Tripled my Dirt Experience!

I met Rebecca in Brookshire on Sunday afternoon for my first *Easy* dual sport ride.

Rebecca assured me that she would turn around if any of the roads were iffy because the rear-tire on Wilbur, her V-Strom, was almost bald. She gave me a quick refresher pep-talk on how to handle dirt and we were off!

Perhaps 20 miles of the 70-mile route to Fayetteville was on unpaved roads. Slightly damped down dirt with a little bit of gravel on top, it was very scenic and mostly one lane. There were even a few paved twisties that I would never have reached on the R1200ST.

I had one slight pucker moment when the rear tire fishtailed a little while I was downshifting for a turn, but for the most part the ride was easier than any of the scary gravel construction that I've experienced in my travels. I found myself mostly keeping to about 40mph on straights, much faster than I've ever gone on dirt with the R1200ST.

During our late *lunch* at Orsak's in Fayetteville, I joked to Rebecca that the ride had probably at least "tripled my dirt experience!"

It was after 4pm when we got back on the bikes for the ride home, so we decided to take the most direct route, avoiding unpaved roads. My shoulders and back were pretty sore. I think that I was so focused on staying loose on the bars that everything else tensed up!

It's my hope that these kinds of rides will build my confidence on dirt so that it won't be so scary to encounter road construction on the R1200ST. I won't say that I was having fun on the dirt roads, but I am optimistic for the future. The F650GS is just beginning to earn it's keep.

My camera was buried in my tank bag the entire ride, but Rebecca took a few pictures. I'll steal them once she posts them.