Yes Emily

Yes Emily, girls can ride motorcycles!


Sunday, August 17, 2014

Pay Attention ...

Some years ago I crashed a friend’s vacation at a lovely resort north of Toronto. I was wallowing in self-pity for one reason or another (everyone’s entitled, every once in a while) … can’t remember exactly what it was that time, but what I do remember is hiking through the trails around the resort and having to stop as a group of riders buzzed by me on dirt bikes, crossing the main road only to disappear into the woods again on the other side. Came home to find out it was the S.M.A.R.T. rider training program and I jokingly said, “I should do that!” I’ve run into demos put on by the S.M.A.R.T. rider training program several times since then and each time, I’ve come home and said, “I should try that.”
Fast forward … as a birthday present a friend gave me a book: The Total Motorcycling Manual; 291 Essential Skills. I’ve mentioned this friend before (CEO and chief instructor for the Canadian Motorcycle Safety Council) and I know I didn’t get that title correct so I’m not even going to attempt the other credentials he has … let’s just say he knows his shit about riding so I read the book.
I loved the organization of the book, it is colour coordinated, I’ve spent my life getting organized by colour (red is gear, blue is riding, and orange is repair) and it is easily read by numbers (it starts at 1 and ends with tip 291.) It’s a serious book for motorcyclists but an easy read interjected with some off side humour.  There were a lot of sections that just screamed ‘common sense’ folks, some that said … ‘that’s why I carry a CAA card’ and then others that made me think ...Fast forward again to tip #82 (Become a better rider in 12 steps.) Okay, so they cheated and squeezed 12 tips into one: #1 PAY ATTENTION (common sense)  #2 RIDE A DIRT BIKE: ”Nothing teaches you about traction and body positioning like a dirt bike. You’ll also learn what to do when you encounter water or sand on paved roads.” (Really, have you been paying attention?) ... and the list goes on, but I stopped at #2. If you know me, you know I hate dirt...
...and if you really have been paying attention you may have made the connection between where I started and where I’m headed.
Tomorrow, I'm off on another adventure.

14 comments:

  1. Woot a starin the mud! Gave fun in the dirt! PS puddles are fun!

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    1. Dar, there are apt to be puddles since it has rained every day for about the last week.

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    2. My fave part was swooshing through monster puddle! Wear black socks, because you'll never get the white ones clean ever again.

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  2. Cool! I can't wait to hear about this!

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    1. Richard, I can wait - I hate dirt but it's time to learn something new, time to conquer the fear!

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    2. How does that go, without pictures it never happened. ;-)

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  3. Playing in the dirt is fun. Add some water/rain and it gets better. But, in my experience dirt leaves marks and I always lost a little blood. Good thing skin is cheap.....it grows back!

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    1. I'm going try to have a little fun but I'll be trying harder to keep my skin on and my blood inside I think.

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  4. I play in the dirt with bikes that weren't made for it, e.g. my Vespa, ok that was by accident, but it really helped getting better on the road as well. Enjoy getting dirrrty.

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  5. uh oh. you'll be hooked like me and have to add a dual sport to go along with the VStar!

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    1. Not sure about a dual sport - hard to find one that I wouldn't need a step ladder to get on ...

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  6. I wonder why there are exactly 291 essential skills?

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