12 Days to Take Off!

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Wow! Just twelve days until I hit the road in my RV! I am excited but feeling the pressure as I have so much to do before I leave. Last Thursday was a big day. James and I looked at an RV and I loved it. It is a 1997 Bounty Class A motorhome that is 34 feet long. I am purchasing it from an elderly couple who had to sell due to health issues. They have assured me it is road ready - new belts, hoses, tires, etc.. The outside looks a bit weathered but the interior is in excellent condition. It only has 36,000 miles on it so it should carry me as far a I choose to travel! We close the deal on Monday.

Thursday evening I traveled down to New Orleans to take the Harley-Davidson Easy Rider's motorcycle safety class. The class consists of classroom training Thursday and Friday evening and the training on the motorcyles on Saturday and Sunday. The classroom training was packed full with how information about to safely operate a motorcycle. The class was taught by a police officer and a handbook and instructional videos are used in the classroom. I came out of it more aware of how distracted I have become driving my car - and I had considered myself a good driver!

Saturday morning at 7 AM we met at the motorcycle training course near Zepher Field. The early start was to trying to beat the heat. We began by learning to engage the clutch and put the bike in neutral and the spent an hour or so pushing it around on our feet, finding our balance, getting used to the weight of the bike and learning where all the controls are. Motorcycles are much more complicated than cars as far as the number of controls you have to use to ride it. The instructors spent a lot of time having us get a feel for what is called the "friction-zone." That is the balance point at which the clutch engages the transmission and it seems the key to success in operating a motorcycle safely. Our first break was at 9:40 and we were all drenched in sweat by that time!

I was begining to realized how much upper body strength was required to operate a bike and that I was sorely lacking that strength. That lack caught up with me a short while later when I stalled the bike at a stop. As I was trying to keep it balanced and restart it, the bike shifted to the left and, as hard as I tried, I was just not strong enough to keep it from falling over with my leg under it. It was really a strange sensation - one of those slow motion feelings. I heard rather than felt the back of my helmet hit the ground. First words out of my mouth were, "Hey, these helmets really do work!!" It absorbed all of the impact. My left elbow and the inside of my right knee ended up a little battered and bruised but nothing serious so I got up with the help of my instruction and got back on the bike ready and determined to master this process.

The skills tests got progressively more difficult for me and, when I went down the FOURTH time on the last exercise for the day, I knew I was done. I was physically exhausted from the heat and the energy required to ride the bike. Yes, I did manage to ride it. But it was not smooth or fluid. I had lots of trouble with the clutch and with the brakes. The brakes were extremely sensitive. So sensitive that on one stop, my butt came off the seat and I was going forward!

As I was sitting on the asphalt after my fourth spill I did a quick evaluation of the risk I was willing to take in order to learn the skills necessary to actually ride a bike on the street. And I thought about how the day might play out on Sunday. I physically could not take another day of hitting the asphalt and I surely did not want to risk breaking bones before my trip started. I also realized that each time I hit the pavement that day I hit a little harder and it was a little more painful.

I went back to the classroom and completed the written coursework. I took the test and passed with a 93. But I was pretty certain that even if I passed the skills test it would take weeks getting on a bike and riding it in the driveway before I would be street ready. And, I also realized after listening to the other bikers talk about their spills that everyone who rides a bike goes down at some point. And it wasn't falling down in a stopped posistion. These were spills while the bikes were in motion on the streets. I looked at that and decided the risks were unacceptable to me. So, as fun and excicting as I expected having my own bike could be, I decided that it was not worth the risk. There are other ways I can spend my time that will give me just as much fun, excitement and freedom with a lot less risk!

I talked with my instructor after class and told him what I had decided. He told me he had some concerns about my ability to handle a bike as well and thought I was making the right decision.
I don't have any regrets about dropping out. I learned alot about myself and my risk tolerance in the class. And I also realized that my car driving habits needed some fine tuning so it was worth the time and money. I can put my dream of owning a motorcycle aside with full knowledge that I gave it my best effort and it just didn't work out.

Now I have to reevaluate transportation while the motorhome is parked. Something to think about today as I soak my sore bruised body in a hot bath!

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