Still thawing out -- MSF Day 2

Okay, so when we last left our Intrepid Heroine (that's me), I was practically frozen to the core. The second day of the class, Sunday, was at least as cold as Saturday. The temp was 24F when I left my house, with 10-15mph winds.

My cold-combatting strategy was multi-fold: I prepared a LARGE travel mug of coffee to take with me, attired myself in multiple layers of clothing (more on that in a minute), and pulled out some of my medieval stockings to wear under my boots. I also located a pair of vinyl exam gloves, a hat, and extra socks. HaHA! Take THAT, Winter! I was going to be warm!

Riiight.

At any rate, on Saturday night I ended up getting up during the night with my two year old son, who needed a complete change of clothing and bedding. I was tired when I went to bed, and tired when I got up, so coffee was a necessity.

Because we had to finish day 1 a little early due to the setting sun, it was decided that class would start as soon as all nine students arrived in the morning. I swear, I tried to get out of the house so I could get there a half an hour early, but I just couldn't manage it. I hate to be late, and hate for people to have to wait on me, so I was slightly mortified to find that I was the last to arrive. As per my instructor's usual demeanor, it was no big deal. At least that was a positive.

We went through the material for the morning, then took the written test. Fifty multiple choice questions ended up not being as difficult as I had thought it might be. Thankfully, I am a good student and test-taker. I wasn't reeeeally worried about the written test, but I did want to take that test in a hurry and get it over with. I was the first one done, and I scored a 100%! Rock!

At lunch, I finished putting on all the clothes and gear I was going to wear on the range. In case you are curious, this is what I wore, from the skin out:

my usual underwear
a pair of cotton-lycra bike shorts
a thermal longsleeve shirt
a cotton tshirt
heavy jeans
a pair of midweight socks
a longsleeve turtleneck
a wool sweater
a fleece neck gaiter
vinyl gloves
winter motorcycling gloves
my husband's goose down parka (size: very large)
my mother's black leather combat boots (no lie, they really were my mom's)
and my full-face motorcycle helmet

THIS time, I was warm. The vinyl gloves made a HUGE difference; my fingers still got cold, but not as much as the first day.

Ok, so out on the driving range....we had the same bikes as the previous day, which was good in that we were familiar with them. The exercises consisted of a lot of turning and stopping: riding down a straight path, then stopping as fast as possible without locking up the brakes, riding in S-curves, riding over small obstacles, etc.

There was also the bane of my existence: U-turning in a confined area. Argh. I totally sucked at this. I could not control my speed, and my brain could NOT get into the groove of using my clutch to control speed and NOT the throttle. I hated it, and I knew it was on the skills test. The worst was knowing I could TOTALLY do it if I were on my scooter.

We also practiced swerving to avoid obstacles, which was a total blast! I liked the one exercise where the instructor would wait til the last minute to tell you which way to swerve. I nailed those.

After a while, it was time for the skills test. Yikes!

There are four skills or items on the test: a quick stop, swerving to avoid an obstacle, riding a curve with consistent speed, and the dreaded U-turn in a confined space.

First up was a combination skill -- ride into the U-turn box, make a figure eight and ride out, speed up into second gear and swerve to avoid the 'bus'. Then stop. Piece of cake, right? Holy cow. I sucked at the U-turning. I sucked so hard at it that I almost stalled, I put my foot down at least twice, and I went outside the box lines at least twice. Eight points off for that mess.

The worst about that was I made the mistake of watching one of the people before me, a woman who was having a hard time in the class anyway. She started her figure eight and dropped the bike and fell under it. She was done, and now I was nervous.

Next was the quick stop. I totally nailed that, stopping really well using BOTH brakes AND getting all the way down to first gear before stopping. They did say I should have stopped a little sooner, though, so I lost a point there.

Three-quarters of the way through now....last skill was riding a curve. I used all my competitive horseback riding skills for this one and it paid off -- a beautiful curve and only one point off for slowing a bit during the height of the curve.

The bottom line, though, after all the bikes were parked and most of the gear was off, was this:



I PASSED!!!

They gave me my Virginia class M designation and a MSF competion card. Now I get to take it to the DMV and get my license updated!

I am so thrilled! I can ride a motorcycle!

Now, as much as I love winter, I really would like it to be just a little warmer, pleeeeease, so I can ride my scooter without a ton of clothing!

Oh. My. GOD. It was ccccccold.

So, this being one of the very few free weekends I had available, I opted to take my MSF course and get my M class endorsement this weekend. It's January, and while I do not live waaay north, my area is subject to some pretty cold temps now and again. Like now. And again.

Saturday morning, Day 1 of the class, dawned frigid and WINDY. I think the actual temp was about 31F, but 20mph+ sustained winds put the windchill around 19F or less. Holy icicles, Batman! I was wearing what I thought were enough clothes, but my late afternoon on the driving range, my toes and fingers were numb and I was approaching miserable. Couple that with my inexperience with manual transmission vehicles, and the quirkiness of a motorcycle's controls (both brakes on one side, the shift lever having to be moved up to change gears, etc.), and I was having a rough go of it. I was discouraged, and although my instructors were awesome and encouraging (and I was definitely not the worst in the group), I was still feeling like I'd never get this. By the end of the day, though, we had moved on to an exercise involving riding around the range in a big oval, shifting gears according to the number of cones placed around the oval, and I was having a good time and feeling FINE about it all.

