I can only speak for the road training instructor I have here in Columbus. He is great! I hope after I get my cdl and go out with a mentor, that they are just as good a mentor as he is an instructor. Oh, and the instructors down in Millington were great also. I won't mention his name, but the Millington Instructor I had was tough. On numerous occasions, he chewed on my ### as though it was beef jerky, and I hated to see him coming in my direction while I was practicing; but during the last two days there, as I noticed my skills were much improved from just a few days ealier, I realized why he did what he did. We had a good laugh about what I wrote on his instructor evaluation. He likes having the reputation of being "tough" (on the exterior), but I think inside he is just a big "softie." I've come to realize that learning to drive is not as easy as it would "appear" to be, and drivers out there who have made it, deserve respect. Off to bed, since a big day of practice in the morning. Where is my toilet plunger -urr-gearshift? I need to practice my downshift pattern. Clutch-neutral-rev-clutch-gear.
Most of us have been through a few humbling days with the gears Buckeye. Trust me when I say that you need a few of those days to make you a better driver! Before ya know it, you will be able to handle those downshifts without grinding and ya won't even have to think about it. Glad to hear you have a good road trainer - that makes life a lot better.
You will get used to the throttle pedal and bumping up the rpm's to downshift. It just takes practice. Keep it up.
