Joanne: Yesterday I finally went above 70 miles an hour and I didn't know that the road was going to turn into a gravel road. So I'm going 70 miles an hour and I hit the gravel road and I start slipping. Oh no. Yeah, that was scary. And the biggest thing that I'm forgetting is to hug the tank with my knees. Okay. What kind of bike do you have? Oh, I have a Ninja 400, 2018 Ninja 400. Yeah, I had a 250 years ago. Yeah, it's a great bike. It is. I'm going 70 miles an hour and I hit a pothole and I jump off my bike about three inches. I thought it was over. I thought it was over for me. I gotta remember to hug the tank with my knees. If you get tank pads, that'll help. Tank pads. Okay. Never heard of those. Yes. I'll send you. Here, I'll start making a little list for you. Please.

Maggie: Black Friday? That's right. Black Friday.

Joanne: Really great company out there that I like called TechSpec and they make really good low profile grips for your tank and they're made by bike model. Why aren't there cuter things for women? I'm looking at the gear and it's just awful. Not cute. Well, I guess that depends what your definition of cute is. If your definition is pink and flowers and hearts, there's not going to be much for you.

Maggie: Oh, there's pink. There's pink stuff out there. It's still not cute.

Joanne: Yeah, but if your definition of cute is fitted and tailored, there's a lot. Okay. I'm just not looking in the right place then. Right. It all depends where you look and it's just like going to the mall to find shoes. If you like a certain style, you're not going to find it in every store or brand, right? You have to go to the places that cater to your taste and style and not every website or store will give you those options. As soon as I give you some ideas, don't worry. You're going to find what you need. You just don't know because you're in a giant mall and there's like a thousand stores and you're like, where do I go? I have been going to Cycle Gear religiously to their small little women's section in the corner with sea jackets. The physical shopping is going to be the worst. Okay. Yeah, so don't worry. I'm going to give you some really good ideas. Okay. Okay. I trust you. I'm excited. I've been waiting for Black Friday. Yes, that's actually a really good idea too. I forgot they're around the corner.

Maggie: So it sounds like you did not go down. It sounds like you managed to ride it out. I have not gone down yet, thank God, because I was only wearing a puffer and some jean.

Joanne: Okay. How long have you- I didn't hear that. I did not hear that. How long have you been riding this bike? Two days. Okay. You know, here's the thing, Angel. You already know I need to buy more gear. I need to wear more stuff. You already know that. We're not going to lecture you on that. So that's great. You're light years ahead of a lot of other people in your shoes who don't even think about that. But being new, you're going to want to maybe wait to hit the 70. Okay. Yeah. I mean, there's no rules here. There's no books. There's no person who's going to show up at your door in a week and go, hey, Angel, what have you got on the freeway? Yeah. No, I agree. What I'd recommend, what we did, is it took me two months to get on the freeway. I was on the back road. We had that. I was on the back road. No cars. I started. I grew my radius. Five mile radius. And then after a few months, we're like, let's go to 20 miles. And you grow your radius until you get comfortable. Unless you have to go somewhere. But it'll probably lower the risk of running into bumps at 70. I will take your advice. I will not be going 70 until I get my full gear. Maybe until you're happy at 50. Like, once you're happy at 50, you're like, what's 70? It's a cake. Yeah. Only no 10. Then 70 is not fun. It was pretty scary. But I love the adrenaline. Now you know what could happen. So that helps you make the decision of what to do, right? I guess. Yeah. Do you guys recommend that I get the gear with the airbags on it? Should I get C1, C2? I don't even know if I'm saying that right. Realistically speaking, we all need airbags. And realistically speaking, we should all be running around in a one-piece tracksuit. Right. Okay. Just from a very safe point of view. Right. Okay. So from a protection level, one to 10, of course, it's a 10. However, that doesn't necessarily mean it's a guarantee for anything. And it's really a lot like, it's just like insurance. Kind of gauging your personal level of risk. I have a very low risk level. I don't need an airbag vest. I don't feel the need for one. I mean, I've been in two accidents. I broke my arm on the dirt. I broke a finger, but nothing major. So if you want that extra level, by all means, get it for yourself. However, it's hard to find the options for women. I mean, if the Ace Stars option works for you, I'm certainly going to recommend that to you. Same with Dianese. They really make the only two options for women. And that's if you're lucky enough to be below a size 12. Okay. Gotcha. Are you dress size like under 12, 10 or 12? Yes, I'm under that. Then you're fine. You'll probably find a ton. You could find options, but yeah, it's really a personal level of choice. Maggie, do you wear one? No airbag.

