FEATURE
P64
RICKY CARMICHAEL UNIVERSITY
"We spend an hour together with each
most rewarding thing for the instructors.
Ivan Tedesco
group, so what is something that you can
"No matter what section I'm teaching,
knows a thing or
teach them in an hour, that they're goI'm always telling people to quit looktwo about going
ing to get and that is going to be really
ing at the ground right in front of them,"
fast, too. He
beneficial to them?" Emig asks, rhetoriLangston says. "I've had to jump out of
passes along his
knowledge.
cally. "There are a couple things we go
the way of guys who didn't see me standthrough: some of the younger kids and
ing in front of them on the straightaway
like the beginner class, you're talking about us- until they were five feet from me. Everyone is guilty
ing two fingers on the clutch and some things like of that to an extent. But that makes a huge differthat. But there's also the foundation of your tech- ence. I love seeing the people get noticeably fastnique and stuff, like how to sit on the bike, how er in my section. It's really cool."
to hold onto the bike, and that stuff works across
"You know, it's fun because some of them are
the board. It's something that a lot of us pro rid- like sponges and want to absorb it," Stanton says.
ers just kind of automatically did and we happened "Then there's always a group, the A riders, the
to do it right. And so it's something that's easy to guys that think they know it all, the ones that you
teach them, they get it, and it makes a difference have to yell at the most. But even that can be kind
instantly. Now, whether they can make it part of of fun for me."
their technique and it becomes instinct to them is
For Carmichael, he really loves all aspects of the
up to them, but literally within an hour, we can do RCU.
things to change their technique and make them
"The most rewarding part for me is when people
better off the start. And it's pretty positive. For the come here and we're giving them their diplomas
most part, I'd say 90 percent of the individuals get and gift bags and asking if they had a fun time, and
it. I don't know, maybe it's one of the easier sec- they say, 'Man, this has been an unbelievable extions of the RCU for them to grasp."
perience.' The older people. And then the parents
Regardless of the section, though, seeing their walking up to me and saying, 'Man, this is really cool
students really grasp something seems to be the that you could put something on like this.' That's the
