I was momentarily crestfallen when it was clear my sister-in-law thought I’d finally gone into therapy after I’d proudly told her I’d completed and passed my CBT course!

Maybe therapy is what I need, however, as there is nothing more satisfying than doing something new and challenging when sometimes you feel that life is passing you by. So perhaps passing the CBT (Compulsory Basic Training) served the same purpose.

Having been looking forward to my day away from the kids and housework with something completely new (and potentially life-threatening) to occupy my mind, by the time the day actually arrived and we headed off to Evolution Training in Harlow thanks to Honda who had arranged the course for us, excitement and anticipatory nerves had been replaced by confusion and terror. Why? Because those who think they know best had filled my head with useful tips to help make the day go as well as possible. Confusion reigned! What was it the left hand controlled? Clutch? Brake? – HELP!

Of course the whole point of the the CBT is that it is ‘basic’. While it helps to know about the Highway Code any other knowledge about biking, while useful, is not compulsory, unlike the training itself, which is if you want to legally ride a 125 cc motorbike or 50 cc scooter on the public highway.

The instructors were thorough, knowledgeable, helpful and so encouraging. By midday, they were able to get a complete novice competent enough to be taken out on the road, earpiece in place for those vital instructions and directions from the instructor who was following closely behind on a considerably larger machine, like a mother duck taking her offspring out on the pond for the first time.

Now all I need to do is to get my right and left sorted out in my head – something that my husband has been making allowances for every since we met. These guys might be patient, but having to chase after me having taken a left instead of a right might even try theirs after a while.

While not entirely sure what I plan to do with my new-found skill, apart from the sheer pride I feel, I do have two years in which to take my full licence before it runs out. While hints about getting a second-hand Honda to keep my skills up seems to be falling on deaf ears, I have not given up hope and regularly trawl the local paper’s ‘for sale’ section!

However, I dread the day when my eldest son starts to show interest in taking to the road on a bike. Having gone through the training I’m amazed at how more bike-aware I am. The training focuses heavily on the safety aspect of biking, so perhaps by letting teenagers learn to ride a bike and to drive a car in unison, rather than just taking the car test, we could be producing safer drivers and riders on our roads?

However, I now feel totally immersed in the biking culture and have come away fluent! Actually that’s rather an exaggeration, but I do feel as if my understanding and knowledge has taken a leap on the learning curve.

I spent a long but amazing day at Bedford Autodrome where we were treated to a day of motorbikes. Mostly men, and mostly decked out in their biking gear.

I had feared that I would be bored to tears. But within minutes I was swept along in the enthusiastic holiday atmosphere and made my way to the novice area, where I was reliably informed I would learn to ride a bike. Just like that.

By the end of the morning, having sample a couple of 125′s, a scooter and a 500cc monster, I ended the morning going round the mini circuit on a Harley Davidson! I could barely breathe from the sheer excitement of it. I even managed to change gears but sadly, just as with my car driving, my clutch control was rubbish.

I just find it so amazing that within a 90 minute period I could go from complete novice (never having ridden a motorcycle before), to driving round a small track and even weaving between cones on a Harley with some amount of control.

Now I understand why more and more women are taking to the open road on motorbikes, be it for recreation or commuting. And not only that, but the atmosphere of the day spoke volumes to me about the great community feel there is amongst bikers.

The first words my husband spoke to me as I entered the house was, ‘you’re not having one’. We shall see…