Lesson didnt go too well :(

When i did my CBT I was utterly, horrendusly ****e.

I was, to say the least, gob smacked to be given a CBT certificate afterwards.

I was still determined to do the DAS but I really felt that I should not have "passed" the CBT.

As a consequence I decided against doing the DAS with the same training school.
I changed schools, re-took the CBT and went straight on to a 3 day DAS.

Despict some embarassing moments on the DAS I passed my test, first time with 1 minor.

I have not regretted a single moment of owning and riding a bike since.

Carry on and do it. It really is worth it in the end.

Best Of Luck

Chris
To be honest I felt that I was so bad that when I

Agreed, there's some days when you just can't seem to do anything right, even when you've been riding for years. Try not to let it get you down, we've all been there.

i think you should change schools, if you can do figure of 8's and u-turns then you should be able to do a CBT.

when i done my test proper, my DAS, i was fine on the 1 125's, but really nervous about getting on the 500...almost talked my self out of it, no confidence...then when teh day came i took a deep breath got on it and cracked it,easier than i thought, and i made some quite silly mistakes on my DAS, my instructor would criticise me but then i'd do something properly and he would tell me that was good, very good, to give me a boost ya know he said he could tell when i had the hump cos of the way my riding changed! etc but on test day i got it bang on.

believe you can do it and you will, done be scared of it or start hating it go for it! belt and braces, and enjoy it thats what your paying for to learn so enjoy it.

Originally Posted by magical_mover

Had my second 'assessment/lesson' at the training centre yesterday.

As you can tell from my previous postings I was really looking forward to it. The first lesson had gone so well, even the instructor said so - but as the person who was also training with me fell of her bike, we ran out of time so they offered to give me another free lesson before putting me in for my CBT. The idea is they like to assess how good you are rather than booking you straight onto CBT like some test centres do .

Anyway - turned up and the lesson was with 1 moped rider, another newbie lady biker. Both of which werent too bad, however the instructor was different to the one i had last time, and having looked at my notes, i think he assumed i knew exactly what i was doing re:gears etc etc.

Now the first lesson i had was only 1 hour, so it made me feel a bit nervous being seen as the one who had a bit more experience than the others - especially as the first lesson had gone so so well.

We covered U-Turns, slow control, figures of 8, and by the end of it i was a complete nervous wreck. Whilst the instructor had a sense of humour and was quite bubbly, he really really knocked my confidence - so much so that im not sure if i will continue with riding. i am sure i will bounce back as i really really want to learn - its just that i am now dreading going back.

The instructor said not to worry as it sometimes happens when someone turns up and is excellent on their first lesson and then really awful on their second as they have left their brains at home, therefore he would not be recommending that i do my CBT and would need more lessons.

He also said i was too rigid in my wrists and arms in the figure of 8 and looked too robotic. He was saying this as i was trying to do the manouevure which really really knocked me as i was really trying to do what i was told. He then wondered why i struggled to find 1st and park the bike. i was almost shaking as it was about 1 and 1/2 hours worth of criticism. WHilst i TOTALLY appreciate criticism/comments from the instructor, as i know he is the one who knows what he is talking about, i felt really low from the whole experience, and pretty humiliated as we had an audience of about 8 ppl watching our lesson (god knows where they were from) and it was also in front of the other students.

feel really low about the whole experience - am i being too sensitive?

Magical mover, I TOTALLY understand.

I was the world's worst trainee EVER. I had LOADS of 'pre CBT lessons', and even after the CBT, I had loads of lessons before my test.

In all the lessons I had, I was always the only girl, which made me even more nervous. I was the one who always held everyone else up, which did absolutely nothing for my confidence. I was always criticised for being too rigid with my arms and wrists, never could do a figure of eight, never could stop in a straight line, inappropriate use of both brakes....

