Why I Got Into Biking
July 23, 2018
I love London, I love the city, the art, the culture, how you can travel a mile across it and feel like you are in another world. But what I cannot stand is being at the mercy of the public transport system. The amount of times I would be late for work, arriving hot, sweaty and basically feeling disgusting. I decided London shouldn’t be like this. I tried cycling for a while, but constantly felt like I was going to die. So, I thought f*** it something’s got to change but I WILL NOT RIDE A SCOOTER (you either love them or hate them). There’s only one option left – it’s time to get my motorcycle license.
It turned out I had absolutely no idea where to start. None of my friends were riders so I found myself trolling though the internet trying to figure out how to start this adventure. I was welcomed with lot of pictures of hairy men in leather. Although I’ve always thought it’s best to keep an open mind, this wasn’t quite the inspiration I was looking for. Most of my girlfriends thought I’d lost the plot. They were getting engaged or married and I had bonded with two wheels, a lot of metal and not my normal type of guy!
A month later in a car park on quite possibly the coldest and wettest November day, I’m taking my CBT.
A month later in a car park on quite possibly the coldest and wettest November day, I’m taking my CBT. I’m in an all male group of scooter lovers and am the only one doing the test on a geared bike. My favourite of the group, who we’ll call Carl, stepped into the car park on a mission to prove himself. He tackled every procedure as fast as humanly possible, revving the engine and skidding to a grinding halt. It was only a matter of time, before – in great style, he went straight into the metal fence, flew off his scooter and landed on the ground, luckily still with a big grin on his face. This was all done behind the instructor’s back who somehow hadn’t noticed what was going on – this pleased Carl greatly. He dusted himself off and with a swagger continued on his quest to be the fasted scooter hero in Southwest London. This was all very entertaining & at the end of the day, with my certificate in hand and no feeling in my bum, I was one step closer to freedom!
L – plates at the ready!
L – plates at the ready, it was time to pick a bike. I knew I was restricted to a 125 until I take my full test, but I really didn’t want to ride something that looked and sounded like a hairdryer. Luckily for me, I stumbled across Mutt Motorcycles www.muttmotorcycles.com I set my sites on the Mutt Fat Black Sabbath www.muttmotorcycles.com/pages/fat-sabbath I picked up my bike in early December, once again it was freezing but that wouldn’t stop me; I was on a mission and rain, wind or snow was not going to slow me down.
The lovely Steve at the Bike Den in Watford www.thebikeden.co.uk gave me the low-down on how to operate this beautiful bike. That was it – I was in love. I was out on the open road, with the wind in my hair and my L plates flapping beside me (these had to go!) The difference was, as I got closer to central London I wasn’t delayed or wedged between a million-other people with the latest case of Norovirus, I could escape and I was free!
The next step, sitting my theory test… this should be easy, right? Oh how very wrong I was…
