Blogs

Rating:

Timandra writes on May 04, 2012 2:34PM

The first Friday in May is International Female Ride Day for motorcyclists

Today is International Female Ride Day, celebrating the increasing number of women riding their own scooters and motorbikes.

Like many riders, I started out as a pillion, happy to sit on the back and let somebody else do the work. But once I had tried riding for myself, being a passenger was never quite the same. Nothing really beats the feeling of complete freedom and independence of riding your own motorbike.

Several high-profile women have been in the news lately as motorcycle pillion passengers: we're told that Princess Katherine (AKA Kate Middleton) loves to ride behind Prince William on his motorbike. And Amanda Holden was spotted arriving at her TV studio the sensible way - on the back of a motorcycle taxi, avoiding all the traffic jams and probably bagging a bit of extra sleep (always welcome when you have a new baby!).

So if you're a pillion passenger, why not try being on the front for a change? Book a Free Ride with Get On by entering your details on the left, and Get On will put you in touch with a friendly, qualified, local motorcycle instructor. If you don't have your own kit, they can lend you a helmet and safety gear. In an hour you'll learn the controls and be riding around a training area away from public roads.

Afterwards, if you like it as much as I did, you can ask about going for your CBT or your full motorbike licence, what sort of kit you'd need to buy, or what sort of motorcycle would suit you.

So go on, if you're a pillion - or even if you've never been on a motorcycle at all - celebrate today by booking your Free Motorcycle Tryout Session. And that includes you, Amanda and Princess Kate!

Obviously, if you're already riding a motorcycle or scooter, there's only one way to celebrate International Female Ride Day - get out and ride.

First Blood Part IV – Motorcycle Blogger – Peter Francis

Rating:

peterfrancis writes on April 19, 2012 10:59AM

Motorcycle Blogger Peter Francis give us his latest instalment as he takes us on his journey to become a blood biker with Essex Blood Runners.

The days preceding my route training had been the best weather so far this year, sunny skies and temperatures of 24°C were the order of the day, I was looking forward to a great day out with blue skies and pleasant temperatures and a nice excuse to ride my bike all day.

The day dawned...

Well Saturday 31st March dawned cloudy and a chilly 7°C and threatening to rain, how disappointed was I ? Still I had my route training to concentrate on and the weather was incidental so suitably dressed I set off .

I was due to meet up with the route trainer outside a coffee shop in Brentwood high street, I arrived with plenty of time to spare and met up with a couple of the other trainees , then a few more turned up and finally there was seven of us eagerly waiting.

We were all from different backgrounds and rode different bikes from brand new BMWs to Honda Hornet there was even a ZZR1400 and an ex Police Pan European.

The trainers arrived on the stroke of 10am and due to the number of trainees there were three of them, we were divided into 3 groups and each allocated a trainer, there then followed a briefing covering how we would ride , the route we would follow and various safety aspects. During the day we would be observed on our riding to ensure we didn’t have any bad habits. The only thing I was a little apprehensive about was the fact we would be riding in a group as it wasn’t something I’d done an awful lot of.

First Stop

Then it was time to get on with the business of the day , I followed the trainer of our group Stephen to the first stop at National Blood Transfusion Service just a few minutes down the road. Once we arrived we were shown where to park as well as the procedure to follow when collecting / delivering we also had the chance to ask questions and make sure we were happy with what was expected of us. Once we had finished with our visit we mounted up again and headed off to Basildon Hospital the first of 3 hospitals we were due to visit during the day.

The first of many

The plan for the day was that we took it in turns to lead our individual group and this leg was led by my fellow trainee as I wasn’t familiar with the area. After we left NBTS we made our way through the heavy Saturday morning traffic, despite getting a little separated in the town we soon caught up with each other outside the town and had an uneventful ride to the hospital. Once we reached the access road to the hospital our trainer took over the lead to guide us through the maze of internal roads that led to our drop off point. From there we again were shown where to go and what to do. By this time the other 2 groups had caught up with us and we left in a single group for our lunch stop at a local garden centre.

Off to the seaside

We had a very enjoyable lunch and even made a possible new recruit as a member of the public approached one of the trainers having seen the ‘Emergency Blood’ jackets. Lunch was over and it was time to visit the next hospital on the list which was Southend University Hospital. It was my turn to lead , and all 3 groups were combined for the run into Southend-On-Sea. I have to admit to feeling the pressure of leading the whole group , a wrong turn was out of the question …. So no pressure then !!

