Motorcycle Skills Day THE BEST DAY Multi-Chapter sponsored by STAR Chapter 109 with Vinnie Greva, Master Trainer

The Sunshine Boys, Chuck and Glen.
Click on the outlined picture of Marge, the lady with the sunglasses, to see my Picasa Album of that day.

Multi-Chapter Motorcycle Skills Day

This Skills Day was especially important in that last Saturday March 13th (THANKS, Richard! I accidentally put April 13th, DUH) was the first time I had ridden since early January, so a 2 month layoff created a lapse in what Vinnie Greva called 'muscle memory' (I think that's what it was), whereby your muscles and your brain forget all the proper riding techniques and you look like a newbie, until you can either rehearse them, re-learn them or learn them anew.
Kinda like fitness-use it or lose it.

To quote a GREAT statement by Bob "ACGuy" Barbano, "some of the skills we learn come directly out of the Police motorcycle handbook. As a Police Motorcycle Training Officer (for over 20-years), Vinnie does an awesome job explaining how each skill is mastered."

MAN, did he ever.

I once heard an extremely expert rider comment about an ERC class that he took. (he could almost TEACH a skills class and could definitely professionally demonstrate what you should do in any given situation; anybody who rides with this guy feel confidence in themselves and feel safer knowing he's there, he's THAT good. It's almost like having your own personal PD motor officer).
I heard him say that even though the ERC was pretty easy, he learned something that day i.e. look ahead to where you're going. I got the impression that he was surprised at learning something he didn't know (or knew it subconsciously and didn't realize it until that day).

To me, that shows we all can continue learning new things throughout our lives, motorcycling or not. That statement he made shows that I can not only be aware of what I do that may be improved, but what others do that may affect their riding.
THAT is the bottom line as to why everyone could benefit from a Skills Day-AWARENESS, AWARENESS, AWARENESS.

This birthday week has been a really really interestingly diverse week, physically, emotionally, mentally, and motorcycley. (I just made that word up) Between the regular 230 ride, my birthday, the Weekday Wednesday ride, the Garage Party and today, it had been a jumble of STUFF, so I was glad to not be rushed and treat this as a learning 'neat' day. I love learning stuff anyway, the perpetual student, so this was gonna be great.
It happened that I got invited to the Multi-Chapter Motorcycle Skills Day by Leonard Wasson, Prez of Saddleback Valley Chapter 422. Since I've been meaning to go down and ride with them and fill out the waiver/rider intro paperwork, this would be a great time to do it.
I had to be at WingStuff by 7:30 AM for their meeting so I left at 6:37 AM because I wanted to make SURE I was there on time. (I must mention that in Brea,at 6:30 AM in the morning, IT'S FRIGGIN' 45 DEGREES, so even though my body screamed at me to stay in bed another couple of hours longer, my mind said GET THE HELL OUTTA THERE and down to where you should be! Not wanting to argue anymore, I went. Was a good thing to do, now I know what I NEED to wear to stay warm. Great time to realize it, in springtime, but hey, better late than never AND I'm writing what I wear down for future reference)

I shouldn't've worried about getting there on time, considering the way (sorry, SPEED) I ride. It's not a question of speed really, it's a question of maximizing your potential for hitting a straight line while avoiding time wasters and things that slow you down. Like cages. ("If you're gonna get there, GET THERE QUICK") I got there in 31 minutes, RIGHT when dawn was hitting. Absolutely beautiful, wish I had had my camera around my neck to take a pic.

Phil and Hank at Wingstuff were the most wonderful hosts, having coffee and donuts and setting up tables and chairs for us. http://wingstuff.com/company.php

I saw a bobblehead trike rider and had to have it for my brother in law Ted's birthday. THE ONLY PROBLEM was carting that thing around in my tankbag, but it was worth it. He LOVED it.

I gave Colin Cunningham my camera to just take one or two pics...holy COW, dude, you got some awesome pics! (and some NOT so awesome-there is no WAY those suckers are going here.)

We got there pretty quickly and Chapter 109 was having their meeting. Their president reconized that quite a few chapters were represented and he noted each Chapter and wanted their riders to be recognized. When he came to 230, Chuck and Glenn raised hands then pointed at me. Somebody from 422 said "She's with 230 but she came with US". I pointed out that I was bi, like Bi-Chapter. For some reason, they took it another way...yeah, always going for the laughs, during non-serious times...during the training, VERY little kidding. I did SOME, but very little.

The skills day really reaffirmed my belief in my own riding skills and abilities; I had forgotten some basics and so reacquired them: I was shaky on some techniques and so mastered them anew: I learned new techniques. The science of motorcycle riding is always changing.

We practiced:

1. Curving in and out of cones placed appx. 15-18' apart. The first time, I hit one. The second and third times, perfect. Even gave Chris, my ridercoach, a high five from my bike.

2. Going extremely slowly down the middle of cones. I always did well with this one because Barry and I would have competions to see who could come up to a light and continue slowly behind cars until the light changed.

3. A full U-turn-the object was to 'crank turn' the motorcycle with the handlebars against the frame, without stopping.

4. A 'slalom' course with cones on either side of the area; the object again was to 'crank turn' the motorcycle with the handlebars against the frame, without stopping, BUT tighter and more Figure-8-ish. It involved what I call 'feather throttling', I forget what he called it, and light back brake. IMPORTANT, and I always forget this or mis-do it, 'SLOW RIDING, BACK BRAKE. FAST RIDING, FRONT BRAKE'. I tend to go at a lower speed into curves BUT use my front brake. Bad.

5. A 'Keyhole' turn, with two sharp left turns and a sharp right turn. Now, Marge and I are really really analytical, we have to see where we're going to go. One of the guys came over to us and quietly told us that it's the same thing going into this exercise as the U-turn, with an added right turn. That helped.

During these exercises/skills trainings, I was surprised at myself for only putting my foot down once. Yeah, I nailed a couple of cones on the first run-thru of each exercise, but I was kinda pleased with myself. I shouldn't-a been, though, considering how light and small my bike was. I know, quit making excuses.

6. The last exercise was braking quickly. I always shine at that. We started at 15, then 25, then 35. Each time I went faster and faster, finally up to 40 MPH.

I got feedback, both evaluative AND positive. (When I was President of our local Toastmasters, we didn't criticize, we 'evaluated' and gave a few points for improvement.)

I also received indirect positive feedback, 1 riding-related, and 1 other, in the form of requests:

"Can you/will you apply for, and receive your Tin Star thru STAR International". (this makes approximately 5 TIMES different people this week has said, sometimes politely, sometimes NOT, to GET THE HELL OFF MY DUFF AND DO IT). I mean, I passed the EMT-1 training in the top 5, might as well not waste it.

"Can you train to be, and potentially later perform as, a Tailgunner for one of the Chapters" (I put 'potentially' because it's not my decision to use me; however, it was a very positive and supportive statement)

It was also a great day because not only was I pleased with my performance, but I got direct comments from other riders and rider coaches that I rode VERY WELL. Not just good, but REALLY REALLY WELL.

Our two 230 guys of COURSE were friggin' perfect, I hate those guys (not really), and I respected their abilities on their bikes even more, seeing them expertly doing the slow skills trainings, moving those big behemouths around like they were nothin'. Especially (and I can't believe I'm saying this) Glen Sandstrom. Holy shit.