ride leaders or from other riders. It's just you.

Laurel: Cool. That's good to know.

Maggie: Yeah.

Laurel: Because I know I'm hard on myself. So I probably would still be hard on myself.

Maggie: It's hard. I mean, yeah, it's hard. It's natural to be hard on yourself. It's natural to look at how other people are doing. Like I said, I was conscious of my bike. I had this little bike and everyone else had these bigger sport bikes at the time. And I ended up, I still did well. I started out last in the group and through each lap, they moved me to the front. Oh, wow. Yeah. But I still got pointers of things that I did wrong or things that could be improved. And so it's cool. Nice. Well, since other people listening to this won't know you, how did you get started riding? How did you get interested in riding? How did you get started riding?

Laurel: See, because I feel like it's not a good empowerment story or anything. But Travis, my husband, really got into bikes in a really serious way. And when Travis really got into it, I'd ride on the back of his and then decided at first that it was probably a good idea for me just to know the basic safety stuff in case we were ever out together and something happened to him that I would be able to at least manage the bike off the road or whatever. So I took the class and then my class had terrible weather and there were two of us. So it was really stressful and fun. Once you get going in the class, even, it's fun, going around 10 miles an hour in a circle. It's like, yay, I'm riding a motorcycle. It was enough fun that I... And it was one day, that was the other thing. Since there was only two of us, they did it as an intensive. And so it was outside all day in the rain. I got home that afternoon, Travis was at work, and my entire body was sore, everything. I think it was just so tense and this bike was tall for me. And when I got home, my first thought was, I never want to do that again. And then the more I thought about it and talked through the day and what happened and what I didn't like and what I did like, I realized that it wasn't the motorcycling I didn't like. It was that specific circumstance, that bike in those conditions and that I knew nothing. And so then the more I settled into it, the more I was like, that was actually fun. I bet this would be fun. So I took the test and passed. And then we found a bike, a Nighthawk 250, and it was a good little bike. And I feel like I was super nervous. It even took me a long time to get out of the alley where the bike was parked in Chicago. One of the alleys where all the garages go in, the bike was parked just a couple blocks away from our house. And so there was an afternoon that I just went up and down the alley several times and then went around the block and then put the bike away and that was fine. And then I'd go out again and go a little further and a little further. And then I was like, okay, well, this is fun. I feel like I can go into third gear and be fine. And then it started getting fun. But I feel like I was super intimidated at first. And then now in retrospect, I wish I would have told myself not to be. But I feel like it wasn't something that I always wanted to do. And I don't know, I feel like it really had to grow on me, but it really did. And now it's just, you know, like if I have a nice afternoon and I don't have to work, it's like, oh, I'm gonna take the bike out. Like just anywhere, just close, just like find some stretch of open road, which on our side of town, there isn't too much of right here. But it's like, you know, I'll ask him because he knows some routes that are near like where, how can I spend 45 minutes on the bike right now and have it be fun, you know?

Maggie: Will you still get on the back with Travis or do you find that you'd like to handle your own bike now?

Laurel: I still will get on the back. It kind of depends on the situation, like where we're going and what we're doing. I feel like just with our schedules, a lot of times I'll end up just solo because he's working the times that I have free. Or if we go out together. Yeah, I feel like I'm on my own bike now to get the feel of it more. Like if the point is to like go out into the driftless a little bit to ride, I want to ride on my own instead of just on the back. Yeah. If that makes sense. Yeah. Like if we're just like tooling around or, you know, running an errand and want to take the bike, then I'll go on the back. But if it's like to ride, then I want to push a little bit.

Maggie: See, I think that's, you said that wasn't very, it doesn't sound like an empowerment story. I think it's totally an empowerment story.

Laurel: Well, because I feel like the short answer to that is like, I did it because my guy did it, you know, and then it's like, meh, but.

Maggie: Yeah, but you ran with it. You got a license. You got your own bike. You've probably met plenty of women whose partners, husbands, boyfriends ride and they have no interest in ever maneuvering their own bike. They're perfectly happy just being the passenger. So and, you know, a lot of the interests I think that people find are introduced by someone close to them. Sibling, friend, spouse.

