I wish it was the Saturday before the Pacific Northwest GTG, I'd fly in and take it again!
For those of you interested in the RLAP course, I cannot tell you how glad I am that I took this class in LA. The class itself is great, but the best part of the RLAP-West Coast is the rental bike. No worries about scratching paint or chrome!! After a few laps, you stop worrying about who is watching and you really start pushing yourself past your comfort zone because you have no fear of dropping the bike. Learning to dip the bike as you start to make a U-turn or go into a curve (or make a circle) really makes handling the bike in tight spots so much easier!! The class really helped me with one bad habit...grabbing too much front brake! I really didn't want to do the braking exercise! I told Jonga and ErnieZap that I was dreading it before we started it. I kept remembering my wonderful experience going downhill in thick gravel, panicking, and grabbing the brake! I didn't want to embarrass myself again. Terrie and the guys were great and very encouraging so I toughed it out. Good thing I did because last weekend, that exercise probably saved my life when a car pulled out in front of me and then suddenly came to a dead stop to turn left (cause they saw they missed a yard sale). The braking exercise and repetitiveness of learning to dip the bike kept me from rear-ending a car! The class is great!!! I'd love to take it again now that I've had some time to practice and put my skills to use! And BTW, I can't wait to post some pics from the local Hooter's Bike Night this past Thursday night as soon as they get them posted. After telling several people about the class and trying to explain "the iron cross" and how you turn from full lock to full lock, I decided to demonstrate it ON THE VROD in the parking lot. I couldn't quite convince the guy on an American Ironhorse chopper to try it, but several others were interested in taking the class.
V