Another rollercoaster of a day today. With the threat of rain, we started the day on the range to try and make it through as many of the second round of peer teaching exercises as possible.
Things seemed to start out fine, but went a little sideways on one of the exercises. The two student coaches had to re-run the exercise and it really affected both of them. One nearly quit and walked out. I can only imagine what was going through their head, but I am glad they came around and rejoined the group. We are all pretty stressed out right now. The schedule is very tight and there is a lot of material to cover. It’s pretty much all I have been able to think about for the last two weeks.
After lunch, the clouds were looming and it looks like the rain predicted was going to appear. During one of the exercises one of the other students low-sided his GZ250 trying to make the S-turn perfect. Luckily he wasn’t hurt; he only had a scuff on his jeans. While I was running an exercise, one of the other coaches had a moment and helped us learn what to do with an errant bike on the range. My co-coach was awesome and jumped into action before I saw it and shut everything down and put him back in line. It feels like a lot of us are on the verge.
The rain appeared, and most of us put our rain gear. It was a good move as it rained pretty hard for the last exercise and while we were packing up. We finished the skill test exercise in the classroom to avoid the downpour.
I had hoped we would have taken the MSF RiderCoach written test in the morning, but we waited until the end of the day. Lots of people were stressed out by this test; I wasn’t. I figured we would all pass since we’d made it this far already. We all passed. I was surprised when they announced I aced it.
My wife drove out and we had a small celebration over dinner with two other candidates. It was nice! For me, the stress level has come down over the last day. I’ve gotten more practice on the range with my exercises. For others, it has gone up as we are teaching real novices tomorrow.
Things feel a bit surreal as I write this. I’ve been thinking about this day since December, and here we are. I’m first up tomorrow in the classroom. I’m really excited to finally teach part of the BRC for real! The practical evaluations start tomorrow too, so there are still many chances to fail out of the class. However, the light at the end is getting pretty bright!
Congratulations! This really does sound like a stressful couple of weeks. It's great that you and all of the other instructors are willing to devore so much into training new riders. I took the BRC not even knowing whether or not I wanted to ride and it was pretty intimidating at first. By the end of the first session, I was hooked.
ReplyDeleteDear Chris:
ReplyDeleteCongratulations from me and the Twisted Roads community as well. So do you get to wear a badge, a hat and the blank expression of a guy who has the power of "ride" or "not ride" over mere mortals?
One of the other guys who posts on Twisted Roads (ADK) is a rider coach too, in New York. I am taking a course that will enable me to pose as an accident victim in a first aid class. Apparently, today's exercise is holding my breath until the cute girl in the class has to give me CPR.
Fondrst regards,
Jack/reep
Twisted Roads
RichardM: Thanks! It's been a tough few weeks, but all the hard works is starting to pay off. I also took the BRC without knowing if this motorcycle thing was for me. Now look where I am :)
ReplyDeleteDear Jack: Thanks! No badge or hat, but I do have a bright hi-viz shirt and vest! (see the next post with photos). Eventually, I'll get my certificate then I can assess riders for their endorsement. However, it is up to them if they pass. I just record the data and add up the score. Not very exciting.
You shouldn't hold your breath; I heard the cute girl was sent home. LOL.