Pure exhilaration!

I just got off the back of a motorbike. I've only ever been on one once before and that was about sixteen years ago. I've always had a thing for speed. Travelling at speed that is, not actual speed. In fact my first boss Simon once said to me, "Nikki, please promise me you'll never do speed." When I asked him why, he replied, "Because normal people take speed to be like you; I don't know what would happen if you took it." I'm sure he was right, so I never did.

Travelling at speed though - definitely a sucker for that one. I raced powerboats as a teenager before I ever learned to drive a car. Small boats with an outboard motor, but they did about 65 miles an hour on the water and I was 5th in the British Championships in my class when I was 16.

I remember my driving instructor Bernard. If I so much as drove a couple of miles an hour above the speed limit he would remind me, "You're not in your boat now Nicola." I know he was right, but at least in a car I always feel safe. I know I'm not, but it's not the same as racing along in a powerboat or on the back of a motorbike.

Wow. I thought the two cups of coffee I had this morning gave me a buzz but it's nothing compared to this. I guess I had to trust the policeman I went with - if you can't trust a policeman who can you trust? I felt safe and secure. Perhaps because he's a big guy and I could hide behind him. It was only when he opened it up on the straight that I thought to myself "Oh crap, I forgot to pray before I got on."

I try and drive at the speed limit these days. With nine points a person needs to. It was totally outside of my comfort zone to be on the back of a bike with someone else in control, but that's what my whole life seems to be about lately - pushing the boundaries, changing my thinking, doing new things. Agreeing to go on a bike ride seemed appropriate under the circumstances.