Hamish Champ: Having fun on two wheels

I do love riding a motorcycle. But let's face it, it's a pretty counter-intuitive hobby. Hazardous, to say the very least. Push the right handlebar away from you to turn right. When in danger, go faster. It's always sounded bonkers to me.

Also, I have a mental block about going too​ fast on two wheels, which means try as I might I can't go beyond my comfort zone. It's a self-preservation thing.

So what the bloody hell am I doing sitting on my Triumph lined up in the pit lane of Brands Hatch, about to whoosh round the world-famous track with masking tape covering up the bike's speedometer? A desire to improve my cornering at speed? Probably. A compulsion to push the borders of my comfort zone? I guess so. Sheer stupidity? Most definitely.

I couldn't stop shivering, and it wasn't just the cold. Still, at least I wouldn't be meeting anything coming the other way. And I would be shown the on-track ropes by a guy called 'Nemo' - aka Lee, an instructor with the California Superbike School (CSS).

CSS has been improving the riding technique of bikers for the past 40 years on some of the best racing circuits in the world. The way it works is they teach you stuff in several classroom sessions, then get you out onto the track to put what you've learnt into practice after each one.

Quite how I was going to remember what they told me was a mystery however, since naked terror has the unfortunate effect of putting parts of my brain into a sort of hibernation. For example, there was so much technical information to take in during the first class - when and where to turn into a corner, how much or little throttle to apply, etc - that my head started to hurt.

For the first couple of track sessions I virtually pootled round the circuit, ignoring the 'no brakes' rule (No brakes? Are you mental​?) and constantly being passed by fellow students who made me feel like I wasn't moving at all. But then Nemo would pop up in front of me, show me a racing line or a riding position and get me to repeat it with him following. It was very satisfying to see him ride up alongside me afterwards with a big 'thumbs up' when I'd done something right.

Gradually I started to 'get it'. I started to control the bike, rather than the other way round. And I started to get faster.

The first bend at Brands Hatch is called Paddock, which sweeps right into the butt-clenching Paddock Hill, at the bottom of which is a hefty compression. On the third track session I nailed both bend and hill. Fast. Hit the apex of the corner almost bang on. "Crikey!", I shouted in my helmet (OK, I didn't use the word 'crikey'). Then up to the hairpin that is Druids. Nailed that too. Blimey. Then down to the tricky left handed bend that is Graham Hill. Again, nailed it.

Sure, other students were still whizzing past me, but I knew I was making progress. With each theory lesson, followed by Nemo's on-track guidance, I was getting faster and I was more in control.

It struck me that three things were going on. Firstly I was taking on board what people who knew what they were talking about had to tell me. Then I was putting these things into practice, realising in the process that they worked. The result of all this was that I was gaining the confidence to push the borders of my comfort zone further than I ever thought possible.

And if this philosophy can work on a race track, I mused to myself while careering round Clearways and into the home straight, why shouldn't it in other walks of life?

I still got things wrong; a dodgy line here, not fast enough there. But I was 'getting it'. And when I 'got it' it was truly the dog's bananas. Plus I just couldn't stop grinning.

Comfort zones, eh? Who needs them?

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Calling all fellow on-trade bikers! Neil Robertson, chief executive of the BII (Yamaha R1), is organising a two-day ride through the Sussex countryside on Thursday and Friday, July 22/23 in aid of the Licensed Trade Charity. ​

If any motorcycling readers would like to join Neil - and myself - on what will hopefully be a fun couple of days out on two wheels (as well as an opportunity to raise a bit of cash for a good cause) just drop me a line at hamishc@thepublican.com and I will forward your details to him. A detailed itinerary will emerge nearer the time…​