Thunder Roads Magazine of Oklahoma/Arkansas July 2014 | Page 21

FEATURES

while I was there. I felt like such a failure, that I had let every
woman I had professed my desire to learn to ride down.
When I got to the house, I took a dip in the chilled Jacuzzi
and sat in solitude for a bit. I warmed up my tv dinner and
then called T to get some verbal salve for my wounded
spirit. After a few long talks, I felt better about where I was
in my training, and slept a deep sleep for the next 8 hours.
When dawn broke on day 2, I was excited and nervous
because I knew I had to pass that test. But what if I didn’t?
That was my question to both T and my family. The answer,
“you just take the test again when you are ready.” So I had
resolve. I wanted to pass, but if I didn’t, it just meant I need
to practice more.
So as the exercises went on that day, I did better. Then
on one break… I heard the roar of my cheering section
arrive on a shiny black Street Glide. T arrived on Thor, and
just the thought of someone caring enough to show up to
cheer me on was just what I needed to finish the class!
I finished up my exercises, had one small incident
where I put two of my fingers on the clutch and two under
the clutch and the bike got away from me a bit. I got it
͡