CDogMan
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My passion
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Cdog the person
Who am I....
I am a man who has lived a full life...
I am a father, a friend, a madman, and a nice guy... I come on strong and generally people dont know what to do with me. If you can get past that.... You will find a pretty nice guy so I am told...... I am a big teddy bear. But you will only get to know that if you dont run away when you see the bear
I am a man who has lived a full life...
I am a father, a friend, a madman, and a nice guy... I come on strong and generally people dont know what to do with me. If you can get past that.... You will find a pretty nice guy so I am told...... I am a big teddy bear. But you will only get to know that if you dont run away when you see the bear
My Passion Lets ride together shall we
I just wrote this trying to describe to someone why I like to ride. I wanted to share it here.
I do not consider my self a good rider, or a bad one.... such musings are meaningless. I do know why I ride.. , Why I respect them, and why I study them. The day I think I have it figured out and no longer respect them they will kill me. Understanding that makes me pay attention. I do not ride in a casual mental state.
What motorcycle riding does for me is make me focus, the world does not exist for me when I have my head in the game. There are no customers, no cell phones, no bills needing to be paid, nothing. It is me and my bike and we are going dancing in the hills away from all the people that want something from me. There have been many times when I have left the driveway and gone a few miles, then come back and put the bike up because I could not get my "head" into the bike.
I am not a speed junkie.... I am a corner junkie. So a corner is coming up. Lets you and I go through this one together. Join me wont you. I promise we will not crash… Relax.. Just a tasty 30MPH right hander switchback coming up. We are on a road with a 45MPH speedlimit
I have no one in front of me, I have been going just under the speedlimit. I goose the bike a tad to 55. My eyes automatically scan every square inch of the roadway for debris and the edges for deer, rocks, gravel, and other sudden hazards. I hit the zone.
Nothing exists but this moment in time. I hear my bike. I can feel her attitude, every single movement she makes as we prepare, her exhaust note tells if she is running healthy and ready for the dance.
I look as far into the corner as I can, I read the road, look for skid marks telling me there is something that has caught others by surprise, or not.
Then smooth is the word. No Sudden movements. No upsetting the bike. She is ready and trusting me to take good care of her as she prepares to bite the roadway and load on the G-Forces. We each have our separate jobs to do and we must not be a distraction to each other
Slowly and gently I lift my body with my legs and position my body off the side of the bike, no sliding the ass. Sliding the ass makes her suspension move. She is getting ready, this is serious and our dance is precise, careless hurts
In one slow fluid motion I move my upper torso to the inside of the turn, well before the bike tips in giving her suspension time to resettle. We want to be ready and she needs to adjust to my new riding position before the main event.
Let it drift to the outside of the corner, still looking as deep into the corner as I can, as far down the road as I can see. My mind echos a mantra of riding "The bike goes where you look" so I look as far as I can, I will be there in less than a second.
My eyes flick up one more time to the whole picture, mind takes one more snapshot of everything... I am listening for red alerts to go off as I process the picture I just took while I continue to look deep into the turn again, no alarms go off and I mentally sign off on the scene... . Not committing the bike yet, searching for the perfect line that allows me the perfect delayed apex. The longer I wait the further I can see.
I let the bike stay outside as I drop my entry speed just a little, what would be considered by hotdog street riders as way too slow. Another riding mantra echoes in my mind, "Slow in Fast Out"
Then I have made my decision, picked my line, my hands a wrists are completely relaxed, I am holding my body weight with my back and thigh muscles, legs clamped on the tank for stability. My hands are like feathers on the controls. Waiting, body in position
When the exact spot I have chosen for entry passes under my tire I shove on the inside bar hard, pull on the side of the tank with me knee, and weight the inside foot peg. The bike falls over like a sapling hit by a speeding train, but only to the perfect lean angle, we have heard this song before, she and I. We know the dance well as partners. She responds to my wishes and knows I have left nothing to chance. Nothing exists for me right now but this very instant in time. My hands float moving ever so slowly. Another racing manta echos "Slow hands.... fast bike"
She does her job and bites the pavement like a she devil, the G-forces mount and I am ever so lightly and slowly coming off the trail braking, bringing her off idle, and adding a slight amount of maintenance throttle.
