June 2 -- I passed my Motorcycle Skills Test

I did it. I can't believe how very nervous I was, and it didn't help that I was on a bike I really had not been using. My tummy was in knots, and I felt like I was going to throw up, but I did it. I'm so relieved. I can now get out there on my own... don't need a chaperone with a class 6 licence anymore. I do still have two restrictions until I do the final road test: I may not carry a passenger (like I'd want to? NOT), and I will still turn into a pumpkin if I go ridin after dark. Well, I'm not in a hurry to do that either.

It was amazing to drive back from Nanaimo, listening to Jana Stanfield singing "on the wings of Eagles, I can fly... all it takes is a little faith, and on the wings of Eagles I can fly." I felt like bawling my eyes out.

The woman at the counter at ICBC was sooooo kewl. She was born in Holland in 1951. Her family moved to Australia when she was a toddler. She ended up here in Canada. Wow... we were both stunned, neither of us had ever met anyone else with the exact same background.

I hugged Dave McKeown after I passed the test. I had been so nervous that I did have a couple of minor errors... put my foot down once, and also revved the throttle a little when I made the emergency stop. I felt sick and thought, "oh no, he is gonna fail me for this." So when I was finished I looked at the examiner with fear and said: "did I fail?" He gave me a huge smile and said, "no, you squeaked by." Dang bike, so unfamiliar, cause the one I hoped to ride needed some work and they didn't finish it last night. It's difficult with the Yamaha TW (an enduro) to roll back the clutch properly when you're slamming down on the front and back brakes to prove how quickly you can make an emergency stop. I was so happy I felt like crying right on the spot. Don't know how I held it all together.

It was so wonderful to see my Mom pulling into the parking lot at the end of my test. She'd been there before we even headed over to ICBC, when we were still at the Superstore parking lot for a last warm-up. I was freaked, and thought she planned to stay and watch, but she only wanted to wish me luck. It was a thrill to be able to hold up my new license and wave it about for her to see while I had a huge smile on my face. We quickly had a coffee and then I headed back to Stu"ate Lelum (Chemainus Native College where I am a teacher on call) to pick up a jacket I left behind. The staff that was there all congratulated me on my success, and I headed out the door. Just as I was about to drive out of the parking lot, the bus carrying our P.E. students arrived. I should have been with them this afternoon, and the acting Vice-Principal had to take them instead (they have their PE class at the Chemainus Native Centre down the road from our house and they're bussed back and forth). Natalie opened the window and called out to me: "did you pass?" When I said yes, with a great big grin, the whole bus load of students and Natalie and the driver all started hollering and waving their hands in the air to congratulate me. Danged if that didn't make me cry. What a great bunch to show me their happiness for my success.

Since I'm legal on the highway now, we made a quick run to Chemainus after I got home. The winds were insane and as Mom said, that was a baptismal experience for me. I hung on to my handlebars so tight. The bike was great, she didn't mind, but I felt like I might just get blown off the little Hussy. Yikes! And it was cold to boot. I thought we'd better take the Old Chemainus Road route home, but when we reached the construction zone, and knew we'd be in for about a 20 minute wait before they let us through, and all we were on was gravel, well... yes, you guessed it, we pulled a U-turn and headed back into Chemainus to take River Road out to the highway again, and got blasted by more winds all the way home. But it taught me that I can control that bike even under such windy conditions. Yippee. It's too bad the forecast is calling for rain all the rest of this week. My students are hoping to see me ride to school, and I'd sure like to do that for them... but not if it's raining. Ah well, there's still next week too.