A learners progress part 2

Went out for a ride with the brother-in-law today and made some good progress but I'm finding a weird pattern. I suck badly on the way out but after a break I'm 1000% better. This has happened a few times now.
Not a huge ride, say 50 or 60 k's, out to Byford to check out Foothills Tattoo. Went the back way because I wanted more experience on less than ideal roads. They're not bad roads but not highways either.
On the way out my changes were just okay though I did have one vague moment where I changed down instead of up but, fortunately, realised what I'd done before I let the clutch out. And I had my first missed change, where I changed up but had nothing when the clutch was released (is that false neutral?). No biggie but interesting experience. Stops were terrible as I'm still pulling up too short and putting a foot down too soon. Takeoffs were absolutely crap, crap, crap. Thank god the ZZR is so forgiving.
Stopped for a smoke and coke at Byford and sussed out prices at the tattoo joint and then took off again.
Man, it was like I was a different rider. My changes were smooth, my braking was better, my stops were better and my launches were excellent, smooth, easy, quick enough.
I was paying extra attention to road position and head checks this trip and it turned out to be a very smart move. Not fifty metres from home there is a nasty corner where a lot of people don't bother stopping before they come round because the left (for them) is a cul-de-sac with not a lot of houses so drivers often assume there won't be any traffic and just sail around obliviously.
I was approaching that corner, going straight ahead into the cul-de-sac and slowing because I know the danger and the corner is almost impossible to head-check as the building there is surrounded by a 3 metre security fence covered in dense shrubbery . Suddenly, some clown on a moped screamed straight across in front of me from my right, where there is no road but there is a footpath between houses. I reckon he missed me by about a metre and he got a much bigger fright than me because he was doing 60 or 70. I had my brake covered but didn't need it because he was so fast.
Good lesson, though, it's not just from the roads where dangerous meatheads can suddenly appear.
Still, I'm here with dumb grin plastered to my face and looking forward to my next official lesson on Tuesday