Maggie: What do you wear, Maggie? I wear all the rest of the gear, but I hadn't kept up on where they are with airbags, how accessible, what's the price point.

Joanne: In a nutshell, for us that are all below a size 10, we have a few options. The best options, like I said, are Dianese Alpine Stars. Alpine Stars just come out with a few options, but you start in at like $300 or $400 and then you go up to like $800. I think they came out with an entry-level one for like $400 or $500, but you're going to spend as much as you would on a jacket if you really wanted to. But I think Maggie and I are in the same boat. I thought about it because I've sold them. The Revit one is not for women and it'll fit you if you have a masculine body type, but if you don't have big shoulders, then the men's one is too big. Really, men's options are pointless at our size. Unless you're like 5'9", maybe you're like Serena Williams and you have big shoulders, you know, you can fill out. But A-Stars does make a women's one. They make a vest. Okay. My issue with wearing them, honestly, is comfort. I don't want to wear it under, you have to wear them under your jacket. And I don't want to wear another thing under my jacket. I don't want to wear like, it's not that it's really bulky, but it's just, I'm already not fitting my gear as it is because I've had some body issues. So I really don't want to add to that.

Maggie: What do you guys do in the summer when it's hot? I have mesh that has the armor in it.

Joanne: Yeah. The way I go about it, it's the same as we wear summer gear. So what you want to think about with gear is try not to think about every scenario in one outfit. Try not to think about, I'm going to buy an outfit that I can wear 24-7, 365, no matter what the temperature, because it just doesn't work that way. You'll narrow your options to like one. And as a new rider, you're not going to ride when it's snowing. And you're not going to ride when it's 40 degrees out. You're going to ride when it's beautiful. So there's no point in trying to find waterproof things or winter things or heated things. Like, think about it seasonally and you have a summer outfit. Where do you live, Angel? I live in Sacramento, California. Oh, Sacto. Sacto. I'm from the Bay Area. Oh, okay. You have easy weather and you're probably just going to want to find an outfit that's for like 60 to 90. That's how I live most of the year anyway, because I'm not riding in the snow. Screw that. I see a bike in your background. What kind of bike is that? So it's a Triumph Street Triple, but it's not a beginner bike. That's a bike you'll grow into maybe your next bike. That's my street bike. Wow. So it's a 675. Yeah, it's a naked.

Maggie: Naked. Okay, what does that mean? There's no fairing. Yeah. Notice the lack of plastics that kind of...

Joanne: Yeah, there's no plastic around the handlebar and down the side. You can see all the parts. You can see all the stuff here. Everything's exposed. So that's a naked. Okay. I like it that way. That's just my preference. Purely an aesthetic.

Maggie: I used to have that bike. I had a later gen. It was red and matte gray.

Joanne: Yeah, mine's a 12, and you had the next year.

Maggie: I had a 16, and I sold it back in February. The only reason I did... I would still have it, but there was one major issue with it. Sorry, Triumph, but it's a European bike. And they have immobilizers, and mine had an issue. I ended up stranded a few times. Robin and my friends tried to diagnose through the wiring, the electricals, what it was, and it doesn't... When I took it out for rides, I couldn't turn off the motor. If you could get it started, you were good. You just didn't want to turn off the motor somewhere and be in another town and get stranded like I did. But yes, totally agree with Joanne. Not... It only happened like two or three times. Still, that's not okay. That is not helpful. Unacceptable. Yeah. Otherwise, I'd love that bike, and I had to grow into it. I agree with Joanne. It's not a beginner bike. But I've moved on to a new naked bike. Okay. Suzuki SV650. I seem to have a theme. It's red and black. You'll have to send me a picture after this. I will. It's called the Black Widow. That's her name.

Joanne: I understand as the numbers get higher, the bikes get more power. What is this 300? You're saying 650. I'm hearing 1,000. I'm like, okay, I'm going to get it to 1,000. I want to get to 1,000. That's displacement. So that's the engine size. That's the physical size of the engine, like how big is it? And generally speaking, it implies that the bigger it is, the more power it has. However, it really depends on the type of engine, because my bike is a three-cylinder. So a cylinder, it looks like a little V. There's three of them. Mine's a 675, but generates 30% more horsepower. I think Maggie, has your SVs changed?