Laurel: So. Yeah, that's true. That, you know, that's definitely true. And I feel like I don't, I wouldn't have necessarily done it otherwise. If that makes, you know, where it's like, maybe if my sister was really into it, because we're very close, but it's like there aren't many people at all that would fit into that category. You know, we're like, like you guys, it's like you're so close with your spouse. Yeah. That like there are things where it's like, I really want you to try this. You know, and I mean, he didn't like push me into it or anything like I kind of, you know, he's like, Oh, are you interested? And for a little while that answer was no. And then finally it was like, you know what I should, I should learn the safety stuff, you know, at the very least. And then, Oh, do you want to take the test? And then it was, yeah. So it, there was no pressure there, but I feel like if, if it was just a friend, I wouldn't have gone for it in the same way, I guess. If that makes sense.

Maggie: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I still think it's an empowerment story. I think, I think you made it your own. You've made it your own. And you know, I'm the same way, you know, I got into it. I'd always liked, uh, I had friends that had scooters and motorcycles in school and I liked being on the back and I always thought it'd be fun to have a scooter. So my, my biggest ambition was really to have a scooter. And that's how I started on a scooter. And I was pretty fine on the scooter for a couple of years, but, uh, you know, it, it kind of morphed into, okay. Um, Robin watched the way I would lean the scooter and he said, Hmm, I think you need to move up in power. And it was the same thing when I got my little 250, I rode around in a parking lot, uh, around and around 10 miles per hour. And then he's, and it was only a few blocks from our, where we were living. And he said, okay, let's ride home. And I was like, Oh shit, you want me to take this out on the street? Yeah. Right. And it was, even though I'd been on a scooter at that point in traffic, getting on the bike in traffic was still intimidating. So yeah, it was, it was funny. Just thinking back on your own, like, uh, evolution.

Laurel: Yeah. You know, it was interesting. Well, cause too, and I don't know if they've changed the class at all since I took it. I feel like you don't really ever deal with real life situations. I mean, the closest thing is probably like the swerve, like making sure you can swerve and stop without grabbing the brakes and flying off, which two people before me did that when I took the test. So that was crazy. There isn't a way probably to do it safely to like take you on the road during the class so that like the teacher's there and you can actually deal with real life situations a little bit. I don't know how, there's like no way to do it. It's not like driver's ed where, you know, you can have a teacher there with you with their own brake pedal. Cause we, we bought a bike and it wasn't too far away, but I, well, that, that Nighthawk had kind of a weird blip in the throttle. Like it, like you couldn't, you had to really give it gas while you were slipping the clutch. There was like a little bit of a dead spot. And so if you just like eased on the throttle while you were letting out the clutch, it would, it would stall. And, and so I stalled this thing like 15 times trying to, to get down their street to leave. And I was like, I can't, nope, I can't do this. I'm now I'm like too frustrated and too freaked out to drive this thing back the whatever five miles to the house. So we had to like come back with the car so that we could each, so that he could drive the bike home and then I could ride the, in the car. Cause I think we showed up at their house on his motorcycle. So I had the gear. I was just too freaked out at that point after stalling this bike a million times with his dead spot and the throttle that still makes me mad.

Maggie: A little bit, just a little bit. I had the same bike. So I remember that dead zone. And by the way, I have managed to find the dead zone on every bike I've ridden. So I've sold every bike I've ridden.

Laurel: Yikes. Yeah. The, the Buell blast I have now, the clutch is a little weird, but I don't think it really has a dead zone like that. I mean, I've stalled it because of, you know, not paying enough attention of just, you know, being in the wrong gear, just letting the clutch out to start, you know, just like stupid, like not thinking about it stuff. But, but yeah, I don't think it really has a dead zone. It's weird. Otherwise it's a big thumper bike and it's, I wish it had more power. That's the one thing, like when I first got it, I was like, yeah, cause it was, you know, 500 instead of 250. And now it's like, oh, I kind of, I kind of want more power.

Maggie: Ah, so, okay. So do you have, do you have a, I don't know if I want to say dream bike, but you have a bike that you would love to be on. Forget, forget price, forget, um, height. If you had, if, if you could, if there were a bike out, is there a bike out there that you would love to ride?

Laurel: There, there's a few that I've had my eye on. Um, I mean like the one, honestly, like the dream bike that really comes to mind, you don't have to worry about maintaining it or anything is a Ducati monster. I just think they're beautiful. And, uh, yeah, I, and I haven't, I've never tried to ride one, so maybe I would ride it and hate it, but it's like, I just love those bikes. I don't know why. I kind of like the trellis frame and I like the short, the short wheel base. Um, and they're like more powerful, but there's still, they seem like they're, you know, small enough where I could manage it. Like, it seems like it's a, just my size kind of bike, but I don't actually know from experience also triumphs. I really, I like triumphs. Um, your triumph is crazy. Yeah. Um, you are, you are, you're always welcome to write it. Oh my gosh. I'm scared of that bike a little bit. Why? Cause it, that's like a lot of power, right? Like how much?

