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Motorpsycho: “I am a leaf on the wind!”
By Mike | June 5, 2007
Evaluation time. I’m sitting on the bike. 11th in line, watching my classmates pull a sharp turn. Some of them are doing fine, others are struggling. One put her foot down — twice — which would have been an automatic failure on a DMV riding course.
The line is getting shorter. I’m revving my Rebel, warming it up for my run. I shift to first and roll toward the line. I’m next.
A line from Serenity echoes in my head: “I am a leaf on the wind. Watch me soar.”
I had just watched Serenity two days before, so the scene in question was fresh in my mind: Wash navigating the namesake ship through an intense battle to the planet below. [Spoiler Text]Yes, I realize Wash died afterward. But he still landed the damn ship![/Spoiler Text] With that inspiration I cruised off the line.
I made that corner. It may not have looked good, but I was within the lines and I made it, baby! It became my mantra, recited before every exercise and at least once through the exercise. (It beat screaming, anyway.) I still choked on the slow weave, running over several cones and missing two completely, but I did pretty good on the others.
Final result: 10 points. You have to get 20 to fail, and I’m told 10’s a good score. Hey, I passed, so I’m not complaining.
Then came the written test. 50 questions, multiple choice. A number of us furiously pored over the highlighted sections of our books. The instructor passed out the answer sheets, the evaluation forms, the donation-or-refund forms. Finally came the test questions themselves.
Cake! I missed one, only because I didn’t think it all the way through. Most were easy, with at least one or two (of only three) possible responses completely ridiculous. I filled out the evaluation, donated my $20 deposit and got a t-shirt, and got myself a snazzy certificate to show the DMV.
Now to figure out whether or not I really want a bike…
Topics: Motorcycles |
January 15th, 2008 at 11:58 am
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