I've always wanted to learn to ride a motorcycle since high school but being an only child who has no balls between her legs, my parents put their foot firmly down, said (NO! ARE YOU CRAJEE???!?!? You're a girl! Some guy could come up to you at a stop light, push you off the bike and steal it. WHAT THEN?) and then was forced to take cello instead of violin or flute so then my mom could say, (If you ride a motorcycle, how can you take your cello to orchestra practice?) Yes, and THAT'S why it took me so long to take a motorcycle class. True story...about what my parents said.



ANYWAY! Now, I can honestly say that for a $250 2-day class (worth every penny - and you all know I'm always looking for a deal) I will at least know how to get on a bike, turn it on, get into 1st/2nd/3rd gear...and try to run away from any Resident Evil like zombies that may attack Los Angeles in the future.



Signing up online was a breeze. We took the class at the Pasadena location with Sheryle as our instructor for the written portion. She's great! Very nice, friendly, smiles a lot and doesn't make you feel stupid for being a beginner/first timer at riding. Instructive videos and class participation was easy as we were divided up into 4 groups by table and group participation brought out even the shyest guy to speak up. My group was originally named Team Blue Label after our X-BOX Rockband group name - aka Johnnie Walker Blue Label. Then the next day we were called Team Lactose Intolerant because the 3 guys had McD's mocha frap w/ milk and they have issues with milk. *sigh* I'm documenting this in case the owner wants to contact us for the odd smelling restroom - it wasn't me (the lone female at table #1) thank you very much. We attended this class on Saturday/Sunday from 8 a.m. - noon (actually was let out around 11:15 a.m. on Sat and 10 a.m. on Sun). 50 question written exam on Sunday morning which was a breeze if you listened in class - no additional studying required for me at least.



We took the riding class portion at John Muir H.S. after lunch (12:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.) and were taught by Ron and Rich. Two pretty awesome instructors who were very friendly, informed, concerned about our safety before the vehicle condition (I state this as I conveniently was unable to hold up my bike when I braked too quickly from a walking exercise...and uhm kinda fell over to the right during the 1st hour...uh, let's not talk about this any more). They were very patient even though some of my fellow students didn't know how to listen to instructions. We took our riding exam on Sunday afternoon during the last hour and had fun with it.



I highly recommend not only AMO but this particular location for their exceptional instructors. They all emphasize safety and teach you the correct fundamentals to get you going on the right path to fun while surviving the hazards of the road with the SEE method. You want to know what SEE stands for? Go take this class!



I know that I personally can't just hit the road right now. I have to get a bike first. AND, per Ron, I uh need to practice braking faster or else he's concerned I'll be rear-ending someone. Yes, all you motorists out there, you will only find me in my car, on a horse or on my snowboard so don't just stop driving/riding out of concern for possibly having an encounter with me. It'll be me + bike + school parking lot for awhile for safety reasons.



Okay - enough crowing about me passing! YES! Thank you Sheryle, Ron and Rich! You guys ROCK!