Maggie: No.

Joanne: Still a twin. Still a twin. So every bike has horsepower. Your Ninja probably has like 30 horsepower, as my guess. You know, so it's got some oomph. But Maggie's bike is a 650cc engine, and hers is like 70. Mine's the same size, but it's 100. So it has 30% more power and torque, because it's got another cylinder to help it. I think a Ninja 400, that's a twin? I have no idea. You're like speaking a foreign language. These are things to know, because I don't know enough about a lot of the new bikes. It's a twin. Okay, so it's two cylinders, right? So think about bikes, it's one to four cylinders, basically. And usually like a 50cc scooter will have one, you know, or a 100cc motorcycle will have one cylinder. Two cylinders is when you go to like a 250cc motorcycle or a 400cc. But what's important for you to know, and you've probably noticed is, your bike has 45 horsepower. Wow, that's a lot. I had a Ninja 250 in 2003, and it had like 20. I had to open my throttle all the way and rev it as high as it would go so I could get up to fifth gear and go 65. Like that's how slow, that's how slow it was. How long did you have that bike for before you decided to upgrade? I had it for three years. Yeah, and then I upgraded to a 750cc with four cylinders. I would hope that your goal isn't only to grow your bike size. It is not. The better you get at riding and the more you practice, you'll grow up, you'll grow out to a new motorcycle and you'll probably go up to bigger ones. But there's a lot of great bikes out there that are smaller and great, and you may not ever want to. The problem with bigger motorcycles is they get fatter. Not all of them, there's some high performance bikes that are really nimble, but my husband has a three cylinder, but it's 1000cc. It's like my bike, but each cylinder, I don't know how, they're just bigger, I guess. So his is 120 horsepower, but the engine is so wide that my knees get pushed apart, and then my feet, I can't actually touch the ground. How much does that bike weigh? It only weighs like 450 pounds. Mine's 400. His is probably 420, but the weight also, it depends how the bike's put together. I don't like his bike because it's so fat, and I'm 5'2". Your engine's probably skinny in the front and then wide, but you need that so that your knees aren't pushed out all the time. That bike is designed for him. He's 200 pounds, six foot, so whatever. Speaking of foreign language to me, I have a lot to learn. Do you have your owner's manual? It did not come with an owner's manual. Hold on. What year is it? The 2018 Ninja 400. Kawasaki Ninja 400 manual.

Maggie: I don't even know how to maintenance it. Yeah. You can find pretty much most things online. The service manual, I'm going to put it in the chat.

Joanne: Thank you. The manual I just put in the link is the one that would have, if you walked into the dealer and bought it, it's the book that would have come with it. It's all the basic stuff. You need that. You need to read through it so that you know when you check your tires, what your pressure should be, that sort of thing. Did you take your class?

Maggie: I did take my class and I passed.

Joanne: Wonderful.

Maggie: I wanted to ask you both, what are some beginner mistakes that you guys made when you first started riding that I need to avoid? So many. So many. I will start with, since you're at the beginning of your experience and journey into riding, one of the best things you can do, some people do this naturally, but not all of us. And I would pay attention, not just when you're on your bike, but even when you're in your car, looking ahead. When you learn to drive a car, you learn pretty quickly. If you look right in front of the car, which is the natural tendency for lots of people, it smooths out when you look ahead. And same with riding, especially when you're turning, you want to look as far ahead as you can. But habits, it's all about your habit building. You naturally kind of look just ahead. You want to remember everything you learned in the class around trying to look out as far ahead. It will help you identify, like your brain will recognize or see something off in the road or road conditions, or, oh, there's going to be a turn to the right. Whatever it is, you want to be sure you are looking out as far ahead as you can see and not just right in front of your motorcycle. As an instructor, that's probably one of the big things that people do, or it's a hard habit to break. Not everyone, but a lot of people. The slower you're going, and if you're looking down, it's harder to stay steady, even if you're in motion. But if you're going slow, you practice a lot of slow maneuvers. You're the operator. It's not the bike. You are the operator.

