I took my Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) back in September. A CBT is a requirement (hence the Compulsory part) for you to be able to ride a motorbike on the road. Once you have completed it, you can ride up to a 125cc bike with L plates. I took the course on one Saturday and it all went smoothly. I’d never ridden a motorbike up until that point and I my instructor told me that I was doing fine, although making classic “car driver” mistakes; things like leaving indicators on after making a manoeuvre - motorbike indicators don’t automatically cancel! The morning was spent practising driving an on off-road site around traffic cones and making sure that we were safe. After some lunch, me and the other learner I was with went out on the road with the supervision of our instructor. There were no great scares and at the end of the day I was given my CBT certificate.

I decided to move straight on to a Direct Access Scheme (DAS) course and test. As I’m over 21, I was able to take a DAS test and move straight on to “big bikes”. If you are unable to pass a class-A test for some reason (e.g. you are under 21), then you can take an A1 test, although that will restrict the maximum power of motorcycle you are allowed to ride.

The first day of my DAS course was in two halves. In the morning we went out on the road on 125’s just to check up on our ability to do the basics. Then in the afternoon we moved on to 500cc bikes. There were a number of differences that I noticed straight away. The brakes on the 500’s were much more powerful, the engine felt much more powerful, everything felt much more “refined”; the bike didn’t feel quite so “twitchy” as the 125’s. The 500’s felt heavier, but not in a bad way - the extra power and comfort more than makes up for the weight increase.

My instructor and I worked over the next few days on making sure that everything was ready for my test. In the end my test ended up being postponed by a day because of a radio failure on the examiner’s bike. When the day finally arrived, the examiner followed by car.

The test was straightforward and the only thing I felt nervous about was the turn in a road. Basically you have to ride your bike to face the opposite direction on the other side of the road. You have to do it without putting your feet down whilst turning and whilst staying in control of the bike. I can do it now with my eyes shut, but when you are doing it under test conditions it feels much harder!

Pulling up at the end, I felt like nothing had gone catastrophically wrong and I was happy to be told that I’d passed, with only two minor faults. Not bad!

So, a couple of days after my test, I undertook a monster ride to my parents, via a datacentre near Birmingham that I was working at that day - also undertaking one of the most unpleasant motorway junctions in the UK, the M5/M6 interchange. Because I was riding a new motorbike, I was still running it in, but fortunately I’d calculated (using maths!) that my top speed was going to be just over 70mph. My colleague Mark was going to be driving a car over to the datacentre, so I followed him up to Birmingham along the A14, M1 and M6. It was all plain sailing. After working in the datacentre, I continued on my ride up the M5 and M6, past some jams on the motorway, and felt confident enough to filter past stationary traffic. I got up to my parents and for the first time, introduced my mum to the idea that I was riding a motorbike. It all went fine!

About a month after passing my test I had my first spill. I managed to panic after a pedestrian walked out in front of me and managed to pull the slowest highside ever, at about 15mph. I came out fine, but I managed to damage both brake levers, an indicator, rear right hand footpeg hanger and scratch the fairing. £200 of parts and a week later I managed to fix it and rode back home from where my bike had been for the week. Fortunately I came out with nothing more than a bruised knee.

Since then, I’ve been riding through the worst of the winter weather, with the exception of snow and now it’s starting to get even more fun now the sun is out a bit more.

I’m also starting my advanced driving tuition soon and I hope to pass my advanced test sometime in the next few months. Watch this space!

http://625.uk.com/tv_logos/flash/itv_schools_clock_79.asp

Brilliant.

I was supplied with a new laptop and a temporary desk to sit at. I spent the day trying to get my laptop working as I like it and also reading up on what different parts of the business do. I got my proper desk on Friday and I’ve got most things set up as I like them now. Getting my laptop working with the docking station meant some playing around with the X configuration. I might post some more on that later when I get chance.

Christmas was nice. I got quite a few bits of clothing, some jumpers and trousers and also my annual supply of socks and pants!

It was great to see people over Christmas, especially those who I don’t get to see often. I went for a couple of walks over Christmas, including a particularly memorable walk from the Elephant and Castle in Holmfirth up to the Fleece in Holme in the pouring rain. When we got there we found that there was no room for us to eat. Doh!

I played a couple of gigs with the band. The first at Hepworth Village Hall;

and the second at the Picturedrome in Holmfirth. We had a great PA and light set up and an extremely helpful engineer running everything for us;

I love the new BBC iPlayer. The previous incarnation was Windows and IE-only. This version works on my Mac and Linux machines. I’m trying to cure my insomnia by watching some old “Have I Got News For You”.

I’m thinking of heading back down to Ipswich tomorrow. There is snow forecast for Thursday and Friday so it’s probably best to get down before that starts.

I’m going to be heading back up to my parent’s place in Yorkshire this evening and will be in Holmfirth all over Christmas. So if anyone wants to meet up whilst I am there, give me a call!

I handed my notice in at @Road today. My last day will be 4th January, although I’m on annual leave from the 20th December onwards. I’m going to miss lots of people, but I’m excited about the new job. I’m going to be a Senior Systems Administrator at iO Global.