I’ve claimed a number of times that when it comes to handling a motorcycle, I’m only good, occasionally very good. Once in a blue moon I’ll latch onto an elusive A-game and be excellent. Put another way, I am not an expert or some sort of master. And that’s true.

I’ve also claimed a number of times that I do not have a natural talent for handling a two-wheeled vehicle. And I don’t. (I may be in the minority on that.) I mean, even way, way back when I began riding bicycles, I’d practice at night so none of my friends could see me. Figured that way I wouldn’t be embarrassed. And though I practiced and practiced for hours and hours, I never got anything close to being accomplished.

Getting back to motorcycles. When I first began riding, I decided to take my lack of natural talent as a plus in that I had to pay more attention than the average rider. And I do. And that’s good for the ol’ safety thing, right? Tell ya what, I can’t imagine how many times I’ve approached a curve and said to myself, “Not yet, not yet, not yet, okay leannnnnn now!”

We all know that there are any number of situations where our motorcycle handling abilities get challenged. Heavy traffic, twisties, high winds, riding tight formation in a group, bad road surfaces, waiting for the green light while facing uphill, and on and on.

What I’m getting to is that every time I go out these days – yes, every single time – I am challenged by something that I’ve never felt comfortable with. Never. What is it? Rolling backward. Downhill. And how often do I have to back up going downhill? Like I said, every time I take the bike out.

You see, I have to back up downhill to get from my garage to the street. And the farther I go, the steeper it gets. It’s nerve-racking. I start sweating. Praying none of my neighbors think I’m a forever greenhorn.

So what can I do to make myself more comfortable with backing up downhill? Evidently nothing. I mean, it hasn’t even been a year since I moved to Texas and I’ve already done it probably close to a hundred times on my driveway. And I’m just as nerve-racked about it now as I was the first time. I guess it’s just “one of those things” I’ll have to endure for the rest of my life. The burdens I bear!

The thing is, it could be worse. Really! What if I didn’t have a motorcycle to back up downhill? Yeah, that’d be worse. A lot worse.