BRC day 3: the thrilling conclusion

The final day of BRC began when everyone arrived early to review figure-8 turns and quick stops. At the official class start time, we started the first of four new exercises. When we had finished learning those, we spent some time doing practice runs of the actual test course. Then we took a break. When we came back, one of our instructors was no longer acting as a teacher but as an official evaluator for the state of Minnesota.

Before we started the test, a fellow classmate said, "now it's the hard part." I said that this would be the easiest part. On every other exercise, we were learning something new, but the test was all things that we already knew how to do!


I was riding Alphonse again. We reviewed each part of the course before doing that section of the test. In order to earn our M endorsement, we had to successfully complete a figure-8 box, high-speed swerve, quick stop, and sharp turn. After all our practice I was feeling confident, but I still relaxed and concentrated all my attention on what I was doing, and I passed my behind-the-bars examination with points to spare.

I highly recommend the BRC to anyone who wants to learn to ride a motorcycle. The instructors were very friendly and helpful. They also did a great job at pacing for a class with riders of widely varying experience levels. Best of all, a shout-out to my instructors who waited after class when I realized I had brought the wrong paperwork, and a huge thanks to my wife who found my motorcycle permit and brought it to the course, without whom I would not now have an M endorsement on my driver's license.