Any bikers around please?

[geekette]

Just got motor bike lessons and test booked without fixed dates as a Christmas present! I am overjoyed! Thanks DH! I have been meaning to learn to ride for ages and I love moving things. Next up is my pilots license...

But I have also just found out I am pregnant so not sure how safe it is for me to book the actual lesson dates within the first trimester as I wouldn't actually have a bump in the way...

Or should i wait till after delivery? Then, I am afraid I will have my hands full and since it would be my first I guess it would be double whammy as i am clueless on what to do.

Or is my best bet begging and pleading with the bike school that they change the validity of the gift voucher? It currently expires in 12 months.

Thanks in advance.

[hairytaleofnewyork]

I would ask them to extend the vouchers for at least a further year.

There is no way I'd gt on a motorbike while pregnant. Bikes are very dangerous when things go wrong - you are very exposed. Many moons ago, on my CBT I crashed.

[AllIWant85]

Hello and congratulations!!

Bikes are very dangerous yes but so is crossing the road, driving etc etc. Only you can make the choice about this. I have a very good sense of balance and was very confident when learning to ride but there's no guarantees regarding other road users.

You may even find that the instructors will not allow you to ride whilst pregnant, their insurance may not cover it.

I've had a full bike license for a few years now and I love riding. It is am awesome feeling. On the other hand I'm now 10 weeks pregnant and have had past mc's so I have just sold my beloved bike as I wouldn't feel as happy riding now.

Only you can weigh up the risks vs benefits and make the choice.

[geekette]

Doing my insomnia round...

Thanks hairy and AllIWant.

I know it boils down to common sense but other people's experience/advice helps highlight the pros, cons and pitfalls.

I will ring the school up in the new year and see if they will even take a pregnant lady. Possibly they'll make me sign a waiver not to sue if i lose the baby which for some reason i am pretty sure i won't... but that could be the excitement talking. A friend took me riding last year. was awesome!

I also subscribe to the thought that most things in life are dangerous... just got to get on with it.

I googled a bit and another biker says riding during pregnancy is possible but the changing center of gravity makes it difficult to lean into turns. I am guessing this is something I should seriously consider if i go for the first trimester riding option?

[AlpinePony]

Don't be daft, first trimester is fine! Unless of course you're planning to stop using stairs, driving, crossing roads, riding buses etc., etc.

[JenniferEight]

I rode till I was seven months with my first baby. It did alter my sense of balance slightly towards that point, and I dropped the bike one day and had to lift it which put my back out (your joints will loosen as pregnancy advances) so then I stopped.

I was a competent rider though and had ridden every day for a year or two so felt very very at home on the bike. I would think you should either do it right now, at the start, and go easy - which you will, during training, they do take care of you - or ask them to extend it for another year. You may not feel like riding a bike once you have a small baby though. It really affected my confidence to ride as I knew I had someone small depending on me not to get hurt.

Even now I think twice before taking the bike out which is a shame as that just means my riding gets less and less confident, as I do it less. My children are 4 and 8 now!

So if I were you, if I wasn't too concerned about the risk of miscarriage if I did fall off - I'd do it now, as in immediately.

Enjoy

[JenniferEight]

Your sense of balance won't alter till you have a sizeable bump! I would think anything up to 4-5 months you'll be fine. Just those ligaments to watch and try not to lift it if it does fall over (which bikes often do when you're learning!!!). I snubbed all that as old wives' tales but then I did suffer a bit when I lifted my (very old and heavy) bike at 7 months.

And lifting ds1 when pregnant with ds2 tore my stomach muscles slightly, too..so it's true, you are slightly more vulnerable when pg. But you don't even have to tell them you're pg - well actually you might, as it could impact their insurance if anything happened to you.

[MmeLindor.]

I would say the same thing that I say when posters ask about skiing when pregnant.

You have to consider not just your actions but those of other road users.

Your sense of balance will be fine until you are well into your second semester.

I would be worried about accidents that normally would be a small thing but when pregnant are not so easy to manage. Even a light bump could break an arm or bruised ribs (I came off my (push)bike last summer and it was agony. Even with strong painkillers.

And treatment options when pregnant are affected. You don't want to have a GA unless absolutely necessary.

I would leave it until after the baby is born. (congratulations, btw)

[JenniferEight]

It is entirely possible to be injured when learning to ride but it's also a very protected environment - you have an instructor with you all the time, luminous vests, you go very slowly. Much of it is done on quiet roads in quiet towns (in my experience anyway). You feel very safe. You have intercom.

