Bikesafe
Today, I spent the day with South Yorkshire Police’s Motorcycle Wing taking part in a bikesafe training day. I guess a certain type of person does something like this. The kind of person who is by nature safe and cautious and knows that biking is dangerous and wants to be safer. My class-mates said things like “Coming off is not an option” and “I must be home in one piece, for my wife and kids” etc. I guess you probably get people on the courses who have had a close call and have had the scare that makes them want more training.
But my course, as I should have expected but somehow didn’t was full of people “like me”. In that they want reassurance that they are safe on the road and not taking too many risks. I think I was probably an extreme as I had (by far) the shortest biking experience. In fact, at 31, I was one of the youngest (2/3 younger than me there, couple my age, mostly middle aged or over).
The day did not start well it was wet and foggy as I rode to the start. But by the time the two hours of hazard awareness and scare-you-safe examples in the class room (very informative, but, should be pretty obvious to the sensible minded) had finished, it was clearing out. By the time we got to Glossop on the ride it was a nice day.
We rode about 4-5 hours. Several stops for debriefing.
I was basically told what I expected and hoped for but feared wouldn’t be true.
I am a safe rider with good riding skills.
He said (frequently!) “you are very cautious, which I can’t fault, but…”
Basically, I lack confidence. I passed my test 9 months ago, I’ve had a bike for 6 months and done less than a thousand miles. I lack experience. And confidence. I’m slow round bends and round-a-bouts, and I don’t go for overtakes that are there. My observation needs some work, generally it’s really good, but, there is more. I went for two overtakes that I had to cancel (and I was very safe in doing so as I followed the system and gave myself those chances to stop) because of cars in hidden dips. That the police officer said the evidence was there for. One black car I could have seen earlier and realised I’d not passed it therefore it was out of sight, therefore the overtake wasn’t on.
The other rider was much the same. Only he had two years experience. He was on a brand new bike with 500 miles on it though and not used to it yet. He wouldn’t get it up fast enough though. Didn’t accelerate away and was dangerously slow on the motorway.
They can’t “instruct” you (much) just advice and feedback. But it was a good day and I felt reassured. I felt the difference as I rode home, doing filtering and overtaking much more happily. It was strongly recommended that I do some advanced training, IAM or something. But, if I’m happy making progress as I do, then it’s fine, I’m safe and a good rider.
But I really want to corner faster and overtake more. I worry about my bike a lot. It backfires, jumps into 2nd and I have no faith in it under me. I’ll run it through the winter on the odd nice day to keep my hand in, then buy a “newer” or new bike early next year and see about the Advanced Licence as a way to get me out on the road with some structure.
Still, loving my free bikesafe t-shirt and buff 