Except for the frozen extremities.

By the time the class was over for the day, my feet hurt terribly. I managed to get home and into the hottest shower I could stand. I think it took me like three hours, the shower, a creme brulee latte and an episode of Doctor Who before I felt like I was warm. I was exhausted, intended to study my course book, but collapsed into bed instead. Day 2 was on the horizon, with temps at least as low as Day 1.

This time, though, I had a strategy.

More later....

SUCCESS!!

No pictures of this, but I successfully negotiated the scooter out of my neighborhood, down the street, and about four miles to the home of our friends! It was a gloriously sunny day, and my husband and kids followed behind me in the minivan (the kids cheering all the way, I am told).

Hooray! I didn't even scratch the bike, nor lose my balance, nor drop it anywhere. My purse fit in the underseat carrier, and I wasn't even cold! Woo!

My M endorsement class is this coming Saturday and Sunday. By next week, I should be able to ride this scooter to work and on errands! Now I need a really good bike lock...

Sadness and Woe.

My scoot has fourteen miles on it.

The snow melted here, after hanging around for a week. (Hey, that's a looong time for snow to hang around in Richmond!) I decided that since the neighborhood streets, local roads and a close-by parking lot were all clear of snow and ice and most of the wet, I would take my new scoot out for some practice riding. I am taking my MSF class next weekend, so this would be perfect, right?

Wrong.

Ok, well, it wasn't that bad. I did great for a long time, rode all over my neighborhood, then got brave and went up a local road to a complex of office buildings that has a huge parking lot. This being Saturday, it was empty, so perfect for practicing stuff I know I have to do for the class. I did some quick stopping, and some turning in both directions, rode slow, and faster, parked in a parking space, and just generally enjoyed the ride. Then I got a wild hair and thought, hey, I should practice a few u-turns. There's plenty of room, and this driveway is wider than my driveway at home, so it should be good. I started with a turn to my better side, turning left. Just as I was coming around the U of the turn, I realized I was getting too close to the curb on the other side, and going just a hair too fast...I lost my balance, couldn't correct in time, and ended up falling to the outside of the turn, scraping along the curb.







It's not really that bad, and you can't really see it unless you look, but STILL. Sigh. I am sad. Oh, and I did not get hurt, except for a big grass and mud stain on the knee of my jeans where I fell into the grass. That's good. Mom, you can relax now. I am fine.

I guess I've made it mine, now, though. Hope I never do it again.

*cries*

Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!! Enjoy yourselves, don't eat too much, and scoot safely if you are able to go out!

The snow is melting, and that means I'll be able to scoot soon! Hooray!

My new Buddy!

It's MINE! Mineminemineminemineminemine!

I picked up my new Buddy 125 today from my friends at Scoot Richmond. My dad and I went down there with his big pickup truck and brought it back.

Chelsea brings the bike out:


There it is!! Hanging out in the shop...


I got the rundown on the buttons, switches and operation of the bike from super-helpful scooter guy, Brandon (I think that was his name....), and learned how to take the bike off and on the center stand and the side stand. Then my dad backed his truck up to the loading dock and he and Brandon got it in.
Getting it tied down in the back of the truck...it literally didn't move at all as we went down the road. I learned something new, too, that you should tie the bike down so the forks are compressed and it won't move.


We got it home and my husband and my dad and I rolled it out of the truck using a ladder and a board. Yay! It's living in my garage right now because, well, this is Richmond, and I am terrified someone will rip it off, even right out of my backyard.

Of course, I would have to pick up my new scooter on the day that a major winter storm is coming to the area, but heck, I love snow, and we don't get that much in our winters, so I can't complain. My husband and I did each get to take the Buddy out for a spin around the neighborhood before the snow started. I love it, but MAN! It was C-O-L-D!!! I really wished for an Armadillo coat and a lap blanket, and some windproof gloves. I couldn't even manage to get much over 28mph because I was frozen. :(

Not too frozen to smile, though....


I'm thinking about personalized tags...maybe PKINPI? GR8PKN? Must think more on it....

I just might explode...

My new scoot is HERE!!! In Richmond!!!

*happy dance*

I went down to Scoot Richmond this afternoon to square up the paperwork, sign stuff, and write the big check. The scoot (as yet unnamed...) is still getting spiffed up and put together, so I won't be able to pick it up until tomorrow, but I did get to see it. *grin*

I. Am. So. Thrilled!

I think we might bring it home in my dad's truck, or I might borrow a friend of mine who has her M endorsement to accompany me and ride the scoot back to my house. Then I will put about 100 miles on it riding it around my neighborhood while I wait to take my class.

Could I smile any more? Probably not.

Pictures to come.