MY FIRST 100 PIAGGIO MILES

Last week, Naomi turned 100. What I am talking about is the mileage on my 2009 Piaggio FLY-150. She is the first powered 2 wheeler for this 57 year old novice, and here's what I found...

1. IT IS FUN ! I have at last reached a point of comfort with the skills, responsibilities and challenges to let me take in how much fun it is. This is more than a cerebral acknowledgment. It is the joy experienced from buzzing around on 2 wheels and feeling the acceleration - power that is provided by my right hand on the throttle rather than my legs painfully pumping harder on a bicycle.

2. THE SATISFACTION OF GAINING INSTINCTS With every turn I make now, I automatically press my left thumb on the turn signal to cancel it. How embarrassing it was on my first rides to look down and see my blinker still on a mile after I made the turn. Along with this seemingly simple skill is another one that means a lot - the comfort I've gained in accelerating from a stop, into a turn. It is a simple matter of where you place your center of balance - but I can still remember the practice times in the parking lot when I didn't lean enough and my weight was high, and the acceleration wanted to take me out of the turn. Now that it is behind me and the subconscious takes command, my conscious is free to pay more attention to everything else I need to be concerned about

3. A CYCLE OF APPREHENSION AND COMFORT - There is a difference between reaching a point of comfort and relaxing your guard. One means you are gaining skills, the other means you are being careless. So in the conversion of conscious application to instinctive motions, I find myself questioning if I am continuing to be vigilant enough. I think it's a natural reaction to not spending as much conscious effort on things like turning and leaning.

4. BUCKLE WHAT UP? Maybe the weirdest thing has been to question myself just before starting off - Am I forgetting something (something that has to do with safety)? I think it is the phantom seat belt sensation. That is, subconsciously questioning my safety by thinking shouldn't I buckle up before I go into traffic?

5. THE PLANE LANDING OVER MY SHOULDER Closing up the air slots in my helmet has stopped me from looking over my shoulder to see if a plane was landing on my head. However, with the warmer weather coming, I guess I'll have to learn to adapt to the noise.

6. THE FORCE OF WIND It was amazing to feel the force of the wind, the first time I drove over 45 mph into a variable head wind. As a bicyclist, I always understood how a small headwind in any situation made a huge difference to the work you had to put out. But on the bicycle, we are talking of speeds between 14 and 24 mph. The difference here is how much more it is magnified as speed increases above 40. The rule is that wind force increases exponentially with speed. As a kinesthetic learner, I can now say my knowledge of this principle has just increased.

7. RESPECT I am surprised of how much respect I get from other drivers (SO FAR). Much more than when I drive my Miata. They give you room. They don't jump in front of you. They stay off your bumper. BUT of course, I am talking about the drivers who are being responsible and paying attention. The enormous vigilance I keep - the stuff that makes me feel tired after even a short ride - continues to be needed not just for them but especially for the ones who aren't paying enough attention.