We arrived at the hospital a little damp as it had started to drizzle but I hadn’t managed to get us lost. After parking up we followed the now familiar routine and were soon able to tick off another hospital.

Destination Harlow

The final hospital was the Princess Alexandra at Harlow a trip along the A127 then M25 and M11. We soon dispatched the motorways and entered Harlow to be greeted by the early afternoon shopping traffic a bit of judicious filtering soon had us parked at the hospital and being briefed on the procedures to be used.

As this was the third and final hospital we’d reached the end of our route training , we’d covered about about 80 miles , visited 3 hospitals and been assessed on our riding. We were rewarded for our efforts by receiving our Essex Blood Runner ID cards ... I was finally a Blood Runner for Essex Blood Runners.

What next?

The next step is to be put on the Rota of riders ready to be called out. But that will be the subject of my next blog.

I hope you like my blogs feel free to comment below or via my Twitter @peterjfrancis

1 - Bike lock

No matter where I am going, I always have my lock with me in case I need to leave it somewhere. It would be silly not to have it anyway!

2 - Phone charger

I have a very lovely phone, but being an Android it guzzles up battery quicker than I can charge it, and the last thing I want is to be stuck at a friends not being able to contact someone because I can’t remember their number.

3 - Spare clothes

No matter how hard I try, I always end up cold, so having spare clothes to wear if the weather decides to be mean is always a good plan.

4 - My camera

I have two cameras, and one of which is much too expensive to have with me 24/7 but I like having the little compact with me, just in case I see a photo opportunity whilst out and about.

5 - A drink or snack

You never know when you might get hungry. As for me, I often get very painful cramps if I haven’t eaten at the right time, or eaten enough. Sure enough I could survive without the food, but it would make the bike journey just that little bit less fun.

And an added bonus, my glove box also contains a mini first aid kit... better to be safe than sorry!

So there you have it; the five essential things you will find in my luggage box. What would/ or do you put in yours?

Comments: 2

First Blood Part III - motorcycle blogger - Peter Francis

Rating:

peterfrancis writes on March 30, 2012 1:28PM

In my last post I told you about the start of my training to become a Blood Biker with the Essex Blood Runners. My training is taking a little longer than normal as I’ve been on holiday right in the middle of it all and missed one of the training sessions. However the good news is I returned from holiday to find an email inviting me to the final stage, Route Training on 31st March. I’m looking forward to it and hoping the recent spell of good weather continues as we will be riding all the routes to the hospitals and I’d rather not do that in the rain or cold.

A little bit of background

I thought you might be interested in a bit of background on the Essex Blood Runners, the group has been in existence since April 2007 and has grown steadily. In fact the group is continuing to expand with a bit of a ‘growth spurt’ occurring this month with the addition of three new hospitals to the existing three hospitals, and this is not forgetting the call outs to transport blood and samples to locations outside of the county via our links with other Blood Runner groups. The group maintain a call out record and this shows they have been called out on 115 occasions since 1st January, that’s just 82 days! It looks like it might be a very busy year!

Admin … what admin?

As you can imagine all this takes a great deal of organization, just producing the rota is a feat of organization in itself, imagine trying to juggle the work preferences of 50+ riders, making sure there is sufficient cover everyday, that is up to three riders on call every night with an additional three for weekend and bank holiday daytime cover). And let's not forget the fundraising and publicity activities like jingling collection tins at supermarkets as well as attending events to spread the word. The accompanying picture shows some of the riders at the Asda store in Romford who have generously made Essex Blood Bikers their chosen charity. These people work very hard behind the scenes to keep the riders on the road and make the whole Blood Runner concept work.

And finally

Well I’m off to check the bike over in preparation for 31st March, it will be getting the full treatment including a wash. I’ll be letting you know how I get on with my Route training in the next blog.