Maggie: Yeah, there's, it's got, it's torquey, but I've never found myself in a situation where I, I, I put on the throttle and was like, whoa, you know, almost fell off the bike. I think that I'm a pretty gradual rider. So like I've never, I've never felt, I mean, it's heavy, it's, it's heavy. Like all bikes are heavy, but for someone my size, but I haven't been scared of the power. Let's put it that way. Oh, okay. That's cool. Yeah. Like it's not like when I'm sitting there idle, it's not like it's just It's she's, uh, she kind of, uh, she has a nice sort of, it's not quite a kitten purr, but it's sort of in between, you know, she's not as loud as you would think, sure. But you have confidence that you can get out of a situation if you need to. Oh, nice. I've only cracked the ton once.

Laurel: Oh, okay. That's cool.

Maggie: So I think it's manageable.

Laurel: Nice. Good to know. Good to know. Yeah. Cause I mean, well, cause I'm more, I guess, um, Bonneville kind of style like that. James Dean could have written up on this in a movie sort of look of a bike. I like that. And then there was a Yamaha FZ 07, which we just sat on at angle heart, um, a few in the fall. That was cool. Cause just like your stance is a little bit sportier than what I usually go for, but it's like, there's almost like nothing in front of you. I think there's like a tiny little windscreen, but it's just to deflect. And then the mirrors are way off to the side. So I feel like you're almost, it's like you're doing that, you know, like from the Titanic that like pose on the front. Yeah. Yeah. Cause you're just, it just felt and just sitting there, you know, and again, it might be different, like riding, like that it's really just like open road in front of you and nothing kind of obstructing that. And that seemed really cool.

Maggie: Yeah.

Laurel: But again, like I haven't ridden any, anything else. So that's the next, the next step this spring, I was going to try to maybe do one of these days where you can do some test rides and try out some more things, even though that's intimidating to me too, because that I'd be sure I'd break it because it's not mine.

Maggie: So you're talking about over at angle heart going to try some.

Laurel: Yeah, maybe.

Maggie: Yeah.

Laurel: Hopefully.

Maggie: I think that's always, it bugs me that that's always height is always going to be an issue. Uh, you know, I'm five two. And so, um, any sport bike out, out of the box is too tall, but there are some new bikes. I think, is it BMW and Triumph have some smaller displacement bikes that are a little bit, they're supposed to be a little shorter, I think in seat height, but still tall. I'm getting good with heeled boots, but there are times when I feel like I'd rather, I'd rather have my flat, you know, I'd rather be in my flat boots. I feel more stable in them, but you know, that's the only way I can ride.

Laurel: Yeah. Yeah. I don't, I have no experience with the heeled boots yet. I mean, I've only had two bikes so far and they're both low. So maybe it was last spring ankle heart did a thing for women. One of their sales associates, Becky, um, kind of organized it with a couple of the other guys who worked there. And it was an event for women riders about specifically riding solo. So she got a couple speakers, two women who had done big solo rides and they had an amazing turnout. It was something like 30 or 40 women came and yeah, I was really impressed and it was, it was a good event. They talked about gear, kind of like gear, like bike gear and also like camping or other such things that would fit in saddlebags. People's anxieties that have to do with riding solo on long trips and just kind of personal stories. But beyond that, there were just a lot of women there who were just like sharing their own experiences and that was really cool.

Maggie: Wow.

Laurel: That's cool.

Maggie: I would love to, if they have another one, I'd love to go to that.

