Today was day 2 (of 2) of our motorcycle class.
I quickly made S and I each a cinnamon raisin bagel with nutella – eating half at home and taking the other half as I walked out the door.
Mid-morning I had a clif bar.
Day 2 of the class was harder. The instructors were different, which I was a little nervous about, because I had liked the instructors we had the first day and they were also familiar with my “riding style” (or maybe “dropping style”… or “attempting-to-ride style”) so they were able to keep an eye out for me and give me good help and assistance. But the new instructors were pretty good, too.
My first drop of the day (and yes, I have to say first… because there was more than one…….) occurred in the first hour of the class. I swear, I have no idea how it happened. I was in line to take my turn doing one of the skills, and was watching the people ahead of me go on the course. I was trying so hard to watch everyone and to learn from them. I let my attention go for a split second and BAM! The bike was on the ground. With me underneath it.
Kind of like this. Except I wasn’t wearing racing gear, my drop wasn’t nearly as graceful, I was STANDING STILL rather than racing down the road…
And did I mention that I was underneath the bike? Each time that I dropped it, of course.
And it’s totally embarrassing. My first instinct is to try to get up and pick it back up really quickly before anyone notices – yeah, right. The bike is really heavy so I can’t pick it up myself. The instructors hear a crash and see me lying on the ground, so they come running over and everybody has to stop what they are doing while the instructors help me up and check out the bike. Lovely.
The second drop came a few hours later. I was getting off the bike and didn’t fully put the kickstand down. So… you guessed it – both the bike and I went down again.
Besides my droppage, the skills were harder today, too. U-turns and S-turns, all kinds of curves. Quick stops, swerves, etc.
At the end of the morning we had our tests for our license. There were four parts. The first was a double U-turn inside a blue box – couldn’t go outside the lines, put our foot down, etc. The second part was a speed-up and swerve. Third was a quick stop, and fourth was navigating a curve.
And… I PASSED! Now they will be sending me a little card in the mail that I can take to the DMV to get my license. I won’t be riding on public streets any time soon, mind you, but I want to keep practicing and get better until I can. I am going to have to get my own bike, though… S’s bike is way too big and heavy for me. So I have started my search
S passed too, of course, with flying colors.
Overall, I really recommend this course – particularly if you are a complete beginner like me. Even S, an experienced rider, thought it was worthwhile. I am still surprised that I was the only person in the class who had never, ever ridden before, though.
We got home a little earlier than yesterday, just in time to watch the Olympic gold medal hockey game.
I just love sports in general, so will pretty much watch any game that was on TV. But I’ve never been the biggest hockey fan – it’s just not my favorite. This was a GOOD game, though. I really enjoyed watching it. That last goal by the US with just a few seconds left in the regular game… Incredible.
While watching the game, I ate lunch. A big salad:
Major action going on, with romaine, carrots, celery, roasted chicken breast, mozzarella cheese, egg, and almonds. With olive oil and vinegar, course.
Mid-afternoon we did our weekly grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s and got many goodies. When we got home, I sliced up two kiwis for a snack.
In the evening, I started cleaning up the house. My sister and her boyfriend are coming to visit on Thursday (so excited!!!) while S worked on changing the oil in his car and bike. I heated up strombolis for dinner.
Not bad – quick,easy and tasty. Although not exactly health food.
For dessert, I had a big bowl of banana soft serve with some maple syrup on top. This was a delicious combo!
I also had some swiss chocolate.
Now I’m off to bed, big day tomorrow. I can’t believe I am a licensed motorcycle driver!

February 28th, 2010
Rachel
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