The First Step?

For many riders the first step was a cruise around the block with zero training and zero understanding of a motorcycle. It is a risky way to learn and being that even a well-trained individual can be killed on a motorcycle it is a serious risk, without even understanding what the risks are in the first place.

That was exactly how I started to first ride a motorcycle on the street. I had previously ridden in the dirt and thought I was pretty darn good, so riding on the street should be an issue at all, right? Well, it was a little different, but not all that big of a deal for the time I rode, all without training and without a license. When we are young sometimes we make unwise decisions, some pay for it and others don't. For me the need for speed got me tied up with a telephone pole on a two-wheeled vehicle. It shattered my elbow into 32 individual pieces and required a 4-hour surgery and 2 weeks in the hospital. Lucky for me the bike was pedal powered, but the physics of the operation of that bike were exactly the same. So were the physiological reaction to uncertainty. Most call it target fixation, when in reality it is simple inaction.

I decided after that incident that I lacked the maturity to handle understanding consequences beyond my knowledge and swore off bikes completely. It would take about 15 years before the draw became overwhelming enough for me to ride again.

Now, older and wiser I made the decision (with the aid of advice from a good friend) to properly learn how to ride a motorcycle by taking a MSF course. What I didn't know was that the course would also help me understand the risks involved in riding a motorcycle and how I could control how much risk I was willing to accept.

Back in College when I was a Music Performance Major a ensemble Professor made a statement that has stuck with me through life. He said that "Practice does not make Perfect, only Perfect Practice makes Perfect." It was based upon a point in the music that was never really right. He stopped and made us make it right without mistake and the session went late into the night because of that practice. His point was that people practice things wrong all the time and that all it does is make us better or more comfortable at being wrong.

Anything that requires skill, also requires that every so often that you break that skill down to the very basic and analyze it. Better yet, get input from others who are better than you to improve. If get complacent you'll make mistakes and while mistakes by an Orchestra may just sound bad, a mistake on a motorcycle can end your life.

For that reason I personally seek out ways to practice and be critiqued by others that are better than me in certain skills sets. I also strive to pass this knowledge on, because to show a skill you must first understand it at the fundamental level and then be able to execute it correctly in a consistent manner.

If you really want to Practice Perfect you must start at the beginning, so here I am.....again.