We did the last of our riding before the evaluation tonight. The obstacles took the form of a couple of 2×4’s and they were easier than I thought they would be. The bike went over easily with a bit of throttle just before contact.
The cornering exercise is one that we will be evaluated on and I thought I did pretty well with it but the instructor wanted to see that I had hit both my brakes to slow and a big head turn. I was looking through the turn but I think they want a big visible head turn. We also had an exercise where we do an emergency stop while in a turn. That was interesting. Had to make myself wait till the bike was straight before braking. It’s a little unnerving even when you get it right.
We got an explanation on how the evaluation will work and that you get points over the 4 tasks for mistakes and that more than 20 points is a fail. They warned us that the emergency stop can automatically fail you as you get points for how far over the stop line you are. I feel ok about the cornering and the emergency stop. Not sure about the figure 8 or the swerve. We haven’t done the serve yet and it’s first up next class.
Did better with the clutch tonight from starts and upshifting. Felt like the engine was really unhappy on a couple of down shift’s so I’m guessing my speed was too high for the downshift?
Rider coach suggested that I should get a bike that has adjustable brake and clutch levers. I have small hands and he thinks that will help my clutch control if my hand isn’t so far open when I’m in the friction zone. Would also make the front brake less of a reach. If a bike didn’t come with it he said I should think about adding it. Not sure what the cost would be but I’ll keep it in mind.
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