Joanne: Those 90-degree turns are killing me, the slow 90-degree turns. You can practice those. Go to the parking lot. In the meantime, just walk them. There's nobody judging you, scoring you. Just walk it. Put your feet down and do it because getting from point A to B is the more important priority, safely, not do I look great. I'm getting there. My bike, I don't know if you can see, but my foot's up in the air. It always is. I only can get one foot down on my bike. Most bikes, I can only get one foot down because I don't ride low bikes, and I don't ride flat-footed. I've always ridden bikes that were tall because that's how I learned. Because that's how I learned. Yeah, that's how I learned, and I didn't want to change the motorcycles to suit me. I wanted to learn to ride better. It forces you to learn how to ride better because you have to be really careful about parking, and you have to be more careful about braking, and balance, and clutch, and throttle, but also the bikes I wanted to ride. They don't come for five-two people like my husband's bike. I wanted to ride it. If I was going to ride it, I'm not going to be able to change it. I either had to learn how to ride it or I couldn't ride it at all, and I really loved it, so I figured out how to do it. Yeah, mostly because I wanted to ride all kinds of motorcycles, and you won't get to if you only look for motorcycles you can flat-foot. You're going to ride cruisers for the rest of your life, and that's not how sport bikes work, period. So, I learned how to ride them, and it comes with skill. Eventually, you'll probably be able to do that too. I can't put both feet down, so parking with one foot takes forever. I get off my motorcycle, and I walk it because it takes me two seconds. Okay, and not everybody does it, but I do it. Otherwise, if I don't, I'll drop it, or I'll hurt myself, and I'm not going to do that just because some bizarre rule that somebody may have made or people say is no. I do it because it's fast. I can do it nimble. I can do it secure. I can be precise. That's what matters. You do what works for you that's safe and that's effective, and it doesn't matter how other people do, and you'll hear people tell you, why aren't you, why did you get off your go? Because that's just, I can get it done. What's your problem? I'm doing whatever. I'm just doing it the way I need to. If I didn't, I would never be able to own this motorcycle. Yeah, that's like, those are dumb rules that people make up for each other or to gatekeep. You know, well, you can't do that. The only rules that should ever be like hard is wear a helmet, right? Yeah, it'll save your life. Parking isn't going to save your life, man. Saves me a minute, and it saves me insurance to make claims for my body work. There's a lot of things about our sport that I do not like, and I do not appreciate, but on the other hand, there's a lot of really great things too. I love that. That's a great gateway into my next question, is how do you, how do you both navigate the community? Because it's obviously a heavily dominated male sport.

Maggie: How do you, how do you navigate the mansplaining, all these things that you're experiencing? That is a good one. So it depends on the person. I try to remember that usually when someone is talking to you, it's really more about them than you. It's not because they think you're dumb or you don't know anything. They want to show you or someone or themselves what they know. I try not to get offended. I've been really lucky that I've met so many great motorcyclists, and we just kind of multiply each other, you know, when we come into this sphere. And so I actually don't run into too much of that in our direct community of riders that we know. Very few of them would come up to me and try to explain to me, this is how you should do it. I don't come across that with our friends, but even when it does, it's like, okay, that's fine. Just brush it off. Yeah, exactly. And the other thing is I'm always trying to learn. One of the reasons I wanted to be an instructor was selfish. I do like helping people and I like giving back, but it's also an opportunity for me to continually repractice those beginner and basic skills and the slow maneuvers. And there's a lot of great folks that are instructors or know other people. And so it was as much selfish as it was, I want this experience and I want to meet other people. And you meet a lot of awesome people like you, like in a class. It doesn't really answer your question, does it? When it happens, I just kind of tune them out and smile.

