I've been riding bikes for ages, on and off through my youth and legally on the road for the last eight years. I've had countless crashes off road and a few on the blackstuff. Luckily i've escaped the NHS's finest.
About two years ago I was out riding with a husband of my wife's friend. Although a distant friend he was a biker and a biker who had dipped his toes in the advanced training waters. Brimming with confidence I was sure I could keep up or even pass him. Things were looking good as I flew past him on the first A road. My pride was swallowed when we got to the flowing bends, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't keep up.
I'm better than this, look he can't even get his knee down. I was dangerously close to binning it trying my hardest to keep up. I couldn't work it out, my lines were good, I was clipping apexex, braking hard, accellerating harder, still he was pulling away.
When he followed me, he was cheeky enough to give me some pointers "yeah, ok" I fobbed. When in my own company, I tried them and felt safer and faster. Finally, after 2 years of thinking about it, I spent £60 on an Essex police Bikesafe day.
£60 doesn't sound like it needed two years to think about, but when it comes to potentially saving you in a future crash that might not happen, I'd rather get pissed.
