Road Test and License Success, Off to Airport

Today's weather: High = 27 Low = 12
Sunny

Yesterday was, to put it simply, a miracle. The probability calculation as mentioned in the last post worked out in my favor. I got that standby road test slot at 12:30pm, right towards the middle-end of the appointments, and bang on with what the calculation predicted would be the optimal time!!

But the very nature of probability says there is never a guarantee, even if the calculation says that I should have a 'good chance' or it's 'very likely' towards the middle-end of when the appointments happen during the day. In other words, uncertainy is always involved, and hence the nerve-wracking wait experience.

In keeping with the calculated risk, I ensured I was the first guy there. So at 5:00am I arrived and began the waiting game. About 30 minutes later, two other people joined, and the line started to grow substantially by 6:30am.

Most of the people in the standby line were, however, waiting for CAR road tests. There was nobody else waiting in standby for a motorcycle test, and I could have just shown up at 8:00am and talked directly to the liason with Pro-Ride who was organizing the testing. If only I had known that!! But the guy I spoke with at driver services said, "Show up as early as possible with your bike" which was unnecessary as he was applying what he knew about CAR road tests to bikes, which were a totally different category.

Anyway, that guy sent me on a wild goose chase to rent a motorbike the day before and pay for a 24 hour rental -- that cost a fortune. This was in order to show up at 5am which was in fact not necessary. I could have just shown up at 8am and used the bikes provided by Pro Ride!!

However, the rental bike was a good call as I had already been used to it (small Kawasaki 250cc bike) with extensive practice in the road testing area. The previous practice was also a good call as it turned out the actual road test went exactly in the areas I had practiced my brains out!! Including the tricky 4-way stops, school zones, residential streets, highway merging, the whole nine yards.

While it was never-wracking to wait around in the morning and not be sure if I'd get a road test slot, there were also many benefits. I had a chance to talk to the organizer of the road test, talk to many of the bikers who were doing their test in the morning, and also listen to the feedback from what their test was about. The guys gave me super good tips about the test, including detailed stuff I never would have thought about. Turns out those tips came in majorly handy and I got a chance to use them!!

Not only that, but I snuck out during one of the earlier test runs and followed the ICBC testing van from a safe distance, to see what kind of routes they were using.

When it was my turn, which came up at 12:30, the examiner took me on a similar route, with a few differences. To make a long story short, I passed with flying colors!!!

The only hitch was that I forgot to shoulder check when doing a U-turn on a residential street, and that cost me 4 demerits. Other than that, it was flawless.

I am super happy about the result, and the timing was literally a miracle. Shortly afterward, I took a much needed nap back in Richmond, followed by a celebration dinner with lots of Chinese friends in the city. Turns out we went to an Ethiopean restaurant, how's that for a global experience.

Now I'm waiting at the airport, the next day, for a flight back to Shanghai. What a perfect way to end a rather stressful 3 weeks in Vancouver taking care of a bunch of necessary tasks.

At this point I can happily say I am 5 for 5, with 100% task rate success! Boarding has been called for my flight.