Joanne: Honestly, like any other ignorant, uneducated, misinformed individual who might make remarks about your race or anything like that as well. Okay, sure. You know, you don't have to talk to them if you don't want to, but Maggie makes a really good point about the friend circle that you create, because I'm probably 50-50 on the male motorcycle friends that I have with the female motorcycle friends, maybe 60-40, honestly, more male than female. And all of the male friends I have are amazing people. They're all good humans and they're good motorcyclists because of that. So if you pick motorcycle friends who are good humans, regardless of gender, they will be great motorcycle friends also. Like if someone befriended you, you're going to be an awesome friend. And the people that I think that would treat you that way or treat me and Maggie that way, we're not friends with them anyway. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like they're not part of our friend circle. As long as you stick to that, you'll be fine. And you can tell the difference between great motorcycle people and not great because they're just humans. And if they're not a good human, that tells you a lot about how they're going to help you or treat you as a motorcyclist. Unless they're just deeply misinformed, sure. I could see that. But I think it really is tied to their humanity and how great of an individual. Are they a great person? They're probably going to be great. If they say something to you, it's probably going to be a mistake. When people make poor friend choices, their attitudes about life spill into their attitudes about motorcycling. I don't think it really is that different. I've been fortunate as well. Honestly, my worst experiences come from women. Really? Oh, can I hear about that? Not like horribly offensive, but just like she doesn't know what she's talking about. We were touring. Eb and I were both on our bikes. We stopped for lunch. We stopped at some restaurant. I think we were like riding in West Virginia, North Carolina, because we lived in Philly at the time. So we were doing some cross country. Stopped for lunch and about to go in. This older couple comes out. I think they're going to get on a big Harley or maybe a gold one. They're two up. They're probably riding around town. She's like, oh, you have one too. Yes, I do. Yeah, I do have my own right here because there's no way I'm getting on the back of that one. I haven't ridden on the back of his bike in like 15 years. But I wasn't offended by her per se, but it's just the fact that she assumed that I all, of course, I must be together, you know, unless you're riding one together. Like I can't have my own. Why wouldn't I have my own? You're not capable of having your own. Right. Or just it wouldn't even be the first thing to her mind because that's what she's used to. I doubt they see a lot of women riding alone in that part where we were, you know, that kind of thing. I mean, honestly, I've had, I've had a random, just a very random mix of comments, but I've never had that kind of, thank God, not that level of negativity. Have you experienced that already? I haven't, but I've, I've, I've been watching YouTube videos after YouTube videos. And that's one thing that they talk about. Question their friend circle, man. You know what I mean?

Maggie: Yeah. Yeah. I think any comments I've gotten more assumptions and judgments from people that don't ride motorcycles versus other motorcyclists. And you know, my husband will walk up to anyone with a motorcycle. So we meet new motorcycle folks all the time. And you know what? Most of them end up being really cool people. You'll know within a short while there was a guy, he thought my motorcycle was too big. This was when I still had the triple. Oh Lord. So this was just last summer. I won't give it away too much. I won't say what state we were in, but I was out for a ride. It was one of the times it stalled out and left me stranded. Robin had to go right back, come back with the truck. And then we were getting my bike loaded into the back of the truck. And this other gentleman was observing and he wasn't trying to be rude. I'm just talking up to a different generation. We'll just say that. But he was like, that bike seems a little bit too big for you, little lady. I was like, okay, a little lady. Yeah. He was on an American brand of motorcycle. We'll just say that. He had on a vest and, um, you know, different community. It's a different community. And, and again, I think you do yourself an injustice when you make assumptions about what kind of people are based on the bike they ride. Just like assuming just because you have a ninja, you're this little squiddy squid that rides, you know, does wheelies and passes on the inside, you know. He did happen to fit that stereotype. The thing was he wasn't trying to be offensive. It wasn't trying to insult me. He was just outdated. I see.

Joanne: Yeah. He's speaking out loud. And yeah. And, and to Maggie's point that he only lives in his circle, he only knows his type of rider. Right. And he probably doesn't do adventure riding or other riding. So he's not used to seeing, he probably doesn't even know what kind of bike she rode. Like every time I ride, whenever I ride mine out in the South and that way, they don't even know that they're still, I had an old guy come up. They're still making these triumphs. He's like, I had one in 1965 or like, yeah, yeah, yeah. These are totally different. These are very popular. They're, they've been here for a couple of decades. Yeah. He hasn't ridden in 40 years. So why would he know? You know, so those that's a different subset of, I think people just like people who are like, you're right. Motorcycles. You're going to die.

Maggie: You're going to die.

