Beginner Rider's First Time on the Highway | Riding with Anxiety | Honda Rebel 500 

As an anxious overthinker, I have definitely felt the nerves on my bike. Thankfully (like you said), *most* of it goes away once I focus on the ride. 💜

I'm so proud of your progress and mindset! Riding with a no-fear ego is so dangerous, and we see it far too often with experienced and non-experienced riders.

I have anxiety too and one of the things that calms it down for me is getting on the bike. I think because you have to let the rest of the world go and pay attention to what is happening right now since your life depends on it. Great job on the highway for the first time, congrats!

I just did this the first time two days ago and I have to say I am jealous of your ride. That is a beautiful area, if damp. It was my first day at 55 mph ish and it was 97 degrees where I am for about 2 hours. About half was highway and about half was twisties (like in the woods, maximum speed 35 mph). I have to tell you twisties are tiring after a while. They just wear on you mentally. The mind gets tired of making constant decisions after a while. Since what I did was to tell Google to route me to the next city, I had decided that wherever it routed me (short of the interstate) I would just follow which was interesting because at one point I missed a turn and for the next 15 minutes, I was on a whole bunch of different roads that I had not planned to be on, many of which crossed railroad tracks and various bridges. Congrats on your run. You look good out there.

I appreciate u so much for doing this. It just takes “balls” every time doing something new on your bike but afterwards you just feel so amazing. Good for u. Me next!

I have the same anxiety problems, you are not alone with that. Good thing you pusht threw it.

I'm inspired by how you approach your anxiety...with courage.

Thank you for sharing. Takes Lot to put yourself out there like that. I feel the same way every-time I want to ride. Then it all just gies away. Thank You again. Ride safe!

You did just fine.... Keep in mind, the more you ride, the better of a rider you become.

Heya Missy - you did great! I've been riding since im 9 and owned my first bike (moped) when I was 13 and I'm 32 now. It takes a lot to go out of your way to just drive, but you did exactly the right thing. Riding bikes is practice, and putting you in different situations to experience those and learn from it. Anxiety is important, but so is practice. Fear is dangerous, but respect is important. You can project this to any kind of the biking adventure: What kind of bike you ride. What kind of streets you ride. How you handle traffic, and also special situations like the hill-starts. If you are afraid, you can become so focused on not making mistakes that you end up making mistakes. Never ever have fear, but respect. Respect the bike, respect the streets, respect the traffic. The number one tip I give to new riders is a. find the right bike. (yes there are a lot but there is ONE that will 100% fit you and your needs), b. just drive! As you did here, find a nice place for breakfast, or a cool cafe, or another bakery for a slice of heavenly cake and then go for it. Plan the route ahead roughly and then drive. People tend to say that "practice makes perfect" but its wrong. Practice makes proficient, and the safest riders are the most proficient riders. This encompases all aspects of riding. Knowing your bike, reading the streets and traffic, but also skills like emergency braking or bike handling in general. I still go out of my way to find some empty parking stops and do emergency breakings from 60mph to a dead stand-still so that I always know how far I can go. I still practice slow driving around cones, or evading an obstacle cone while driving 40. Practice makes proficient. So, TLDR: Respect the driving, and simply keep driving. Never become scared or think that something bad will happen. If you simply keep driving, it will become your second nature eventually. Greetings from Germany ps: subscribed! Cant wait to see where your journey goes.

RU-vid randomly recommended me this video. Good job riding on the highway for the first time. Congrats.

Very nice! Your vid popped up in my feed and I'm glad I watched. I like your honest reflections and your simple, effective editing style. I've been riding steadily and often for 55yrs, and I had to smile at your comments about nervousness bc I still feel that sometimes, too, before I actually get my wheels rolling. 😅 And as an old Cali boy living in Northern KY for almost 20yrs, I also love seeing that beautiful scrub oak landscape (seriously)! Great job, Missy!

Just discovered your channel and love the progress videos. My wife and I are taking the BRC soon and we're both looking at getting Rebels. We also have zero motorcycle experience starting off. So definitely looking forward to our journey and progression. Stay safe!

Got my first motorcycle last month, also a Honda Rebel 500 (2023 ABS model). I was extremely anxious to ride it for the first time, especially after I had a difficult time just trying to move my dad's Yamaha 1300cc V-Star. However, the night after bringing the Rebel home, I started out in the parking lot and slowly progressed from there. Every time I rode I got smoother and gained confidence, and the anxiety has greatly reduced. I still do get a little anxious when I go somewhere I haven't been, but I just take it a little slower, be more cautious and enjoy the ride.

Nice work! Just stumbled across your channel - my first ride home was ~70 miles on the interstate thru a monsoon - you did a great job!

Beautiful area you live in for riding! Great video 👍

I think you did good. I am a beginner too, well, at least you bought your bikes. I am thinking about buying a Spyder. Liked and subscribed. Cheers from a Swede in Mexico

You did it! Awesome riding! I also find riding anxiety releveling. Also, I've had good luck with impact resistant sun or clear glasses so I can feel better about flipping the visor up while riding.

Well done! Only way to improve is to keep going.

Great on you !

Congratulations on reaching that milestone! Non-rider here, but proud of you nonetheless. On a different note, any plans on filming upkeep of the bike itself? You know, oil changes, brake adjustment, bulbs, etc.

It's winter here in New Zealand right now. andon Monday I decided that, because it wasn't raining, that I would take the bike to work. And... It was Foggy! But I actually felt more comfortable in the fog than I do in the rain. strangely enough. the total distance I could see was less, but for what I could see, it was better than it is in the rain. I hope that was the same for the cars around me. because if they couldn't see as well as I could, that would scare me! Hill starts... I have a little advantage, and it's not 30 years of driving Manual cars, although that probably helps, It's that My driveway is shared, and to get from the Garage to the Main driveway I have to do a hill start, and then the Main (shared) driveway is also uphill and then I have the choice of going uphill or downhill to get to the other side of the loop road I live on, and then the first set of lights I have to stop at is on a Hill... I can't avoid them, I just had to do it! Anxiety... the biggest trigger for me is a Phone Ringing. people who know me, know that my phone stays on silent and will never ring, so don't bother!

Me too I had anxiety first time on the highway but after 2 tries I got comfortable and kept my nerves in check but my senses are 100 percent when I'm on the freeway coz I have a smaller bike

I need to pick up my first bike this weekend. To get it home means going on a 120-140kph highway for about 30km. I've done riding lessons in the parking lot and in small quiet streets but this is quite a jump. Honestly I might just nope out and ask a friend to get it home safely.

Riding on a highway or any straight roads is the easy part..... it's training yourself how to properly counter steer through corners and not get target fixated that will take time to master.

New rider this year, myself. 21.5 hours on my bike. 20 are highway ridden. I'm the exact opposite. The speed, passing cars, curves in the road, all easy and barely register now. The little time in city? Nerve wracking. Like get me away from all the other vehicles ASAP!

in few hours my new bike will arrive... on my 125cc I would never go on highway, I would only block everyone... now with 700cc bike I need to do it.

Don’t ride on Fog 👍🏻

Those were not highways. Go to LA or Chicago to see real highways.

Wow! Those highways are super nice! Almost nobody around. Quite unlike the SF Bay Area where there’s crazy rush traffic careening around you at 90mph. Take care and have fun. You’ll lose the heebie jeebies in no time.