Me, a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R, and Cadwell Park. Heaven

Another little "what t.f. am I doing here" moment for me the other day.

A MotorsportVision track day up at Cadwell Park riding a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R - the latest 600cc model in the iconic series of bikes celebrating their 25th anniversary this month.

It all happened to coincide with my six-month anniversary of passing my test. And a very fitting way to celebrate surviving the first half-year of biking life it was too.

Cadwell Park, up Grimsby way, is the most picturesque little circuit you could imagine. Very narrow, deep in the fold of a lovely green valley, and plenty of woodland, both around the track and on the infield. And when I say narrow, I mean path-like. It's literally the width of a country lane. God knows how they race cars on it. Passing a bike is hard enough.

And as the circuit twists up and down a serious degree of elevation, with a couple of blind corners thrown in for good measure - it's all a bit heart in the mouth.

The Ninja was terrific. Brilliant fun. This is the fourth bike I've ridden in the class.

The other three are Honda's CBR600RR, which I had for a fortnight and is one of my all time favourite rides, the Yamaha R6, which I rode at the California Superbike School and probably the most agile, and the Triumph Daytona 675, which makes the best noise, but curiously doesn't feel like it's as punchy as the smaller cc bikes.

To put the Ninja ZX-6R in context, I'd say it sounds a lot better than the CBR, but not as good as the Triumph. Handles better than the Triumph, but not as well as the R6. Looks better than the R6, but not as nice as the CBR.

But it seems to have more poke than any of the above, and feels, well, more exciting. Which is what it's all about at the end of the day.

Some of that sense of excitement will certainly be to do with the fact that I'm rocketing down the straight at 115mph and only just touching the brakes to make the long left hand, uphill swing towards the first set of curves.

The moment when I got the front wheel properly airborne at the top of the mountain will also live with me for sometime.

Can't wait to do more trackdays. It's much friendlier/less scarier than you'd imagine. And good value as well, costing £99 in return for facilities and five twenty minute sessions. Good steak and potato pie and chips for lunch 'an all.

Having started the day in the novice group, I edged myself into the intermediates and just about held my own. Put it this way, I wasn't the slowest. With the help of a tow from proper bike journalist Mark Forsyth, I even began to show some signs of improvement.

But the fast group was something else altogether. Proper speed, proper lean, proper growl. Proper scary. Might take more than another six months to be up there with those boys.

And if you want to get a real idea of just how magnificent Cadwell Park is, check out Eurosport over the Bank Holiday weekend for British Superbike action live from the circuit.

*Incidentally, yes, it is entirely true that I missed the first session of the morning because I went up the M1 instead of the A1 and didn't turn back round until I got to Catterick. There. Funny to think the only A-level I got is geography.