Well I know I am not alone with hating gravel.
I detest it and avoid it as much as I can.
On today's ride, towards the end of the one
road I was on... Signs, Motorcyclist use Extreme
Caution, Loose Gravel..
I pulled to the shoulder as knew I had a couple cars
behind me.
I wanted to see if  it is was just the short section of
road ahead of me or was it as well on the main road I would
be turning onto.
Pickup came from the main road towards my direction. I waved him
down, asked him if it was on the main road? He replied, yes but not
too far. About the same distance of what laid ahead of me. That was
towards about 300 feet.
Now to some of you that may not seem much, yet to me it may as well
been a mile.
I told him, I HATE GRAVEL.. He said he was a rider too, keep it vetical
and use a lil power...
Now I did contemplate turning around and going back the other way..   Yet if I don't face the fear, then the fear continues to haunt me.
So I told Genie, let's go gal... Putt , Putt.. lol.. Well I did know better than to go fast..
Got the the stop sign, then had to turn left. Majority of the gravel I had
just ridden thru had been packed down somewhat by other autos. So
at least it wasn't as loose as if it had just been laid down.
So I made the turn and went slow and kept her vertical.. Made it to the
end and sighed and patted Genie's tank..
We made it girl I told her as we continued our way..
Faced the fear and didn't let it ruin my ride. Yet I still Hate gravel.. kim

So how many times have you had to
replace that mirror? kim

yay!! good to go!

Versy, My driveway was just graded. All the fine gravel came to the top so it's like sand. It's about 3" deep and loose as cream corn. There is a hill in the middle, so I have to leave a rooster tail going up while trying to stay up like sand. Coming down is always worse. KC, glad you made it ok. You're afraid for a good reason. It gets easier, but you know it could let you down. I have a lot of experience riding dirt, but the Savage loves to wallow and let the tail hang out with the tires we have and it weighs a lot more than a dirt bike. Good luck.

scroop wrote on 08/16/11 at 20:26:01:

Nope completely different.
ice, if you get off center your tires will slip out from beneath you.
sand is like getting caught in a rut only no matter where you go you're at the bottom of the rut.  so at least if you stop and put your feet out you're not going anywhere.

I did in fact hit a little sand couple weeks ago.
Ours is a side road, and got to the bottom of
the main road. Not only sand, yet some gravel too..
I kept her steady and made the stop without dumping
myself.
The sand was weird to ride on.
Complained to the road dept. It was nasty and lots of mc's
in the area...
Their were no warning signs placed either..
Guess their was some oil spilled by some nitwit that had spilled from a pickup and kept going..
So the sand and gravel was placed down to absorb
the oil..
They did come and clean it up though.  
Now fine,  sandy gravel, that is another story. I have had a little
experience with that, not pleasant.. Went down few months back.
Was lucky all I had to replace was a rear turn signal.. kim

Good job Kim!!!  No turning back..  

Now get out there and treat Genie like the dirt bike she wants to be!!



Every now and then, I just got to do it..

Z wrote on 08/17/11 at 05:52:04:

I didn't know PA had any paved roads.