Easy as Riding a Bike

  Written by Gary Wilmot on May 14, 2009 1:22 am

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When I turned 17 I quite fancied having a motorbike, getting my bike licence etc. but my parents were against it, and they did a good job convincing me it was dangerous. Their fears fed mine, and then I started hearing that ALL people who ride bikes will come off at least once. etc. etc.

Over the next decade I forgot all about riding a motorbike, and always viewed them as a dangerous mode of transport. Then one day I got a great job offer in a town 18 miles from where I lived. The pay wasn’t great, but it was exactly the direction I wanted to take with my programming career at that point. I was married to my first wife at the time, we had bought a house, and money was very limited.

The cost of commuting by public transport was too high, the cost of getting and running a second car was too high… so the old dream of riding a bike came back to life. I got a little 100cc Yamaha for a couple hundred quid (pounds) and got to work and back on a thimbleful of petrol. The first time I took that bike out I was smitten by the 2-wheel bug.

I then proceeded to ride on learner plates for a couple of years, eventually taking my full bike licence test when the government were introducing complex changes to the bike licence laws. Basically I had to take my test then, or else it would be a lot more complicated and expensive to get a full (unrestricted cc) licence.

The day after I passed my test I bought a 2nd hand Honda CB400F - it was over 20 years old, but had a great sound, and had way more power than I had ever handled in my life. Within 5 seconds I wondered why the hell I hadn’t taken the test earlier. Forget pottering about on a little 2 stroke. 400cc of 4 stroke power was waaaaay better.

This bike was the one to dump me on the road, and put me in hospital - the first time I hit an oily patch and ended up in the casualty department, having a mildly grazed leg examined (the next day I felt like I had been beaten up by a pack of marauding gorillas). The second time, a white van made a last minute right turn, knocking me over. All I have ever recalled of that incident was waking up in a hospital bed - no physical injuries, just concerns that I was unconscious and breathing funnily.

The Honda was written off in that incident - and I was not allowed to ride for a few months after that (medical grounds) - but after a series of tests, and a prolonged period without any headaches, I got the all clear.

So I went to the bike shop, test rode a second-hand 1000cc (thousand) Suzuki - and bought it there and then. Since that day I’ve owned a couple more bikes, and have enjoyed a total of about 15 years of 2 wheeled freedom. For me, I don’t get why people buy cars like the Lotus Elise. A bike will deliver more power, places you equally close to the engine, but is accessible to almost anyone (I am very tall and “well built”, I basically exceed the Lotus Elise weight and size limits) and is a massively fun way to get from A to B…

So what was the point of this? Well, when I look back at this story, a few things jump out.

1. My parents (and my own) fear leading to inaction
2. A situation or financial hardship FORCING an action that overcame fear
3. Not getting a full bike licence for a couple of years - procrastination
4. A situation forcing me to overcome procrastination - and then wondering why I had delayed for so long
5. The accident(s) - I knew they would happen, but I got back in the saddle on both occasions

Now I look at my life:

1. I have been an employee for 22 years this year - fear has led to me not branching out on my own
2. A build up of frustration, and a desire to NOT do the “just over broke” thing finally allowed me to overcome that
3. Procrastination - I don’t even know which of the millions of personal examples to choose from to be honest
4. Why does it always take some external event? I am still working on that
5. There WILL be setbacks, everyone goes through them (like every biker WILL come off at least once) - how you react is the key

And the common thread that runs through this? Action.

Action cures fear
Action overcomes procrastination
Action provides rewarding experiences

The “secret” to success is within each and every one of us - the only question is, will we take that and put it to work for us? Will we get back in the saddle when we’re involved in a traffic accident? Will we allow the success of others to make us angry or jealous? Will we simply stop when we think we hit a dead end, and start looking for something easier that we know we can do?

Gaz

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