Most of my post CBT lessons were group lessons and I was always the only girl. Everyone else was always better than me and I constantly held the group back. My instructor was short tempered and when out on the roads, if someone in the group made a mistake (usually me), he'd lay into them big style.

This really bugged me loads and one time, I just parked up took my lid off, burst into tears and refused to continue. Then I had another instructor who was very patient with me and didn't make me feel like I was abolute rubbish, but I still went out with groups of men, which always made me feel less adequate. Sometimes, I had one to one lessons and I was always much better.

The training school then employed a female instructor who took me out on my own, and this made a world of difference.

If you're not getting on with the instructor, either change schools or get a different trainer. Although an instructor needs to point out your mistakes, there is a way of doing it without knocking someone's confidence and humiliating them.

Having an audience certainly doesn't help either. It just makes you more nervous and therefore you make even more mistakes.

I would recommend a female instructor. No disrespect at all to the blokes on here, but in my expereince females understand each other better. There's no macho testosterone to contend with and so you have a much more relaxed learning environment.

If biking is really what you want to do, I'd say stick with it. You'll have good days and you'll have bad days. Some people learn a new skill straight away and others don't. Doesn't mean you won't get there in the end. It may just take longer, but so what?!

Persevere and try not to be too hard on yourself.

Originally Posted by Ceri JC

Long time no see Prof (here or IRL). How are you?

I am fine. Only I've been working too hard since I started my job in
London, hence don't visit the forum as often.

Chin up.

Happens to all of us.

The first time I went out on the 500cc bikes on the DAS, everything went smoothly until I dropped it at a crossroads. After that the day went downhill. U-turns were really bad & on the ride home I was thoroughly miserable not wanting to do the next day.

I spoke to one of my mates that evening & she put everything into perspective & made me realise that I'd learned loads that day. I went home & opened the bottle of champagne that had been festering in my fridge.

Put me in the right frasme of mind for the next days lesson....and I'm still a bit flaky on my U-Turns!

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by Kinvig

opened the bottle of champagne that had been festering in my fridge.

Put me in the right frasme of mind for the next days lesson

Hungover biking, reminds me of the AR...

Stick with it ... but as others have said, I'd ask for a different instructor or go find a different bike school (pre-CBT lessons sounds like a money spinner to me).

I had a whole day CBT. Never been on a bike before it in my life. Loved every second of it because my bike school (ProBikeMCT - based at Deeside Leisure Centre, North Wales - sorry just had to plug the guys there cos they really were brilliant) ... anyway, my bike school instructors went out of their way to make sure that although we learnt how to ride a bike, we learnt safely and had some fun too

On my DAS I dropped the ER-5 doing a U-turn (on a proper road with 4" kerbs!) and felt like a proper t1t. But my instructor just gave me two looks ... first, that of concern that I was ok, and second, a sort of eye-rolling with a wry smile and said "too much front brake ... you can do this ... u nailed all those u-turns on the car park ... just ignore the kerbs and look at where u want to go".

I got back on and did 2 damn-near-perfect U-turns back-to-back

Before I did them though I sat on the bike and filled with a bit of a confidence boost from my instructor, filled with a bit of embarrassment at having dropped the bike and smashed an indy lens, and saying to myself, "you fool, you CAN do these, you do them time and time again on the car park", I set off and did them

Positive mental attitude

My instructor booked me an extra DAS lesson on slow-speed control, but he was right - I needed it, but at no point EVER was there any harsh criticism, and the damage to the bike was NEVER mentioned (not in front of me anyway LOL).

Went on to pass my test 1st time greatest feeling in the world JUST DO IT!

Pete

[northwind]

Originally Posted by Pedro68

Positive mental attitude

You just need an incentive. Before I did my full test, me and Steve the instructor were sat on a harbour wall, eating ice cream. "Now Andy", he says, "You should p*** this. But if you don't, I'm going to drown you in this harbour"

I would have thought forking out another £60 for a re-test was incentive enough LOL (or am I just being a tight-ar$e?!)