Compulsory Basic Training - Or In My Case - Confused Biker Tribulations - Aug 2013

Sunday arrives and I decide to try and finish off part of my shed by just putting the doors on. That wont take too long. Urgh wrong ... I realise how wrong when the bf phones to ask where the hell am I? I should have been at his over an hour ago. Shit and damn and blast, he tells me that by the time I get there it will be too late for any practice on my bike.
I am really annoyed with myself. I got so engrossed in the shed I had no idea of the time and now I have messed up all our plans. The youngest daughter is also in a huff with me over something, clearly I have upset her but I have no idea why. So I leave for the bf's house feeling rather tearful. God only knows why I am so emotional? Ok so my daughter has fallen out with me for some reason, I will not get to practice on my bike but are these really reasons enough to bring me close to tears? I guess I am far more stressed about my CBT than I allowed myself to realise. I also do not know if missing my mum right now has something to do with it as well. Why I miss her so bad right now is another mystery? She has been gone now for several years and it is not her birthday or the time of year she died. Damn, whatever the reason I am not in a good place for my test tomorrow, that is for sure. 

With no chance to test out my bike again to make an informed choice whether to use it or not for the CBT I decide just to use the training schools bike. I do not sleep well and have harassed dreams all night. 

Morning comes and I feel stressed and anxious. Where has my positive mental attitude gone? I try and find it, it is not under the bed and it sure is not sitting waiting for me on the couch either. I try and have a firm word with myself but it is no use I can barely raise a smile. I climb onto the bf's bike for the short trip to Williams and try my best to stop my belly turning somersaults. I have had no breakfast and with my tummy doing back-flips I sure do not want any.

At Williams we are greeted by the very friendly Karen who will be my instructor. I am booked in with another learner, a young girl and soon we are all chatting. I guess this informal chat and cups of tea is useful in calming the nerves of us newbies and I do find myself beginning to relax a little. I really do try to tell myself that learning is fun and I am supposed to enjoy this. That this is as Ren keeps on telling me not a test. I can not fail it I just have to complete it. Either way it still feels like a test to me and I have always hated being closely observed doing anything and I am a reluctant pupil. Urgh FUN Sharon remember this is FUN!!

Relevant forms are filled in, our licences are checked and fees taken. As myself and my learner companion are both pillion riders and already in full bike kit Karen does not waste time telling us all about the right kind of bike gear etc because we already know. We therefore go outside to discuss the bikes. Basic maintenance is discussed together with the controls of the bikes. It is raining hard and we are all getting soggy. Hmm even the sodding weather is reflecting my mood. 

We next take the bikes on and off their main stands and then it is time for us biker girls to helmet up and ride them there machines. First task it to simply ride the bike forward towards the instructor. At least I can do this with relative ease even on a bike I have not been on before. This exercise completed I am asked to ride around the pad ( a small squarish area bordered with used tyres to errr hopefully not crash into. I manage to control the bike quite well and I am soon happy and settled going around around in circles. 

Meanwhile Karen is spending some time now concentrating on the other learner. She unlike me has not had the benefit of being on a bike before. My practise clearly payed off and I begin to feel a small stirring of hope that I may not be a complete disaster after all. I eventually grow bored of going around and around and I stop for a rest while Karen continues to try and get the other young lady going. Finally it all begins to click and eventually she is riding around the pad. I can now rejoin her to begin the other exercises together.

We practise stopping and starting. Then figure of 8's. I have done these before but never in such a small space but Karen shouts instructions telling you clearly where to look at all times and the bike magically follows where you look. Somehow under Karen's instructions the figure of 8's come off quite easily for us both. If you look at anything you hope to avoid, in this case the tyres ringing the pad that is what you will head for. I do precisely that on my first attempt of a u-turn. However again with instructions from Karen to basically turn your head right over your shoulder the u-turns are also pulled off.

