happier recent things
Last weekend I took the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's Basic Rider Course. I passed and earned my license!! It was really stressful; I was so anxious I couldn't sleep Saturday night. I kept starting to fall asleep and dreaming I was driving a motorcycle and couldn't keep it under control. Now as the instructor says, I'm basically qualified to drive a 250cc motorcycle in an empty parking lot at 20 miles an hour. My hands and forearms are cramped and my inner thighs are bruised :( I'm actually glad it's over, and now I can relax.
The fun part was riding in 2nd and 3rd gear. I found it easier to control the motorcycle and the clutch at higher speeds. In first I kept dumping the clutch while trying to get moving from a stop and had a lot of trouble balancing the motorcycle at low speed. In other words, if I rode around here I'd take 30 seconds to start up again at each stop light, having to restart the bike after stalling a few times.
Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to afford a motorcycle this year at all, and even if I could, I don't have room to store one, indoors or out. I should have put off taking the class, I'm going to forget everything I learned if I don't get to practice. But it was fun, and I can be proud I accomplished something. I rode about 15 miles in the class, and a lot of idling while waiting my turn to do something.
The fun part was riding in 2nd and 3rd gear. I found it easier to control the motorcycle and the clutch at higher speeds. In first I kept dumping the clutch while trying to get moving from a stop and had a lot of trouble balancing the motorcycle at low speed. In other words, if I rode around here I'd take 30 seconds to start up again at each stop light, having to restart the bike after stalling a few times.
Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to afford a motorcycle this year at all, and even if I could, I don't have room to store one, indoors or out. I should have put off taking the class, I'm going to forget everything I learned if I don't get to practice. But it was fun, and I can be proud I accomplished something. I rode about 15 miles in the class, and a lot of idling while waiting my turn to do something.