Wheel alignment

Saturday 5 December 2009

A new Millennium dawns...


In early 2001, the last of our kids trundled off to university. Jennie celebrated her freedom from not having to run young parasites around any more by getting an MX-5 convertible sports car and we took off in it for a month of touring the south island. Whilst we were in the Queenstown area, I saw an advertisement for riding Quad (ATV) bikes in the foothills of the Remarkables mountain range. I thought it would be great fun although Jennie wasn't at all keen. However, a bit of sweet-talking about how easy it was to ride farm quads plus a droopy bottom lip on my part saw her reluctantly agree.

 Jennie and me, with the Remarkables in the background

On arriving at the venue with the instructor, I could have bitten my tongue off! Farm bikes my arse, they were Polaris 2 stroke screamers - oh shiiiit! The instructor saved my bacon and was a wonderful teacher, coaching Jennie over the gentler terrain and she soaked it up like a sponge. The saying "Ignorance is bliss" was never more appropriate than when on a really scary steep downhill section strewn with boulders, Jennie left me for dead and was giving the instructor a heck of a run for his money too! I was so proud of her and it's an excellent example of how self-imposed mental limits have such an impact on riding.

Jennie and her Mk1 MX5 outside the Warbirds at Wanaka


2 comments:

  1. Self imposed mental limits have a huge impact on longevity too.Quads are the work of the devil.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They do indeed Paul - dead hero vs. live coward - easy choice, isn't it?

      Delete

Hello! I love to hear your feedback as it often leads to other things. However, if your comments are blatant advertising, then they won't get published.