Done, Done and I'm Onto the Next One

The past year and a half has been one of growth and change for me. I've broadened my horizons and found myself doing thinks simply because they scare me and I refuse to let that stop me.

This past weekend I took the Motorcycle Safety Course. It's a wonderful course, though a bit grueling for those of us who have never ridden before. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in riding! There's one day of classroom work and then you ride both days of the weekend for around 5 hours. At the end you take the riding test.

The course was far more physically tasking on the upper body than I expected. I'm sure part of that will go away with practice and hours on the bike.

Yesterday didn't start well. The first exercise was to complete a u-turn in a small area. You have to counterbalance on the bike to do so. My first attempt I ended up freaking out a bit and hit the throttle (oops!) and ended up dumping the bike....on me. There's a reason people tell you to kick the bike away if you fall. The bikes they use for the course aren't all that heavy, but they sure are when laying on your calf/shin. I immediately knew what I had done wrong, but somehow that didn't make it any better. The rider coach came over, lifted the bike off me and asked if I was okay. I told him, "Nothing wounded but my pride." He laughed and said, "Sweetie, there's no pride in this course." Boy was he right! All in all, I figure that I was bound to drop a bike eventually...best to get it out of the way early. Thank goodness it wasn't during the actual exam!

Despite the caption on the picture, I ended up passing the test which is great. Once I get the paper in the mail, I need to go to the DMV and take the written test. Then I will have my M1 license. Woohoo! Dougie is going to be my study buddy and we're going to take it Memorial Day weekend. I definitely want to do more work in a parking lot and on streets with little traffic before heading out into the "real world" on a bike. All in all a great experience and I'm glad I took the class.

I have one hell of a bruise on my left leg. Broken skin, swelling and bruising. I was checking it out at one point and the rider coach asked if I wanted medical attention. I looked at him like he was an idiot and he said, "Don't look at me like that. I have to ask that question." I responded, "It's not a good day unless blood is involved." My old rugby coach would be proud.

The weird thing - somehow in the midst of falling I managed to twist the other ankle and also pull the skin back from the nail on one side of my thumb (which is especially impressive considering I was wearing gloves). Very random.

Oh, and Promise - according to Tanya, Diter and Chris, I look hot in the jacket Chris loaned me so you should be set. ;-P

Now to set the next goal.....

This moment of 'happy tired' was brought to you by the letter M and the number 1.