It had to happen sooner or later, but I had my first motorbike accident on Sunday. I would like to think it will be my last, but the only way to guarantee that would be to stop riding. Nothing too serious: I didn’t break any bones or wreck the bike.I was probably a stupid idea to go out anyway, since it was pouring with rain all day, without pause. Of course it was, it was a bank holiday weekend. The thing is Jayne had agreed to take part in a charity poker run, raising funds for the blood runner service, with her new friends at the Plough in Lower Beeding and she is very keen to not just be a fair weather rider.

We started in Lower Beeding, rode down to Bramber, then came up through various places like Coolham and Wisborough Green, stopping at pubs to pick a card. Most of the time it was just me, Jayne and Frankie, but somewhere along the way we caught up with a bunch of others and joined the pack. This was handy because it meant that when I came flying off my bike just before a roundabout I was surrounded and followed by experienced riders who stopped to help rather than a tailgating Land Rover.

Obviously I felt a bit shaky and went even slower than sensible all the way back, but the others kept behind me to shelter me from traffic. The amazing thing is that my leg and ribs feel bruised and hurt like hell, but I don’t actually have any bruises. Just a bit of a scuff on one elbow. Going out in that weather, when I only had about 400 miles of experience was, in hindsight, not a good idea, but at least I had proper protective clothes so no real damage was done. Best of all, my head didn’t hit the ground, so no need to buy a new helmet.

So what happened? I am still not sure but it was a mixture of my inexperience, the poor visibility and wet roads. I thought I would enter a roundabout after a car that was coming round, but it was not coming as fast as I thought and I must have applied some brake as a reflex and the bike went for a sideways skid. Alcohol was not a factor as I didn’t have any, despite the whole event being one big pub crawl.

The left peg on my bike is now bent at 45 degrees and needs to be straightened out, and there are a few scuffs, but otherwise the Yamaha is in good shape. I can hardly walk, take minutes just to get up or down stairs, and have aches and pains in my back, leg, ribs and shoulder , but that will clear up. My jacket, trousers, gloves, boots and helmet are all still OK – though still wet after two days. All in all it could have been a lot worse, and it will teach me to be a bit more careful in future.

I am just glad it happened when I was with a group. They have been full of support and advice, although the advice seems to mostly be that I just need a bigger bike because big, heavy, powerful bikes are easier to keep upright.