duc, duc, goose...and review

This lesson ended up being shorter than I intended when the security guard came and unlocked the lot for evening downtown parking. Regardless, I was able to review some of the harder exercises from the previous session as well as to chomp down another chapter.

• 7. Using Gears And Brakes

So, this wraps up day one of motorcycle boot camp. I've got a pretty good feel for the Monster's clutch and throttle by now, and I'm much better with my low speed turns than I was at the end of my MSF.

Tomorrow will be spent mostly in the parking lot again, finishing the final three chapters of the off-road exercises and again doing reviews of the previous ones. Depending on how I feel, I may start into the low traffic streets chapters in the late afternoon.

Also, I've decided that every day is going to start in that parking lot with at least a little bit of low speed handling exercise review. It's a good place to get the Ducati warmed up without alienating my neighbors, and there's a lot to be said for repetition when trying to build physical skills.

Oh, yeah, there's one more thing I should mention before signing off. I realized sometime today why the bike got away from me during my first lesson. I was trying to take that relatively tight low speed turn by modulating my speed with the throttle alone rather than mostly with the clutch.

So, even though lesson one cost me a replacement lever and some measure of pride, it taught me something rather important. Using the friction zone gives a lot more control and also is a safety valve against doing things like accidentally blipping the throttle.