The last blog was about the first 2 classes of the CCRI motorcycle course, which consisted of one 3 hour class and a 5 hour riding range.  

The second classroom session was longer than I thought it was going to be, but still very informative.  We went through the book answering questions as a class, and then had the test.  It was super easy if you paid attention, I scored 100 and am pretty sure everyone else did well also.  

The second riding range was INTENSE.  There were up to three times as many instructors on the course, because there were new instructors there getting trained and helping out.  They basically went through everything you did with a fine toothed comb and let you make adjustments until you got it right.  I wouldn't say it was hard, but was definitely more challenging than last time.

The instructors' exercises this time focused on real world situations such as:

getting on an on-ramp 
cornering
making U-turns (the hardest one for me because it's low speed maneuvering)
stopping quickly
driving over obstacles 
lane changes
swerving

Many of us were under the impression that all of the instructors that were evaluating us were also grading us, but we found out later that the test was the last 45 minutes of class.  Once again, not extremely difficult, but some of it was indeed challenging to this first timer.  

The test went through the cornering/acceleration, lane changing, and U-turn.  It went by pretty fast, and while I don't think I scored as well as I did on the written test, we all passed.  

If anyone finds this blog useful, and wants my book from class, let me know.  When I Googled the CCRI Motorcycle class and saw that there were no detailed descriptions on what exactly to expect, I figured I would write one about my experience.  I hope it helps. 



  

I've been to La Cucina for breakfast a few times, and for lunch once, and it is a great and fast place to grab a bite.  I'm a very antisocial breakfast eater, and usually don't want to go somewhere to "see and be seen", I just want my delicious food and I'm out of there.  This poses a problem with most weekend breakfast places, because if you wake up after 8 on a Saturday pretty much every place in town is crowded.  

La Cucina combats this by being among the biggest places, because it also functions as a normal Italian restaurant.  There's plenty of parking, and even if there are a lot of people, you're not elbow to elbow with people like you are at so many other places.  Overall, just a better atmosphere.

I always get eggs, toast, home fries, and bacon (because the person I usually go with loves bacon but never orders it.)  The breakfast is always super fresh, and  they have plenty of hot sauce on tap, because they know I like my eggs like I like my women.  Spicy.

When I went there for lunch, I had the Chicken Parm sandwich, I wasn't planning on going to lunch that day, but my father didn't want to golf because it was too windy.  (coughcoughWIMPcough)

The chicken parmesan was great, and they had an awesome balsamic pasta salad that is a great fry substitute.  

Would I recommend La Cucina for breakfast or lunch?  Yes.  

Dinner review coming soon!   

 

Ok so it seems as if no one has written anything about the CCRI motorcycle class from the perspective of a student.  I thought this could be a cool idea so that people would know what to expect should they decide to take the class.  I'm taking my classes at CCRI Lincoln - Flanagan Campus, and have taken one 4 hour class and one 5 hour riding range so far.

The classroom part is basically watching videos and answering questions, the answers to which can be found in the booklet that you get on the first day.  It's all pretty self explanatory, which was cool because I had zero experience.  

The first riding range was pretty intensive, we did drills over and over, and the instructors were there any time you wanted to pull over and ask a question.  Once again, they went over every little thing from getting on the bike, to how to work the clutch to get going, to shifting.  They really work for a long time on every little thing, which is great for a beginner, such as myself.  There were some experienced riders in my group, and they were helpful as well when the instructor was on the other end of the course.  

The majority of the bikes were Honda Rebels, which look like the pic below (pic courtesy of Honda Motorcycles)

I did some research and they are pretty much the go-to for beginner cruisers.  (super reliable, manageable, but fast enough for highway.  I'd definitely consider one for my first bike, it was fun to ride.)

Would I recommend the class so far?  Yes.  If you have no motorcycle experience, it will definitely get you started the right way.