The school parking lot and smaller roads have been great building up some experience and comfort level. Today I felt ready to try out a 4 lane divided highway. In many ways, this road is safer. Where other drivers are going to enter/exit from is more predictable. Don't have to worry about someone driving out of their driveway unexpected. And practically no risk of a head-on, because it is a divided with a big median between the traffic. I think there's more risk in getting to that road from my house than that road. And as I've researched it, that's what others are saying. I don't feel quite ready for the interstate just yet. But this nice 55 MPH state road seems right.
It was my first time getting up to 55 MPH. Hard to imagine that not too long ago, 20 or so seemed like wrap speed. The biggest thing I can say is the you feel the wind. Now, I'm confused on why that is. I'm a new rider and this is the only season I've driven. How much of the wind is due to the speed, the particular road, or even the day? These October days can be more windy than say summer time. I'll have to see next year.
55 MPH is actually like 80 feet per second. Think about that, every single second, you travel 80 feet. I'm only slightly over 6 feet tall. In one second's time, I travel over a dozen times my own body length. In a car, it feels like nothing.
I'm also getting good at the shifting up after we start up again from a red light. The path has a few red lights on it, so that's good practice too.
The first few times I've taken this road, I drive down to where the median ends and there's some road construction. I turn off there. Pull the bike over, turn it off or into neutral. Stand up, stretch, just make sure I'm ok, and as a little break. It isn't that I need to do it. It is that I know I'm still new, so a short break after a few miles at warp speed seems a reasonable measure.
The whole time I did this I didn't have any close calls. I'm glad I waited though. I used all the skills I had been practicing. It felt like a good time in my experience level to do this. Once I called it quits, I turned off into a Kroger's parking lot. I came to a 4 way stop. I do what I always do. I looked at whose coming the other 3 directions. On the right, there was a car coming fast. I saw they had a stop sign too. It even came in the standard color red, like the one I was paused it. And there was obstacle in front of it. Plus it was a parking lot you should probably slow down. I waited to make sure that car was going to least slow down before I crossed the intersection. There was enough time I could have probably made it across, especially if I accelerated up quickly. But I'm already stopped, so I waited. Sure enough, no stop at all, the car keeps going and turns right without even signaling on top of that. I shake my head and go through the intersection, clear of morons now.
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