Turns out I wrote quite a bit last year – just didn’t publish it…
I take my daughter to school in the morning, come home, change into bike gear and start my ride to my parents. Through London to Wiltshire. How hard can it be?
Quite hard it turns out. I can’t filter in traffic as the bike feels enormous and I struggle until the motorway where I sit and pretend to be a car for 45 minutes. It’s only on leaving the motorway and getting off the A303 onto the “top road” across Salisbury plan do I start to take a shine to motorcycling again.
I pass Stonehenge and take the first right. Up to Shrewton and Market Lavington where the road has twists and turns, short straights and a few high speed long straights. The riding starts to come together. I overtake a couple of cars. It isn’t so hard after all. And then I arrive in Wesbury.
Now recall my motorcycle instruction experience. This was all done in and around Westbury and Trowbridge. I know the roads well. I just can’t ride like I used to. Memories of Harold’s cajoling voice over the radio come back to me. I smile. Now why did I do that? I start to be more conscious of how I am riding, what I am looking out for, what hazards I need to be aware of.
I start to talk to myself . Not because I am going nuts. One thing I was taught to do when it came to so-called advanced riding was vocalise the observations and decisions I made. This apparently makes you conscious of what you see, and miss. You can see the same training at work if you watch a Japanese train driver at work. They actively point at signals to show they’ve seen them. It’s weird and a little tough at first but I slow down a little to allow my voice to keep up and start to bring long forgotten skills back from the depths. The flow starts to come back. Not great but certainly better than a few days ago. I think I can do this trip after all.
My parents are pleased to see me, surprised at the size of the bike and insist on tea. I can’t stay long so after a demonstration of the various fancy features of my bike I kit up and get ready to leave.
One feature I demonstrate is the keyless ignition. My mother asks what happens if I loose the key. Err. I say confidently that I won’t loose it. To be certain it’s kept in my trouser pocket which has a zip. Safe and secure.
Traffic is very heavy in London and I end up on the Marylebone road in very heavy traffic. The potholes are horrible and I have to stand up to absorb the impact of a couple. Then the key symbol appears. Or at least I see if after a couple of minutes. This says the key is no longer near the bike. Oh. This is bad. I have no idea what to do. If I stall can I even restart? If I get home can I move the bike after I stop it? What do I do? What do I do? Well the first problem is to get home intact. No point in going back in such heavy traffic, and I can hardly stop as I don’t have a key to restart. Just as I was taught I keep talking to myself. Mind you this time I am saying “Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit”
Turns out BMW have thought of this. There is an emergency grey plastic key with transponder. Not an easy thing to use but I can at least get the bike started but can’t use the funky features easily.
On the good news front I managed to put on nearly 300 miles today. Only 80 to go. And it’s 50 to the dealer on Thurs.
I think I will make it to Europe after all, just with a grey plastic key instead of the fob.
Andrew’s Bike Blog 