The Joys of Learning to Ride - Like Riding a Bicycle

If how terrible I am at riding a bicycle is any premonition of how well I'll ride a motorcycle...

As I prepare to be in control of a motorcycle for the first time, I wonder more and more what the best ways are to prepare. I've got my class scheduled; I bought a jacket and am shopping for my other riding gear. I've read articles and blogs about learning to ride and beginner tips. But I still feel super unprepared. I think a big fear is if how horrible I am at riding a bicycle is some sort of sign of how well I'll ride a motorcycle.

I was nine when I learned how to ride a bicycle. I'm not sure what the average age is that kids these days learn how to ride bicycles but I have a feeling that it's a heck of a lot earlier than nine years old. And even then, I may have learned how to ride, but I never actually rode a bicycle again until I was nineteen and forced to mountain bike through the hills of Alaska on a family vacation. Needless to say, getting on a bicycle after so long only further proved how absolutely terrible I really am at it as I shakily rode my way through the trail.

Now here I am, about to get on a two-wheeled vehicle with an extremely complicated engine system that's going to go a whole lot faster than my little legs could ever pedal me on a bicycle. Intimidating? You bet it is. So I may or may not have expressed my fears to a few close friends and ended up finding out the oddest thing. One of my friends rides daily. Actually, she doesn't even own a car. And on top of that, she's one of the greatest motorcycle riders that I've ever met. Fun fact: she's absolutely treacherous on a bicycle. No one would have ever guessed it until a small group of my friends decided to go for a ride around town on some bicycles and she could hardly go in a straight line much less turn without falling over. Sounds exactly like me!