So I bought a bicycle from Big W! I walked the thing to the closest park, found a hill and got on. After about 10 minutes of stopping, starting and rolling around the place I got comfortable again.1996-2000
My father gave me some driving lessons at various times over several years. I got familiar with the basics but without continuous practice or my own vehicle that was the extent of it at that time.
2001?
Dad purchased an old Ford Falcon XE? as my first car. At the time I had my Queensland learner permit and almost no experience.
Circumstances prevailed and having no income I was unable to afford the registration let alone the running costs. And as I was still on my learners I wasn't able to drive without someone else in the car anyway. The car sat in the driveway in Toowoomba for a while before it was eventually sold.
Eventually after some 5 years my Queensland learner permit expired and I moved to Melbourne.
2006
Having moved out of home and down to Melbourne, my boss at the time suggested a cheap form of transport might be a scooter or a motorbike. I'm still not sure if he was joking but I took him seriously.
I spent the usual amount of care and attention searching for the 'right' school to learn to ride. I quickly settled on Ridetek down in the outer south-eastern suburb of Dandenong. It was a long trip by train to get there and back. My first ride was horrid. I couldn't go more than 10 metres without veering wildly off the training area, arms and legs flailing around madly. I wasn't at all comfortable. Needless to say, the instructor at the time suggested I probably wasn't a 'rider' and that it wasn't for me.
Disappointed I returned home and thought about it a while. I realised part of the problem could have been a scare I'd had years earlier (when I was about 12 years old I think) on a push-bike. I had a fall and never really wanted to go near two wheels from then on.
So I bought a bicycle from Big W! I walked the thing to the closest park, found a hill and got on. After about 10 minutes of stopping, starting and rolling around the place I got comfortable again.
I rode to work once on that push bike, before deciding it was way to much effort and far too dangerous not being able to keep up with the traffic! So I sold the pushbike on Ebay.
Virtually immediately I went back to motorcycle training, but due to the distances and inconvenience I tried Rider Brothers in Melbourne's north-west instead. Within months of my first failed attempt I had my motorcycle learner permit!
In April 2006 I purchased a brand-new Honda CBF250, on finance, along with all the basic gear (helmet, jacket, jeans, gloves, boots.) It was a small, single-cylindered beast with perhaps 20 horses. Not much more than a lawn-mower.
The same month I joined Netrider, an online club for motorcyclists. They run organised group rides on a regular basis, including rides for learners. So on Anzac day I joined my first ever group ride.
Due to my inexperience on the road and on a motorcycle I crashed the bike that afternoon on the way home. The thing was towed and another rider was kind enough to give me a ride home.
I got the CBF fixed up with the help of that same awesome rider who gave me a lift home after I crashed. And about 4 weeks after my accident the swelling in my foot had subsided enough for me to get back on! The wait felt like an eternity.
After a few near-misses and a few more small prangs on the way in and out of work I quickly recognised I had a problem: I was a shit rider.
So I started to look carefully and critically at all my accidents and figure out how they could be avoided in future. I slowed down initially, practiced, got advice from the Netrider crew and looked into further training.
I went for my probationary drivers license in around July 2006. Successful I changed my L plate for a P plate.
For about 12 months I had no further accidents. I did an Intermediate riding course with a group called Stay Upright down in Melbourne's south-west. And I did a short course on motorcycle maintenance with one of the local TAFE colleges.
At the end of the year I rode with luggage from Melbourne to Toowoomba (3600 kilometres) to see my family. It was a long trip for the little CBF and it drank much oil and fuel. But we made it up and back in once piece and without incident.
2007
Filled with enthusiasm for my new found freedom I continued to ride both to work and for the social factor, on weekends and to weekly coffee nights.
In 2007 I rode to Phillip Island to see the Australian MotoGP (world championship and grand prix for motorcycles.)
2008
In around October 2008 I sold the CBF and purchased a second-hand 2004 Honda CBR600RR - a sports motorbike with a claimed 120 horses.
I went on further rides and attended an Advanced Course with Stay Upright.
Later, a mate and I rode to Broadford circuit and did a track day. It was fun but without any insurance cover for that type of riding, a huge debt and the need to get to work to pay the bills I couldn't enjoy it anywhere near as much as I would have liked.
Today I've come to realise that it's not the right time for me to go fast around a track. I don't currently have the money or the position in my life for me to do so and feel comfortable doing it.
So I have my fun on the daily commutes or on weekends, in moderation and at my own pace.
Safety has almost always been my primary concern with my riding. I decided to invest in a set of motorcycle leathers, given the increased abrasion resistance leather has over most textile safety gear.
2009
It's safe to say the desire for self-improvement runs strong in me. I have managed to train myself to become quite good at seeing myself; the good and the bad reasonably objectively, or as objectively as one can anyway.
My technical skills for controlling the motorcycle are average. I have found the thing that keeps me safe most of the time is not my riding ability so much as my attitude and approach to my riding - the mental aspect. It usually more than makes up for my technical weaknesses.
As such, not satisfied with the frequency of near-misses and the obvious risk in my travels each day I decided there was significant room for improvement and I was going to do something about it.
The most obvious next step I thought was to find some kind of advanced driving course that would focus on the mental and planning aspects of driving/riding. Not finding anything much and trusting in my own ability to learn new skills, I looked for books and videos that might be useful.
Eventually I stumbled upon the United Kingdom police Roadcraft series. The textbooks used by the police force in the UK to teach their drivers. So I purchased both the car and motorcyclist texts and an accompanying DVD which looked interesting.
I read the Police Rider's Handbook to Better Motorcycling cover to cover twice and watched the DVD. I cross referenced what I'd learnt in earlier courses with the approach and techniques in this text. The result was further improvement in my riding and more than anything, greater clarity as to what I needed to work on next.
Now, in 2009 I am reasonably content with my riding. I do stupid things from time to time and beat myself up about it afterwards. Usually a result of tiredness and impatience, and a lack of dicipline. They're things I have to work on improving now and they are reducing rapidly. The realisation that I make better progress through traffic when I'm calm and awake was an eye-opener, as daft as it can sound.
I have perhaps one near-miss every couple of months (almost always caused by the other driver not moving their head or using their mirrors) and I feel confident in my driving ability. Regardless of who precipitated the incident I always find something else I can do to help avoid a similar situation in future.
Despite my problems, I can safely say my driving is far above average and probably unusual even amongst some of the safest drivers on our roads. Unfortunately I have seen numerous examples of poor driving from our own police force. I think perhaps Victoria Police needs to take a long, hard look at it's driver training. How can they expect ordinary road users to drive responsibly when they themselves often set a bad example? Sloppy technique and taking advantage of the respect often afforded them by the law and our legal system.
In August 2009 I decided it was finally time to replace my dropped, scuffed, freyed, crashed old motorcycle helmet. Probably long overdue I guess. Though had it had an impact during one of my many little misfortunes I probably would have replaced it a lot sooner. It did it's job. I replaced it with a brand-spanking new shiney Shoei XR1000.
In 2010 my probationary driving period is over. The unappealing green P plate on the back of my CBR will be gone and not a moment too soon either!
2010
Don'tCrashintoME.com.au has gone online. A work in progress, the site I hope will eventually be my contribution to a campaign to increase driver awareness and education in Australia.