Today was my first motorcycle rider course thingy!

Rather fun, it really just feels like riding a bike with added complexity of a gearbox. I struggled with the clutch a lot today and stalled many times, I felt embarrassed but never discouraged. It’s not like a car clutch at all you can sit in the slip and it won’t toast it… but it’s just 125cc so maybe that’s why. The courses and drills were pretty straight forward, an emphasis on emergency braking and leaning in turns. The E braking was tough - you gotta use both hands and both feet to operate all the controls to come to a sudden stop safely. Rewarding in the end. I was put on a Kawasaki z125 — I’m way too big for this bike LOL my peers told me I looked like I was riding a clown bike… The other bikes were some old Hondas ( they still have carburetors, imagine that ) and an old Harley with a big old dent in the fuel tank. You can tell these bikes ( beside the 4 z125’s which have 150miles on the OD ) are well loved and have helped teach countless people.

What I found really intriguing too were the people attending. From a guy who got a ticket for not having a license, an older man looking to get a scooter to commute with, a Russian guy who left his country to not participate in the war efforts - ending up in Miami looking to work as a food currier on a moped, the classic I’ve always wanted one / I grew up on dirt bikes and rode on the back with my parents. Here I was with the marge meme: I just think they’re neat. It’s nice to talk to people of all walks of life, I can appreciate that. The two instructors also have such unique banter. These two wake up at 5am 4 days a week to work here till 1pm, they complain about the students, their pets, the sun, drivers, you name it. Yet they show such patience for us newbies, although they would rather talk about training their 9month old kitten first.

Day one passed onto day two.