My Brain Hurts....

So I am now having a couple of days off Aunt Sally, trying to memorise the runs I have done, is there an easy way???? please let there be an easy way!!!!, I keep getting my lefts and rights muddled up (which some people who know me will say isn't unusual) whether it is a road or a street, or a place,or a square,or a crescent or a gardens or any other viariant!!!!
So what is the best way? I have recorded the runs onto my phone so I can listen to them when I'm walking the dog, I keep trying to call over with him but he just wants his tummy tickled which doesn't help much when I'm trying to work out whether it's a left turn into Catherine Street off Aldwych ( it is by the way). So tonight I am going to subject my partner to a calling over session, drag her away from her favorite TV programs to listen to me try and call out the runs I have driven this week, not sure whether you should wish me luck or her. I'll let you know how it goes......

First few days and feeling confident

Finally I'm out on the road, Aunt Sally and I riding round doing the first few runs, and I've encounted a problem I hadn't anticipated, I keep getting lost on the way to the starting point of the run!!!! I took a wrong turn on the way to Manor House Station on Monday having to have a detour through Shacklewell (which was a bit scary lol) and then riding straight past Chancery Lane Station so having to go round the block to get back to it, but maybe I will have to spend more time planning my routes to the runs from now on!!
As for the first few days has it been a success??? well I have now travelled the first 6 runs, I can repeat three and a half of them, I can remember certain places and turns from when I did the runs before, so all in all I think it has to be. However it has highlighted just how awesome a task the KOL is, I can find my way home everytime, but I need to know the names of the roads I'm travelling on, thats the only way i'm gonna learn!!!
I'm getting used to the back ache from riding Aunt Sally there must be a way of getting rid of that I'm sure!, and I am really enjoying exploring London which is something I hadn't thought of so all in all a great start.
Oh and just as an after thought, Aunt Sally did 142 miles on a tank of fuel that cost me £12 - Happy Days!

Aunt Sally and Me....

Well that's it I now have my CBT certificate, so I can now ride my scooter on the road - I've decided to call it Aunt Sally, don't really know the reason why just kinda fits lol.
So I spent the day riding around the local area with an instructor shouting instructions in my ears when to turn left, right etc, I also learnt how to stop and go forwards, make a u-turn, to be honest having been driving for the last 22 years I must admit it did feel a little bit pointless but it has to be done to keep the powers that be happy.
I was in a group of four and the hightlight of the day was when one of the members of the group was practising his emergency stop, the instructor's best line was " that was excellent but next time try not to fall off", gave me a giggle for a little while.
One thing I learned today was that if I don't wear my bike boots my ankles get bloody cold and I really need a scarf so I guess it was a useful exercise in that sense ( I don't want to be somewhere in north London freezing my arse off!!!)
So after putting my shift in at work tomorrow I'm going to jump on Aunt Sally and do the first run, Manor House Station to Gibson Square, all the KOL peeps that read this will no doubt remember it, I'm not sure whether to do all the runs and a few points first then go back and do more points or to do one run and try to learn as many points as I can, I guess it's trial and error, but I'm sure I should be able to figure it out.
One thing that has hit me the last couple of days is how huge a thing the KOL is, it is very intimidating and to anyone who has done it I am in awe and to the people in my situation doing it, it will be such an achievement when in X number of years we are all driving the city in our shiny black cabs.
Anyway enough from me, time for something to eat and a veg out infront of the TV, something that I am sure will soon become a thing of the past.

Nearly ready to go......

Right the paperwork is signed, I am now the legal owner of a Honda PS125, I have my helmet, boots, waterproofs and a stack of maps and runs ready to go. Once I have done my CBT on sunday off I go to find Manor House Station so I can ride from there to Gibson Square. Blue Book page 1 list 1 run 1. Has anyone ever wanted to go from Manor House Station to Gibson Square I wonder??????
Anyway back to the practicalities, I have to work out how to get from dagenham to Manor House station - just a minor point lol and looking at the maps there are an awful lot of roads around both the station and the square to ride around and learn, I'm definitely thinking that one run a day done properly is better than two runs half done ( bear in mind I am going out of an evening after work).
Anyway enough of my thoughts, I have to start looking up points to find,and start to learn the run itself.

Why the knowledge

This is the million pound question - why would I try and learn the 25000 roads and streets and every place of public interest on them? Am I mad???
A few years ago I started the knowledge I managed the first 80 runs before some scumbag stole my scooter and then I landed a job that paid good money and the knowledge was forgotten about, during the last few years I have been reliant on other people for my income whether it was in financial services ( which died a death when the recession hit) or in sales ( which again nosedived with the economic climate) and now I find myself in a situation where I have no money and need to do something drastic!!!
So I'm gonna climb on a scooter and do it properly this time ( while holding onto a full-time job) and then when eventually I have passed out I will be responsible for my income no one else!!!!!
So on a wet windy December evening when sensible people are sitting on their sofas watching the latest Simon Cowell rubbish on TV I shall be riding around our great city learning what I need to know. I now have an aim, a purpose, a goal and I promise this is one thing i will succeed at!!!!!

Getting Everything Organised

And there was me thinking that all I needed to do was to get a scooter and ride around London learning the runs and points - how wrong was I!!!!!!
Finally ordered my knowledge bike today, after much research and talking to other knowledge boys I've gone for a Honda PES125 complete with board and box ( thanks to Johns of Romford for their help).
Knowledge starter pack ordered from Knowledge Point, waterproofs and helmet sorted and CBT booked.
All thats left now is to find scooter insurance, I can't believe how dear it all is - I've looked at the singing fat man and the meerkats and it amazes me that the same company has different prices for the different sites!
Anyway this is just a ramble as I get myself organised, I promise this blog will become more interesting as I actually crack on with the knowledge!!!!