Am I to old?

Summer is coming and even though we are quarantined I figured I would share this story as on motorcycle you are socially distant while riding.

 I was 47 years old when I finally pushed myself to get my motorcycle license. It was something I wanted to do forever but women didn’t drive their own, they were always a passenger. I finally decided that I wanted to be in the driver seat and I was going to do this!

I told my husband what I wanted to do; he was like you go for it…. I think he was so excited that now I couldn’t back out. I bought my motorcycle (750 Honda Spirit) and I went to the weekend class with a friend of mine. We drove in the day before and tried to figure out the area we were staying. Getting settled and making sure we knew where we were going in the morning.

The first day was learning the book, so we could take the test and the second half of the day was getting on the little 250 bikes they had. Learning how to walk the bike and throttle and getting our feet on the pegs.

The second day was harder, we took our written test and got on the bikes to learn more skills, figure 8s and how to stop on a dime or turn in either direction. While learning all this at some point I got nervous and while stopped I let go of the clutch which made me fall. While I was on the ground I just laid there wondering if I should really be doing this. I guess I laid there to long because next thing I knew a bunch of people were running at me in top speed calling my name. Are you okay, are you okay… as I looked up at my class mates and instructors I thought I was finished but the instructor told me to get up and get back on my motorcycle. My friend had gotten kicked out of class earlier that day due to running one of the instructors over…lol so I thought that was the end of my adventure.

Because I had dumped my bike, I walked out with only my permit. I should have walked out with my license, but I guess the instructor’s frown on dumping the bikes or running them over…lol

In the end, this was a very good thing. I needed a little more practice and confidence before I could go back for my I endorsement.

My husband and I went riding together a lot. He has been riding, of course, for a very long time and is very comfortable on his motorcycle. Taking turns, on spiral roads and long rides across the state/s. it was like second nature to him. Where I had to think about everything, where is my blinker, brakes, clutch and how to manage my gas and throttle as I was trying to hold my bike at the right angle.

He is so comfortable I think he forgot how new I was to be driving my own. We were on our way to the Cumberland Fair that fall and before we left, I asked him if there were any major turns, or if I need to prepare for this ride. Hubby says “no worries, you got this. It’s mostly straight roads, but it’ll take about an hour to get there.” I’m like, cool I can handle this 🙂

We get on the road and everything is going well.  I am excited for what I consider my first long ride. We get down the road a bit and suddenly, my husband slows down quick, turns on his blinker and is braking to make a right-hand turn.  I am behind him watching this happen and have now forgotten where my turn signal is because I am trying to brake. Then I look at the turn he has taken and in the middle of the road, I stopped my bike!!  Literally in the middle of the road. Looking at the road it was a very sharp curve downhill and another sharp curve. A line of cars backed up behind me. I finally took the turn half walking my bike, but my husband had pulled over and started walking up this very steep hill as I was literally walking my bike down it. I was terrified! Yelling at him asking “why did you go this way?” And in a calm voice with a smile on his face he said, “It was a short cut.”

Getting my motorcycle license was one of my biggest dreams, I thought about it every summer and when I was almost 50 years old, I was thinking maybe its to late for me.

IT IS NEVER TO LATE, unless you are dead, to move forward, learn something new, get a tattoo or accomplish something on your bucket list that you have always wanted to do. Just don’t psych yourself out and not do it. If you have to be a bit slower or more cautious that does not mean you cannot get it done.