Joanne: Right. Or like my dad died. I go, I'm so sorry about that, but I'm sure you're, he would have died of heart disease anyway. You know, they just don't know. They don't know the world. And I feel like it's up to us to educate people. I feel like I need to educate people like that when they say things like that, because they just don't know, like they don't realize, well, of course I could die here. Shoot. I could die riding a bicycle without a helmet. It's just to me, that's a gentle education and a reminder to them that, Hey, it's not really like that. And what you saw in transformers is not real. You know, what you, the motorcycles you see, you know, what you're seeing in the meat, it's not real. Yeah. I always try to give a very gentle, like an education spin. If someone said to me, what they said to Maggie, be like, you know what, you're right. Look how short I am, but doesn't stop me from riding it. Technically. Yes. This bike is too big for me. It was designed for a man who was like five, nine and weighed 160 pounds, was not designed and optimized for me or my body type, but I made it work. I got a custom rear shock. So it's softer for my weight and I've got a different mirrors so I can see. I don't have it lowered because I don't want my sport bike lower, but I have a softer suspension. In that situation, that person's right. It is big for me, but I don't care. It really depends on the bike culture. Of course, the community you're in being Sacramento, you're probably going to meet a pretty diverse crowd of people who ride different kinds, sporty people, adventure people, cruiser people, and scooter people. Scooters make up like a huge majority of the ridership in the United States because Oh, really? Yeah. Function utility. It functionally is a really good way to get around and it's way easier to learn to ride a scooter. You know, I did not know that. I mentioned this last call. I will say that the community has been very welcoming. Great. That's awesome. Hey guys, to the random people I'm meeting at Cycle Gear, I've been invited to three meetups so far. Awesome.

Maggie: You should try to go at least to one because you just keep spidering people, you know, you meet new people and That's how you suddenly have this huge group of motorcyclists friends that happen to do other things, too I bet if you go on Facebook, you'll find women's motorcycle groups, too.

Joanne: Ooh Yeah, there's a group a women's NorCal sport bike group. I was in it a long time in a bunch. I just don't ever go up there. Mm-hmm I'll find it. I'll send it to you.

Angel: Thank you Do you guys think the community is dying out or do you see it growing here in the US?

Joanne: It has been growing like since Maggie and I started Maggie. When did you get your license?

Maggie: 14 Actually, it was 12 But I started on a scooter. Oh, I started on a scooter in Chicago and I got my License in 2012 but there was a little technicality that kind of happened. So I would say I really got it in 14 I kind of want to hear like what are the things that you're I know you have questions and we'll keep going with your questions But I'm kind of curious like I want to hear like what have you really enjoyed? I heard adrenaline What else have you really enjoyed and also what what are the challenges that keep you still like?

Angel: I've really enjoyed again meeting people. I've met a lot of people and how welcoming the community is I'm enjoying the challenge of learning the friction zone on my bike the friction zone Changing gears and the throttle and trying to get the bike to go from stopping up to two that's what I'm enjoying right now and my challenge is trying not to get too distracted when Something bad could have happened. Hmm Well, I have a green light and on this car's pulling out and they're making a right turn He looks at me in the eye and he makes the turn and without even thinking I just change lanes I don't even look behind me I just change lanes and I just thought how bad could that have been if there was a car in the other lane? So because of that I just kept thinking that bad I'm riding the bike and when I got to the next light I stalled I Couldn't turn the bike back on and then I finally got the bike back on I made it to my destination and because I'm still thinking about what could have I done better I could have almost died. I forgot to put the stand down. Oh It stopped my butt. Mm-hmm moving on and Keeping focus. That's fair. It comes with a lot of practice. How often do you practice? I? Pray I've only on the been on the bike two times.

Joanne: Oh, that's right And how many how long have you had the motorcycle one week? Okay, that kind of thing It's definitely something that the more you ride the better it gets and I know that happens all the time Anybody quick as long as you anticipating it, you know as long as it's something that you're conscious of it'll be really easy but it'll also make it easier for you to the more you practice and If you practice riding where you're really comfortable Like if you if you know your neighborhood like you could drive it blindfolded you should practice there. That's a layer of Stress you don't have you're like I know this. I know exactly where everything is. I know the bumps. I know the turns I know this stops once you are Excessively comfortable in that neighborhood. Then you grow your radius Minimizing that discomfort will help you too, but I love it.

Angel: I want to know everything about yesterday.

Joanne: I want to be a pro If you can create like a schedule for yourself, you know, you don't have to go out for three hours every day That's too much.

Angel: That was me yesterday go for 20 minutes. I'm exhausted I was on the bike yesterday for three hours. It's a lot. I did not want to go home So bad, I stopped at a construction site to use their bathroom to go back on the road I think that's awesome.

Joanne: I was exhausted But you don't want to ride when you're too tired, yeah Well, yeah, even 20 minutes is enough, you know You'd get out every day for 20 minutes and you you will gain so much in that 20 minutes You know go to the mcdonald's for a half hour I don't know. You don't have to like be on the road for three hours straight You know, you could always like go to lunch and sit there for you give your mind breaks Okay Because the learning part it can be a lot. Yeah, and again pick places, you know, you're like my favorite coffee shop my favorite Places like you like It'll also make it a lot easier and like more familiar too.

