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Street Legal
Jun. 23rd, 2013 09:21 pmSecond half of motorcycle class was today, and I headed out this morning with a lot less excitement and a lot more trepidation. I'm stubborn enough that I still went, but I wasn't looking forward to it as much as I had been the day before.
But I *am* stubborn, and determination goes a long way, so for the second day this weekend I hauled myself out of bed at 7am and up to North Andover to sweat and fret. The morning was spent in the second half of the classroom part of the course, culminating in a 50-question safety test that I ultimately finished in about ten minutes, with a perfect score (that really wasn't the part I was afraid of).
Then lunch break, and then back onto the bikes for Part Two of actual riding skills. Which, among other things, meant spending almost 5 hours standing around in 90+ degree weather on asphalt with no shade, in long pants, a leather jacket, boots, gloves, and a helmet. Thankfully, the teacher provided us with numerous water breaks, and I had had the foresight to freeze a bottle of water and bring it with me.
Starting off was rough; I had my confidence pretty thoroughly shattered, and being scolded (however gently) to relax and loosen up and have confidence has the opposite effect for me. But my stubborn is mighty, and eventually I realized that if I shifted further forward on the bike I felt like I had better control, and it helped me keep my elbows down. And finally, when we got to the exercise of riding over road obstacles, something clicked. I know it's fairly absurd that I'd find riding over 2x4's easier than cornering, but when I realized it was the same skill as posting on a horse... it just made sense. And after that, it got easier. And when I realized that yes, speed DID make everything else more manageable....
Ultimately? I passed the test. Not exactly with flying colors, and I still lost points for being too timid and too slow, but I passed. I am now an officially licensed motorcycle driver.
Now all I need is a bike. And a helmet. And many, many hours of practice.
Anyone want to help?
But I *am* stubborn, and determination goes a long way, so for the second day this weekend I hauled myself out of bed at 7am and up to North Andover to sweat and fret. The morning was spent in the second half of the classroom part of the course, culminating in a 50-question safety test that I ultimately finished in about ten minutes, with a perfect score (that really wasn't the part I was afraid of).
Then lunch break, and then back onto the bikes for Part Two of actual riding skills. Which, among other things, meant spending almost 5 hours standing around in 90+ degree weather on asphalt with no shade, in long pants, a leather jacket, boots, gloves, and a helmet. Thankfully, the teacher provided us with numerous water breaks, and I had had the foresight to freeze a bottle of water and bring it with me.
Starting off was rough; I had my confidence pretty thoroughly shattered, and being scolded (however gently) to relax and loosen up and have confidence has the opposite effect for me. But my stubborn is mighty, and eventually I realized that if I shifted further forward on the bike I felt like I had better control, and it helped me keep my elbows down. And finally, when we got to the exercise of riding over road obstacles, something clicked. I know it's fairly absurd that I'd find riding over 2x4's easier than cornering, but when I realized it was the same skill as posting on a horse... it just made sense. And after that, it got easier. And when I realized that yes, speed DID make everything else more manageable....
Ultimately? I passed the test. Not exactly with flying colors, and I still lost points for being too timid and too slow, but I passed. I am now an officially licensed motorcycle driver.
Now all I need is a bike. And a helmet. And many, many hours of practice.
Anyone want to help?
