The Relationship Between Parking Lot and Road Skills

[storysunfolding]

On three of the four exercises on the exam, I was marked down for going too slow. But at no time during the ten hours of coaching was I told to go faster.

You probably slowed down for the exam. If you weren't going fast enough throughout the day then you weren't showing the skill and you couldn't have advanced to the next exercise. Some people don't perform well under pressure which is one of the merits of the MSF eval. In life you often don't get second chances.

I bet on two evals they told you to accelerate to a speed between 12-18 mph and if you didn't get your speed up the first time, they gave you a second shot after telling you that your speed was too slow.

Furthermore I bet on the last one they stated "you will have to go fast enough to demonstrate the technique approximately 12-17mph"

Most importantly at some point before the swerve and curve evals you should have learned at what speed countersteering starts to occur.

Yeah?

[RockBottom]

On three of the four exercises on the exam, I was marked down for going too slow. But at no time during the ten hours of coaching was I told to go faster.

You probably slowed down for the exam. If you weren't going fast enough throughout the day then you weren't showing the skill and you couldn't have advanced to the next exercise. Some people don't perform well under pressure which is one of the merits of the MSF eval. In life you often don't get second chances.

I bet on two evals they told you to accelerate to a speed between 12-18 mph and if you didn't get your speed up the first time, they gave you a second shot after telling you that your speed was too slow.

Furthermore I bet on the last one they stated "you will have to go fast enough to demonstrate the technique approximately 12-17mph"

Most importantly at some point before the swerve and curve evals you should have learned at what speed countersteering starts to occur.

Yeah?

On the swerve the examiner had me re-do it, but didn't tell me why. On the others the first I heard about "too slow" was after it was over and I went and asked what I did wrong. On the turn, I was in second gear and leaning (and stayed within the lines) so I surely thought I was going at least 12.

[Shorts]

Dan, I practiced before as well. It was certainly necessary for me. I couldn't have passed it going up there cold with my bike.

My reply to RockBottom is 'tough love' and I titled it as such since it isn't my normal tone to reply to folks taking MSF. Sometimes a swift 'go do it!' is what a person needs to break through. As an athlete, I had several ways to be motivated. As a teammate and when I'm in fitness, I use different ways to motivate others. RockBottom seems like a pretty stable guy so I knew he could take a less than sugarcoated reply.

My only point is that I think I'm fairly competent at real world road riding and can even do the parking lot exercises when I'm practicing on my own, but for some reason the combination of orange cones and someone with a clipboard makes me freak.

Who do you take MSF with? Is it on base with military instructors or do they outsource you to civilians?

[RockBottom]

Dan, I practiced before as well. It was certainly necessary for me. I couldn't have passed it going up there cold with my bike.

My reply to RockBottom is 'tough love' and I titled it as such since it isn't my normal tone to reply to folks taking MSF. Sometimes a swift 'go do it!' is what a person needs to break through. As an athlete, I had several ways to be motivated. As a teammate and when I'm in fitness, I use different ways to motivate others. RockBottom seems like a pretty stable guy so I knew he could take a less than sugarcoated reply.

My only point is that I think I'm fairly competent at real world road riding and can even do the parking lot exercises when I'm practicing on my own, but for some reason the combination of orange cones and someone with a clipboard makes me freak.

Who do you take MSF with? Is it on base with military instructors or do they outsource you to civilians?

It's run by the state. It was at a local community college. If I was screwing up, I'd rather the coaches have told me. I too like the unvarnished truth. But I felt that coaches gave us the impression that about the only way to fail was to drop the bike. Let me stress, though, that I'm not criticizing anyone. I think everyone had the best intention. I'm just perplexed at the mental state I'm in now. Normally tests, examiners and audiences don't bother me a bit. But I've worked myself into a tizzy over this.

One reason I bought the motorcycle last June was because I needed an outlet from a very difficult situation with someone who works for me. Law suits and so forth. Now it's become a SOURCE of anxiety rather than a relief from it.

