Driving Lesson

In Honor of Paula Vogel, I have divided this post into a series of Driving Lessons.

You and the Reverse Gear.

So yesterday, as Cara and I began to prepare for the road trip tomorrow, I came to the startling realization that her car has a manual transmission. I can't drive a stick. I had never tried, nor had anyone tried to teach me... until today.

Shifting into Fifth Gear

In order to better divide up the drive load, Cara hoped to teach me how to drive a stick (at least the one attached to a car) - in one day. So this morning we drove around the Grosse Pointes looking for an abandoned parking lot. It is the fourth of July, so we thought this would be an easy thing to find... not so much.

You and the Reverse Gear

Apparently parking lots aren't nearly all that empty on the 4th, as most places are in fact open. The weird thing was - church parking lots were empty... and it's a Sunday. God must not be having the BBQ at His place...

Idling in First

The first thing Cara taught me was how to start the car and shift into first gear. Having only ever driven automatics, I found all the new gadgets quite confusing. I was terrified that I was going to kill or maim her car, and then what? How would we go on the road trip at all? The first time I put the car in gear, it went rather smoothly, but the second time - let's say I warned Cara she should probably be wearing a seat belt. She got thrown forward slightly, and then promptly buckled up.

You and the Second Gear

So in automatics, the RPM gauge lets you know if your car is functioning properly. If there is too much strain as you accelerate, you need to have your transmission looked at. In manuals, RPMs play a much more vital role by letting you know at what point the engine wants to shift into the higher gear. By the time the lesson was complete, I felt I had gotten accustomed to shifting from 1st to 2nd. There were still some awkward moments - me forgetting to release the clutch while accelerating - but all in all second gear and I got along fine.

Downshifting from Third Gear

While I may have become friends with second gear, third gear and I became estranged acquaintances. This is partially due to the parking lots being on the smaller side - not allowing for me to comfortably accelerate in my stick shift infancy. I managed to hit third a few times, but had trouble downshifting out of it. In my eagerness to reach third gear, I unintentionally kept shifting into fifth, and then into fourth when I tried to downshift.

Having three pedals also terrified me. Suddenly, I had no idea how to stop or decelerate, because I had a billion other things to consider. Was I going to hurt the car by using the brake? How was I going to slow down? Downshifting became my biggest concern, as I could foresee many circumstances where slowing down would be a positive thing. I eventually was able to take the car from third gear to a standing idle - with relatively few snafus and angry gear noises - so yay for minor victories!

You and the Reverse Gear.

After the lesson was complete, Cara and I decided that the best option was for me to not drive. I'll navigate and be her entertainment. I'm okay with this idea, because frankly I feel America will feel safer knowing that a person with as much experience as a toddler on his first pair of roller skates is not pulling a U-haul across country.

Then we got Ice Cream.