The day started off with Alan telling me: “Yesterday was for fun. Today we’re getting ready for test!”
This was not to say that I did too much wrong yesterday, but the little things such as mirror checking and general observation had to sharpen up – these are minor things, but are under constant observation during the test.
We set off and had a fairly easy going run just to get used to the vehicle again. After a well deserved bacon and egg sandwich and coffee we hit Bedford – my favourite place which some of you might remember from my previous blog (which I’m sure each and every one of you followed closely).
I’m not sure whether Alan put something in my coffee or the artic has a calming effect on me, but I wasn’t half as nervous driving around the tight one-way system as I was in the rigid.
Perhaps it’s the fact that you’re so big that you know not many vehicles will try and squeeze up the side of you…..I’m not sure. Most corners bar one very tight one went pretty well.
I did discover a new enemy though – cyclists. Some were just kids that were blatantly out to p*ss me off, though the other one must have been depressed or mental. Having passed him on a straight piece of road the road bent sharply round to the left – I had to use both lanes. Then I learned a valuable lesson – just because you’ve passed a cyclist don’t think he won’t try and get passed you again. He actually tried to get between a 16.5m artic truck and the railing on the pavement.
Having asked Alan whether I had done anything wrong there (ie was I too close etc?) he said that though I should always be looking out for them, though that guy clearly had a death wish. Later on in the day it was nice to see some sensible cyclists though - they’re not all bad. A bit of care and courtesy from both parties seems to work quite well.
Enough about cyclists. After another needed coffee Alan took me on one of the test routes.
The gear change exercise went well and so did the first 500m. After that Alan did me a massive favour by warning me that the ‘next left’ (which he asked me to go down) was rather tight. I just about squeezed the truck round.
Most of the trip went well, except for the occasional observational error – I must get back into the mode of looking far ahead.
Up until late in the second day I had hit a total of three curbs (except for a couple of unavoidable ones). But yes! I managed to hit this one properly – it was my tightest bend so-far. Alan said I just need to believe that when I pull the tractor unit past the turn in that it will come back round – Just trust it!!
Back at the yard Alan booked my test for 9.45am on Friday. Two whole days left……