I grabbed the moment by the balls.... From CBT to DAS

[grotbag]

I have unashamedly stolen the following account of the year long battle another lady rider had with schools, instructors etc over the period of a year, from CBT to DAS. She's not a member of the biker forum ...... yet!

Once upon a time there was a lass ...

After booking her CBT a year ago, and having to cancel it for reasons commonly known as sickness and diarrhoea, then moving house etc etc etc. She eventually managed to get settled enough in Febuary to book it again.
After having it postponed time and time again she ended up with a training school which belonged to a friend of a friend. She turns up, as arranged on the Friday it was due to take place to find that the instructor hadn't turned up. However, a lovely chap also turned up and had keys to the cabin, so she was invited in and got chatting with him - he was a part-time instructor working for the company, but had to go to work that day elsewhere.

A little after 10am, the fella that was due to train her turned up after having slept late, so they ran through the safety clothing questions etc and skimmed over the bike. Loz was having trouble with the cones, she killed at least two and struggled with a right-hand turn. All the instructor said to her was 'it will just click' nothing else as he watched her get more and more frustrated with herself. Needless to say she didn't make it out onto the road that day, so she pootled off home after arranging to turn up the following morning.

The next day dawns and Loz is back down at the CBT place, with a fresh head and new hope. There's also a 16 yr old lad on a scoot there, doing his CBT. Loz found herself just given the keys to the CG she had ridden the day before and pretty much left to her own devices. By 11:30 she was in tears to her boyfriend on the phone, ready to go home, after being left on her own out in the yard whilst the instructor went in with the 16 yr old and ending up hitting the deck whilst she was out there, trying to nail that bloody right hand turn.

She ended up staying for the rest of the day, but jumping on the back of the instructors bike while the lad completed the on-road assessment part. She went home dejected, fed-up and hugely pissed off.

Loz couldn't sleep that night... Every time she thought about going back down to the CBT centre and getting back on a bike, she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, talked non-stop to her boyfriend over the phone and bit by bit they examined her problem, working out how her seating position was affecting it. Between them they concluded that she was holding her elbows in to her sides, and not able to turn right because of it... As she had to move her hand (on the throttle) to turn the handlebars, ending up with dropping the revs or revving like crazy.

A couple of diazepam later, around 4.30am she managed to fall into a slumber. When she got up the following day, she was still determined to go down there and explain she wasn't going to complete her CBT. She still chucked all of her kit in her father's car (who by this point was becoming pretty pissed off with having to do a 40mile round trip twice a day to take her back and forth) and made her way down to the CBT centre.

When she arrived, the fella that had originally let her into the cabin was standing there, and he told her he had been called in to try to help her. So, instead of saying 'sorry, I'm quitting' she jumped on a different bike (a slightly older CG with better lever positioning for her wrists) and immediately was told that she was sitting all wrong.

After the first encouragement from Pete, she managed to turn right... YAY!!
She spent the whole 6 hours doing figure 8s, circles both left and right, making each time tighter, smaller circumference until she was flying around the CBT course!!

Needless to say, she went home feeling a whole lot better with herself, and arranged to be down the following day for the on-road part. which incidentally she flew. Loz was a little pissed off though.. As the boss/instructor took over after all of Pete's hard work the day before, but was pleased when Pete turned up 'just to see things through' and accompanied them on her jaunt.

**Fast forward to May.**

I started to ask around for DAS training, reasoning that I could then ride whatever I liked at the end of it... Even though I still intended to put restrictors into her next bike for a couple of months anyway (just to get used to it, you see)
I was given business cards left right and centre, and told to ring to make arrangements but every time I called, I either had to leave messages asking for someone to get back me, or spoke briefly with the instructors whose first question always seemed to be, "Why do you want to do the DAS? Why not do the A2?"

Lets go through it now shall we?

I bumped into the Boss/DAS instructor, he gave me his card told me to ring him. once I'd booked my theory, and he'd sort me out an assessment ride just on the 125 to see how much I needed training.
I went home, booked Theory for fortnights time, and called him - had to leave a message. 2 days later, a received a phone-call off his brother, who basically wanted me to agree to a full course there and then over the phone, said about how he was going down the test centre in the morning to book slots. When I explained I hadn't yet done my theory, he backed off, and asked me to call him once I had done it.
I sat and passed the theory, called him back that same evening, left a message, and waited..... A week later I called him again, left a message, called again the following day .... ok I think you're getting the idea here. Anyhows, after 3 weeks after I passed my theory, I called the boss/DAS instructor again, to complain that I hadn't been called back. Within 2 hours of my call to the Boss, his brother was ringing me up. After trying to persuade me to take the A2 test, he asked me to call him later on in the week to arrange an assessment.

In the meantime I had been calling round a number of other training schools in this area: Left messages, sent emails, and no reply from 3 of their centres (Caerphilly, Pontypridd & Swansea)

(Caerphilly) Emailed, got a callback, asked why I didn't do A2 instead, was promised a callback about going down there for assessment, Never received callback. Rang to enquire, left messages. Had a friend call a friend who worked there, despite promises to my friend, still nothing.

