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Teaching stick shifting...

To: Marcus Tooze <tooze@vinny.cecer.army.mil>
Subject: Teaching stick shifting...
From: "W. Ray Gibbons" <gibbons@northpole.med.uvm.edu>
Date: Mon, 7 Mar 1994 15:01:32 -0500 (EST)
Marcus gnashes teeth over gnashing of gears by SO...  So, Marcus, was
this teaching done in a Gnash Healey?  But I digress.

I found the most difficult thing to explain to my daughter was when to
shift and why, and anticipating when a shift would be needed.  She could
handle a 16.5 hand 1300 pound dressage horse, but felt defeated by a stick
shift.  I finally put it into terms she could appreciate:  "Elizabeth, 1
is like a walk.  2 is like a trot.  3 is an extended trot.  4 is a canter. 
5 is a gallop."

Then on a hill, I would say, "canter, canter, the car can't gallop up a
hill this steep," and she would downshift to 4th.  She denies it was
my expert instruction, but her everyday vehicle now is a 5 speed 4WD
pickup.  She also owns a one-ton stake bed Dodge, and on occasion drives
dump trucks and bobcats.

Ray






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