it's a good kind of sun-burn

Today I woke up and my face and neck were sun burnt...and it was the best feeling in the world. Why? Because the burn couldn't outweigh my feeling of triumph from this weekend's endeavor. Motorcycles.

As I talked about in a recent blog, this past weekend was my motorcycle course (do I really need to link that blog? It was a few days ago...just scroll down if you want to read it). You and 11 other people spend 20 hours together at the DMV. Half of that time is spent in a classroom, learning how to be safe on the road and avoid crashes. The other half of the time is spent in a big parking lot on tiny motorcycles. Little 250cc engines. For you non-motorcycle savvy people, just imagine a Harley Davidson that was the size of a moped. Now you've got it.

We learned to turn, to stop fast, to maneuver tight areas (like the back of a volkswagon?), and to run over plywood....all done at no faster than 15MPH. Now you must be thinking to yourself, "But Rob, is it that easy to get your license?" And the answer is no. On the second day, you take a written test. And if you don't correctly answer 80% of the questions then you are told to leave. Sounds hard right? WRONG. This test was made by toddlers, I'm convinced. Here's an example:

Question: You shouldn't drink alcohol before riding your motorcycle because it affects your...

A: Humor
B: Vision and judgment
C: Sense of smell

No, that wasn't an exact question...but pretty damn close. Every question was one of those "common sense" questions. One of the choices was obviously right and the other 2 were not even close to the subject matter. It was pathetic. Suffice to say, no one got more than 1 question wrong.

So all 12 of us pushed onward. At the end of the second day we took our driving test. Now, up to this point we had practiced everything on the test. They would now take us through each exercise one at a time and judge us on balance, speed, and accuracy. When you do something bad, you get points. If you go over 21 points then you fail.

So first we had to do a U-turn in a little box, and then drive across the parking lot and swerve around a cone. No big Deal. Next, we drive across the parking lot and stop as soon as we pass a cone. The point is that at that particular moment you see something in the road ahead and need to stop as fast as possible without skidding. They measure you on stop time and distance. Then the final test is to drive around 2 curves at 15MPH and stay within the lane that is painted on the ground. You are judged on staying within the line and your overall time.

And that's it. That's all you have to do to get your motorcycle license. 11 out of 12 of us attained this prestigious goal. And that frightens me. Because at least 3 of those 10 other people (I won't say whether they were men or women....50% of the class were women) really shouldn't get their license. They were people I wouldn't want to drive near on the road. they had no confidence or coordination. So what'll happen when they buy bikes that are 3 times as big??? Bad things....Bad things...

So anyway, I go to the DMV tomorrow to get a new Driver's license. This will replace my normal license. It will appear identical, except for a small "M" in the corner indicating that I am also a motorcycle rider. And what's next? I need to find a bike I like. And some cool clothes. Then the ladies will be all over me :-)

So who wants the first ride?