OneAndOneIs2

So my new place of work is 30 miles away from where I live. It's mostly on fairly major roads, some 2/3s of which are dual carriageway. And yet my average speed is barely above 30mph - it takes me nearly an hour to get to & fro.

Why? Traffic.

There's one major roundabout, a couple of minor roundabouts, and a few sets of traffic lights. There's also the urban bit at this end, and the windy bit at the work end.

It all adds up to enough sitting in traffic to wipe out all the speedy parts of the journey. And it really kinda sucks. Especially when you're in a mile-long tailback that's barely moving, and you watch all these motorbikes go sailing past with a smug look on their visors.

So I thought "You know what? It's time I thought about trying out biking like I always said I would at some point" and booked onto a CBT - the day-long course that you have to do in the UK before you're allowed to take a bike on the roads.

It was a fun day. It revisited a lot of what's basic training with cars - clutch control, gears, etc. - and added a few new things about helmets, staying upright, and road position.

Eventually we got let loose on the roads, and after a minor hiccup with the helmet radio (I couldn't hear my instructor at all) all was well and it was great fun getting up to heady 50mph speeds at one point.

So, having confirmed that I was, at least, capable of riding a bike and that it was fun, today I went to the local Honda dealer, explained that I'd just got my provisional license, and, basically, wanted "one of everything"

As a learner, you can only ride relatively small bikes - 125cc max. (That's an engine size of about eight cubic inches) The bikes we used in the CBT were Honda CG125's and I had rather liked them. They reminded me of the Minsk that Hammond rode in the Top Gear Vietnam special - totally mechanical and phenominally simple, you got the impression that if you had a hammer, a screwdriver, an adjustable spanner and a roll of duct tape, you could fix ANYTHING that might go wrong.

So I've bought their successor, the CBF125. These have such heady upgrades as a disk brake at the front instead of a drum; and fuel injection replacing the carburettor feeding the single piston in the engine.

From the massive 125cc displacement, it gets a whopping ELEVEN brake horsepower. Top speed is about 70mph when going downhill with the wind behind you. Insurance is fairly cheap because it's not exactly the bike chosen by boy races; road tax is so minimal I don't know why they bother charging it; and it gets over 100 mpg. I chose a white one, on the grounds that it's slightly more visible than a black or a red one.

I *also* got a whole new wardrobe whilst there. My budget for all the clobber was 800 quid. I came away with 200 left in my budget, which I think was pretty good going, all things considered.

I once worked in a research center where they were looking into ways of growing replacement skin for grafts and I know some of the amazing stuff they can do these days - growing sheets of skin from one little samples; spray-on skin from aerosol cans (I kid you not) and so on. It's all very impressive, but I have no desire to experience any of it first hand. I always cringe a little when I see somebody on a bike wearing just shorts and a t-shirt.

So I have a nice helmet, which has a drop-down sun visor built in. I have an armoured jacket, with matching armoured trousers that they zip to to form a one-piece; both of which have removable linings for winter use. I have some new boots, which are surprisingly comfy. And I have some gloves, and I wish somebody had told me about biking gloves years ago - I have long fingers that just don't fit in most gloves I've ever owned. Biking gloves, however, all seem to fit like.. well.. a glove.

I had to bring all the clobber back home on the train, tho my housemate was kind enough to collect me from the station. The bike, I collect next weekend.

Obviously, I won't start out by riding it to work along fast roads in rush hour - I've got to get the basics down a bit better than they currently are. And I might even decide that it's not a good route to do on a bike after all.

But I hope it'll be a good one. If I don't keep getting slowed down by the traffic queues, I could nearly halve my time getting home. That means valuable extra minutes in bed in the mornings :o)

If not.. well, it'll give me something to do at weekends, at least, eh?

So, yeah.. sorry, mum! I was the last holdout of the family, but I finally caved and bought a bike. If it's any consolation, it's not a sporty one...