Learning To Drive A Stick

I have had many people over the years attempt to teach me how to drive a manual transmission.  It has never ended well.  Either someone was kicked out of the vehicle, tears were shed, or worse the car ended up in the ditch…true story.

I think there are three basic rules to learning how to drive a stick shift (manual transmission).

1. The person who is teaching you must have a sense of humor.  No ifs ands or buts about it.
2. You must believe in yourself.
3. You should do it on an empty stomach!

With a borrowed car, my friend took me to a secluded parking lot up the McKenzie highway, determined to teach me how to drive a manual transmission, explaining what she was doing along the way.  I watched her feet and hands as she drove.  When we arrived at the park, my stomach was pretty queasy!  I started to get nervous and say forget it!  But with her encouragement we switched seats.

Im in the drivers seat now and she explains the clutch to me, the mechanics of the gears.  While Im holding the clutch in, she has me move the stick into the different gears so I will know where they are and how it feels going in to each position.

“If you have to force it, it’s wrong”.

I purposefully wore my Vibram Five Finger shoes so I could really “feel” the peddles.  I am glad I did.

I push the clutch in, put it into first gear, she nods and tells me to slowly release the clutch as I am slowly giving it gas, the same pressure with each foot.  I do as she says and it is almost as if I know what i’m doing.  Without a hitch we are rolling through the small cramped parking lot and my senses soar!  Im doing it!  Wow, what a feeling!

I feel the urge to shift (my favorite part) and ask if it’s ok.  She gave me the go ahead.  In with the clutch, off of the gas as I gently slip into second, off with the clutch and on with the gas.  I feel so important now!  I drive around the curbs, stopping occasionally to go over what I have learned.  Wanting to start from scratch I turn off the ignition.  A very important thing to know; how to turn the machine on and off.  I try reverse and I am scared. I can’t quite put a finger on why this is.

There are a few cars that enter the parking lot and I get a little nervous, They must realize what is happening and vacate as quickly as they came.

I am feeling confident in my abilities and drive over to the second part of the lot.  I had avoided this area as there were actual people standing outside of their vehicles.  (I just knew that I would all of a sudden forget how to drive, swerve and hit them or kill it right in front of them).  I put my big girl pants on and just went for it and acted like I owned the lot, which I did!  I rocked it.

I was done playing and felt I had had enough excitement for the day handing over the controls to my instructor.  “You did much better than I thought you would Grasshopper” she say’s to me with a smile. Inside I’m doing the happy dance!

Day Two

I tried my hardest to avoid driving!  I didn’t push for it because my stomach would begin to twist and turn at the thought of trying to get out of first gear!  But my trainer prevailed.

I decided the Pacific Source properties in Springfield would be a great place to practice.  This proved to be well utilized as there were plenty of turns, with enough room to use all gears, ensuring a lot of shifting, braking, down shifting and a slight hill I wont ever try again.  Seriously.  There should be a 4th peddle just for hills!  Or an easy button.

My trainer was very encouraging and even talked me into getting onto the road!  My heart was in my throat at the thought, but then again, what is the worst that could happen, right?

So after a little coaxing and few swigs of water, I pushed in the clutch, found first gear and slowly gave it gas as I let the clutch out and away we went.  No cars!  Whew. Thank heavens for small miracles.  I took a left and drove like I knew what I was doing, using my blinkers and everything.  The back roads were not very long, so I found a side road I could take.  I ended up on a dead end, with not much room to turn around.  I tried with everything I had to just loop around, but to no avail, I was going to have to back the car up.  Not my most favorite thing with a stick.

I don’t know why, but it seems harder for me with the gas and clutch in reverse and in my mind, I know there really is no difference but direction.

My leg is shaking and I feel as if I will somehow shoot myself and my passenger into oblivion, never to be seen again if I mess this up.

I push the clutch in, find reverse and give it gas.  The car starts to rev high!  ”What is happening” I ask.  My leg shaking even more at this point.

Turns out I wasn’t letting the clutch out.  An important little step.

I started over.  Clutch in, I find reverse, out with the clutch in with the gas and I peel out backwards!  It’s funny now, but it scared me, my life flashed before my eyes.  We happened to be on dirt, so the affect was even more dramatic.  I slapped it into first gear and away I went.  Im driving! all by myself.

Well, my instructor is sitting beside me, but I ask her to please act like she is on the phone with someone, this makes me feel as if she is not focusing on me and my new acquired abilities.  I just feel more at ease, and it worked.

I drove further down the street, around a round about and into a new parking lot, where I practiced stopping, turning off the car and starting all over.  I was digging this whole thing!

Then it happened.  I didn’t give it enough gas as I let the clutch out, the car not knowing what to do but the cha cha with two helpless passengers along for the ride!  There we sat looking at each other laughing until it decided it was done.  That my friends was not a comfortable feeling.  The good news is it was the only time I did it!  Yay for me.

I parked the car, feeling as if I had done enough for the day and we decided to call it good.    Once my trainer was back in her seat and we were securely fastened in our seat belts, I asked her a few questions, reviewing what I had learned, the last being:  ”Do you know how to peel out?”

Without hesitation and before I knew what was happening, she looked me in the eye and right there in the parking lot laid some rubber down!  Boy did that get my heart rate up!  I laughed for a couple of minutes with tears running down my face!  That was the icing on the cake for me.

Rule number 4.  Your instructor must know how to peel out properly.

I went into this a little nervous but with so much more confidence in myself.  I was able to do it without anyone getting hurt or crying.  Right now, I feel as if I can take on a race track!