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BIKES: SPEED Girls Go To Riding School - Katie
Written by: SPEED Staff
SPEEDtv.com   
06/29/2009
Charlotte, NC
 


Editors Note: This is the first in a seven part series by the SPEED Girls as they attended the Cornerspin School for a weekend of riding instruction. Katie works in the interactive department at SPEED.

Katie…

For me, learning how to ride a motorcycle has always been something on my 'list of things' to do. Not long after I expressed this desire to SPEED's motorcycle journalist, Neale Bayly, this became a reality. Neale gave me Aaron Stevenson’s information, the owner of Cornerspeed and Cornerspin School in Spencer, NC. This school is a road racing school taught on a dirt track. I called up Aaron and he told me that if I could learn to ride on the dirt ,I could likely ride anywhere, which sounded pretty good to me, so we coordinated a 'girl’s weekend' for a group of us to learn to ride with his team.
Katie had never ridden a motorcycle before and came away with lots of bruises, but also a lot of very usable experience. (Photo: Neale Bayly) ยป More Photos

The skill level of our group of girls ranged from someone like myself, who hadn't sat on a bicycle in years, let alone two wheels with a motor underneath, to a few girls who were regular riders and no strangers to the two wheel scene. For them, Aaron said that practicing on the dirt would help them improve some of their fundamental skills and make them more aware riders on the road. As for myself, I was just hoping to make the bike move.

For the beginner group, day one focused on getting on the bike, learning how to kick-start it, and how to use the clutch and the throttle. After many failed attempts of starting and killing the bike, I was able to keep it running and steadily ride in a straight line. After a few rounds of this, I felt comfortable maneuvering the bike around a wide circle and putting my feet on the pegs. As the day went on, we continued to grow more confident on the bikes as Aaron and his instructors had us work on starting and stopping
drills and completing various exercises to help us negotiate corners. And finally, after many wipe outs, including a popped wheelie, and more fun than I can remember our first day came to the end.

On the second day, we came back ready to put our newly learned skills to use – although we were sore, we got back on our bikes and rode down to the dirt track. We focused on turning and picking up speed on the bikes. This was the day it all came together. We made many laps, shifting, braking and turning at speeds I wouldn’t have believed on first arriving at Cornerspin. At the end of this day we were all exhausted, but with everyone smiling and laughing it didn’t matter. We had such a great experience with Aaron and his team, and I know I speak for all the girls when I say that we are really excited to pursue this lifestyle. The next step? Getting our license!

Stay tuned for the next entry tomorrow...

See the Photos from Cornerspin

Get more information about the Cornerspin School



Check out the Video from the Cornerspin School below...
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