I let her settle under the load. I can feel the tires. I can tell if they are near their limit by the vibrations coming through the seat and foot pegs. I know how much more she can take, I know how much more I need. I had just planned this entire dance ¾ of a second ago.
I pull her down further, pushing the inside bar again, she lays over with me. I am aiming for the exact spot I chose before the tip in. That sweet spot on the inside of the corner where I have decided I want to ease my turn and start accelerating… It is not random, it was chosen before we ever entered the turn. She knows we have a goal and comes down further, allowing me to lead the dance.... She bites the road harder, her suspension loading up and flexing as we call on and fight even more g-forces. We are being crushed by the corner forces..... Her tires are emiting a low frequency growl that can only be felt. Telling me it is biting, that little balls of rubber are forming, being shredded and melted from the tire as she bites.. the little balls of rubber are rolling off the side of edges. Like someone trying to pull Velcro apart sideways…. Perfect.. we are near the limit of her traction but still have enough margin for error, No sudden moves allowed. smooootttthhh. If I dont dance soft my baby will slip and fall.. she is leading the dance for a brief instant and I must trust her feet. I must not upset her or we will crash… She is talking to me and I am listening… controls light as a feather… smooothh
Then I see it… I see the corner exit. I make several decisions in my head, I want to end up on the inside of the turn as much as possible. It is my margin. It is my escape route should something go awry, I ease my leg off the tank and let her stand back up slooooowly in a fluid motion and ever so slowly roll on the fuel and she responds. She is a powerful dancing partner despite her nimble appearance. She only needs a hint of throttle to surge ahead.
She starts to stand back up and the g-forces begin to abate The taller she stands the more throttle I roll on. The back tire is talking to me and I feel it bite and move imperceptiby off center. I can feel how much more it has left to give before I overpower it washing out, leaving us broken in the trees.. My baby and I do not like trees so she is trusting me. I am leading the dance again.
Then, as fast as it happened its over… 3.5 seconds from planning my entry to now…. pulled into an eternity of Zen…. I slow down and look in my review mirror as I gently reposition my body for the straight away and reduce my speed. The cars are far behind. I suppose I should let them catch up to make sure no cars are in front of me again for the next ballad. We are both dreaming of the sharp lefthander we can see 800 yards in the distance and we start our scan again. Ever so slowly shifting our attitude and making our plans for another dance to the unknown music this turn wants to play for us
Thank you for joining me. I hope to dance again soon.
Anyone can go fast in a straight line.. So why bother.
I do not consider my self a good rider, or a bad one.... such musings are meaningless. I do know why I ride.. , Why I respect them, and why I study them. The day I think I have it figured out and no longer respect them they will kill me. Understanding that makes me pay attention. I do not ride in a casual mental state.
What motorcycle riding does for me is make me focus, the world does not exist for me when I have my head in the game. There are no customers, no cell phones, no bills needing to be paid, nothing. It is me and my bike and we are going dancing in the hills away from all the people that want something from me. There have been many times when I have left the driveway and gone a few miles, then come back and put the bike up because I could not get my "head" into the bike.
I am not a speed junkie.... I am a corner junkie. So a corner is coming up. Lets you and I go through this one together. Join me wont you. I promise we will not crash… Relax.. Just a tasty 30MPH right hander switchback coming up. We are on a road with a 45MPH speedlimit
I have no one in front of me, I have been going just under the speedlimit. I goose the bike a tad to 55. My eyes automatically scan every square inch of the roadway for debris and the edges for deer, rocks, gravel, and other sudden hazards. I hit the zone.
Nothing exists but this moment in time. I hear my bike. I can feel her attitude, every single movement she makes as we prepare, her exhaust note tells if she is running healthy and ready for the dance.
I look as far into the corner as I can, I read the road, look for skid marks telling me there is something that has caught others by surprise, or not.
Then smooth is the word. No Sudden movements. No upsetting the bike. She is ready and trusting me to take good care of her as she prepares to bite the roadway and load on the G-Forces. We each have our separate jobs to do and we must not be a distraction to each other
Slowly and gently I lift my body with my legs and position my body off the side of the bike, no sliding the ass. Sliding the ass makes her suspension move. She is getting ready, this is serious and our dance is precise, careless hurts
In one slow fluid motion I move my upper torso to the inside of the turn, well before the bike tips in giving her suspension time to resettle. We want to be ready and she needs to adjust to my new riding position before the main event.
