DIARY - Saturday 10th November 2007 Is there ever a 'right time' to end a relationship? Well I suppose it depends on whether you are the one to walk away or the one to be left. It certainly wasn't a good day for one girl when she arrived to do her training this week. She was doing a renewal of her CBT on her own bike, the Honda CG125's that we use, were just too tall for this vertically challenged woman. She struggled to reach the floor on her own SR125 even with its' sculptured seat, but the bike was an absolute shed. Checking it over, testing indicators, lights, horn, tyres, looking at insurance and other documents, the bike stood there unloved and unwashed. I swear I could feel its misery, an old pit pony kept from the sun.
By the time we had finished on the training pad and were ready to go out on the road the old pit pony was failing and Gillian had to ring her partner of some years to come out and replace an indicator bulb. (Unfortunately we are not allowed to mend customer's bikes because of liability issues). Now keeping in mind that Gillian had been riding this bike on the roads for the last two years and the competence with which she showed she could handle the bike, I had no reason to suppose taking her out was going to be a problem. Just how wrong can someone be! Within 5 minutes of setting off she had pulled out on an oncoming car with only inches to spare, almost hit the pavement on a right turn and at the roundabout she mindlessly crossed lane markings cutting sharply in front of a large articulated lorry. Over the radio I asked her to pull in somewhere safe, I was seriously questioning my own judgment. How could I have been so wrong about her capabilities? What on earth was the matter with her? She burst into a flood of tears and started sobbing uncontrollably. It turned out that while he had been replacing her indicator bulb, the boyfriend had told her he wanted to finish the relationship and when she got back to the flat she could pack her things and leave. My jaw dropped. What timing! Motorcycle Roadcraft, The Police Rider's Handbook reads, 'Your emotional state affects your ability to recognise hazards, to take appropriate decisions and to implement them efficiently. If you are emotionally distressed you should be aware of the effect that it is likely to have on your riding' How many motorcyclists can put their hand on their heart and say they have never ridden while upset or angry? I was guilty of riding when stressed and bad tempered and it nearly killed me. I hit a car head-on, forgetting which country I was in and riding on the wrong side of the road. This was also probably one more nail in the coffin leading up to the breakdown in a long term personal relationship. But what to do with her now? We did what all English people do - we went to the local café, had a cup of tea and while she poured her misery out I just shut up and listened. Nobody can ever say being a motorcycle instructor is not varied!