Laurel: Yeah. I think they're organizing one for gear specifically. I don't know if it's going to be the same kind of forum. I kind of hope so. I should email Becky and ask her, but I know they kind of sent out a thing like, Hey, what kind of gear would you like to see? You know, as far as jackets, helmets, what brands, any, you know, things like that. Cause that was a big complaint that some women had like, Oh, I wear men's boots because the women's ones are, don't fit me right. You know, things like that. And that was kind of cool to hear. Cause it's like, yeah, I have that problem. Or someone was like, Oh yeah, check out this website for good leather stuff. That's not all pink and flowers, you know, but still made for, made for women. But there were two ladies and they were at least in their fifties riding like 1200 CC BMWs. Wow. And yeah. And I don't know. It's like, I didn't actually see them drive away, but they like wheeled, they like walked them out and like lined them up and then like hopped over or the one hopped over. I didn't see the other one actually leave. And it's like, how, why, how, how, how do you ride? Cause they were little. Really? They serious. Yeah. Yeah. They were short little ladies late. I don't know if they'd be offended by the word lady. Like they're tough as nails. Like they weren't, you know, there was nothing about them that was dainty. Um, but yeah, big bikes, short statured women. Yeah. And I was like, man, how do you manage that thing? But yeah, I don't, I don't know what they do at stoplights if they have to like swing completely off to the side and like put just a foot down, but they're like their butts off the seat entirely. I mean, I, I, I would assume so.

Maggie: Yeah. Wow. Uh, yeah. I mean, I've, I've heard of, I've heard of some women doing that. And on the one hand, if you get used to riding that way, you've got mad skill.

Laurel: Yeah.

Maggie: But on the other hand, I've been just, I mean, I've been on some, I've been on some streets where the, the, the street wasn't level. It was there, there was like a slight, um, dip to the right. Oh yeah. So at the point where you're stopping, you know, and I would not have wanted to be, I would not have wanted to be one footed on like a slope like that, where it's sort of more to the left or to the right. I mean, I guess you would, I guess you would just counterbalance, but still like, I don't know. I mean, I guess like everything it's in your head. So if you think you can do it, I guess you can find a way. But yeah, I, I did everything I had to, to lower my bike and I, some people don't agree with that, but, uh, I, there was no way I was gonna, I wanted to be fairly flat, fairly flat foot. I'm not totally flat footed, but I wanted to be as close to flat footed as possible.

Laurel: Yeah. Well, and that makes sense. I mean, even just like maneuvering a parking lot, you know, like trying to back out of a parking space. Like when I, when I worked at the country club, the, the side that we parked on always sloped downward. And even though my bike is short, like I can easily flat foot trying to pull it back out of this parking spot.

Maggie: Yeah.

Laurel: Always. It was just at the end of a day, like just wanting to go home, especially when it was hot and I'd have my coat on or, you know, like my jacket on already. And it's just like, oh, I can't wait to move and trying to heave this bike out of a parking spot. For, for them, you know, if that's the bike that they want and they can manage it, awesome. But I don't think I'll ever, and maybe it'll change, but at this point it's like, I don't know if I'll ever need to manage that much. And so why push for something?

Maggie: Yeah.

Laurel: You know, like if it's going to be a lot more work and if you can get the same enjoyment, you know, like it's always, it's, it's a, it's such a, uh, a hobby for me and fun. Like, I don't want to add things to it that make it not fun.

Maggie: Yeah, I agree. I agree with you on that. Um, so, okay. So that's interesting. So the forum was about riding solo. Do you, um, do you have any interest in doing any like long distance rides or doing like a group tour or riding with Travis, you know, across the country somewhere or anything like that?

Laurel: Yeah. Some, I think I, I don't think I'd want to go solo, at least not this point, but yeah, like doing a group or going with him. That sounds like a blast. Maybe not camping the whole way and doing that just because I feel like you'd, I'd be tired and maybe kind of sore or ready and then having to sleep on the ground doesn't sound like fun particularly. Um, well, but if you see, but that's the thing. It's like you're on a motorcycle, so you only have so much gear. Cause my next sentence is going to be like, well, if you had an air mattress, but then it's like, you wouldn't have an air mattress. Cause where would you put an air mattress on a bike? But yeah, I, I mean, they had such a great time going to the West coast and you know, like the, the pictures are beautiful and the, for the most part, the stories were great. I know they had a couple rough days with the weather. So yeah, I think, I think that would be really fun. Not, not on this bike. I'd have to figure out a bike that, that is, has more power, I think for sure. And maybe a slightly different riding position. The Beal's pretty standard. I feel like it's almost verging on, on cruisery a little bit. My feet are just like sitting in a chair in front of you. And so like, if you have to stand out, like if you go over a lot of bumps, like it's hard to stand up. And so I kind of wish my feet were a little bit more under me just where I'd have a little bit more control. And yeah, it's just, it's, it's 500 CCs. I feel like it doesn't have enough power, especially like, you know, where you're saying like you feel confident being able to get out of situations. I feel like I don't have that confidence all the time, but it kind of depends. How about you? Okay. So for you, I also had dream bike and a dream trip. If you could take the bike anywhere, where would you go? Or the dream bike question too. I don't want to, if you wanted to answer that one.

