"Gearing Up"

The time came to take the "gearing up" course so I could learn to ride a bike. The classroom session was led by a rather tall man in his late 60s. He was a retired police officer and motorcycle cop. At first our class of 20 didn't know how to handle him, but as we would find out, he was hilarious with lots of old sayings and anecdotes to help make the connection between what our brains were trying to get our bodies to do. One woman didn't quite get it and she ended up with object fixation - on a flatdeck semi trailer. She went under it and got banged and cut up more than I had expected. (see the photo below - the trailer is in the background)

For the rest of us, after the first night on the bike we were able to ride around in first gear and stop. I was excited and a bit overwhelmed at the same time.

The week flew by with me wanting to get out of the office and to the course to get more practice in preparation for the test on Sunday. After every class I'd call Dylan and go over what I had learned and he would give me more information and advice. It was great to have another sounding board for some of the aspects I was struggling to learn.

Sunday rolled around and Dylan and his wife, Deanna came down to the course to watch me take the test. I was nervous and one of the first riders failed the test by toppling his bike on the first drill. However, I made it through. I earned my motorcycle license!

Here are a couple of shots from my motorcycle test - Taken Easter Sunday 2006.



more to come...