So far things have gone rather well and I am feeling an upsurge in my spirits despite the rain. However once gear change in introduced things stop going so smoothly. I keep hitting neutral and I am jerking all over the place. I am also struggling with the back brake. It is not very responsive and I tend to use quite a delicate touch and this one wants a big hard thud on it. So my previous smooth riding has deserted me and it is all getting a bit messy and I am getting tired. Learning new things is err well new to me. I have not had to learn a new skill for sometime and it is taking it out of me all this thinking.

Next mock junctions are set up and Karen's assaults my fuggy brain with a list of instructions so long I just want to have a moment or preferably ten to gather my scattered brains cells. My young companion however seems perfectly fine with this long list of to do's so I best knuckle under and just wing it the best I can. The list went along something like this. At the junction I want you to indicate right, check the way is clear in both directions and proceed out of the junction with positive throttle. At the first cone check mirrors and over shoulder and cancel signal. At second cone move up to second gear. Approach the next junction in position 2. At the third cone mirror and shoulder check, indicate left and move into position one. Move down to first gear and bring the bike to a controlled stop at the junction using both front and rear brakes. Once stopped release front brake and place left foot onto the ground with right foot on rear brake. 

Simple yeah??? Not for me, the act of trying to remember all these instructions and putting all these actions together turned my head to mush and it got even more messy. For the life of me I could not help but try and grab the front brake all the time when I should have been using the back and when I came to a stop my hand remind glued to that front brake. Even though Karen told me EVERY TIME I stopped I could not of my own volition get my hand off that brake. Karen said this was beginning to be a concern because I ran the risk of pitching the bike if I just grabbed for the front bike while at slow speeds or cornering. So she decided to call for lunch in the hope a rest may improve and refresh my bewildered brain.

We go to the portacabin to find the resident cat tucking into my dinner. She did not even have the grace to look ashamed but instead looked rather pleased with herself and dabbed her robbing mouth with her delicate paw. She was quite content after my chicken and bacon butty and curled up for a sleep. Karen was mortified and said the kitty had never done anything like that before. Just as well I had another sandwich and some crisps. 

After lunch I got slightly better and the other learner got slightly worse so at least we were evenly matched again. But I was far from super smooth and even my starting was beginning to get a bit hit and miss. Finally Karen declared our time on the pad over, we had finally completed that section. Oh my, thank goodness for that. However it is now nearly 4 o'clock and Karen said she was reluctant to take us on the road so close to rush hour and especially with us both still being a little sketchy on some points. I am bitterly disappointed. I so wanted to complete today. I wonder if I should argue the case but my companion is all too ready to agree that it is time to call it a day. 

I sit down and suddenly realise how incredibly tired I am. Reluctantly I have to agree that Karen had made the best call and there is no where else to go today but home. I phone Ren to tell him to come pick me up and to deliver the news that I did not complete. I had high hopes of riding my bike to the bike club this evening but those hopes will not come to fruition. I try to book in again for tomorrow but no spaces are available. I am working from Wednesday and the rest of the week so there is no option but to book for the the following Monday. The biggest shock comes when I am told I will have to pay for a second day. An additional £50 on top of the £80 I paid today. I never saw that one coming. I presumed the fee was flat rate for completion no matter how many days it took. Well therein lies another lesson learned the hard way. Another £50 on top of the already accumulating costs of the bike, shed, insurance etc, big URGH.

I go to the bike club that evening and confess I failed to complete my CBT to all the members there. They are all wonderful and supportive and cheer me up with tales of their own learner woes and mistakes to make me feel better. Then I am presented with some rather special gifts from Mick and Tom. I had recently asked for advice on our clubs forum about the best bike locks because there is such a bewildering choice I was tying myself in knots trying to choose. And to my utter surprise and delight Mick and Tom have kindly given me between them all the locks I need. I now had a sturdy heavy duty chain with equally sturdy lock. An alarmed disc lock just like I had wanted and a strong padlock for my shed. I never expected anything like this and thanks to their generous and kind hearted gifts they put a huge big smile back onto my face. I might not have completed my CBT that day but I did discover more than ever what a great bike club I am in and what wonderful friends I have made. That sure is worth smiling about I can tell you. 

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