Maggie: You know, I think for the moment, I love Trillion. That's the street triple's name. I don't know if I'd call it a dream bike, but I like 80 V bikes. Is it the GS? Whatever they rode and in long way round, long way down. Oh, yeah. When, uh, you and McGregor's wife joined them, she had the same, but smaller version. And so I was like, well, she doesn't seem that tall. Like maybe that's possible, but I like the idea that I could get on an 80 V bike like that. And we could go that way. We could go wherever, not just on this, on the road. As far as trip, Robin has talked about taking me on the route that he and Travis took. Uh, they've talked about going to the other Portland. Uh, that would be fun. Yeah. I'm not sure that I would want to do it in a foreign country just yet. Okay. Actually, I take that back Africa. There are bike trips in Africa that I would love to do. And like a lot of people have mentioned Edelweiss in Europe has, you know, beautiful touring trips and you're on beamers, um, going through just seeing the most beautiful, you know, going through Switzerland and the Alps and things like that. Like, Oh yeah, I would do that. Um, so yeah, those are probably some dream trips. Those aren't cheap trips. Um, no, those are, those would probably be dream trips, man.

Laurel: Africa seemed so hard though. As far as like the sand and the, the rocks and the, yeah, the mud and the grit and everything that they had to go through.

Maggie: It did. And I don't know how well they really plan their trip to where they hit so many areas where there was no road. Oh yeah. I'm guessing that if you went on some of the, um, some of the tours that they have, they're probably going to try to stick to as much road as possible. In one of the MCN issues, it was a female writer who actually talked about a trip she did in Africa. She was doing volunteer work over there and she decided she had to try one of these trips. And she talks about, there was a point where she's on the road and there's, you know, a few riders staggered and she sees someone like pointing behind her and she turns and looks and there's a giraffe running next to them. Whoa. And so they're all just like, you know, they're, they're moving, but they're seeing these drafts running next to them. And she said, it's like not, you can't, she couldn't explain it. She just started tearing up and she was watching these giraffes. She felt like, you know, she felt like she was with them running with them. And it was just such a unique perspective and experience to have. I was, that was the one that sold me. I was like, okay, yeah, I got to do that. Okay. Yeah.

Laurel: Yep. I'm sold too. That sounds great. Ride with giraffes. Yeah, definitely. Well, yeah. And I guess too, if it's like a guided organized tour, cause I, I wonder now too, like how much of that was to build in some drama, you know, and like take them places that's like really off the beaten path, you know, because they have a crew and they, it's supposed to be this like adventure with the two guys and, and yeah, so that they weren't necessarily looking for roads as much as they were looking for out there, Savannah. So yeah, that's a, that's a good point. I would also, I've heard, I don't know, I don't know how credible this is, but that Thailand has some organized things that are beautiful and take you up into like mountain passes and stuff. But I don't know. I don't know if I can verify that. That's from a friend of mine who, his kind of example is like, you can do anything in Thailand. You don't need a license and you can get a motorcycle and they'll take you up into the mountains.

Maggie: So, I don't know if that's a, I don't know if I like it.

Laurel: Yeah, no, it's probably not a good idea, but, but yeah, even like, I want to say it was Vietnam that the, the Top Gear guys ended up on like little motorcycles in Vietnam riding all over the place. And just the, the film is beautiful, just the area.

Maggie: Yeah.

Laurel: So like Southeast Asia, I've never been to Southeast Asia in general, so I'd like to go, but I wonder if riding a motorcycle around Southeast Asia would be a good idea or a bad idea. I don't know.

Maggie: I think it would be fun if, if, even if it's not a full fledged motorcycle, even if it's on a Honda, a Honda Cub, I'd do it. Oh yeah.

Laurel: Yeah. And I think, yeah, that's like one of the, I think it was James May had a, a Cub for the, for their trip. And then one of them had like a scooter, like a Vespa even, like it was terrible because they had tiny little wheels and the roads weren't great. It's a really funny, I don't know what season it is, but it's a really funny episode of Top Gear because then I think they have to make them into boats at the end. But yeah, I mean, any of those I think would really for me be like emphasis on dream trip. Like when would you get a month and however many thousands of dollars together to do any of that, but it's fun to think about.

