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so a few weeks ago i attended a Motorcycle Safety Foundation course to begin my training on operating a motor vehicle that is missing a couple of wheels. i successfully completed the course (more on that later) and was issues a license to operate a motorcycle a week ago monday. every day since, i have had or made a reason to ride putting on over 200 miles in less than 2 weeks.

in order to ride, one must have one. in my case this is a buell blast, a bike manufactured by Harley-Davidson and the bike used in their Rider's Edge motorcycle instruction program. The Blast is not a fast motorcycle. It is a 500cc single cylinder "thumper" that has an aftermarket "exhaust" which sounds like little more than a can on the end of a straight pipe. i wear ear plugs when i ride.

today i dropped the bike performing a quick stop in a parking lot. my fault, i had not completed rechecking oncoming traffic before starting my turn. i should have had the bike straight before i got on the brakes and as a result the bike went down. even at ~330 pounds, it still was surprisingly hard to get back upright, but i managed, and only a couple of cosmetic scratches on some of the plastic parts that i was planning on painting over the next couple of weeks anyway.

i was happy to have dropped the bike. it happens to everyone. i learned what i did wrong. it was a good experience. no real damage done, lessons learned all around. as most people who i have talked to (or read online) say, "it is not a matter of if you will drop your bike, it is a matter of when." today was my when.

so the MSF class is 6 hours of classroom and 10 hours on bike instruction. the course material is interesting, the instructors were great. it is not enough instruction for new riders. i had read before going into the class that there were some concerns over the last couple of years that the quality of the instruction has become tailored to the lowest common denominator. i am inclined to agree. i needed more time on a bike in an instructional setting. instead i am having to learn more in parking lots and on surface streets. i am careful, but today's experience might have been avoided with a little more instruction.

by the way, i love it.

turns out my dad has a camping trip that will keep him busy father's day weekend. so we will celebrate the next weekend. i get to go to class and learn more about motorcycling. i am very excited.

melissa and i are off to atlanta for a wedding and familial visitation. yea atlanta in june...

i managed to get as much sleep as i wanted on sunday night. i was dozing off on the couch around 9:00 and really didn't make it out of the bed until around 8:30 on monday. the dark rings under my eyes indicated a good amount of rest. i felt much better.

memorial day had melissa and i out to see iron man which was very enjoyable. afterwards we ran a few errands before i headed over to ryan's house to check out his new motorcycle (BMW F650GS). he is a very generous friend as he allowed me to ride around in his condo complex. i was worried about how hard it would be to get in gear and how comfortable I would feel on it. but i have to say that i am completely hooked.

it was a lot easier to perform the basics on the bike than i thought prior to riding. but i must be clear here and say that it is by no means easy. keeping straight the gear, clutch, breaking, signals, other cars around you, balance in the turn, all of it is very different than even riding a bicycle. it compels you to stay focused and stay safe. i cannot wait until my class, although that too may have to wait a bit longer. i had planned to spend father's day with my father (makes sense) which is when i am scheduled for class. i should know what is going on today and we shall go from there.

so i was supposed to start my motorcycle training class today, but that got messed up due to a computer scheduling glitch. then i was supposed to start next week, but that got messed up due to some function taking over the parking lot where they do the class. now i am all signed up for the 12th of June, but that seems so far away. i guess i am impatient to start my class so i can find out that i love riding (which seems inevitable based on talking to people) and find a bike of my own and start riding.

oh well, i guess it just leaves me more time to do more research.

so Ryan signed up to take a motorcycle training class and mentioned it to me. this instigated me finally getting off of my ass and signing up to take the class too. i have wanted to learn to ride for a really long time and so now i am finally taking the first steps to do that.

my idea as to what me riding a motorcycle means has been evolving over the last couple of weeks. one of the driving forces encouraging me to get a bike is the cost of operating a motor vehicle these days. the $50 tank of gas in my small car now is a $55 tank with no indication of this changing any time soon. even with me doing things like turning off my car at lights and everything else to get better fuel economy, i am still only averaging 20-22 miles per gallon. there are days now that i really miss my 1.8 liter engine, much less how much i miss my 1.9 liter diesel.

Continue reading "training for less wheels" »

for what seems like one time too many, but at least one more time, i hearby declare myself not-dead.

check it...

and yes, that is my grandma kicking much butt playing wii bowling.

i want to work on telling a story, with light.

i am doing better i have to say. my last project at work was rough on my mind and body, to say nothing of my family and my health. it took me a long while to have my head become clear and leave me feeling like i was anything close to normal.

i quit smoking 16 days ago. this did nothing to encourage my brain or body to feel good. i suffered little in terms of physical symptoms, i didn't really develop a cough, my head did not ache or any of that. i did get depressed, and to some extent am still a bit depressed, but i made it though the weekend despite some insanity and i am feeling pretty good about things in general. i am hoping that i am starting to turn the corner. this is one of the most difficult things that i have ever done.

we are all flawed, that is what makes us beautiful.