And another WOO-HOO!!

Today I had my first experience driving a motorbike. Previously I'd had a bit of time on the back of Chris and Tasha's bikes (lovely tourer 600s) and lots of time on my push-bike (that's bicycle for anyone wondering).
Today I went for my CBT. This is the first stage in learning to ride a motorbike in Britain. You've got to have a provisional license first (full car or prov bike) then you do a short course covering basics of riding, maintainance and other stuff. The idea is that from never having been on a bike before, you're now safe to ride a small (125 cc) bike on the roads until you take your full test. Before this you could just hop onto a 125 straight off.
After this you do lessons on a more powerful bike. For over 21 year olds you can take it on a 500 cc and there are now legal to drive any size bike (this is called the "Direct Access" method). If you're under 21 (or too short to sit on a 500 - as was the case with Tasha) you use a smaller bike and then have to wait 2 years until you can ride bigger ones. You can do the CBT and the
direct access in one intensive course, but that looks to be more expensive.
I think I'll hire a 125 for an afternoon and get some road time in, to get used to things like canceling my indicators after turning, road position and not thinking that I'm on a push-bike. Then I'll get the rest of the lessons.
Stay tuned for more info.