Hi again,

As this is my website, I thought that maybe I should tell you a little bit about myself, so here goes.....

My full name is Samantha Ghislaine Hatch (weird middle name I know, it's french and my mum had a friend with the name and quite liked it! Lol) and I was born in October 1978. I grew up in North Dorset in the UK and went to school in a town called Gillingham. This is where I met my now husband, Daniel, and we finally got married in September 2003 after being together since we were 16. I work as an Air Traffic Controller in a place called Swanwick, which is near Southampton in Hampshire. Contrary to popular belief, I am not the person who waves ping-pong bats about to help pilots park their aircraft, nor am I an air stewardess! I sit in front of a computer screen that has dots on which represent the aeroplanes. My job is to keep the dots apart and so long as I do that I have had a good day at work! Hehe Dan is a computer programmer so he set up the site for me and is the first port of call for me and anyone else on the site who is having any problems. He is a director of his own business along with a school friend, and they write computer programs and websites for people. The company is called blueflame i.t.

I have been around motorbikes for as long as I can remember as both Dan and my brother have always loved them. When Dan passed his test we went straight out and got some kit for me so that I could go on the back of his FZ400 and later his Thundercat. Many a day was spent riding around with mates and going to bike meets, which we both thoroughly enjoyed.

My first experience of riding a bike myself wasn't a particularly successful one. It involved a very bumpy field, a trail bike that had to be bump-started as the kick start was broken, and my brother shouting instructions as I bounced away from him at what seemed like a very high speed in first gear! Needless to say I panicked, ended up in a heap and had a nasty bruise on my leg for a while. It could have been worse though, so eventually I plucked up some more courage and decided that I wanted a proper go on a fully functional machine!

In August 2002, I signed up to do my CBT at a local training school. I tootled around all day on an SR125 and although I was wobbly at first, I managed to pass and decided that I quite liked this biking lark. I considered doing my test straight away but thought that I would like to get some more practise in first so I went and bought my first bike - an Aprilia RS125. I loved my little bike and pottered about on it whenever I had the time. After a while, I felt like I was ready to have a go at the test so found a brilliant instructor who could give me a few lessons. I passed my test in May 2004, first time (I was totally shocked and could have kissed the examiner!) on a GS500. I went straight out and got my RS125 derestricted and loved it as we zoomed off to Poole Quay, one of our local bike meets. But the following day I made the fatal mistake of picking up a copy of Bike Trader magazine. Inside I found a beautiful looking CBR400RR - a bike that I had always promised myself should I ever get my licence. We just had to take off down to Exeter to look at it and of course, the purchase was made! I kept both bikes for a while but the poor little RS just wasn't getting out and about as much as it would have liked. I put it up for sale and away it went to a new loving home. It was a heartbreaking day but at least I knew it would be cherished and get to fulfil it's dream again of whizzing about everyday.

After having my Babyblade for a year or so, I started to feel a lot more comfortable in my riding ability and confident enough to get a bike that was taller and faster. That was when I spotted my Yamaha R6, which I am now pictured on, on the homepage. I absolutely love it and thoroughly enjoy going out for a blatt on it. There is nothing better than having the sun shining and going out for the day with friends to enjoy zooming about the countryside on your bikes.

Anyway that must be enough babbling from me - although I'm a typical girl and once I get started it's difficult to stop! I hope you like the site, make sure you tell all your friends as we'd love to build up a massive community. I look forward to hearing from many of you and having a few laughs either via email or through the message boards.

Happy biking!

Sam.
(Contact me at: sam.hatch@biker-babe.org)