Monday, June 20, 2016

When the teacher becomes the student


Recently I was gifted an amazing opportunity of taking an experienced riders course through my riding school that I teach for.  Every once in awhile they have a vacancy come up in a course and it gets offered to instructors.  I have wanted to take this for awhile.



This course allows riders with experience to build and hone skills.  Gotta say I had a few moments of trepidation, because I was riding in front of my peers and wanted to make sure I learned from the experience.



It was amazing! We didn't mention to other students that I was an instructor and then there was no undue pressure on me.  I soaked up the experience and really pushed myself and my bike, which is good, because since I got it last May I haven't really bonded with it and needed to get a feel for it's handling and ABS.  The best part was I was mentored by 3 incredibly talented instructors who I admire deeply and learned so much from them.

This course achieved that for me and I really am a cone and slow speed manoeuvre nerd! I Loved it!  I found zen with the Duchess on that 2 day course.  

10 comments:

RichardM said...

What a great opportunity and cool photos!

SonjaM said...

Great pics, Dar. What an opportunity!

Trobairitz said...

Fun stuff Dar. And great pics too.

Had you not bonded with the new bike because you hadn't had a lot of riding time, or was it the bike itself? I am seriously looking at one of these so I am curious.

Keith - Circle Blue said...

:^)

Dar said...

Trobiaritz - I hadn't bonded mainly because of the seat height. I ddin't feel confident on it because it was too tall and every time I stop I felt like I was fighting gravity particularly if the road was off camber, as I felt like I was having to fight the balance issues all the time. Now that I had the lowering links installs all is fabulous with this bike and extremely comfortable to ride. It is made the world of difference and this is definitely my bike now. If you're looking at one go for it you might want to even try the 750 X version. I would definitely look also at the CB 500 acts very close very nimble and very similar ride.

Coop a.k.a. Coopdway said...

Dar, good on you for taking the Advanced Course.....we all should so that we'd feel as accomplished as you are.

Dar said...

Coop - It was an awesome course, there were riders of all skill levels there and it was cool seeing the progression we all made, Fir me it was definitely a goid get used to the bike session and playing in the cones.

David Masse said...

The skill set you are developing is really amazing.

Randy Dewey said...

I believe there's always room for learning and improving more. So it's great that you took the Advanced Course. Nice photos, by the way!

redlegsrides said...

I've done the ERC, it's great training and a good reminder for most riders of the stuff they might have "neglected".