Maggie: Yeah. So you mentioned that you think Angleheart is getting ready to do another female centric event that's focused on gear. Is there any gear that you have or accessory that you have your eye on?

Laurel: Not specifically. One of the things they talked about was layering, doing like under layers and stuff, like different wicking material. I don't really have any of that. So I kind of want to see what's available. And also I kind of only have one pair of warm weather riding pants and one pair of cold weather riding pants. And I probably could use some more on either end, especially because it's like jeans that have the leather inserts kind of on like the hip and the knees and they're great, but they're a pair of jeans and so they get dirty and there's leather in them. So you have to wash them by hand and then let them dry for three days.

Maggie: Yeah.

Laurel: Yeah. So I like put a fan on them and it still takes two days to get them to dry. So I'm just kind of seeing, I know there's a lot out there that I feel like I don't know about specifically because I don't look for it. Like I'm sure there's tons of stuff online, but it's just like, eh, well. But if they had it available to look at or try on, then I probably would, I guess. I could probably look at helmets too, I think. No, I just got a new helmet. I got a helmet last year. So that's probably good for a little while. How about you? Is there anything gear wise you're scouting for?

Maggie: I would, I'd love an arrow stitch suit, you know, just step on in with my clothes on, zip it up. I would love that. Yeah. That'd be nice. Instead of, you know, what I have now works. It's fine. But yeah, I would love to have one. The guy that sold me my Triumph talked about his arrow stitch he's had for 20 years. Still good. Wears it, that's all he wears when he's writing and it's, you know, it's solid. I think he taught, he actually jimmy rigged to make it heated. Really? Oh, wow. Instead of buying heated gear, but I mean, he swears by it. It's fantastic. It's an investment for sure. But you know, it's lasted him 20 years of writing. You see how the gear gets worn down even after a few seasons.

Laurel: Yeah. Yeah. And I bet if you did the math on, you know, like you said, like a new pair of pants and a new jacket every couple years, that it's almost certainly worth it. And then for like a custom piece that's going to fit you correctly. Yeah. But it's a lot of money. Yeah. Yeah, it is. It's like, yes, it's a good investment. But I wonder if they do like installment plans. Probably not. I don't know. They probably don't have to.

Maggie: Yeah, probably not.

Laurel: It's amazing. Or if you did like layaway, I wonder if they do layaway. Does layaway still exist? Does it? I don't know. I don't know. I feel like I hear about it around Christmas, whatever the Kmart commercials are.

Maggie: Do you follow any or read any like motocentric blogs or vlogs?

Laurel: Not really. Travis has a few subscriptions to various magazines, and I'll kind of flip through occasionally or like if he flags something that he thinks that I would like specifically. Do you? Are there any that are good out there that you know of?

Maggie: I can't say that I read them or follow them regularly. I have a few that are bookmarks. I know of a few good ones. Well, our friend Hien has she she's a voto cycling, right? She's got a YouTube channel. So she does videos. Oh, cool. And she's mentioned a few others that I think she follows. So and there was one there was a girl that had her blog was called Gear Chick. She she's Asian and I think she's my height and she rides some big bikes like the bike the bike she's on now is 1000cc. She's all about gear, proper gear. And she's been riding for a while. I think she now works for RevZilla. Oh, cool. Reading that she moved from San Francisco to I think they're in Pennsylvania or somewhere. Now works for RevZilla. But yeah, I don't. I'm like you. I'm most mostly if anything, I read Robbins MCN. And I think we also get American Motorcyclist is the one for AMA.

Laurel: Yep. Yeah, we get that one.

Maggie: Yeah, which sometimes there's some really good articles in there is one website that I look at pretty consistently. It's called the riding obsession.

Laurel: Wow, I heard those guys are really talented.

Maggie: It's a pretty good site. Yeah. I you know, we've been on for an hour. So we should probably wrap it up. I don't want to take more of your time.

Laurel: So oh my gosh, yeah. Wow. That was a fast hour.

Maggie: Yeah, it was fun.

Laurel: I feel like we touched even on most of my questions. Nice. Oh, okay. So this my last question was, what would you tell the beginner version of yourself? If you could go back to when if if Margaret now could go back to when you were just starting to ride?

