|
|
 Learning
to get comfortable with your bike
Practice, practice, practice! For
those of us starting to ride in middle age, a planned program of practice
is a HUGE help.
I go out at odd hours when there is little
traffic and practice my trouble spots (like uphill stopsigns with
right-hand turns) until I am confident and comfortable. Then, where there
is traffic, I can concentrate on the other drivers and assorted road
hazards, rather than trying to figure out how to get my bike to do what I
want.
Some of the very BEST training around is the Motorcycle
Safety Foundation RiderCourse. In the State of Hawai`i, for
only $150, over four days you get 10 hours of
"groundschool," 14 hours on one of their practice motorcycles, a
textbook, and access to some really well trained instructors. For many of
us, finding a bike to learn on is a real challenge. After all, who is
going to loan out a few-thousand dollar machine to someone who is
certainly going to break it a few times?
The MSF RiderCourse takes students through a
building-block style training program in which skills are taught and
layered in a logical and progressive fashion. As a teacher, I was truly
impressed with the methodology and effectiveness of the program.
While the course is fun, safety is always
foremost, and learning to predict and prevent accidents comprises a large
part of the training. The course also helps students to decide which type
of motorcycle is best for them.
Since graduating (which got me out of my road
test and saved 15% on my insurance) in May of 2001, I've met many new people, and made dear new friends. I may have embarked
on this new project as a response to my "mid-life crisis," but
whatever it took, I sure am glad I did finally decided to
Live my Dream!
|
|
|
