Cycling Savvy Instructor Training accomplished--now for the REAL work!

Jenn and I are now listed as Cycling Savvy Instructors!

Of course, now the real work begins! We have to polish our presentation (a lot), so that the scripting is tight and effective. We have to create a tour route that has clear progressions and good teaching intersection sequences. It will take some time, and perhaps a test class or two before we "open the doors" and start really scheduling classes. Jenn and I both have some other stuff to accomplish over the next few weeks, so it's likely to be August before we are really up and running, but we'll get there.

I mentioned Day One stuff recently. Our time in the classroom that evening was enlightening. It was Sunday before I got to take my own turn presenting my module, and I was chagrined that I missed a couple of key points I normally mention when I discuss that topic. I'm calling it a reminder that I need to use my notes more effectively.

We did our road tour on Sunday, having done a "ground truth" visit to the features on Friday morning. I did reasonably well on my presentation and "chalk talk," but still learned from the experience. The plan was for me to present for one intersection, and have Jenn demonstrate that feature, then for Jenn to present for what was to be the last feature, and me demonstrate for the last feature of the day (and watch riders at a key point in that feature). Mother Nature had other plans, however. As we were riding to the next-to-last feature of the day, we got rained on. HARD. "Three inches in an hour" hard. At one point, the rain coming through my helmet washed sweat and sunscreen into my eyes, and I had to pull off the road for a while until I could see again. "We changed our route back to the starting point to avoid heavy traffic while the visibility was diminished" hard. Apparently, it happens with some regularity in central Florida--later in the summer.

Wanting to not spend our entire life savings on the trip, we took advantage of standby tickets at a better-than-retail price. While still not "cheap," they were pretty reasonable. The downside is that there was no guarantee of the planned flight having room for us, which was a factor during our return trip. We got to spend several extra hours away from home, but still found ways to make it not so bad.

Another way we saved some money was that we were invited to stay at the home of some folks in Orlando instead of using a hotel. This was REALLY cool, as our hosts live close to where the training was based, as compared to hotels either miles and miles from the focal point or very expensive (or both). We also enjoyed the company of our hosts, which is not common in a run-of-the-mill hotel.

And Jenn got to eat dinner at Ethos Vegan Kitchen, a reprise of a highlight of our February trip. Nutshell review: I'm a meat-eater, and I would eat there again if the opportunity presented itself, even if Jenn were not with me on my next visit to Orlando.

Not far from our hosts' house is 903 South Mills Market, another great place for lunch, or an afternoon snack, or perhaps breakfast.

In another post I'll talk more about Cycling Savvy, and what it means to be an instructor for that class.

Cycling Savvy Instructor Training, day one

...has started. We have a bit of a break between the "Ground truth" segment, during which the candidates get to see the features we are going to "teach" to our classmates, and the classroom segment this evening.

Each of us has been assigned a module of the Truth and Techniques course, two of the drills in the Train Your Bike" course (with a co-instructor), and will be assigned a feature of the road tour to teach (with probably a different co-instructor from among the candidates).

The intense work is yet to come, although it's somewhat less intense if one prepares well. I've been internalizing the lessons for a good while, so I feel reasonably well-prepared, but we'll see. There is always that little bit of "I'm used to teaching this other class so I know how to teach this stuff" attitude that may get me in trouble.

That said, the Instructor Trainers are not "gotcha" folks. They want us to succeed. We want to do well.

During the ground truth riding, we've had some time to socialize with our fellow candidates. I have some internet history with a couple of the others, and am just now meeting the rest. A few puns have been tossed about, as one would expect. Some good jokes have been told, as well as a couple of vignettes that have elicited responses ranging from chuckles to astonishment.

I'll be in class again in a couple hours. Back to the books!!

Silly numbers post

I haven't done a silly numbers post in a bit, so here's the latest one: My visit counter will soon read 13579.

No, I'm not going to keep watching for when it actually happens.

Ode to my truck, or, owed to my truck.

I mentioned some weeks ago that my pickup truck is no longer serviceable, without major repairs. After putting off taking action for too long, I finally sold it today.

Of all the gas-powered vehicles I've owned, I have this one the longest. I bought it at the end of 1999, after not owning a car for a month or two (the car I had before then was written off by the insurance company after a crash, and I had the luxury of not needing to buy a replacement right away). I put a bit over a hundred thousand miles on this truck, which compares to the mileage I put on at least two other cars I've owned (although spread out over a longer period--I drove the heck out of a couple of those cars, and have tried to ride more than drive for the last several years).

The truck served me pretty well. I sometimes wish I had done a better job on keeping the maintenance up to a standard, but I suspect it would have cost me a similar amount of money either way.

If one were to anthropomorphize a truck, it would seem sad to have it go to a salvage yard--it seems an ignominious end to a truck that has served me well. However, I figure that the parts can go to help others get service out of their trucks this way. Sort of like that I'm an organ donor.