March 29: What an Uplifting Day!
What an uplifting day! With the completed manuscript for “Living at Full Throttle” in my publisher’s hands and the welcome news from my neurosurgeon that my brain tumors are stable, I began in earnest to prepare for my solo motorcycle trip this summer to Africa and Eastern Europe. Today’s mission? Working with Curt Erikson at Northwest Motorcycle School to practice using the bike jack I will be taking on my overseas adventures. I was happy to reconnect with Curt as he was the patient private instructor that helped me get my endorsement six years ago.
I decided to get my own motorcycle endorsement back in 2018 after spending over 50,000 miles on the back of my then husband’s CVO Road King. Prior to that time, I had assumed I would always ride pillion, reasoning that I would never be brave enough or skilled enough to get my own bike. But in 2018, with my husband’s betrayals heavy on my heart and my marriage on the rocks, I realized I might have to get my own license if I wanted to continue to feel the wind in my face and the rumble of the road underneath me.
Having no clue what a clutch was or where to find the brakes on a bike, I contacted Curt to see if he would give me a private lesson prior to me taking the DMV required Team Oregon motorcycle endorsement class. Upon arriving at Curt’s training field in Trojan Park, I promptly informed him that I might have a panic attack before he could even help me turn on the engine on one of his training bikes. Fearing that I might ruin one of his bikes, I almost hoped he would tell me to go home.
In his warm and unflappable manner, Curt reassured me that there was nothing in the parking lot for me to hit and that his bikes got dropped every day. Although I swiftly managed to run into the only obstacle in the parking lot – a median with bushes and trees – with Curt’s calm words of wisdom and easy-going helpful manner I somehow kept the bike up and soon began doing loops around the field.
My skills test a few days later was a spectacular failure, with me riding over the cones and outside the lines and not braking in time. Determined not to give up, I returned to Curt for two more private lessons and managed to pass my skills test the next weekend. Although I had received the lowest possible passing score, I used the certificate of completion from Team Oregon to get my license at the DMV the next day and buy my first bike the day after that.
It is thanks to Curt’s help that during the last six years I have been able to travel solo to 24 countries by bike. So, when it came time to test out my new bike jack, I knew Curt would be the perfect person to approach.
Curt graciously offered up one of his training bikes as tester for me, laying it down several times so that I could practice using my jack to lift the bike. I was able to experiment with attaching the jack in a variety of ways, keeping it stable while in use, and getting the bike safely up.
After I had successfully lifted his bike several times, Curt then gently laid My Baby down on a piece of carpet so I could practice with an even heavier bike. It was such an exhilarating and powerful feeling to get the bike up myself in such an easy manner. Although I have watched several videos with small lithe women lifting much heavier bikes than mine, I have been unable to successfully duplicate their techniques. I am super excited about taking this jack with me to Europe as it will give me more confidence taking My Adventure Baby on a variety of roads on my own.
Because Curt has been so instrumental in helping me with my bike, I thought I would mention that he is available for private lessons in the Portland area and can be reached at 503-568-7705. Curt works with all skills levels, provides bikes to use during the training, and can help riders practice the to pass their Team Oregon test or become more proficient at riding in general.
