Rebel in the real world

Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera on me this afternoon. I staff the library's reference desk from 5-8 this evening. On day's like today, I like to take a walk through Hyde Park around 4:00. Parked on the street adjacent to the library was an electric blue 250 Honda Rebel. All of the chrome was shiny. It had two rear view mirrors and even all of it's signals. I can hear you saying so what! Honestly I am not used to seeing Rebels in such conditions. The Rebel is one of the bikes that we use in the UIUC Motorcycle Rider program. Each site normally has 2 Rebels and a mix of Honda Nighthawks and Yamaha Dual Sports. The Rebels are there to accommodate the height challenge riders. The Rebels that I am accustomed to are scratched, dented, missing signals and mirrors. Next time on the teaching range, looking at the bruised and battered Rebels, I will remember how they were meant to look.

Jeffry

2010 Motorcycle Teaching Season

I attended our motorcycle instructor update this past weekend. With a few changes to what I had requested to teach, I have ended up scheduled to teach 26 Basic Rider Courses. My stepson Neil has been scheduled to range aid for 45 classes this season. The first class of the season for both of us begins April 3rd at South Suburban College. The goal for me is paying of 2 credit card accounts with the money made this season. Neil saves the majority of his money to last the year, buy his college textbooks. He is a miser (in a good way) with the money he earns.

There are a few changes for our region this year. All of the basic classes are the MSF Basic Rider Course. The BRT out of Team Oregon is no longer being field tested. This was announced at the instructor banquet to the major disappointment of instructor who became fond of the BRT. The region is refocusing on the BRC and getting everyone to follow the standardization of the delivery of the course. Many instructors haven't taught a BRC for a few years because of the field testing of the BRT. I have my own opinions and there is no perfect curriculum. Whatever is being used is what I will teach.

We will be on a tighter schedule with less flexibility at some of the sites. The region has been tasked to increase last years total from 4200 students to over 7000 students this year. One way of achieving this is overlapping classes. 2 classes do the 4 hour classroom together on a weeknight. For Saturday and Sunday, 1 class has the range from 7-1 classroom 2-4, the other has the classroom from 10-1, range 2-7. I am sure it will work as we stay on target. It's hard enough getting people to show up for the 8 am classes with some showing up late and being dismissed. I am teaching mostly classes that will begin on the range at 7 am. There may be an increase in the number of students being dismissed for tardies although I sincerely hope not.

My local shop's doors are closed

Well I hadn't been to my local motorcycle shop for a few weeks. 3 weeks ago I went to their website (which was a hosted site) and it said that the dealership is not longer using this webservice. I called the shop to see if they we open since the website was down. They answered and said that yes they were open but not longer using the webservice. I rationalized that they stopped using the site because they dropped their dealership status and were getting rid of their new bikes. Unfortunately the snowball continued to roll down hill and they have closed down.

Since buying my motorcycle from them in 2005, I had been treated very well. Prior to the housing bubble and credit crunch, they employed over 35 people. When I worked for them over the summer as a demo ride escort, the sales folks were always saying that people were interested in the bikes and some had down payments, but they couldn't get financed. At the time they announced that they were dropping their dealership status (Yamaha, Kawasaki, Honda, Suzuki) late this fall, they were down to 6 employees. They were hoping to make it as a motorcycle service center until the market improved. The timing of trying to may payroll as just a service center in the winter in Chicago.

I wish everyone there well and hope that they are able to find employment. Besides missing the staff, I will miss the money that was already paid for prepaid maintenance. I had 2 years left on my Concours and 2 years left on Neil's Ninja 250. Alas, life is this good.

Setting priorities

The girls have been gone for almost two months. They are doing fine btw. Without the responsibility of caring for them, my daily schedule has been initially quite open. Even before they returned home, I knew that the pending free time would provide me with the opportunity to reevaluate my priorities and commitments.

Motorcycling will continue to play a role in my life of course. As my wife and I are committed to reducing our consumer debt, I will be teaching many motorcycle classes and putting that money toward my debt. At least 3 weeks of vacation will be used to teach weekday daytime motorcycle classes. It means that I am not planning any real adventures or long trips (with the only exception being a work conference in Washington DC that will be a subsidized motorcycle trip).

