There were many times in the last four days when I wished I had failed the riding test portion of the RiderCoach training. I did pass, but the question of actually coaching classes of new riders is something else entirely.
I can’t remember anything I’ve ever done that was harder, or more of a yo-yo. Every time I’d start to get confident that I was going to do well I would make some major mistake and be informed of that fact in no uncertain terms. At the end of my last coaching exercise on the range (we also did classroom sections) my instructor told me I had technically passed but, if my reading between the lines is correct, that I should not expect him to be asking me to work for him any time soon.
There are other issues as well. If I were to work as a RiderCoach I would be expected to perform the riding demonstrations flawlessly. I can’t do that now. I can fine-tune my skills on my own bikes as practice, but the one exercise I have the most trouble with is something I am extremely reluctant to try on my own bikes. That’s the small box wherein students are expected to do two U-turns. I can do it successfully some times, and the more opportunity for practice I had the better I got. Ben, our head instructor, says it can be done on bigger bikes, and I know it can, but dropping my 800-pound Kawasaki Concours is a lot different from dropping one of those little 250cc Honda Nighthawks. You can stop a 250 Nighthawk from going over by putting your foot down. Once that Connie starts to fall there is no stopping it, and when it falls it breaks expensive parts. Unless I can come up with a smaller bike to get more practice with I just don’t see how I can develop the skill I need.
I would still like to coach. We started with a class of 12 students and 7 of them ended up completing the Beginning Rider Course (BRC) successfully. A couple only failed to pass because they barely did too poorly on the written test. They can come back for a remedial session and take the test again and still pass. Some of the rest of them were amazing. There was one woman in particular who we all thought was so fearful and so intimidated that she was not likely to make it. She ended up scoring the best score in the class on the riding test. We marveled all weekend amongst ourselves at her incredible strides in learning to ride. It was a real inspiration.
When the students were taking their riding test there was one thing that made me feel I had contributed something good. As part of our Rider Coach training we were required to pass the BRC with a better score than what students need. I failed the first time because I was not sure of the path of travel on the third part. Well, imagine how pleased I was when, not for the first two parts but for that third part, Ben took the students and walked them through the course to make sure they knew exactly what was expected of them. Like he had listened to what I had said and took it to heart.
So the course is over and I will get my MSF certification. I don’t feel like I accomplished something special. I feel exhausted and immensely relieved that it’s over, no matter what the outcome. I don’t know if I’ll ever actually become a riding instructor. You’ll read about it here if I do. And by the way, if you want to get a real taste of what went on, and why it was hard for me and on me, check the Examiner story I did, linked below.
Biker Quote for Today
Wrecking is bad. Your competition using your stones as traction is worse.
I’m sorry to say, however, they are often true. So like it or not, we who ride have to adjust to that fact in order to ensure our own safety.
Rather than paraphrase it all I’ll just quote from the release: