A couple of days ago I registered for this morning's 9 a.m. (abridged) Advanced Riders Clinic that I had been invited to attend. But after a late night at a dive karaoke bar with some friends, I regretted making that commitment. All I wanted to do was sleep in. So when the alarm went off at 7 a.m., I smacked the snooze button and told myself I'd wake up in ten minutes. And that's exactly what happened. Sort of. I went back to sleep and when the alarm went off ten minutes later, I woke up to reset my alarm. I had decided I wasn't going to shower or bother getting there early for the free donuts and coffee. That bought me another hour of sleep.

I wasn't exactly sure what I was getting myself into or how much I was going to benefit from the seminar, especially without a practical course portion to apply the techniques. Because I was one of only 25 people accepted to the seminar and since it was too late to surrender my seat to someone else on the waiting list, I was obliged to go. I am a good rider, but I recognize there is always room for improvement and that a refresher course is always a good idea if given the opportunity. I was just skeptical about what I would get out of an abridged classroom course.

But from the moment Lee Parks, author of Total Control High Performance Street Riding Techniques, began speaking until the moment the clinic concluded almost 2 hours later, I was completely captivated. His charismatic speaking kept my attention the whole time. The seminar was jam-packed with so much worthwhile information that I'm convinced taking the critically acclaimed full 8-hour course has to be worth every penny of the $295 registration fee. The clinic was definitely worth waking up for.

Lee has been racing for 25 years and won the 2001 G.M.D. Computrack National Endurance Series Championship in the Lightweight class. He also finished 2nd in the 1994 AMA 125GP national championship in its exhibition year. For five years as the editor and chief test rider of Motorcycle Consumer News, Lee road tested every new street motorcycle available in the U.S. and became one of the top performance-testing journalists in the world. It really made me realize two things: 1) that no matter how good of a rider I think I am (or how good you think you are), Lee is better and 2) there's always room to grow.

Lee is currently touring the U.S. to speak about his Advanced Riders Clinic. Currently, the course is being taught in 9 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Washington, and Wisconsin. If you are in one of these states, check it out. You'll learn something new - guaranteed.

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posted by MarkR @ 10:30 PM