I hope you like my blogs please feel free to comment below or via my Twitter @peterjfrancis

The Get On top 5 winter blog posts

	1. Motorcycle licence - all change please Nigel Osborne gives us the lowdown on the the changes to motorcycle licencing laws coming into effect in 2013 Read about the 2013 motorcycle licence changes
	2. John Fell's Free ride story John does his free motorcycle ride with Get On and tells us all about it Read about John's free motorcycle ride
	3. 5 things my motorcycle is better than Rosy Webb shows us how much she loves her motorcycle by way of comparison with other things she likes Find out what's not as good as Rosy's motorcycle
	4. First Blood Peter Francis takes us with him on his journey to becoming a volunteer blood biker with the Essex Bloodrunners Read about Peter becoming a blood biker
	5. My bus experience Rosy vents her frustration; forced to use public transport when she'd rather be on two wheels Read about Rosy's bus experience

James' free ride story with Get On

Rating:

jameslubbock writes on March 14, 2012 12:54PM

As a total motorcycle rookie, I approached my first ever lesson with a mixture of trepidation and excitement. Would I finally discover my hidden talent, the next Valentino Rossi perhaps, and be catapulted onto the world stage? At last, a world of wine, women and a playboy lifestyle, purely from a free ride courtesy of Get On.

Or, perhaps more realistically, would I struggle, fighting to release the kickstand before I could even get on the bike. I’m afraid to say the latter was sadly true. Describing it as the lost scenes from Easy Rider would be a serious stretch of the imagination…

In fact my experience got off to a terrible start, nothing to do with Get On or the free ride I hasten to add. I had to abort the first arranged lesson with the local motorcycle school, as I managed to crash my car on the way. Yes, you read right, and the humiliating call to the school informing them I had to cancel due to my inability to drive really was the icing on the cake. Not good.

So back to the actual free ride. A pretty slow start, as I’ve already touched upon, and for the first half an hour, if I’m being entirely honest, it didn’t get much easier. I found it quite challenging to control the throttle – at one point the instructor had to jump out the way to avoid being hit – and even doing a semi-circle seemed a long way off.

At this point I have to pay credit to the instructor – he was patient, good natured and was always able to laugh it off. This was really valuable because it made the learning process an enjoyable experience and not a chore. Then, at about the halfway point, things began to change. I found I was able to pull away and stop in controlled manner, and even do a couple a turns. It doesn’t sound like much, but the improvement was big, considering how crap I was at the start.

I’d recommend a free ride to anyone – it’s a very different experience from anything I’ve done and I’m now seriously considering all the benefits that come with two wheeled transport as opposed to expensive cars. It was well worth it.

First Blood Part II - motorcycle blogger - Peter Francis

Rating:

peterfrancis writes on March 09, 2012 3:16PM

If you read the last post in my motorcycle blogger series, you'll know that I'm going through the process of becoming a Blood Biker with the Essex Blood Runners. Essex Blood Runners are a charitable organisation that delivers blood and blood products to hospitals and National Blood Transfusion Service locations across Essex between the hours of 7pm and 6am 365 days a year.

Training

As with most things these days there is a bit of training before you are let loose on the general public and the same is true when you apply to become a Blood Biker, there are two separate training sessions. GMP training

GMP stands for Good Manufacturing Practice , it sounds a strange phrase but it relates to the ‘manufacturing’ process used to get the blood from donor to recipient , it covers the handling of the blood products as well as the documentation used to maintain the chain of custody.

Route Training

Route training covers the fixed routes used by the Blood Runners between the National Blood Transfusion Centre (in my case its Brentwood in Essex) and the various hospitals and meeting points.

One step closer

In my case my first training session was to be the GMP module and this took place on a very cold (-7 degC) Saturday morning in February at the home of one of the committee members (thank you Brian). There were 4 new recruits in the session which covered all aspects of the handling and transportation of the blood and blood products as well as the documentation that goes with it. Whilst most of it was common sense there were quite a few things that have been learnt over the years by other Blood Bikers that were passed on and will hopefully prevent me making the same mistakes.

Among the subjects covered were how to secure the bags to your bike as there is a right way and a wrong way. The bags are typically 450mm x 450mm x 350mm ( or 18in x 18in x 14in in old money) and can be reasonably heavy at around 10kg (22lbs) so they need to be secure.

