Lesson 2: Sep 1 (Sat) 3.30-7.30pm

Quite a pleasant start seeing one of the nicer instructors plus 2 of the classmate from last round.

New things were taught in the first half of this 4-hour lesson - signaling for changing lanes, counter-steering, and starting uphill. Yet I was not that confident in any of the advanced stuff, and in the end stuck with the basics.

My secret bicycle training in the week was proven worthwhile, as my balance going straight was no longer a major problem. That saved me a lot of time to speed up a little, and also experiment with the gearings. Clutch control was improving, and I had only experienced a number of times with a dead engine by stopping too hard, or just stupid enough to let go of the clutch while I was waiting. D'oh!

During the break I managed to relax a little chatting up my classmates. There's another girl who was learning 4-wheels at the same time - and was very good with the bike. I admit I was less talented than I expect I could be, but uhmmm I need to be better eh?

"Emergency stopping" was added to our practice area on the second half of the class. I started to enjoy shifting to the 2nd gear going straight and u-turning, as it gave me an obvious indication of my progress in Lesson 2. Rule of the so-called emergency stop was to bring a 20km/hr bike to a stop within a 3-sec red-light signal. My stoppings were mostly smooth, but with the occasional nervousness that I let go of the clutch. Sometimes I also try to shift from the 2nd gear to the 1st, which was totally unneccessary (too many buttons eh).

Now I had this major problem on left turns. Partly due to my left wrist being injured from the last lesson (too much bike-lifting after felling off...), and partly because of my poor balancing on turning. I almost-crashed 3 times to where the instructors where standing... But after a few more rounds, my elbows got more relaxed and I could do big left-turns. Though it was still a disaster weaving around the mini cones, let alone my failed attempt on the "8" circle line. Classmate #2, who I hadn't talked to today, was actually really good at "8". Sometimes when he drove pass me from the opposite side, he told me to relax the shoulders... Well I appreciate that very much (and I really need to do so).

Next up will be preparation for the compulsory exam (to get Learner's license to drive on the roads). Definitely need more bicycle trainings!