Brandnewby training

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V

vidaoza

Guest
Following the SO's advice I went for rider training at Swartkops today and I can not stop singing the praises of this valuable, albeit expensive, exercise.  I am pretty sure that most of you have pillion/aspirant riders tagging along and if training here at The Commune is anything to go by, then more often than not it is a pretty stressful event.  SO worries about newby, newby worries about frustration levels of SO and blah blah blah - it just has the potential to go to pot somewhere along the line. And then you end up having to sleep cold and alone that night and some more cold shoulder for breakfast...  No happy communing  ???

I do not wish to undermine the training the SO has given me; it greatly helped me today in that I was already comfortable on a bike when I got there.  I knew where all the controls were, I knew about gearing up and down, I knew about braking and all the basics.  But what made today's experience so great was that all of the previous knowledge has now been drilled into me through repetition in a safe environment where I know I can stall the bike without being taken out by a car, without having that extra stress of 'OMF, there comes a car I better not ride into it!' and the fact that if you drop the bike it is okay, it is a training bike, neither you nor the SO's bank balance is going to take a knock because of it. 

Because of the comfort of this safe environment one can focus much better on things like learning clutch control.  A lesson I needed quite badly what with rough gearing down and stalling almost every time I try to pull away in a stressful situation - a pedestrian on the other side of the road constituted a stressful enough situation in my case!!  I think the most surprising thing I learned today is that you are supposed to treat a bike like a lady. (Jonix hits the spot in his Quest thread).  I used to grip those handlebars like my life depended on it and subsequently opened the throttle when I was actually trying to brake and nearly fell on my arse next to a busload of merry party-goers at a red traffic light - thank the pope for the relative anonymity of a helmet...  ;D 

Yeah, I know everyone says it is like driving a car, but it is not, maybe later it becomes like that but for a brandnewby it is NOT the same as driving a car.  You are suddenly using your hands for things your feet used to do and "Where the fuck do I switch this flicker thing off?!" and then wham bam, your brain goes "Not computing. Not computing" and the bike stall AGAIN...  There goes your confidence and your teacher's patience. 

Learning things like clutch control and braking with people, who are on the same level as you, immediately gives you a little more confidence.  There is nothing to compare yourself to, you are not thinking but he gets it right every time, why can't I do it?  The only thing you are thinking is that ok, lets try that again but this time slowly slowly slowly and voila before you know it you get it and you get it every time.  It is an awesome thing, this not being scared of popping a wheelie or stalling when you pull away.  This knowing that you are controlling the bike, the bike is not controlling you, is probably the moment when you know that you will be riding for life.  It is a moment akin to realising that you are head over heels in love and there is no stopping now.  IT IS AWESOME!!  I know. I know. I am preaching to the converted  ;D.

Seriously however, if you wish the lady to join you on this most exciting hobby I recommend sending her for training with someone else.  These people have been teaching newbies for years and years, they don't forget to mention the small things that come naturally to you and that you might forget to mention, they don't have any expectations of us that we would want to meet even if we are not quite comfortable.  And after only one day the return on your initial investment will come home a confident bike rider who fininshes up her post pronto pronto, so that she can go test and show off her newly acquired riding skills with you on the open road.
 
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