My first track day

Since you are reading this my head didn't fall off. Although it felt like it was about to a couple of times. The bikes we were on were fast, sickeningly fast but more on that later.

We arrived bursting with enthusiasm and got to see the other journalists wobbling around the car park on tiny bikes. Out of the whole group only one other person there actually had a road license for bikes, or any riding experience. The rest of the people there had never been on a motorbike before and so had to learn the basics before they could race. We (the other biker and I) had been put in the 'premier' group we got to sit in a corporate box thingy and eat sandwiches while we watched an earlier group of riders scream around the track.

The time for us to join in the fun came around finally and we got changed into the gear. I've never been encased in leather before but it did make me feel a bit happier about going out on the bikes. We had short briefing about the track and what the different flags were for. This bit was excellent fun because it was just like being in that scene at the end of Star Wars: A new hope where the general briefs all the fighter pilots. Our costumes were more red and black than orange and sadly we weren't being instructed by a talking fish but it was still jolly exciting.

After the briefing we were given an instructor and a bike and then sent out. The bikes are proper racing bikes, they don't have lights, mirrors, or even a dial to tell you how fast you are going. They are also extremely light and powerful so I found my bike to a be a bit of a handful when I first got on it. The first few laps were taken really slowly while I got a feel for what the bike could do. Even just shifting my weight around a little bit made it wobble all over the place. After a few laps where we slowly increased our pace we had another briefing where we were shown how to climb around the bike to shift our weight on corners. This was an entirely alien technique for me and it took me a while to get the hang of it.

By our third and final set of laps - which were in the dry - we were zooming around the track and I was climbing all over the bike like a hyper-active spider monkey. I felt completely secure in what the bike could do and I deeply sad when the racing was over. Once we had finished we got given an assessment and a certificate. It was like a prize day at school and I'm terribly proud of mine.

I can't wait to go back and have another go at it, and yes that is actually me in the photo.