Accidents will (hopefully not) happen

We also covered what to do in case of an accident as well as if we have to leave the prescribed route due to traffic conditions; we have to use prescribed routes as it enables a relief rider to be dispatched in-case of accident or breakdown At the end of the session there was a short multiple choice test , to make sure we were listening , which thankfully we all were and so now I’m one step closer to going on the riders rota. It was a very enjoyable session and I went away with a better understanding of what was expected of me.

Following the GMP training I realised I couldn't safely secure the bag to my bike (Honda Hornet CB600-F3) so I'd need a rack. After a little surfing of the Internet I found a nice rack and it was duly ordered and arrived a few days later and fitted like a glove .

I'm now waiting for my route training which is the final step to being put on the riders rota, I'll tell you all about that in my next blog.

I hope you like my blogs feel free to comment below or via my Twitter @peterjfrancis

Fancy a round the world charity motorcycle ride? Why not?

Relaxed outside a sun warmed café it was the summer of 2011 when Sam and Clare decided this was their aim for 2012. It would be a challenge for even the most proficient biker that is Sam, so the fact Clare was a complete novice with no previous motorcycle experience made this project even more of an adventure.

The Route

50,000 miles of travelling planned through 45 countries with just a couple of tshirts, a few underpants and a tent, Sam and Clare will be encountering one extreme to another from the snow crusted mountains of Alaska, to the blistering blazes of the Middle East.

The Charities

* Wales Air Ambulance
* World Land Trust
* Riders for Health

Let the Training Commence

After months of planning and with a departure date set for August 2012, Clare eagerly commenced her training last week by taking her one hour free motorcycle ride with Get On. Ace Motorcycles trainer, Neil, was utterly stupendous and within minutes of excellent direction Clare’s nerves had fizzled away. Soon she was puttering around in loops, weaving cones and grinning like a Cheshire cat!

Afterwards, Clare bounded away, knowing that this was the first of many fantastic motorcycle days ahead!

What’s Next

Since the amazing Get On experience, Clare and Sam have both passed their CBT and their focus now lies on the Module 1 and 2 tests (after 8 years of riding the world, poor Sam is having to redo all training again!) If you fancy a giggle and want to know more, take a peek at the Chasing Horizons blog and pop them a Tweet or post on their Facebook wall saying hey! They’d love to hear from you.

Comments: 2

5 things my motorcycle is better than

Rating:

ROO writes on February 20, 2012 4:20PM

Driving a car

Because you have more freedom, you can be more adventurous and it costs less. I can’t drive yet, so I don’t really have a valid opinion, but people I have spoken to who have both say they prefer their motorcycle. I believe driving feels more like a chore than a hobby, for example: it’s more common for people to say “let’s go for a ride” than “let’s go for a drive”.

Chocolate

I love a large bar of Galaxy and a good book but my bike is more fun, and it means I’m not consuming worthless calories. The motorcycle lasts longer than that tempting bar of chocolate and you often regret eating it; but you don’t regret riding your bike. The bike is worth more than the chocolate, in fact so much so that I could buy more than 4,000 bars of it. Waste of money if you ask me, and well the thought of the exercise needed to burn off that chocolate doesn’t bear contemplating.

Television

I’ve never been interested in the T.V; there is hardly anything that I want to watch, so when the weather is nice, I would rather be out on the bike than sat on my ass watching Emmerdale. I could live without my T.V, just get on the bike and ride to a friend’s house, and then you have a television, a friend and a bike: perfect.

Money

If I had a choice of a million pounds or a bike, I would take the money then buy a bike, just because I could. Being perfectly honest with you, had I had money a year ago, I wouldn’t be where I am now. I wouldn’t have a motorcycle and I wouldn’t be writing this blog. As much as I love my bike, and now that I have it, I am choosing to spend the outrageous £400 on a bike test rather than buy a car. Had I had enough money to begin with I would have got a car, just to keep my parents happy. Just like everyone else, I need money, and I love shopping. But, what it comes down to is the fact that I know had I not bought the bike I would be around £3500 richer, but then I realise I would rather the bike, than a new wardrobe full of clothes.

Horse riding

I love horses, and miss the fact that my sister used to have one. They’re soft, friendly, comforting and fun; but when I think about the maintenance and clearing out the stable, the bike wins. Firstly, the bike can be left for a few days without the RSPCA knocking at your door. A bike is more practical than a horse, it can be used any time of day, and last but not least, there’s no poop to scoop.