Cuff links and all

I enjoy the variety of people taking the motorcycle classes with me. I had a first this last weekend. A rider with cuff links. Theo did great in the class and was a pleasure to work with. He did it with style.

Yes I did ride to work

Okay I didn't ride to the full time job. However, I did ride the Concours to the part time job teaching motorcycle classes. I guess that I not only Road to Work but I only got to Ride for Work (riding the demonstrations for the class). I am a lucky man.

In the heat of teaching

Worked weekend morning and afternoon motorcycle classes at King Dr Secretary of State last and this past weekend. In between I burned a week of vacation and taught a M-F 8-12 and 12:30-4:30 motorcycles classes down in Champaign at the U of I. 4 20 hour classes in 9 days. While in Champaign, I had a student suffer from heat exhaustion for the first time. It was scary. Right after a light rain, the full hot sun was out. It was in the upper 80's but over 90% humidity. While in the middle of a exercise, she stopped her motorcycle, removed her helmet and remained on the motorcycle (big no-no). I knew something wasn't right. When I got to her, she said she was feeling really sick. I cut her bike off, helped her off of the bike and got her to some shade. She then began vomiting. I got water and began to cool her off by wetting the back of her shirt and she put water through her hair. She felt better after awhile and we walked her to her car so she could sit in the air conditioning. I called her a few times that evening to make she she was okay.

Ready for class

On the last day of our motorcycle class, a student named Victor came ready to ride using his ride to get to the class. My fellow instructor Austin's and my bikes are in the background. Just had to take the picture. Victor didn't ride the bike with the helmet on.

Giving memories

Spent the night at my Father's outside of Oakwood, IL. My brother, his wife, and 4 of their boys were there. I was able to give each one of them a decent ride. Josh, the oldest and in the picture, rode with me out to my Aunt and Uncle's in Sidell, IL by way of Westville which ended up being 52 twisty country roads. We followed my Father who was in the car. 2 of my brother's were there with their kids, my daughter with my special 2 granddaughters were there as well. I don't see Josh (or my brother Dennis and their kids) as they live in Lexington, KY. So I had to make of the most of this visit. More later on the hot ride home.

Stereotypes and the motorcycle classes

I just finished a 3 day BRC class. The class began Thursday evening and was classroom only. 3 friends and another student all sat together with sporty riding jackets. Two of them had icon helmets with nearly black shields and shark fins down the center. During the introductions, they shared that they all had street bikes and were hear to get legal. All of them have sport bikes. There was a side of me that said, oh this is going to be difficult and they are going to want to do their own thing. I apologize for my pre-judgement. In past classes, it's those experienced riders who aren't as receptive as beginners even though they are taking the Basic Rider Course.

I could not have been more wrong. They were some of the easiest guys that I have ever worked with. They were receptive to coaching and really added some skills that will help them on the roads. I thank them for humbling my improper judgements. Here are a few clips of them riding Ex 13, Cornering. Yes I did ask for there permission for making the clips and posting them on the site.

Wind and cold

Thursday of last week I rode the Connie from Homewood to Champaign after I got off of work. I needed to ride over to Indy for the day with my brother to do a few things for my mother around her house. The ride down was sunny and in the 50's, great weather for the overpants.

Saturday I really needed to get back home. It was overcast, in the 40's with a solid 25-30 mph coming at me at the 10:00 position. I stayed on the open highway for around 15 miles but was not enjoying the ride. Even fully loaded and with a full 7.5 gallon tank, I was being pushed around. Feeling a cold wind running from left to right under my chin (wearing my full face helmet as always) and consistently having a sensation of my head lifting and being pushed, I switched over to the old US HWYs and country roads. Knowing that there would be a tree line among much of way dictated which roads I was to take. I've been on all of these roads before. For those not in the Midwest, along many US HWY's running N to S, you will find scattered tree lines on the west side of the road. This helps to keep some of the drifting snow banks off of the road. In this case, it eased much of the ride home. Instead of a quick 1:45 ride, I took 3 hours getting home and included a stop at a great small town motorcycle shop "Watseka Motorsport". As I lament the closing of my local MC Shop, I will probably being bringing my Connie to them for service. They have a seasoned mechanic who should be familiar with the Concours.

Anyway, getting off of the superslab provided led to a much more enjoyable ride (especially with Gerbings gloves and jacket liner). I will be seeking this type of riding as time permits for a slower but more meaningful experience.