Day 238 – Today I Have a Little Bit More “Class”

238/365 (August 26, 2010) – I did it!! I passed my Class 6 road test today!

I had never even entertained the thought of riding a motorcycle anywhere but in the passenger seat. But after riding the scooter for a year, the back seat of a bike wasn’t quite as appealing anymore. Kirk bugged me to take a motorcycle course and see if I’d enjoy it, I was pretty sure it wasn’t a good use of money, but my father had gifted me enough as a birthday present back in the Spring that it would cover it. And I hadn’t come up with anything to use it for yet.

So I took a course with the Pacific Riding School out in Surrey, and was hooked. The bike came a couple of weeks after the course ended. Then the only concern was passing the road test. It’s easy to say “Oh, I’ve been driving for close to 30 years, peice of cake” but you’d be overconfident. We unlearn a lot of things that we learned in driving school, and we have all picked up a wealth of bad habits. Suddenly you feel like you are 16 again and you are being judged on every head turn and every signal. Leave a signal light on for more than 4 seconds after turning a corner and you automatically fail. Go below the speed limit on the freeway and you automatically fail. Forget a few intersection scans or a couple of shoulder checks, stop on a crosswalk, fail to do a U-turn on a tight side street and take a foot off the peg…. not looking so good for passing.

It’s stressful!

I did a mock road test a few days before and was feeling a bit better for it, but still nervous. Then when I went on the day, I used one of their bikes instead of my own. Smaller, less powerful, easier to restrain (but freakier on the freeway) and turns on a dime. It was a smart choice. I arrived and walked into the office to hear a conversation on how the failure rate has increased. Great start. Then I went out to the lot with the motorcycle and warmed up. I saw a classmate of mine from 6 weeks ago return from his test, he wasn’t a bad rider, he failed.

As I waited, the current PRS class came out to the lot to continue their lessons…ten new students filed by me and stopped to ask ‘was I testing?’ and to wish me best of luck. Great, if I failed I had an entire class to witness my humiliation.

The road test started and I left the lot. The radio in my ear told me to turn left, then left again. I rounded the second left and the voice said turn right at the next stop sign. He had not yet rounded the corner to see what I saw. A freshly painted stop line complete with traffic cones. Obviously I couldn’t go over the paint and through the cones (even though the bike would fit), so I had to go into an oncoming lane (safely) and maneuver around the cones to make my right hand turn. I was turning on to a very busy street and the van behind me had to stay back behind the cones in case of a turning car. I’m sure he was wondering what I would do. Part of my brain was telling me to look for a hole in the traffic for two vehicles, but then Kramer’s voice came in my head and said, “ride like there isn’t a van judging you, do what you would do if you were alone because you WILL be docked if you wait too long”. I saw a hole that was safe for me, and in I went. I got about a half a block before the radio said “Rider, please pull over where it is safe to do so” I’d left the examiner about 30 cars behind.

Then I hit two yellow lights in a row and judged that I could (should) stop. Then got caught behind slow moving traffic. Maintained my distance appropriately and smoothly carried on. My u-turn went without a hitch, I saw every 30km sign, scanned every intersection, did all my shoulder checks. The freeway entrance went like clockwork although I ended up behind a garbage truck and the turbulence tossed me around like a rag-doll on that little bike. I backed off a bit and then got back up to 95. Exited the freeway beautifully. At one point he had me take a turn and I missed the speed limit sign, I wasn’t sure if I was in a 60 or a 50 zone so I split the difference and went 55. I got docked for that snce it was actually a 60 zone and I should have been doing 65 then (Only in Surrey! They have their own ICBC speed rules there!).

He turned me on a right hand corner into a turning lane, which I had to quickly maneuver out of with a left lane change, that was a bit nasty, but I executed it safely. Eventually back to the lot, around a few more painted stop lines and cone barriers, and we were done.

He got out of the van, not smiling, and I thought, shit, I failed. Then he broke into a smile and said “Congratulations, you passed, with flying colours!” He said my observational skills were excellent, my lane positioning strong, and he nitpicked on a couple of minor points. Then he slipped into human mode and asked me what kind of bike I had back at home. We talked motocycles for a bit, and eventually he sent me inside to complete the paperwork.

The PRS students and instructors were watching and I did a little victory dnace and received thumbs up and a hug from the instructor. When you are taking the class it gives you a bit of confidence to see a former student pass.

Now photo at the licensing desk, a bit of paperwork, and it was official!

Today, I have a bit more “Class” than I did yesterday.

Happy Dance!!!