Blog posts by terrylane Syndicate content

CBT – What to expect
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terrylane writes on October 15, 2010 3:19PM

Having done a free one-hour session and then booking my CBT, I guess you could say I’m hooked.

But, then came the mixed emotions “what have I done?” I had a mixed of feeling excitement and nerves at what to expect from the training.

I arrive at Metropolis Training Centre and start my training...

Part1 – Do I have the right documents? Yes, my photo license and the paper counterpart.....phew, that was easy.

Part 2 - Can I see?  Yes, I remembered my contact lenses, it makes reading a number plate 20 metres away that much easier!

Part 3 – Get to know the bike.  The instructor took me through each part of the bike making sure I knew and understood what each of the controls do.

Part 4 – Straight line riding – having had the taster session I had this one under control, I progressed quickly from riding in a straight line to round in circles before finally changing gears.
 
Part 5 – Manoeuvres - By now all the stresses and nerves began to settle and were replaced by a sense of calm.  I was feeling free and a smile had appeared under my visor.  I then started on my manoeuvres.  Again, the taster session had already introduced me to the figure of 8’s, but the idea now was to do them with more control.  We then moved on to indicating and performing safe turns followed by U-turns....I kept getting killed and had to do it again, then it dawned on me LIFESAVER glance!!!  Arggghhh, lesson learned, this reminded me how dangerous it could be if not taken seriously.  Emergency stops were great fun, you need to stop that urge to do everything quickly, remembering the faster you pull the brakes the more likely you are to skid. 

Once I’d completed all the manoeuvres I was showing confidence and then hit the open road for a drive round town for the afternoon…And if you are anything like me then it will be the start of your riding hobby!

Hopefully at the end of your day you will get that certificate that will let you ride all by yourself.   Next stop MOD 1.  I have booked that for the beginning of November...

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My First Ride
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terrylane writes on September 08, 2010 10:43AM

At the age of 34 and not being a huge adrenaline junkie new experiences are often few and far between so I was intrigued when I was told about the “Get On” scheme, which is available for anyone to claim a free 1 hour session on a motor bike, so I sat in front of my computer and set about finding my nearest Instructor Centre. 

After telling friends I’d booked a session they were all too keen to pass comment and give advice such as “Oh, you’ll find it difficult if you’ve only ever driven a car” and “Remember, your clutch is on the handlebars” or “You have to ride in a figure of eight, that’s hard”.  As you can imagine I was starting to get really nervous before my session.

I turned up at the Centre and met my instructor and after a short trip riding pillion, which I have to say was the scariest bit as I was not in control, we arrived at our destination and I was to begin my first ride in control of a motor bike... 

The instructor went through the controls and then I was ready to begin.  We started off with “moon-walking” the bike, this involved finding the biting point and then letting the bike move forward whilst taking big strides.  It was all done at my pace, so if I’d wanted to spend my hour doing this, then I could, but I didn’t, and I bet you won’t either.

So, now I’d mastered pulling away I got the chance to go around the circuit, it was first gear all the way!  I was surprised though how quickly my confidence boosted and it wasn’t long before I was changing up a gear and then back down and then stopping.....and then it came, the dreaded figure of eight. 

I was flying though; I had not hit or missed a cone, so it was game on and to be fair it was a doddle, ok they weren’t the smoothest figure of eights, but the cones survived. 


I’m now booked up for my CBT and I’ve a theory test in 2 weeks!  If you’ve ever given thought to getting on a bike then I would definitely recommend you check it out and claim your free session, I’m glad I did.

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