Let it drift to the outside of the corner, still looking as deep into the corner as I can, as far down the road as I can see. My mind echos a mantra of riding "The bike goes where you look" so I look as far as I can, I will be there in less than a second.
My eyes flick up one more time to the whole picture, mind takes one more snapshot of everything... I am listening for red alerts to go off as I process the picture I just took while I continue to look deep into the turn again, no alarms go off and I mentally sign off on the scene... . Not committing the bike yet, searching for the perfect line that allows me the perfect delayed apex. The longer I wait the further I can see.
I let the bike stay outside as I drop my entry speed just a little, what would be considered by hotdog street riders as way too slow. Another riding mantra echoes in my mind, "Slow in Fast Out"
Then I have made my decision, picked my line, my hands a wrists are completely relaxed, I am holding my body weight with my back and thigh muscles, legs clamped on the tank for stability. My hands are like feathers on the controls. Waiting, body in position
When the exact spot I have chosen for entry passes under my tire I shove on the inside bar hard, pull on the side of the tank with me knee, and weight the inside foot peg. The bike falls over like a sapling hit by a speeding train, but only to the perfect lean angle, we have heard this song before, she and I. We know the dance well as partners. She responds to my wishes and knows I have left nothing to chance. Nothing exists for me right now but this very instant in time. My hands float moving ever so slowly. Another racing manta echos "Slow hands.... fast bike"
She does her job and bites the pavement like a she devil, the G-forces mount and I am ever so lightly and slowly coming off the trail braking, bringing her off idle, and adding a slight amount of maintenance throttle.
I let her settle under the load. I can feel the tires. I can tell if they are near their limit by the vibrations coming through the seat and foot pegs. I know how much more she can take, I know how much more I need. I had just planned this entire dance ¾ of a second ago.
I pull her down further, pushing the inside bar again, she lays over with me. I am aiming for the exact spot I chose before the tip in. That sweet spot on the inside of the corner where I have decided I want to ease my turn and start accelerating… It is not random, it was chosen before we ever entered the turn. She knows we have a goal and comes down further, allowing me to lead the dance.... She bites the road harder, her suspension loading up and flexing as we call on and fight even more g-forces. We are being crushed by the corner forces..... Her tires are emiting a low frequency growl that can only be felt. Telling me it is biting, that little balls of rubber are forming, being shredded and melted from the tire as she bites.. the little balls of rubber are rolling off the side of edges. Like someone trying to pull Velcro apart sideways…. Perfect.. we are near the limit of her traction but still have enough margin for error, No sudden moves allowed. smooootttthhh. If I dont dance soft my baby will slip and fall.. she is leading the dance for a brief instant and I must trust her feet. I must not upset her or we will crash… She is talking to me and I am listening… controls light as a feather… smooothh
Then I see it… I see the corner exit. I make several decisions in my head, I want to end up on the inside of the turn as much as possible. It is my margin. It is my escape route should something go awry, I ease my leg off the tank and let her stand back up slooooowly in a fluid motion and ever so slowly roll on the fuel and she responds. She is a powerful dancing partner despite her nimble appearance. She only needs a hint of throttle to surge ahead.
She starts to stand back up and the g-forces begin to abate The taller she stands the more throttle I roll on. The back tire is talking to me and I feel it bite and move imperceptiby off center. I can feel how much more it has left to give before I overpower it washing out, leaving us broken in the trees.. My baby and I do not like trees so she is trusting me. I am leading the dance again.
Then, as fast as it happened its over… 3.5 seconds from planning my entry to now…. pulled into an eternity of Zen…. I slow down and look in my review mirror as I gently reposition my body for the straight away and reduce my speed. The cars are far behind. I suppose I should let them catch up to make sure no cars are in front of me again for the next ballad. We are both dreaming of the sharp lefthander we can see 800 yards in the distance and we start our scan again. Ever so slowly shifting our attitude and making our plans for another dance to the unknown music this turn wants to play for us
Thank you for joining me. I hope to dance again soon.
Anyone can go fast in a straight line.. So why bother.
