SometimesSansEngine

I read all this yesterday [mention]elizabethf[/mention] and didn't know what to say other than keep your chin up as you are... it seemed a bit hollow but today I haven't got much else to say so had to post something. It absolutely sucks and I feel for you, and next time hopefully you'll get that fine line between hesitation and committing correct. As I understand it, most examiners are only going to do you for hesitation if it's a consistent issue in your riding. One delay at a roundabout because you weren't 100% sure won't be a failure if on all the other junctions you negotiated them fine. Effectively they'll build up an overall picture of your riding and then start to find the reason to fail you.

Well, it was our dog. And the problem is, it's unusual for him to do a poo on the drive, which is unfortunately pitch black. And we'd only just got back from work

I can't claim this but your talk of the car reminded me of a favourite story from sixth form: On one of the more popular teacher's last day (one of those teachers who was always firm but fair and always up for a laugh) some of the sixth formers in my year decided to decorate his car. Squirty cream, covering it in cling film etc All good honest fun. Until it was realised that the headteacher owned the same car and they'd customised the wrong one. Edited: and they had videoed it for posterity using a camcorder

Hey [mention]Seidinger1986[/mention], so I wasn't there so I'm not going to make a statement about the situation in which you failed and any opinion about it. But I will echo what others have said. Absolutely try somewhere else, it'll remove that monkey from your brain. Don't worry about not knowing the area, that might be a good thing. It's a short time to dedicate 100% focus on the road and every sign you see. You're not the first person to fail multiple times, so keep your pecker up. I can only assume you're not a total liability as you're riding a 125 and not currently dead, so just try to be in the mindset that you'll get there eventually, and in the meantime you can just carry on riding your 125.

Today's facebook post is a good example of the sort of decent material Kevin posts https://www.facebook.com/SurvivalSkills/posts/2204464189586155?__tn__=K-R A lot of it you probably know in the back of your mind, but I find reading it is a decent refresher and brings a lot of that road experience back to the forefront of your brain again

Forgot to post this last night. Yesterday was me. Riding home, haven't done much dark riding. On a dark B road go to flick full beam on. Hm, that didn't make too much difference. Glance down and see a blue light. But then also see some flashing green lights. Brain slowly catches up. The blue light was my heated grips. The flashing green lights were indicating that my hazard lights were now on, which were now rhythmically flashing away, confusing the beejesus out of the land rover following me. And in my fat fingered moment rather than hit the full beam switch I'd turned on my four way flashers which for some reason the designers placed right next to full beam, and in the dark in gloves it's hard to differentiate between the two. (Still, I guess better than on my mod 2 when within 200 metres of leaving the test centre I hit the horn rather than cancel my indicator.... the examiner either didn't notice or couldn't be bothered to mention it. Oh, but then there was 1000 metres from the test centre when rather than indicating left I managed to turn the hazard lights on..... again, either the examiner didn't spot or let it slide. The only thing I failed to turn on in that first kilometre was the bloody windscreen wipers... I don't think the bike was fitted with them but by jove if they were there I probably would have managed to turn them on) Me at times on the bike: ">

It's an argument I have many a time with people, about contrast, so his views and the studies he brings up often validate my thoughts. Many pictures that show someone "invisible" use a static image of a snapshot in time, and that's not real life as we're always moving and the background is changing. I've seen people in 'bright' colours in fog when I know me wearing all black will stand out more. Quite often when I see him post about right of way he's almost illustrating the opposite, ie "just because you have 'right of way' doesn't mean someone won't pull out on you" as an attitude to approaching a hazard, as if he's mimicking the way people talk. I sit there quite a few times listening to people and they say "and even though I had right of way the other guy....."

I'll echo the above (also not an advert). His regular Facebook posts are always enlightening, and I have a copy of one of his books. He's also behind the "Science of Being Seen" material in the Biker Down courses and does a lot of educational work on why other road users don't always see bikes

Now there's an idea..... (sort of the former)

I had my picture taken whilst I was out riding on Sunday and as I have no other pictures of me actually riding my bike I couldn't resist in parting with some cash to buy them. Played with the colours a bit myself on this one.... The background of Chesil Beach is nice but I couldn't resist making the Kawasaki Green stand out

Well done [mention]ShouldKnowBetter[/mention], ideally you ride on your test like you've already passed, but of course that advice is only easy to follow after you've passed... if that makes sense

Yep, anyone going slower than you would/not going for a gap you would are dithering or unconfident, whereas anyone going fast than you would/going for a gap you wouldn't are a liability and reckless

Come on now, we've all been involved in classic office bants that required a seven figure pay out afterwards to smooth things over. All just innocent fun.

