Every time I get into traffic....I find myself,,,grinding my teeth and squeezing the handlebars...

Anybody else? or is it just me?

 

Relax and enjoy yourself..........

 

Well, I notice my jaw tenses up a little bit but i keep my body relaxed. Years of racing I guess. The day I don't get a little nervous in traffic is the day I should stop riding. It's good to get nervous....reminds you to pay attention to all that's going on...not how pretty the changing of the leaveslooks when there's a 4000 lb brick headed your way.

 

No, it doesn't happen to me. I don't remember if I did that back in the beginning or not. It's been too long

 

Being extra tense like that is even worse in some situations... You gotta learn to relax, not be lax, just relaxed...

 

When I was first running in Dallas traffic (I shoulda been using a car ) I was tense. Now I just am paranoid, but loose.

 

The only time I find myself in heavy traffic is when we travel. By heavy traffic I mean 3-4 lanes of freewaytraffic. Most often we try to avoid large city centers, but sometimes it's just not possible. I don't know if I get tensed up more because I am afraid of traffic and what some idiot in front of me.. or behind me ... or beside me ... will do. I definately have a higher sense of awareness of my surroundings. I don't think I am amafraid of it ... I certainly don't like it ... I think I just tolerate it. It's gotta be done to get where I wanna go.

If I am travelling with friends, then on top of all that stuff, I also have to keep an eye on the person I am following ... Where they go ... I go ... no matter if they take a wrong turn .... and hope the person following me is doing the same. When maneuvering through traffic in a group, I always kinda feel likewe look like a gaggle of ducks.

 

No problem here,with time comes confidence.

 

Ya, I guess the more times you do something, the more it becomes 2nd nature. I remember how nervous I was just sitting on my bike. Nevermind starting it up. LOL

 

It is easy to get tense. Try to do a little bit of this type of traffic or road every time you ride. With time your ability to know your zones will improve. Make sure your mirrors are adjusted right, and teach yourself to relax. Might also be a function of what I call Helmet flop... Make sure you are not tensing up because of your helmet moving around. Hang in there and have fun.

I spent about 70 miles on a friends chop yesterday, and was really having a tense hard time until I adjusted his mirrors. Then it started to be fun. I could see where other people were in relation to me. I could adjust so that my bubble stayed intact. But I was still tired after being used to riding my SG. Chops are fun, but only for about 20 minutes, then I start to miss the ease of the SG.