Passenger to Pilot

My husband has been an avid motorcycle rider for at least 15 years and is quite accomplished, having several long-distance records to his credit.   I, on the other hand, have been a passenger, ONLY, for the 12 years we  have been together and, until recently, was quite happy sitting back there and leaving the details of getting the bike to our destination totally up to him.   So happy, in fact, that anyone how knows me will have heard me say, often enough, that I would NEVER have my own bike.  Fear is a powerful stopping agent to change!  

So, after having so many years as a happy pilion, why, you may ask, would I suddenly decide to assault the fear demon and change from passenger to pilot?  This takes a bit of telling to explain and it basically goes like this:  My husband has 2 bikes, a Honda ST1100 and a Kawasaki KLR650. The Honda is a sport-touring bike, larger and with plenty of room for a passenger, even a larger-than-average one (!).  The KLR, on the other hand, is a dual purpose bike, meant to be rideable on dirt as well as pavement and consequently, is a smaller bike, at least from my wider-than-a-twelve-year-old posterior.  Riding as a passenger on the KLR is torture.  We've done it once.  We lasted an hour.   Needless to say, the riding I have done as a passenger has been on the ST.  

The riding my husband has been doing in the last few years, at least the riding he has been writing about, has been on the KLR and he's been to some fantastic, out-of-the-way spots with amazing scenery providing enticing photographs and tales and I WANT TO GO, TOO but NOT on the KLR. So, torn between riding torture as the passenger on the KLR and staying home, I was faced with a decision:  lump it and stay home, living vicariously through my husband's stories or bite the bullet and get my own bike.   On Labour Day weekend, this year, I took the Canada Safety Council motorcycle training course called, Gearing Up and learned to ride.   The tales of that weekend are the fodder for another blog (to come!).   Thanksgiving weekend, I bought my own bike and the HaveMotorcycleWillTravel adventure was launched.   

Since this is such a big step for me, I wanted to document the experience as it unfolds and maybe it will entertain and inspire others at the same time.  Enjoy!