Angel: Yeah, the physical and mental toll that it takes on you.

Joanne: I did not did not Consider that With the physical a lot of that will also be alleviated once you get better gear. I assume you're wearing a helmet I'm wearing a helmet. Yeah, so once you get the rest, it'll also help You know, you get really good gloves that actually helps with fatigue Okay, really good shoes that also helps all of that will help too. So it's really a holistic thing Kind of have to hit all of it, right? There's not like a thing you have to do you have to do all of it My favorite analogy is motorcycles, you know riding a motorcycle is like being in a relationship And you're either dating or you're committed or you're not There's a lot of up and down There's a lot of things you have to do like it's a constant care and feeding It's not something you just learned and that's it Like, you know, it's like getting married just because you get married doesn't mean it's over and you have to do anything You actually have to do a lot more shit It's like it's a whole thing. It's a relationship You will build with your motorcycle, you know, you'll get to know it learn what you what to do what not to do What are your guys' biggest challenges?

Angel: At this time you guys being so experienced. I mean, do you guys have any challenges that you guys face now? I don't know.

Maggie: I want to hear Maggie's first Okay All right Always I personally only like to go out for a ride if it's going to be a good ride Like i'm not somebody that will take my bike into town to go to the store that being said Because of the way we live we're generally always near the good riding roads. So There's a lunch route that robin put together I mean, maybe half an hour, but it's just up and down and turn and turn and turn nobody's on them Brian knows these roads. He's been on them You have to watch for animals And you have to watch for i'm in the desert So there's a lot of sand and then obviously the few instances of like oncoming traffic You know making sure they don't have a heart attack and veer into my leg for the most part. It's Wonderful writing That being said I know what you're talking about like when you sort of obsess over this thing that went wrong I had an off back in I think it was 2020 It played in my mind and it was hard to let go It wasn't even that serious. I broke my two little toes on my right foot but We're writing in areas where If you don't make the turn you're going off the cliff. There's different stakes so I kind of pulled way back and Like what joanne is saying I decided I don't need to impress anyone. I don't need to show anybody That I can keep up or go as fast or any of that stuff and I decided that I would just Ride for me for fun You've probably heard ride your own ride that kind of thing My challenge is still that I feel like I haven't really fully recovered So i'm still always practicing my skills I'm, not great at u-turns, even though it's part of the course hate them, especially on a top heavy bike With those bikes you need enough speed so that momentum keeps you going at the same time These invisible lines it's so funny How the invisible lines are just mess with your head because you do them all the time when you're not thinking about it The moment is labeled. Oh a u-turn The walls come up. It's like they become these physical barrier is weird It's a thing that I think many people can relate to people are afraid of falling. They're just afraid of falling None of us want to do that. Unless you're a dirt rider. I am you know, it's part of it You accept that's part of it. I don't want to do it again I haven't been to a track day in a while now me too Anything that you can take? Even if it's repeating the beginner course every year every two years It's always better for you. I don't care what anybody says. I don't care how much time in the saddle It doesn't hurt to take one of these courses because you get different perspectives You get a safe environment to practice It's also again that kinetic energy of being around other people maybe you make new connections I highly recommend taking other things and there's a lot of Things out there that you can do that will add to your skills And it's been a while since i've taken something. So that's the challenge I feel kind of still me too.

