"The Beast Project" back on!!

"Le projet Bête" in French

"El proyecto Beast" in Spanish

"獣プロジェクト" ("-Juu purojekuto") in Japanese

"The Beast Projekt" in German

WHATEVER YOU WANNA CALL IT...It's BAAACK!!! What this all means is that for the 1st time in over 2 months, I had butt in seat time on my "Beast" Suzuki Burgman 650 scooter!!! My hubby is my rider coach, and between hot as hell days in June and July and vacation taken in August and then more hot as hell days in August and mega OT worked this summer, it's been awhile since I've had parking lot time with my Burgie!!

David and I both have concerns about getting me on real roads until I get much more familiar and confident handling stopping and starting and turning and other parking lot maneuvers of this 450 lb machine. This is really more like a step-through motorcycle than it is the cute lil' Italian scoot that Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck made famous in "Roman Holiday." I did the basic safety course back in May on a cutie lil scoot that only weighs 175 lbs. The other big difference is the power of the engine. I'm not very mechanincally minded, but a lil scooter compares to a maxi scoot like a BB gun compares to a M16 automatic rifle. So, the main point for the Beast project is to get me safely comfortable and confident to be on the roads with other vehicles and be able to survive!

We spent about 1.5 hrs in the parking lot of the high school down the street from our house yesterday morning, and David drilled me hard, giving me pointers after each rep. I have scared the crap out of him at least once when he really did think I was going to die in a crash, so he is VERY perceptive about each little thing I did right and wrong!! But, gratefully, at the same time, he is being sooooo patient with me. He knows there's no way I'll ever gain his level of expertise, and so far, he's being extra cool about my shortcomings (even if they are only temporary!). It really is a matter of time in the seat and just accumulated experience over time. Anyways, I am super stoked for the next time this weekend to pick up where we left off. My goal is to be able to go riding with him on a back country road ride before he goes to see his Mom at Thanksgiving, but before that I want David to be comfortable with me getting alone-road time once I get the basics mastered in the parking lot! Until next time, then!