Last week I resigned my "Safety Officer" position with the Shadow Riders club. I was starting to resent feeling the obligation to attend meetings and to write a safety article for the club's monthly newsletter. The club is a good club, but it is not something that I am feeling impassioned to participate in. The resignation lifted an emotional weight off of my shoulders.

The only major addition to my lifestyle is related to physical activities. The week after the girls were gone, I committed to swimming 3 days a week in order to build up to completing (surviving) a triathlon in August. The swimming has been more than a challenge as I have never had any swimming lessons or swam laps for workouts. After building up a little distance and comfort during December, I joined the Masters Swimming group at the University of Chicago with the plan of improving form, workouts, efficiency. I will still swim 3 days a week, but probably only be able to fit it one workout a week with the Masters group. A swim coach is present at there workouts and they have been good at given one things at a time and per workout for improvement. It's been seven total weeks of swimming and I was able to finish a full level 3 workout (lowest level) which was 2600 meters. Besides having a coach around for the group workouts, I get an email with workout plans for the week so I have great workouts to try on my own.

The triathlon that I want to survive sounds more like a small adventure. It is the DINO (DO INndiana Off-road) Logansport Triathlon in August. The distances are somewhat reasonable and the number of participants don't seem overwhelming. The swim is a half mile swim in an open quarry lake. The biking is a 10 mile mountain bike ride on trails (which means I don't have to buy a road bicycle). The run is 4 miles on trails.

Somehow I will balance the workouts, free time, and riding the motorcycle this year. I did start up the Connie and let it run for around fifteen minutes. Took is around the block to take it through the gears.

Always a pleasure,
Jeffry

Almost back to normal

This is somewhat related to my MC life. On December 5th of 2008, my granddaughters were placed in my home as a relative foster care placement. Tomorrow, Anasia and Paige are moving back home with my daughter, just a week short of a year. While I was not free to roam on the Connie, my life has been greatly enhances by my two angels. My wife was a big trooper as she watched "my" granddaughter on weekends that allowed me to teach 15 motorcycles classes (20hrs apiece). My stepson Neil made life easier by dropping the girls off at daycare in the morning and picking them up so that they arrived home as I did from work. I will get Neil a helmet holding backpack to use when riding his Ninja to Prairie State College.

As my last official foster parent act, I picked up Anasia at daycare on the Connie to ride to her school. I had a parent teacher conference at 4:00. She was smiling so big when I walked into her area of the daycare (actually before and after program for Anasia) in my gear with a helmet for her to wear. She was the cool one then. Paige will be big enough to reach the footrest on the Connie come next riding season.

I believe my own daughter has grown a whole lot this past her, gotten her head in the right place, working, not depressed and drinking. The girls are beyond excited to be moving back home. There was be a big gap in my day to day living, but life will be going back to they way it is supposed to be. Some of the gap will be filled with the Connie.

So as a prelude to Thanksgiving, I am most grateful for the blessing of being able to care for them this past year and all that they added to my life.

Jeffry

Times changing at local dealership

My local dealership has become a causality of the economic down turn. They have decided to change from a dealership (with parts, gear, and great service) to a motorcycle service center. Maintaining their status as a new bike dealership for the 4 Japanese brands was costing them too much. I have prepaid maintenance package on both our bikes with them with 2 years left on both bikes. In the long run, maybe by the time I need to buy new again, the economy will have picked up and they will have new bikes again. As for now, I am hoping that they weather this period.

Forget the commuter train this week

This may be the last stint of nice days to ride into work. I normally catch a Amtrak style commuter train from the South Suburbs to Hyde Park. Today is the 3rd day in a row that I decided to ride the Concours into work. In the midst of rush hour traffic, being cut off, slowing to a stop at time, I am in a surprisingly peaceful zen like state of mind. Fully aware of the surrounding, I am one with the Concours as it smoothly maneuvers through traffic.