Alameda

The USS Hornet in Alameda. 6.30am.11.03.07

Motorcycle training 101.

Objective: how to succeed in something you don't know anything about!

So this is pretty straight forward.... You just have to do what the man says. Basically.

-Find a good motorcycle-one that you can comfortably sit both feet flat on the ground with.
-Be confident. Don't be afraid. Relaxation allows you to think.
-Listen to directions. If they want you to raise your hand, just raise your hand.
-Getting comfortable with the bike... takes trials - and so you just have to keep moving. Don't expect to get comfortable right away, and also the first couple of tutorials aren't going to be under your belt a hundred percent... which is fine.
-Focus, and really try to learn.
-Focus. Don't be afraid of the bike... be a little bit more aggressive than than your comfort level allows you to be... this is how you push youself.
-Ask questions, be engaged with other students, make friends.
-A little of it, too of course is trying to please the instructor. If you get along with that person.


*I always feel like I don't have enough 'past' experiences, or preparations for challenges... I always am resentful that my parents aren't architects or artists like my cool classmates. I feel like if they were artists or architects, then I would have been exposed to the things that I'm interested in much earlier and become better at it. These are things that I can not change. BUT, it turns out.. most of the things that people acquire, skill wise, is on the job... through actually trying to do it. I'm discovering that it's not much about preparation as it is about strategizing, or having a good work ethic, or really, just doing it. Classes are great, because they give you strategies. In other places, you have to develop your own strategies.

I can succeed in something that I don't have any clue about... with good teaching... so I need to seek teachers out.

The assortments of motorcycles were...

Honda Nighthawk, 250cc, which is known to be a starter bike. Honda Rebel, which is a bit smaller. Yamaha Eliminator, Honda Ninja... God, who named these? They have such terrible names.


Growing pain.

An image of myself with my two confidants, taken five years ago, superimposed to a reflection of myself now. What has changed? It seems like not much has changed... I am still naive. I feel somewhat more alone now than before. Because of more responsibility?