About Petrol Ponies Instructors
Chrissy Woolfall
Hi there, well where to start. My Dad has ridden bikes since he was a child, my Mum also has her motorcycle license, so really it was inevitable I was going to follow.
On the 5th of November 2000 I set off to my local training school to do my CBT.
My instructor as a gentleman named Peter. He was amazing, and if i'm honest he's part of the reason I became an instructor.
My CBT lasted for 3 years unlike the 2 years you get now, however, if you didn't pass your test within those 3 years you couldn't ride for 12 months. In August 2003 I got home from work to find my Mum had booked my test for me, no pressure then.
Almost three years to the day of passing my test I started training to be an instructor, on my first day, who should walk out the door but Peter. He became a very good friend and colleague. He's seen me through 20 years riding.
In my 20 years I've owned around 13 different bikes, ranging from a 125cc cruiser to a Kawasaki ZX10R super sport to my current Yamaha XT660X supermoto, and ridden many more.
Biking when i started riding was very much a mans thing,
I knew three women that rode. My Mum, my Aunt and a lady called Martha who owned a bike shop in town (Huddersfield). From there Martha slowly started building up a group of ladies to ride, Claire from the local Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) had huge input into that too, we ran as a group for over 12 months and had some lovely rides, around 12 of us and there was always cake.
After joining MAG in 2004 I did at least 3 motorcycle rallies a year up until 2009 when i found i was pregnant with my eldest. Rallies are so much fun, even if you go to one on your own you come away with so many friends. I also helped run the marshal control at the Welsh National motorcycle show and Anglesey show for a couple of years.
Learning to ride opened up a whole new world for me, and my closest friends were met through biking. I hope you get as much enjoyment out of your biking career as I have, and i hope I can help you with that.
Chrissy