Maggie: Ooh, that's a good one. It's funny, because I think that what I would tell myself is the stuff that Robin had been telling me all along. I feel like my learning curve was helped by the fact that he had already gone through like, he's taken all the classes, he'd done the track days, he's very safety conscious. And he also found a few groups of experienced riders that helped him. So he's always kind of been there for me. And I felt I feel like he's he was telling me the stuff that I would go back and tell me now, had I not had him, you know, sure, all of the safety, all the things to watch out for, be patient, ride your own ride. When I first started riding, and I was on my little scooter, my what was 125 cc scooter, I thought I was gonna be perfectly happy on that and be fine. And then he said, No, you're gonna you're gonna want something bigger. And that day came and I was like, Okay, so then I went to 250. And he said, You're gonna this one will last you maybe a season or two, and then you're gonna want something bigger. And I was like, No, I'm comfortable on this. I'm fine. And then that day came, he's pretty much been right on about everything. So he kind of already told me everything that now I would go back and tell me.

Laurel: Nice. That's cool. It's cool that you had that voice kind of at a certain point, did you kind of realize that you could trust him at the time? Or was it still like every new thing? Like, No.

Maggie: Yeah, I think it was probably last season. It really all gels. So yeah, no, I think each time I was like, No. And even when it came to the area I'm weakest in is slow maneuvers. And that's where I've dumped the bikes. I say bikes because I've dumped every bike. Thankfully, I've never been in any sort of, you know, collision, moving collision. Every every fall I've had has been when the bike was fairly stationary, right?

Laurel: Yeah, no, me too. That's okay.

Maggie: And everything he would tell me he was right. And if I if I would have listened to him, I might have been and I could have avoided some of the things so. So last season, I think was probably when it really all gelled like, Oh, he knows what he's talking about. He has my interest. You know, he has my best interests at heart. He's always very concerned and trying to be there for me. So yeah.

Laurel: Oh, yeah, that's good. Don't he don't tell him though, that he's right, though, right?

Maggie: Like, oh, he already thinks he's always right.

Laurel: So I know he doesn't need like the extra encouragement.

Maggie: What about you? Same question. Last question.

Laurel: I think I would tell myself to relax and try to enjoy it more. I feel like I was just so in my head and so you know, like every little thing, I'm not doing it right. It should be better. I just kept like kicking myself and then when something would go wrong, a little thing would go or even just like, you know, stalling at a traffic light, you know, it's like people, I think I would get so kind of worked up like, Oh, my God, now I'm holding up traffic. And it's like, people get it, the things happen. It's, you know, it's actually only 10-15 seconds that you're holding people up. It's, you know, it's not the end of the world. And, you know, there are things that I'm glad that I cared a lot about and I was vigilant about but other things where it's like, man, you're just stressing yourself out over nothing. Just like chill out a little bit and try to have fun. That's probably what I would tell myself. Also, like the slow maneuver stuff too. Yeah, like dumping your bike in your driveway. Yeah, that's not fun.

Maggie: Yeah, that's good. That's good advice, especially I think for female riders. You know, I don't know, I don't know if there tends to be more draw from for male riders to bikes and they like, they just seem to get on them and just go and they're naturally born on them. And I feel like female riders were a little more self-conscious and conscious about everything. And you're right, it's supposed to be fun.

Laurel: Yeah, I wonder in some ways or especially like taking the class, I feel like I had something to prove and I don't know why now in retrospect that I felt that way. Even if I didn't want to do it, if I, you know, would have walked away, it's like who actually cares? Like I didn't need to prove anything to anyone, but I just, I felt like I did. I don't know. Well, you proved something to yourself. That's true. That's always worth it. Yeah, definitely. And no, yeah, in retrospect again, like it's totally worth it and I'm glad I stuck with it.

Maggie: So yay. Yay. Podcast. Podcast. Maybe we'll do a part two.

Laurel: Yeah. And then anytime you guys want to come up here and ride this spring.

Maggie: We will. I want to get up there and check out the cart in action. Yeah, totally.

Laurel: That would be awesome.

Robin: I want to take this moment to thank my lovely wife, Margaret Dean and Travis's wife, Laurel Burleson for getting together and simply keeping the podcast going for us this month. I hope you enjoyed listening. Tune in next time when hopefully Travis will be feeling better and everything will be back to normal. For The Riding Obsession, I'm Robin Dean. Safe travels, everyone.