While not the outcome I had been hoping for, I did enjoy it for the most part. Ken, the coordinator for the site and one of the coaches, was everything I could have asked for. I think I would have been golden if there had been 2 of him
the other guy was cool and gave decent feedback but he wasn't near as effective in my case.
My issue this afternoon is that I just couldn't relax enough. I rode Takara the 15 miles to the class. It wasn't bad, but not like my other recent outings either. I was pretty nervous about the class so I made sure to give myself plenty of time to get there. With Saturday traffic being slightly heavy compared to what I was used to and class nerves it took me around 20 minutes to relax instead of the usual 5 or so. When I got there I made sure to pop her mirrors up so I wouldn't be paying attention to them. That helped immensely while on the range.
The class was broken down into these sections:
Locate Controls, Engine Start & Stop, FZ / Rocking
Shifting, Stopping, Turns from a Stop, and Cone Weave
Stopping Quickly
Break
Swerving
Stopping Quickly in a Curve (Straighten then Brake)
Break
U-turns, Sharp Turns, and Weaving
Basic Cornering — SLRP
You had to be able to do the first group of drills to be able to go further in the class. Only issue I had was on the turns from a stop. The tightness of the turns on the course was an issue for me. Super skinny area compared to what I have practiced. I did make improvements over time though. Again, it came down to how tense I was. Even as I relaxed bit by bit, I was still tense enough that I was fighting the bike in the low speed turns. I knew it, I could feel it in my arms/hands. I just couldn't do anything about it.
I did really good on the swerving and stopping quickly in a curve. One reminder of my time at Mid O was when I dropped her. Stopping quickly in a curve to the left. I straightened the bike,stopped, put my left foot down....and it was the wrong decision. I wasn't thinking about how the fact that the parking lot does go down in a slight slope that way would effect me. I tried like hell for about 30 seconds to hold her and then came the slow motion tumble. Now the left frame slider matches the right
I got back on and kept on going. I figured, well, I might have dropped her, but at least I didn't run the coaches over. Ken said he's had that happen twice in one class.
The third set of drills is what got me. They of course put the most difficult part before the easy part
U turns/sharp turns. It was a right hand turn from a stop into a left u turn then stop. Right hand turn from stop there into another sharp right turn into the cone weave. I was screwed from the start due to how tense I still was, plus that being my trouble spot. Going wide on the tight right turn from a stop set me up wrong for the u turn and just kept the set up wrong from there up to the cone weave. I was able to get that.... I attempted it twice, each time not getting it near tight enough. that's when the other coach gave advice of try using right foot down. I explained I've done it before with the left foot down, and that I was trying in the class just having a hard time with it because not relaxed enough to stop fighting the bike. That's when he popped out with "You can't do it. You don't have this skill. You can't make this turn without hitting those other bikes (talking about the other guys in the opposite line, which I didn't get close to on the first 2 tries btw). This is the wrong bike for you and you're afraid of it." I told him I am not afraid of my bike at all, no issue riding elsewhere after coaching from Chris, just that this is my trouble zone that I need work on. but after hearing that from him I just kept looking around at everyone else and when he said to go again and just try to make it tighter, I kept looking and went to the left saying "f- this" to myself as I parked by the trailer and sat down to cool off. Trying to goad me into being ticked off enough to say "I'll show this guy and go do it" isn't the way I work in that kind of situation. I had been managing my anxiety level pretty well for those few hours but that put me over the edge. I didn't freak out or break down or anything. On the next break I talked to Ken and thanked him, shook his hand. He gave me a hug, which actually made me feel a lot better, I needed it. I really appreciated him letting me try the class. He told me to be proud of what I did do, keep practicing and just go out and ride. He said he's had guys that had to take the class 3 or 4 times. I don't know if I'll go that route. Today proved to me that with my group anxiety this is probably not the best way for me to get my endorsement. Everything was done that could be done to lessen it for me, but I was still too tense. I don't fight the bike when I'm on the street riding. I don't get hand cramps from holding the bars too tight, elbows and arms hurting from tension. I'm just going to have to keep hitting that Rubber City Harley range every time I go out and then take the BMV test next year.
I'm not down about today. I'm happy with what I did do and that I didn't do serious, dangerous things like others Ken had mentioned. Just those damn right hand turns from a stop. Of course, the kicker on that whole thing? As I was leaving I came to the main road out of the school parking lot. Looked both ways for traffic after stopping....and executed a perfect right hand turn from a stop that would have been in the lines on the course
