How does it feel?

Oooohhhhh mayun. So amazing!

Passed my R Class bike licence today and over the moon. After all the tears and being afraid I would never achieve this goal (refer previous posts) I rode away from the instructor with the biggest grin on my face. Might have been a few fist pumps, happy feet and squeals all the way home 😬

Did my licence through Ride For Life. The instructor, Graham Davies, has been doing Q Ride courses for around 6 years. I could not have asked for a more considerate and patient person to see me through my licence. Common sense approach and safety being of the utmost importance.

Showed up a little early as there are usually lengthy forms to complete and I just wanted to have a chat about what I had to look forward to for the afternoon. As he wasn’t back from an RE Q Ride course from the morning, Mr and I spent some time talking to his spouse. Lovely couple.

With some reassurance the course is as much about training as it is about completing the mandatory modules, I felt confident and ready to get it done.

We went for a scoot around Yarrabilba, Tamborine, Beaudesert and back to Chambers Flat for official sign off. One other lady doing her R at the same time. Mr ended up tagging along at the back as his options were 1. Go home and schlep back in a few hours to pick me up or 2. Wait on site for a few hours for us to get back. Obviously, my preference was for Mr to come with! Beautiful QLD day for it so why not?

Was also a bonus to have Mr bring up the rear in case any dickheads driving up our asses / being impatient. Cannot hurt to have an experienced rider along for the ride as well 🤷🏻‍♀️

Probably 10kms from home base I was 99% sure I was going to pass, not withstanding any drastic events. I have never felt so relieved and grateful in my life. I’m now awake at midnight writing this as I can’t sleep 😂😂😂 the excitement is just too much!!!!!!

Here are some pics from today. Went out for celebratory dinner with Mr and Son-Son. I feel like I’ve achieved my 2nd life goal and it’s feels fantastic. I now have the freedom to ride any size bike … providing I can reach the ground of course lol #NothingNewThere

Couple goals

Had a rough start to the day though – on the way to the rugby club carpark (to do a quick final practice of slow manoeuvres) the brakes seized up 😧😧😧. Me: why can’t I accelerate? Bike: fuck y’all overfilled the brake fluid reservoir so imma just lock up middle of the road right before you head off for your Q Ride course.

Mr had to shoot home to grab some tools and a rag. Dabbed the excess fluid out of the reservoir and we were off again. Whenever something like that happens, for the next little while I’m always paranoid about it. Kept checking my brake lever was working okay multiple times during the day.

Good news: I now know what brakes about to lock up feel like so I can stop promptly before it gets to critical status and I end up with hazard lights on in the middle of the road. Luckily the road it happened on was not too busy. Several cars and a motorbike stopped to check I was all good … thank you kind strangers! There are good people out there.

Well after a long day with the low of a temporary breakdown and high of being a fully licensed biker chick, I can lay my head down completely satisfied.

I have proven something to myself and cemented my decision to start riding a motorcycle. This day and this feeling will be with me always. No one can take it away but I share the success with Mr, my children that I strive to be a role model for, my bike group comrades, my workmates that get into long convos with me about bikes when we both should be working LOL, my friends who don’t ride that have to listen to my ramblings about how awesome it is blah blah blah and every rider who has welcomed me to the riding community.

This is still just the start of my riding life. I have so much more to do and learn. For today though, I sign off for the first time as Ms Fully Licenced Motorcyclist 😊