Coach Karan’s Corner

“Ride Your Own Ride” can become a mentality that can limit your development as a rider. As sensible and well-meaning as the concept is, I have seen it abused to the point where riders limit themselves.

I see this “ride your own ride” statement bandied about online in rider groups. The idea behind this phrase is this: don’t ride beyond your skill level, and don’t let anyone more experienced bully or intimidate you into riding beyond your skill level. This is sound advice. Even “experienced riders” have skill limits. We all have to, in essence, ride our own ride.

However, when I see this statement used as a defensive weapon, this is where I have a problem with “RYOR.”

For example: You are a pretty new rider, but your thought process is sound, your reactions have become natural, and you agree to go for a ride with a more experienced friend. Your friend is leading, and she hops on the divided highway near where you live, that you have traveled often in your car. You have never been on a divided highway on your bike. The speed limit is 65, and you have gone 55, maybe 60, but never 65. So you stubbornly RYOR. You stay in the right lane, fall back from your friend, and refuse to go faster than 55.

In this scenario, you are getting in your own way and worse yet, you are putting yourself and your riding partner in danger. Let’s look at how:

1. You are getting in your own way because you are not allowing yourself to develop a new skill. You only have to go 5-10 mph faster than you are used to. You are not alone. You know the highway traffic patterns. For whatever reason, you are stubbornly sticking to 55 mph and RYOR.
2. You are putting yourself in danger by riding 10 mph under the posted speed limit. You are going to have traffic all around you, flying past you, and the situation is going to start to feel even more out of control that if you just throttle up to 65 and deal with the initial unsure feeling you might have by hitting that speed for the first time.
3. Finally, you are endangering the safety of your friend, who is ahead of you. She is probably riding with her eyes glued to her mirrors, waiting for you to speed up, trying to figure out if you are having a mechanical issue with your bike, etc. So she is not watching the traffic situation around her the way she should. Traffic could come to a sudden stop and she might not see it because she is looking for you. Or, she has to slow down to less than 55 mph to allow you to catch up to her; meanwhile, the cars between you are now dodging around both of you.

But you two finally get off at the next exit and you stubbornly say well, I was riding my own ride. Using this notion as a defensive weapon doesn’t just prevent you from growing as a rider, but it could endanger riders around you.

Anytime you are learning something new, you might feel nervous, stressed or anxious. Learning to ride a motorcycle tends to amplify these nerves, because, let’s face it, you are putting your life out there in the street. As a new rider, you are still thinking through every action and reaction. You aren’t certain if you’ll be able to stop in time if “something” happens. Every new situation is a potential stressor, so for you, riding isn’t the fun, freeing, soul lifting thing you’d hoped. Yet.

Anxiety is probably the biggest obstacle to improving your riding skills. What is anxiety, really, though? I would say it’s primarily the feeling of lack of control. So as you work on your skills, you will begin to feel more in control of your bike. If you start feeling like the anxiety or fear, or whatever you want to call it, is rearing its ugly head while you are riding, you want to recognize what feels out of control, and then determine the best way to gain control.

For example: You are riding down a two-lane road. Speed limit is 55, and you are going right at the speed limit. You are not comfortable going any faster than 55 on this road because you feel that it would be pushing you past your skill limits.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, there is a car right on your tail. This is a situation where you may believe you have no control. The driver is behind you, pushing you. Your first job is to stay calm and focused. But you have several options, depending on the traffic/road situation. Let’s look at your options:

1. If you are in a passing zone, simply slow down, pull to the right lane position (LP3), and wave the car past you. This is the easiest to do if the option is available.
2. If you are not in a passing zone, but there is a wide enough shoulder for you to carefully pull over to, signal, slow, and pull to the shoulder. DO NOT do this if the shoulder is narrow, is full of rocks, gravel and dirt, etc. ONLY do this if the shoulder is wide and paved.
3. The alternative to the above is to find a place to turn off, or pull off. A parking lot, a paved driveway – again, someplace that has a good, safe, mostly level surface. Remember, you are taking control of the situation, so don’t give it up by putting yourself in a worse situation.
4. If there really is no place to pull off or yield to the car, and the driver is still on your fender, turn on your flashers. Flashers mean caution, and the driver will almost instinctively back off. DO NOT brake check a car. Ever. Use your flashers.
5. Another option is to simply wave the car back. Don’t show anger or aggression, or fear. Simply use your left hand, your arm down at a 45 degree angle to your body, palm facing the driver. Make a ‘push back’ motion.
6. If at any point, the car makes a move to pass you, move to LP3, roll off the throttle, cover your controls, and let them go past.

So in this example, you have five different options for taking control of the situation by deciding when and how that car is going to pass you. You are safe, you are making decisions, you are active. There is no reason to be stressed, fearful or anxious.

This is the sort of thinking that you have to develop as a rider. Practice this as often as you can in as many situations as you can – and not just on the bike. It applies to life. Often we feel trapped in certain situations, which create stress and anxiety. Start thinking about other options. How can you deal with it in such a way that you are able to take at least some control? This will help your everyday stress load, and it will make you a safer rider. If you get on the bike already stressed, you are less capable of making good decisions.

Internal combustion – the ultimate accessory.

— To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar

Welcome to my little corner of the interweb. My name is Karan Andrea. I live in Western New York, and I started riding motorcycles in 2011. I was 45 years old, and I had never been around bikes all that much. Never rode dirt bikes. Never had a parent or relative who rode.

When I was 19-20 years old, I dated a guy for a minute who had a Yamaha Virago, and I rode with him a few times. I loved it, but once we broke up, I wasn’t on a bike again for 25 years.

At that point, I had a friend who had a bike, and was going through a rough patch in life. The only solace he had was riding, but he had a hard time getting himself to leave the house to go for a ride. I started asking him to take me for rides. I’d cover the gas, and we’d ride for hours.

After a while, he said, “You know, if you like riding that much, why don’t you go get your license, and get your own bike. That way, you don’t have to date some a$$hole in order to get to ride.” My answer was, “I can do that?” It never occurred to me that I could actually learn to ride a motorcycle. I had no idea how one learned to ride. I didn’t know any women who rode, although that wasn’t a huge factor because I’ve always done things that were non-traditional for a woman.

He told me about this class you could take, and I went for it. I was a nervous wreck. I have NO idea how I actually passed the riding evaluation, but there I was. An endorsed rider with no friggin clue how to actually ride. This is not a shortcoming of the class at all. The riding class teaches you how to operate a motorcycle, and teaches you the basics of safety.

The only way to learn to ride a motorcycle, is to RIDE a motorcycle. Karan, meet anxiety, anxiety, Karan. The next three years were a struggle. I bought the wrong bike, was getting (no) help from the wrong person, and I just never felt comfortable riding. But I wanted to ride SO BAD I refused to give up.

My stubborn streak is a mile wide, and in this case, it served me well. Just five years after I got rid of the wrong bike, I’m a certified Motorcycle Safety Instructor, and I’ve fallen in love with vintage bikes, and long-distance riding.

My journey has been a difficult one, and if I’d had better resources sooner, I certainly would not have struggled like I did. Every day, I see new riders post questions, state their fears, describe their temporary setbacks, and share their little (and sometimes big) victories. This gave me the idea to write a blog, and let my struggles become the textbook, if you will for riders who survived the motorcycle range and got their endorsement, and are now trying to learn how to ride.

Welcome.