It felt familiar
and exciting
as it was
when I first
learnt to ride
a push bike
So that was me for the next half an hour.
When I’d get to the bottom, Ben would
ride the bike with me on the back up the
and I’d roll down again. After a while I was
introduced to the use of the back brake
pedal (see? just like a bike) and did the same
thing again. Then after a few times of that,
I’d try it with the engine going and repeat.
Using the rear brake took a bit of getting
used to. I found it hard to feel how much
pressure I was putting on the back because
I could barely feel my feet, the big off-road
boots seemed so stiff and restricting, but
after a few goes I kind of got the hang of it.
I was feeling pretty clued into it, quite
comfortable and pleased with myself that I
hadn’t fallen off yet. Something about it felt
real nostalgic. My brain dug out some old
memories of when I tried teaching myself to
ride a bicycle as a kid. I was doing the same
thing, rolling down a grassy hill, learning to
brake and stop without tipping over. It felt
familiar and exciting as it was when I first
learnt to ride a push bike.
STEP THREE: THROTTLE
We moved to a different starting point and
Ben was giving vibes that it was time to do
something other than rolling down hill in
a straight line. I was given a more in-depth
rundown of how the throttle and clutch work
and how I was to go about getting enough
power to actually move.
Ben got me to get enough throttle going
58 KIWI RIDER
and release the clutch just enough to move
a couple inches forward then stop. After a
couple of goes he just told me to go for it and
I was off, living my teenage fantasy and guess
what? I hadn’t crashed yet!
I was stoke d. I couldn’t believe it, I was riding
a motorbike and it felt freakin’ awesome.