Dame Kelly Holmes writes for Get On about her journey from free motorcycle ride to passing her CBT, and attending Motorcycle Live 2011.
Earlier in the summer I fulfilled an ambition of mine when I passed my CBT – the training required to be able to ride a 125cc motorbike or scooter. I was contacted by the Get On campaign, who provide anyone aged 16 or over with a free one hour taster session, and I was lucky that they arranged for me to spend a day with Mid-Kent Motorcycles and take my CBT.
The experience was amazing and from the moment I sat on the bike I was hooked and knew I would want to go on and get my full licence and ultimately my own bike.
Well last week I started out on the next leg of my journey to passing my full test and getting a bike when I went up to Birmingham to Motorcycle Live – a massive consumer show where all the manufacturers and brands show off their latest 2012 models and kit.
As well as seeing all the bikes and kit at the Show there’s also a huge amount of activities to try your hand at like off road riding and for those that haven’t ridden before the Get On team have a whole area set aside for giving people a chance to ride a geared bike or scooter under expert tuition from a qualified instructor.
First up I popped into see the Get On guys and discuss the next steps for my training – I have to pass several more tests before I’m be able to ride any type of bike. The first thing for me to do is pass my theory and I am getting some interactive DVD’s to practice on. Once that’s ticked off there are two practical tests to pass, Mod 1 and Mod 2 which hopefully I’ll get done in the Spring time.
Husqvarna have kindly offered to lend me a 125cc bike so I can get lots of practice in and then when the spring comes I’ll be aiming to pass my tests and get a bigger bike. The decision now is which one?! Having gone round the Show – which is massive it makes you realise just what a huge variety of bikes there are.
I think personally that I’ll want something more practical than a bike made purely for speed, and I would also like to get a Scooter. The Vespas looked cool and I can see myself zipping around and getting ahead of the traffic on one.
So next stop for me is taking my theory and then I’ll be in touching distance of getting my own bike – I really can’t wait!
If like me you want to give biking a go but aren’t sure how to go about it visit Get On. All you do is type in your postcode and you can book a free taster session with your nearest training session. How good is that?!