I did manage to have my only 'crash' the day before my test, though, but I was in a rush, riding on my own to get to the training place one morning, was watching some geezer walking on the pavement wondering if I knew him or not and didn't notice the traffic lights ahead...so I slammed on the brakes, locked the back wheel and skidded down the road, losing some helmet studs as my head bounced on the tarmac..! People rushed out of buildings to help, someone called an ambulance, but I was perfectly alright. I was going at about 25 on a small bike, no one else was involved (thankfully). I had a mildly sprained hand but that was all. Did my test the next day and passed.

I wasn't pregnant at the time, but if I had been. I don't think it would have made much difference. Just the morning sickness to consider really.

[LoveInASnowyClimate]

I felt so bloody terrible during my first trimester that I would have hated to take on any other commitments - it was all I could do to go to work then make it home in time to eat some toast and go to bed at about 8 (if I managed to stay up that late!). I would have really struggled to manage a driving lesson on top of a normal day. But you may feel fine. Then I don't think I would have wanted to learn a new skill involving balance and the risk of other road users crashing into me once in the second trimester, when the baby was up and out of my pelvis and so more vulnerable. But up to you!

[geekette]

Finally got to sleep but woke up in a panic thinking I had been insensitive to AllIWant! Sorry to hear about your past mc's.. hopefully this one sticks!

Oh this is all so encouraging.

It's a good point that stretching/ligament thing. I had completely forgotten about it. I have a tendency to pick up some really heavy things...

The one thing about leaving it till next year is potentially I could come up with lots of excuses not to ride (too easy with a kid) which is something I would like to avoid... but maybe with resolve i could overcome that too.

It could be the naivety which protects beginners but I am really not afraid of falling and I trust myself to ride very defensively... That driving style has served me well over the years... And I am not going to stop driving just because other drivers can be funny.

No, I don't have any tiredness and sickness in this pregnancy and hopefully it stays that way! I think I should profit from the situation and learn to ride!

I guess I will try it out once, if they'll let me, and if it feels safe enough then will continue and make the decision at each lesson for the next or something like that.

Thanks for everything girls

P.S Jennifer: So did you know the 'geezer'?

[JenniferEight]

Good luck - and no, I didn't

I hope I wasn't insensitive either.

I think you have to make a quick decision about whether you really are determined to learn to ride, or not - and what use it will be to you, personally, once you have had a baby.

If it's going to be a wasted skill then maybe you should think about exchanging the vouchers for something else - if you can.

good luck whatever you do, and at the no sickness!!

[geekette]

Am I determined to ride? Definitely!
What has been holding me back? The thought that a motorbike is a toy and is hence a waste of money.

Not sure why i think this way but it has something to do with already having a fuel efficient vehicle so what is the point of alternative transport? Silly but I have to justify everything to myself, which is why getting it as a present made my day!

I have a few bikers in my entourage and we would all like to go on holidays biking together!

I see no skills as wasted and I would be the first person in my extended family going back a few generations to actually learn to ride a motorbike! Being female makes it just that bit more of an achievement. we still live in those times. sigh.

And thanks for everything!

[AllIWant85]

I didn't think anyone was being insensitive. :)

I've sold my bike partly because of the mc's. If I hadn't had the mc's (none that were biker related I'd like to add) then I'd probably still be riding.

In my mind I have to do whatever it takes to avoid mc again. I know it's mad and that it's one of those things I can't control but I very much blame myself everytime so I am trying to avoid this where possible.

If your confident in your ability and the instuctors are happy then I think you should go for it. I won't ride now until I have older children, that's just the choice I've made. I will go back to it one day though as there truly is no buzz quite like it.

[memphis83]

I had all of my lessons in the Sept and Oct of 2009, the one day I fell off and got stuck under the bike I wasnt wearing protective trousers (silly me) I passed my test and had just bought an old 400 cc FZR and then found out I had been pregnant all along through my lessons, if I had known I would have still done it, I think it is something you have to decide yourself.
At 13 weeks we went on a late deal holiday and I went jet skiing and quad biking as I knew a holiday after that wouldnt be able to have us two quad biking!
My DS is 17 months old and at 25 week pregnant I bought a Yamaha R6, thinking I wouldnt ever be able to justify the expence one I was a mum, I dont ride loads but still love it when I get out.
Good luck with pregnancy and passing your test!

[geekette]

Tried calling the school today but they are closed till 3rd Jan. Drat. Will have to be patient.