First is Down, The Rest Are Up*

Five-and-one-half-hours on a too-small motorcycle is a very long time.

As some may know, I’m working on getting my motorcycle license, so that I can ride something (anything) larger than a 50cc motor scooter. So, I’ve been taking the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Basic Rider Course. In our area, that’s a two-day course that gets kinda split up into an evening, a full day, and a partial day. The total is supposed to be 17 hours, with 10 hours being on bikes, which are provided by the MVA.

Last Wednesday night, and yesterday morning were the “classroom” and written test portion of the class, which was really pretty straightforward. I completed the fifty-question test in about 10 minutes and aced it. Yesterday afternoon, they put us on motorcycles.

The bikes they provide are little 250cc Honda Nighthawks and Shadows, which are capable enough little bikes. However, the operative word is little, and the five-and-one-half-hour in 90+ degree heat riding day yesterday was almost grueling. Even with the small size of the bikes, we did lose one student yesterday — an extremely petite Eastern European girl. They had her on a Honda Rebel, which is supposed to be a little easier to handle, and even so, she fell three or four times, and finally decided to bag it for the weekend. She does plan to come back next weekend and try the riding portion again.

I came home hot tired and sore and exhausted. I was in bed and asleep by 9:30! But, during the whole day, I never fell or dropped the bike, and never had to put my foot down when I shouldn’t have.

Today is the second day of riding — another five-plus hours that includes more advanced skills and a riding test. It’s supposed to be a little cooler today, but not a lot. Once I make it through today, I’ll be one beat-up puppy. But, I’ll have a piece of paper in my hand that I can redeem for one Maryland state motorcycle license.

How cool is that?

* BJ Hunnicut’s instruction to Benjamin Franklin Pierce on the operation of a motorcycle in the final episode of M*A*S*H, ‘Goodbye, Farewell and Amen’, which originally aired February 21, 1983.