If I had any sense, I'd just keep practicing until next spring and take the course again then. But I'm really pig headed and don't accept failure, so I'm going to keep butting my head against the fence until I knock it down.

The thing is, I really think I'm OK on real world riding. Just as long as there are no orange cones and guys with clipboards in the road.

[MZ33]

Perhaps it would help you to review how it is that you cope with other events that normally produce anxiety--and you've listed a few--but that don't freak you out. The first time you did those things, did you experience absolutely no anxiety? If, upon reflection, you recall that you did have some anxiety, this would be a good time to remember what you did to cope with it. My guess is that you automatically went to some tried-and-true coping skill that you are hardly aware of, such as mentally rehearsing what you needed to do, or tuning out everything that wasn't pertinent, or whatever.

If you still find yourself at a loss, I suggest that you go find a parking lot and practice getting your bike up to speed. Practice until you know that you are at 15-17 mph. Know how your bike sounds, feels, and handles at that exact speed. Do it again. And again. You get the idea.

Then go practice the turns at that same speed. Swoop through them, outside-inside-outside, decelerate appropriately, accelerate again, swoop through another one. Live there for a while. Make it nice and comfy.

And then--what the heck--go see what the guy with the clipboard thinks.

[Shorts]

RB, pick up some orange cones from the store and do a mock setup. At the very least, replicate visuals as best you can. Get that into your mind so they're more or less familiar. Then take them at your pace and work up for faster speeds.


I understand what you're saying about expecting to do just fine in the test when you were performing the same way during all the practice drills.


This time around, if they send you to redo a drill, ask them what you need to correct. Do that until they tell you to stop asking questions so you can make sure to look out for #1. Especially if they use the same trick about using a testor who was not your instructor for the weekend.

[RockBottom]

RB, pick up some orange cones from the store and do a mock setup. At the very least, replicate visuals as best you can. Get that into your mind so they're more or less familiar. Then take them at your pace and work up for faster speeds..

Done that. Have no problem with it. I practiced for hours without a hitch before going to the DVM for the exam, then stalled and almost dropped the bike during the exam. I went out the next day and replicated the exam in a parking lot by myself, and had no problem whatsoever.

[Shorts]

Done that. Have no problem with it. I practiced for hours without a hitch before going to the DVM for the exam, then stalled and almost dropped the bike during the exam. I went out the next day and replicated the exam in a parking lot by myself, and had no problem whatsoever.

So have you ever noticed White Coat Syndrome before??


I was pretty nervous for my test as well. The two days of class were pretty stressful. I knew I could ride, but could I pass those specific drills when it came time was the question.


You've got a mental block here, I'm not sure what to suggest in order to get around it. You do have to find that moment of 'Aha!' and once you do, you'll be fine.

[the_sandman_454]

It might help to have someone or multiple people watching you in the parking lot practice. Make sure they're vocal enough to remind you they're there and watching. Put some money on the line, bet 'em $5 you can do it or whatever. Something to induce similar levels of anxiety the examiner person does. Practice in that sort of environment until a) you're out of money, or b) you aren't nervous about performing in front of someone.

Worth a shot.

[RockBottom]

Done that. Have no problem with it. I practiced for hours without a hitch before going to the DVM for the exam, then stalled and almost dropped the bike during the exam. I went out the next day and replicated the exam in a parking lot by myself, and had no problem whatsoever.

So have you ever noticed White Coat Syndrome before??


I was pretty nervous for my test as well. The two days of class were pretty stressful. I knew I could ride, but could I pass those specific drills when it came time was the question.


You've got a mental block here, I'm not sure what to suggest in order to get around it. You do have to find that moment of 'Aha!' and once you do, you'll be fine.

I have some tranqulizers that were prescribed to me so that I could get through an MRI without a claustrophibia attack. Now if I can only find out how much of one will relax me without making me fall of the bike!

I still wish, though, that the class M license test consisted of an examiner following you in a car while you did a real life ride rather than doing circle 8s around orange cones.