Abergavenny, I had his number given to me by someone whilst I was out riding, chatted for ages over the phone, seemed keep to help me learn, but in the end, a big fat NOTHING came from it... Again promised callbacks, nothing - when I rang him back, made excuses. There were others I called, but either I left messages and nothing came of them, or There was no reply ...

Eventually I bumped into Ian again, he had been employing my friends father as CBT instructor and I had told my friend's dad about all the trouble I'd been having trying to sort lessons out. After a quick word with Ian, he came back to me saying, I'll take you out on the CG for a quick assessment, and Ian has agreed to let you try one of the 500s round the yard whilst I'm doing a CBT.

On the Saturday, as agreed I popped up to the Training Centre, sat on the 500 and had a go at feeling the weight by wheeling it around for a little while. Again I was asked 'why not just do the A2?' Seems to have become the standard comment from men to me when mentioning the DAS.
The atmosphere inside the office was 'tense' to say the least so it turned out that I couldn't have a go at trying out the weight for starts/stops etc. But, true to his word, my friend's dad took me out to have a look at my riding around the test routes in Merthyr. He seemed pleased all in all.

On Monday evening, I had a text from my friend, saying her dad had told her that there'd been a meeting and Ian was going to close down. I wondered to myself if I am THAT scary a prospect to teach??

So feeling pissed-off with it all.. I asked the other half if there was any reason I couldn't use my own bike (rust-bucket CG aka Penelope Shitstop) to sit the A2. He couldn't think of any reason why I would be turned away on her, so I pulled up the DSA website, looking for available tests in my area. Newport must have just had a cancellation, and I managed to get one for the following day (ie. Yesterday 23.9.08) at 3pm.

After running out to check my tread depth on the front tyre I run back up the stairs to pay up the £80 test fee (non-refundable at such short notice) after clicking the 'confirm payment' button, I sat there for a couple of hours not being able to believe what I was about to do.

It didn't seem real, I slept like a log that night, normally I would have been up, vomiting all night... But not this time.

I woke up and the day was perfect for it... overcast so no sun to blind me, a slight chill so that I wouldn't be a bag of sweat. Still no nerves, managed to shower, eat breakfast, cut my toenails, sorted my L plate (fitted it properly as opposed to the gaffa tape that had been holding it on for the past 5 months) and calmly made my way to the Test Centre...

Which incidentally, I - The QUEEN of getting lost, found first time.

Sat around drinking coffee and smoking (I was 50 minutes early) until about 10 minutes before I was booked in, when I went into the waiting area.

Rode the test route, Still no nerves as such (my examiner was a lovely old fella with a nice smiley face) until I ended up back at the Test Centre.

Then the nerves hit.

Anyhow... As the first thread says, I passed, No lessons, 3 Minors.

I am now VERY tempted to call all the instructors up and say, "In case you have me on a reserve list, and plan to FINALLY call me back, BOLLOCKS to you - I didn't need your help!"

Respects Loz - grots

[Bill CBF1000]

Atta girl - well done n yep, phone the bar stewards up n tell n what a bunch of tosers they are and how much money they have lost.

n GB, why not take inspiration from this, before next March (pain in the ass aint i?)

[grotbag]

Originally Posted by Bill CBF1000

n GB, why not take inspiration from this, before next March (pain in the ass aint i?)

yep

[druidsam]

Originally Posted by Bill CBF1000

Atta girl - well done n yep, phone the bar stewards up n tell n what a bunch of tosers they are and how much money they have lost.

n GB, why not take inspiration from this, before next March (pain in the ass aint i?)

he may be a pain in the arse.. but he's right



.........................Sam

[Bill CBF1000]

Originally Posted by druidsam

he may be a pain in the arse.. but he's right



.........................Sam

thank you Sam - maccy just read this over my shoulder and ......... nuff said

[Reddit]

For anyone else suffering (or about to suffer) the same crap tuition (for want of a better word), I have a suggestion. There are a number of reputable training centes around the country who offer full CBT/DAS courses which include the test itself on the final day. Depending how far away from you they are, it's probably going to be a residential course, which is no bad thing, because everything stays fresh in your mind, you're in with the other 'students' all the time, discussing experiences, tips etc, and you don't have to go home to get sleepless nights after a day of struggling.
One such place I can recommend very highly (from personal experience) is Riders Edge in Builth Wells (Mid Wales) - they are based on the Royal Showground in Builth and have a superb training facility, not to mention (probably) the best instructors in the country (many of whom are ex-police and I don't care what your views of the cops are, those boys are GOOD). Your CBT and initial instruction are carried out in the safe enclosed environment of the showground, and you will be guided every step of the way.
It may not be the cheapest route to your licence, but they have a good pass rate which is the envy of many riding schools, and for riders who have already passed their test there is a variety of other courses to improve your riding skills (including a 'back to biking' for the rusties who haven't ridden a bike in 20 years or so but want to get back to it).
Can't remember the contact details, but if you Google it I'm sure you will find them

[lozzypop1]

Woo! I'm famous!!

Reddit, You seem to have completely missed the point of it all... It's pretty difficult to do a DAS course when you are:
a) Not taken seriously
b) Promised callbacks, and nothing materialises.

By the way... Test passed on Tuesday, On the Thursday I had the pleasure of telling one of the instructors that I did it without him.