I'm going to run slightly contrary. Done right, it's not a bad thing. I know too many people in business who are: Adamant they're not a "maths person" and/or 'can't do maths' etc Petrified of getting things wrong or failure Lack all manner of confidence in anything that requires analytical thinking All because they were made to feel that way at school. I know a lot of adults that have been really brave and redone things like maths and english qualifications as an adult and said "if only I was taught this way at school". Or people that only discovered that physical activity could be fun later in life because the experience at school was totally miserable (happy to use myself as an example there) Yes of course it can be OVER done, like most things. But reminding a kid that mistakes happen, that there's safe places to fail and crucially that there isn't always a right or wrong answer (sometimes you've just got to come out with a reasoned decision based on the information and evidence that you have to hand) is not a bad thing in the workplace. Instead the methods you make lead to people that are petrified of failure and quickly cover up mistakes (and we all hate people that cover their own ass) Before you go down the road of "well I was alright with it" make sure you take in the experiences of many others and also see out the research evidence that goes into the benefit into each approach (disclaimer, I'm not an expert but I know a few people who have worked in this field and had a few conversations with them)

Do you mean mod 1 test on Wednesday? Good luck Take your time between each exercise and don't rush to start them. Plenty of time. Glad to hear your day went better today edit: ah you already spotted it, good stuff

Just saw this, is this the sort of thing that happens at a cat show? ">

It's missing shoes and socks.

That does require several bouts of reading mind, and I've already had some port tonight...

Most of that chat seems to be around intent though (eg hitting on purpose). If I hit a wild animal it definitely wouldn't be because I'm actively hunting them out to do so.

Growing up in the countryside you end up in a lot of vehicles that hit animals. And I was taught to cook from a fairly young age so had a fairly good understanding of where food came from or could come from. I grew up in the new forest and I've heard this said to be law too. Think the idea is that it prevents people deliberatly running creatures over for food. Mate of mine had a classic mini and found a dead dear so he strapped it to the bonnet. Drove home with his head out of the window as he couldn't see a thing through the windshield!! That's the problem, lots of people have heard it, I've never been pointed to the legislation for it

I'm not convinced it is a law, but happy to be proven wrong....

And this was exactly where I couldn't be bothered with it. The payback didn't seem worth the effort. Maybe that means I'm too well off.

No, you bet on a sports result with one bookie, then bet on the opposite result with another. If you make use of sign up bonuses with one of them you then effectively can't lose. It requires jumping through some hoops and also understanding what you're doing, although lots of websites will do all the maths for you and suggest which events to bet on and through which bookies. I just didn't have the patience, I felt like it was a lot of time and effort for not much return at the level I was willing to invest (both in money and time). And whilst not illegal by any stretch, bookies can be fickle and close your account if they think you're doing it and not a 'normal' customer (ie someone they can suck the blood from) so from what I understand the people who go all in also take the time to do some 'normal' betting behaviour to stay under the radar a bit.

Same. I heard a guy in a podcast try it so put a couple of quid into it. Pretty much broke even after a week or two when I lost interest as everything took soooo long.

I've nearly had a squirrel under my bicycle wheels a few times, worst was the one I actually ran over whilst doing 30mph downhill (I did see it run away as I looked over my shoulder). Was lucky to stay upright - the problem is they panic and start dashing back and forth rather than just get out of the way, so if you try and swerve around them you'll probably just hit them anyway. Not good if they go into your wheel and stop at your forks. If a sudden stop of the wheel isn't bad enough, there's enough pictures out there of them actually shearing the forks.... Luckily the worst squirrel injury I have got so far was when my dog spotted one up a tree before I did and he attempted to give chase. Unfortunately for me he was on a lead and 30 odd kilos of dog suddenly yanked my arm sideways.... Stupid dog, the squirrel was already up the tree so unless he suddenly learnt to climb it he was never going to get it anyway.