Coming into a motorcycle class, I had a lot of benefits. I already knew how to drive stick, and although Mark told me to throw all my bicycle skills out the window, my riding coach is actually a bicycle rider as well, and gave me a lot of things to transfer into motorcycle riding ffrom cycling. The similarities were great.
The first day(Saturday), I woke up bright at early. It was about 6am, very foggy, and I believed I was late. Coach told me to come early, around 730am instead of 8am. So I used my "Get ready quick but relax" thing I do. Which basically not rushing and chilling so I don't get overworked for the day. Turns out, GPS told me to take things crazy roads out of the way. I ended up just taking 355. Long story short, I was early but needed to poop. So I found a forest reserve with a porta potty. Not my finest 10 minutes, but it had to be done.
Aside from that part of my morning, I go to the range in Villa Park and I see my classmate and two new classmates. They split the range into two; One of the class at Wild Fire Harley, and one for my class at Illinois Harley. Sandy(My classmate) and I were joined by two girls that didn't finish a couple of a weeks ago due to heat, or dropping the bike and not finishing. The girl that did not finish actually in that time, bought a Harley and had been practicing.
I had no idea how this was going to go down. I was the only one without ANY motorcycle experience, and don't you hate when you're THAT guy that everyone is waiting on? I didn't know what to expect but who cares. I payed for the class, I better finish the class. My coach was really good when we got frustrated or tense. He would just come up to us and smile and say "Hey, relax, smile, and what's Fonzie?" and of course we would smile and say "Cool".
Starting out that day, we mounted and got to turn our motorcycles on for the first time. You have no idea the sense of happiness I found after watching so many videos of bikes on want, to actually start one and here it. It was great. We started out just finding the friction zone on the bike, and power walking it across the lot. He said after a few times, we would go across it in first gear with our legs up on the legs. Not really sure why, but it scared the crap out of me. Once I lifted though, I maintained my balance and everything was cool. Well not really, nothing really clicked yet, it was just a reflex.
After a few more exercises I began to get a lot more comfortable with the bike, but I also started on a lot of bad habits, like not keeping my head up, covering the breaks and clutch, and not looking through turns. This of course was very close watched by my coach who was quick to tell me what I was doing wrong. Usually after the 2nd or 3rd try of an exercise, I started getting a lot more comfortable with what I was doing. After a half day on the range, it was time for my classmate, Sandy, and I to go back to the classroom and finish up the rest of the book. After much talking and review, Sandy and I only got two questions wrong on the written test.
After the first day, I was beat. I didn't get home till 730pm and I felt like I just worked out. Well, my legs at least. After a few hours, I just knocked out. Ready for the next day, I set my alarm and was dreaming of getting back on the bike.
The next day was a bit more nerving. The way my coach put it made it seem very tough. We had a few more exercises to do and also had our evaluation. The day started with a quick warm-up with going around in circles around the track, which was actually pretty fun. Of course, we'd get right into the figure 8 turns. I believe I was only able to do one full figure 8 out of maybe 5 or 6 tries. Coach says it was more of a fines skill to turn right and during the test, we'd only have to turn left, which all of us were able to do each time. Unfortunately, I believe one of my classmates got pretty frustrated because she couldn't get the bike to go and kept stalling in first gear. Throughout the day the rest of us felt bad that we didn't try and help her because she basically just left. I hope she comes back and does the course again and is able to get it.
The next exercise was my favorite. It was basically swerving in a higher speed, and swerving at a higher speed through cones. I got a little bit excited on this one and might have been going a bit too fast XD. Motorcycles are fun, what can I say?
After a few more, we got ready for our practice evaluation. Here is where we basically had no demos, and had minimal coaching through the exercises we'd have already done. With all the done, of course was the course evaluation. I honestly thought I choked in every exercise. I actually slumped my shoulders down after each one because I thought I really messed up. I talked to my classmates in-between and they told me they didn't even notice me messing up. Still didn't make me feel better.
Once that was over, we got one on one evaluations. My coach told me he was super proud of me because I was the only one to get 0 points on the evaluation. Which in this case is good. It's kinda like golf, the more points, the worse. I was shocked. I was the only one out of all of us to get a perfect score, and I've never even ridden before.
In all, I passed the safety course. Thursday is the state test when we do the test where it's decided that I can get my M-License. My coach walked us over the whole thing. I hope I don't choke like I did today. Which even though I choked, somehow had a perfect score.
The Riders Edge, Harley Davidson course was great for me. I've never rode a motorcycle in my life, not even on the back. The only idea I had of riding one was through youtube videos. This honestly is a very friendly course to take. My class especially for being so small, they were able to spend a lot of one on one time with us and none of us felt rushed. The class next two us had 12 people. I think I'd be a whole lot more nervous in that class. I saw 3 people drop out of that class throughout the weekend. I Thank God that I was able to go through it. Also, none of us dropped the bike. My coach was fantastic. He knew when we were frustrated or upset and was quick to calm us down and keep the vibe an easy one.
For the record, I type these posts as I think them. I apologize for grammar mistakes or anything that sounds off. I'm not writing to be graded, I'm just writing to inform. =D
I aint even mad.
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