Today’s the day. And it is raining hard right now. Supposedly the Experienced Rider Course will occur rain or shine. The Vespa and I are ready to learn how to better manage ourselves and the threats presented by the road and other drivers. I’m looking forward to the experience and will let you know how things go.
Have been riding everyday but have not found the energy or ideas to post anything new. My Vespa turned 1 year old this past Tuesday and the odometer turned 5100 miles. I will post another review of machine and ride soon.
LATE UPDATE!
I completed the Experienced Rider Course and I passed! Imagine my surprise when the instructor appears riding a Vespa PX150. All the demonstrations were done with his bright red Vespa and I felt right at home. I was the only Vespa student among the Harleys, sportbikes and assorted other machines. Everyone had a good time, learned a lot and polished their riding skills.
It was dry but hot. Six hours in the open with temperatures in the humid mid 80’s was about all I could take. The Tourmaster overpants came off and I rode in jeans. Figured I wasn’t going to be falling down or crashing. The scooter makes short work of all the exercises and its nimble handling and tight turning ability allowed me to race around the course. At the end of the day I put on almost 25 miles just on that riding range. I’m now a card carrying experienced rider.
Bravo!!!
I tell my students after the class that your skills will only stay at the level you practice them to. I have nothing but great respect for those who risk looking silly to improve skills.
Dan
Dan: Looking silly is a small price to gain even a little extra skill or experience that may save your life later. We (humans) have a funny way of putting our well-being behind appearances.
It reminds me of a talk I heard on campus many years ago by a wilderness safety expert. He was a national Park Ranger at the time and was watching some men cross a frozen creek. The last man across fell through the ice into water about knee deep. He didn’t call out to his friends ahead who unaware and kept walking. The ranger watched the guy thrash about for a few minutes trying to get out until he realized the cold water was rendering his legs useless and he was beginning to fall into the creek. He goes over and pulls the guy from the water and asks him why he didn’t call out to his friends?
“I didn’t want to look stupid.”
Some people would rather die than appear stupid, inexperienced, not in control, etc etc….
Myself… I seem to live to look stupid.
steve
Well done! I’m hoping that my advanced training starts soon.