Phase 1a - Do the Compulsary Basic Training (CBT)

Because Baggy is an old bird, it was possible for her to go straight to a big bike. Unlike younger people she didn't have to ride a 125cc bike for a couple of years first. Well she had been driving a car for thirty years, so at least she had road experience. So buying a 650cc bike wasn't as nuts as it might have seemed. But the first stage for absolutely everybody is to do the CBT. The bike dealership had recommended Ipswich Rider Training to Baggy so she gave them a call and booked her one day course. To say she was nervous was an understatement. She had no idea what to expect. She had visions of being the one batty old woman amongst a group of teenage lads. Actually it turned out to be just Baggy and a thirty-something guy who was doing his third CBT because he hadn't got round to doing his test.

Facebook Status 29/7/13: "Phase 1 of "Become a hairy" is in place - first day of training is booked for Wednesday. Exciting!"

Baggy's first piece of advice on the road to becoming a hairy, is pick your training school with care. If you can, get a recommendation from someone who's been there. Baggy's school was great. Very thorough. And if you weren't good enough at the end of the day, you could come back the following morning for further training at no extra charge. Handy! Tea on arrival. Always a bonus. A good hour or so discussing, bikes and motorbike gear and road sense, before going out to the garage to be introduced to our motorbike for the day. A good introduction to our bikes: where the clutch is, the brake, the gears etc. etc. Then lunch. And breathe. Fitted with Hi-Viz and a headset so the Instructor could talk to us. Bundled into a van. Driven to the off-road centre to get on our bikes. Waaaaaaaah!

 

The chap Baggy was with hopped onto his bike and immediately started to whizz off around the little course. Well he had been riding a 125 for over two years. Baggy decided not to panic. She switched the bike ignition on. She felt the beginnings of a tiny little beard hair sprouting. She put the bike into first gear. The hair grew a bit. She moved off. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! She kept going. Fully sprouted beard hair. Yes, Baggy is a biker. Well, no, okay she isn't Clever bird, but at least she's on the move. Second gear. Wobble. Wobble. Beard hair retreated. Meanwhile the other chap is merrily shooting around the course, the cones, the mini-roundabouts, the pretend road junction, right turn and all. Baggy is by now fairly whipping along! She must have hit at least 10mph. But the advantage of not having a clue was that she pretty much had the undivided attention of the Instructor. It took rather a long time, but eventually Baggy was managing to go round the course. On the straight she even managed to get into third gear and do 30mph. Just. Briefly. Holding her breath. Another beard hair attempted to start growing. Then retreated rapidly when Baggy was required to do an emergency stop. Finally after (probably considerably) longer than it should have taken, the Instructor said that we, well Baggy (the other chap had been ready all day) were ready to hit the roads of Ipswich. Well not literally, although that's what Baggy was scared of. No beard hairs in sight now. Eeeeeeeek.

It was one of the scariest moments of Baggy's life. She felt okay on the safety of the private "pad", but the thought of being on the real roads. Terrifying. Fortunately, the Instructor led and took us round quiet housing estate roads until Baggy was beginning to get her confidence. Beep beep. Then the other chap led the ride. Then Baggy was asked/told to lead. Arrrrrrgh! It was so much more scary being in front. But slowly she was okay. We must have gone round the same little circuit about twelve times. Beard hair gently pushing out. The right turns at junctions were particularly terrifying. But eventually it was time to go on proper roads, with proper traffic. Okay. Don't panic Baggy.

After a few minutes of realising that actually she was okay, Baggy began to feel confident. A little too confident perhaps. She decided to demonstrate this to the Instructor. She was leading so she pushed herself up to fourth gear and 40mph. Brrrm brrm. Beep beep. Big grin. Then she heard a little voice say that she might want to slow down to thirty so that she didn't get her first ticket as a biker. Oooooops. The Instructor had let Baggy whizz along for a way as he was so pleased that she felt confident enough to do it, but she'd failed to notice the speed limit change. Ah well. Shrivelled beard hair. But Phase 1a of becoming a hairy was enjoyable, if tiring. By the end of a very long the day it was official. Baggy had her CBT Certificate and was now legally allowed on the road on her own. Or to ride a bigger bike with an Instructor. Oh yeah. So Baggy booked her next lesson for the next week on a 500cc Honda..........  

Facebook Status 31/7/13: "Phase 1 of "Become a hairy" is complete!!!! I have my CBT certificate!! Am now totally cream-crackered and on the wine".