Joanne: I haven't ridden since may my skills are Atrophied right now. Yes. I can ride my motorcycle. Yes, I can operate it and I can but yes But i'm not as good of a rider as I was 10 years ago. My skills aren't as good as they were so I need to get back out and I probably honestly need to Go back out and practice every day like a newer rider just to like be comfortable again It's just like the muscle like if you're not used to like a sport, you know, if you ever did tennis or sports in high school Or college and you haven't played in a while. It's really the same thing I need to do that, but the weather here is already it's already winter. Where are you at? I'm in denver denver. Okay, it's actually not that bad. We don't have snow yet But it's you know, it's chilly in the morning There's like a two hour window in the afternoon where it's actually like 60s But you can't go in the mountains because it's already 20 degrees colder there It's like 30s and 40s in the mountains But I mean there's plenty of places to ride around town like I could go watch the buffalo At the rocky mountain arsenal there's plenty of places to like tour around town and I do need to do that For sure. So that's kind of something i'm struggling with. I just don't have the motivation right now and I don't know if it's because it's been so long because I In other times where it's take i've taken a break the minute I get back on i'm like, oh, this is great It's never been like oh, I hate being on this. It's very and actually the last time I rode it I dropped it doing a u-turn instead of walking it. I don't know what I was thinking It was like a tight u-turn too. I mean I had probably like 12 feet I really should have walked it ended up falling in a ditch. Oh, no I mean You know, it's just because I went wide so it just fell the dirt. So I did bend my shift lever I still I mean I just bent it in a little bit, you know, it's still rideable and I rode it home. It's fine It's just that it's really close. The lever is just super close, you know So it's fine because I have tiny feet but my husband had to ride it Like why is the shift lever so close like Sorry, because he's got big feet. Um, you know, I dropped it and you know bent it whatever I've got crash bars on it, too. But okay, you got crash bars good, you know, that's the nice about naked You know you drop on me.

Angel: I'll have to pay for fairing but uh But I yeah, I remember dropping it and just being like really miserable about it.

Joanne: I was devastated I was already looking at new fairings online I'll just suck it up part of learning It is part of learning and it's a really hard thing to learn so you have to give yourself credit When you actually do and a lot of people don't you know, it's really easy to focus on. Oh, i'm stalled Oh, I didn't do this right and it's you got to make sure you focus like oh, I did that great, you know And celebrate. Oh, I made a great turn. Oh, that was great You know, I did a really good stop and like really focus on those so that you get better And there's nothing wrong with you know, admitting that either Really focus on well, I i'm great at these things and then i'll work on the other thing, but it's totally normal Sure, there's like the one in a million where it's just so easy. That's not the most common experience Yeah, I started and I started on a scooter too.

Maggie: I did a year of a scooter Okay, so you both started on scooters am I being too ambitious no you are no You are not being too ambitious You're just gonna want to see how it goes and if I don't know things aren't going the way that you think they are then you Maybe a different plan, but I have the feeling that you are just fine. You've only had the bike a week. You've already gotten it out twice I've not heard anything negative Okay, good.

Angel: Yeah, it's the everybody telling me i'm going to die. That's starting to get to me.

Maggie: Oh So that is not motivating I love when people that don't ride are trying to somehow bond with you by talking about this other person That was riding that died and you're standing there like Okay Where are we in this conversation? What's happening? also the bad news is You can always come back with well, you're also gonna die.

Joanne: We're all gonna die because we are so and If they smoke if they don't eat right They're more likely to die of cancer and heart disease before you die on your motorcycle. I did not know that statistics Those things kill people way more than motorcycles.

Maggie: What other questions or just thoughts reflections that you have that you want to share On a motorcycle was there ever a moment in your journey? Where something happened and you thought okay i'm never doing this again What was that moment in a moment when I got stranded by the motorcycle And I was like i'm selling this bitch get her I'm not writing anymore We were like hours for anyway, it was like a pure emotional reaction of anger And frustration, but no I never had that. Oh shit. I don't know never had it.

Joanne: Okay I think that happens to people when they're going about it in the wrong way They're not going about it the way you did take a class Get a good beginner bike Start the learning Start asking questions. Those are people who make terrible decisions from the get-go. No training wrong motorcycle terrible friends Terrible motorcycle support and they make such bad decisions. They get really injured and they never ride again And those are people in the highest insurance groups ladies Those are men ages 18 to 24 and 65 and over Those two groups have the highest risk of insurance.

Angel: It's the quarter life crisis. Yeah I see okay because i've seen a handful of videos that the caption is just No beginner class riding my 600 cc bike home first time two hour ride Of course, they're gonna quit and those are the people you don't want to follow.

Maggie: Yeah That sounds a little clickbaity also true Yeah, they're trying to get your eyes on their video so they can make their quota for the month and their youtube ads Whatever their view hours all the more reason not to watch them. Yep. Give you some better ideas I think we might need to continue this conversation and have a nice We could do it offline.

Angel: Yes, please. I really enjoyed it.

Joanne: Yeah, we don't have to Let them record it we could just have a call and just talk to each other that too We'll make sure that brian and robin, uh, give us your our info so that we can all connect offline Yes, please.

Angel: I'd love that cool