my father was right
i took my final bike lesson on 7th may so nearly a month had passed when i returned 2 days ago to do some practice before my test.
when i got there, i found out that they had recently changed all their bikes. bigger, heavier and also more powerful, but the main concern was that it felt very different from the old ones and i had only 4 days to get used to it.
the new bikes are also mightily shitty with terrible batteries that die and leave the electric start useless, and gears that like to go to neutral easily. they are so shitty that i saw 5 people falling yesterday which is really a record for me.
this morning my father asked me where i was going, and was shocked when i told him i was going for lessons. my mother didn't tell him, it seems. anyway he was saying something about 'dangerous' and i was thinking to myself how i haven't had a fall yet.
it started raining like mad once i got there and i was cursing to myself as i put on the raincoat and went into the rain. before long, my shoes and gloves were soaked, and water was seeping through the raincoat onto my shirt.
there were only 3 of us and i was last, with an instructor behind me and another one leading in front. i was happily going along at about 60kmph when we got to a traffic junction, and the lights changed just as i got to it. despite being only about 15-20 metres away from the line, i decided that it would be a good idea for me to stop.
well, this story wouldn't be worth telling if nothing happened at this point, so something DID happen, just so you know.
the driving handbook says that the stopping distance at 60kmph is 44 metres and "will increase if the road is wet," which i didn't really think about when i started braking. as i saw the stopping line come closer and closer, the bike was still not anywhere close to stopping, so i pulled harder on the brakes.
this is where the fun starts.
the front wheel lost traction and started to skid and turn to the right, and soon the bike was on the ground and i was thrown in front of it. i got up and laughed to myself at my misfortune, surprised that i was relatively unharmed, except for some scratches on my hip. the wet road had caused me to fall, but also saved me from harm because i was sliding across the surface rather than grinding my skin off on it.
the instructor behind had stopped and was picking up my bike, which is very heartening because he cares more about the bike than my body. the bike was fine except for a bent mirror and soon we were off to encounter more excitement on the roads.
at the end of the day, everything is fine, which is rather fortunate because i know a similar fall in different circumstances could well end up with me being quite dead.
when i got there, i found out that they had recently changed all their bikes. bigger, heavier and also more powerful, but the main concern was that it felt very different from the old ones and i had only 4 days to get used to it.
the new bikes are also mightily shitty with terrible batteries that die and leave the electric start useless, and gears that like to go to neutral easily. they are so shitty that i saw 5 people falling yesterday which is really a record for me.
this morning my father asked me where i was going, and was shocked when i told him i was going for lessons. my mother didn't tell him, it seems. anyway he was saying something about 'dangerous' and i was thinking to myself how i haven't had a fall yet.
it started raining like mad once i got there and i was cursing to myself as i put on the raincoat and went into the rain. before long, my shoes and gloves were soaked, and water was seeping through the raincoat onto my shirt.
there were only 3 of us and i was last, with an instructor behind me and another one leading in front. i was happily going along at about 60kmph when we got to a traffic junction, and the lights changed just as i got to it. despite being only about 15-20 metres away from the line, i decided that it would be a good idea for me to stop.
well, this story wouldn't be worth telling if nothing happened at this point, so something DID happen, just so you know.
the driving handbook says that the stopping distance at 60kmph is 44 metres and "will increase if the road is wet," which i didn't really think about when i started braking. as i saw the stopping line come closer and closer, the bike was still not anywhere close to stopping, so i pulled harder on the brakes.
this is where the fun starts.
the front wheel lost traction and started to skid and turn to the right, and soon the bike was on the ground and i was thrown in front of it. i got up and laughed to myself at my misfortune, surprised that i was relatively unharmed, except for some scratches on my hip. the wet road had caused me to fall, but also saved me from harm because i was sliding across the surface rather than grinding my skin off on it.
the instructor behind had stopped and was picking up my bike, which is very heartening because he cares more about the bike than my body. the bike was fine except for a bent mirror and soon we were off to encounter more excitement on the roads.
at the end of the day, everything is fine, which is rather fortunate because i know a similar fall in different circumstances could well end up with me being quite dead.
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