So I thought I would go on my BMW 750 to get the van as it was a nice day - I got my jacket out, helmet on and was just about to walk out the door when the phone rang...

Our friend was calling - could I look after her son whilst she got some bits for him as he was unwell - I said I would get them for her...

Upon delivery we had a chat - how her son was, weather, where was I going etc...

When I got to the Hire Company - Practical Van Hire near Saffron Walden I parked my bike up - we then had a discussion about paying an additional £10 per day to halve the excess - they told me that, hypothetically speaking, they would keep the extra money in a tin and hope that they had enough to pay the other half of the excess - they would want £750 in the event of any damage or accident - now, at that time, I had been driving for nearly 30 years (if you include mopeds etc) without an accident but thought that it would just be my luck to have a minor ding and have to pay all that money out - so I agreed...

I was travelling on the B1383 and as you come out of Newport Essex there is a sweeping right hand bend

I had been following a skip lorry from Saffron Walden and near where the road crosses over the the M11 and the turning to Elsenham the wind caught under the unsecured piece of plywood lifting it off - it was just laying on the bed and came flying towards me  - I thought it was either going to smash into me or worse decapitate me so... I swerved and hit the brakes - and we all know that when in a 4 wheel skid you release the brakes and pump them - but in that moment when a 15 tonne lorry was coming directly towards me and I was not stopping I pushed harder and harder (and still not stopping)  - I had enough time (it seemed) to make a cup of tea and read the paper and after the impact I was in no pain and my only thought was how was I going to get home..