I Traded Soft Fibery Goodness

for hard, unforgiving paved parking lot and pouring rain alternating with ugly hotnhumid this weekend.  And loved every second of it.  Well, not so much the moment where I ended up smacked forehead first into the pavement while the rest of me sprawled rather inelegantly and bruised over the handlebars of a Kawasaki Eliminator.  Thanks to a full face helmet, though, my head is fine, didn't even get more than a hint of headache.  One of the bruises on my lower leg - well.  It rivals the best that CC has inflicted.  So what the heck was I doing that ended me up in such a heap?  Taking the MSF Basic Rider Course.  Starting Thursday night and continuing through late Sunday afternoon, it was all motorcycles.  We started with 3 hours of classroom instruction, quite handy when you know pretty much nuthin' about bikes.  Early Saturday morning had me not only sitting on afore mentioned Eliminator but starting it up, acronyms like FINE-C, T-ClOCS, and SEE firmly stamped into my brain.  Somewhere in the first hour and a half of that start, I crashed.  Shook up the instructor more than I did myself.  Heh.  Keep 'em guessing, right?  I got back on the bike as soon as he'd let me, probably before he was comfortable with it.  We spent about 4 hours Saturday morning learning the basics and how not to do what I'd just done.  Saturday afternoon had us back in the classroom, ending with a test.  I aced it - 100%.  Yay, me!  Sunday morning started with rain right from the early second I got up to get animal chores done before class.  We rode anyway cause there was no lightening and we're not sissies.  Ha!  I did end up with pruny fingers, and jeans that weighed an extra ton with all the water, but bike and I were buddies through it all: swerves, weaves, back to back u-turns, sudden stops, and obstacles.  Then it was moment of truth time.  After lunch, after the rain cleared to leave behind all that sweaty, oppressive humidity and we still had to wear the wet jeans, leather boots, full finger gloves, long sleeves and helmets. It was time for the final evaluation.  We lined up.  Certain events would qualify as automatic failure.  Like crashing.  Judging by the faces around me, I know I wasn't the only one sweating for reasons beyond air conditions.  We rode our tests one by one, each of us watching the others, our mistakes fully visible.  Mine even fully audible, though I wasn't the only one to utter loudly something along the lines of "oh, crap."  Finally, we lined up to wait for our results.  Yay me, again.  I passed.  Not the best, but not the worst, either.  I did think of you folks during all this and made someone take a picture of me.  You think your neighbors think fiber blogger photography is strange, try explaining it to a bunch of guys getting all manly with motorcycles. 

Comments

[Karen]

Wow! Good for you! Is that your bike? You are braver than I!

[vanessa]

wow, you are brave!

[Christine]

Good for you! That's great! My sister is a rider -- I like more panels of metal surrounding me though.

[Jessica]

Oh. My. gawd. Seriously?! A motorcycle?!? How the heck are you gonna carry a bunny on that?!??? ;)

P.S. Who was your instructor? I have a friend who does motorcycle safety instruction.

[Anne]

Yay you! That's fantastic that you passed. YippEE!

[April Bangert]

Congrats! I did the same thing just over a year ago and the hubby and I have had a wonderful time riding together since!

[Kelly]

Yay you! Congrats on the new bike. It always amazes me all the cool things you do. I'm glad you didn't get hurt during all the crashing thank god for helmets! Ride on girl!