Do other road users HATE bikers? Or is it just the ones on mopeds? Maybe it’s the ‘L’ plate? Whatever, something seems to attract them and they turn, ‘going for a ride’ into ‘going to see if I can survive’.
Without wishing to get into the whole, should we speed or not argument (which is a bit difficult on a moped) I believe that a lack of speed can be just as dangerous. I do not think that riding a moped has made me paranoid, I really do believe there are loads of people who are out to get me.
Any biker reading this who can borrow a moped should try it. I give you a challenge, take a journey somewhere on the moped, a good hour’s ride (you won’t get too far), add up the number of near death experiences you have, divide that by 2 and see if it is less than your age. If it is, you’re an old fart. Maybe it’s just me, maybe I ride like a... well you get the picture, or maybe it’s just the area I live in, it has to be something.
The last time I took a ride on my bike, I had a guy overtake me whilst there was a car coming towards us, forcing the oncoming car into a lay by at the side of the road, the **** (fill in your own expletive) then swerved, forcing me into the curb, before beeping his horn at me and f**king off at about 70 mph.
I also had a police car overtake me on a blind corner, then when I got into the village I’d been heading for, he had gone round the block and ended up behind me; he then tailed me around the village. What did he think I was going to do? Speed? Did he not realise when he overtook me, I CAN’T SPEED! Doesn’t he know that it’s actually quite hard to break the law on a moped? Maybe he just didn’t like it that I wouldn’t move over to let him overtake me. But why should I have to move over, just because he is a copper and doesn’t want to wait for a moped? So he decides to get behind me and follow me to see if he can find me doing something wrong. It’s incidents like these that have made me realise, you never learn to swear properly until you learn to ride, and you haven’t ridden dangerously till you have ridden everywhere at 30mph.
Can anyone explain to me what the big difference is from when you’re 16 and only allowed a moped that will do 30, to when you become 17? Do they think you are so much more mature that you are obviously instantly capable of driving a car, or having a 125cc that will do 65 to 70? I believe that the majority of crashes involving 16 year olds aren’t because of speeding, they are because of other people acting stupidly and dangerously, just because they are not prepared to wait.
If this sounds like I’m whingeing, I AM. I couldn’t wait to get on the road, it was the be all and end all; I was a very happy bunny when I got my licence, I was chuffed to pass my CBT and I was ecstatic to get my bike. But to be honest, I’m a bit fed up with the attention levels and driving skills of many drivers out there, they make me feel like I’m in a war zone with a target painted on me. Instead of just jumping on my moped and going for a ride, I find myself carefully considering if my journey is necessary. That’s not what biking should be about, is it?
Looking on the bright side, you get plenty of time to look at the scenery and there is little chance of a speeding ticket.
|