First day of RoSPA advanced riding
Discussion
...and I feel totally fúcked. Riding from 8.30am until 5.00pm really is a lot of hard work and being closely following by a police class one rider was also a little daunting at first. Thankfully, my instructor is a really great guy; helpful, polite, funny and able to teach in a non-condescending, clear and understandable way.
The morning session was his assessment of my riding with the 'tuition proper' happening more in the afternoon. This morning, I never thought that I'd have been riding along wet, twisty, bumpy roads with only one hand on the bars and the wrongside of the NSL (that was a bit surreal), but a lot of it made sense and was enjoyable.
Comments people have made to me when I told them I was going to take advanced instruction about never exceeding the speed-limit and never crossing the white lines couldn't be further from the truth and I highly recommend RoSPA instruction to anyone who takes their road riding seriously.
In summary: top day
The morning session was his assessment of my riding with the 'tuition proper' happening more in the afternoon. This morning, I never thought that I'd have been riding along wet, twisty, bumpy roads with only one hand on the bars and the wrongside of the NSL (that was a bit surreal), but a lot of it made sense and was enjoyable.
Comments people have made to me when I told them I was going to take advanced instruction about never exceeding the speed-limit and never crossing the white lines couldn't be further from the truth and I highly recommend RoSPA instruction to anyone who takes their road riding seriously.
In summary: top day
Rawwr said:
...and I feel totally fúcked. Riding from 8.30am until 5.00pm really is a lot of hard work and being closely following by a police class one rider was also a little daunting at first. Thankfully, my instructor is a really great guy; helpful, polite, funny and able to teach in a non-condescending, clear and understandable way.
The morning session was his assessment of my riding with the 'tuition proper' happening more in the afternoon. This morning, I never thought that I'd have been riding along wet, twisty, bumpy roads with only one hand on the bars and the wrongside of the NSL (that was a bit surreal), but a lot of it made sense and was enjoyable.
Comments people have made to me when I told them I was going to take advanced instruction about never exceeding the speed-limit and never crossing the white lines couldn't be further from the truth and I highly recommend RoSPA instruction to anyone who takes their road riding seriously.
In summary: top day
Nice one Rawwr.The morning session was his assessment of my riding with the 'tuition proper' happening more in the afternoon. This morning, I never thought that I'd have been riding along wet, twisty, bumpy roads with only one hand on the bars and the wrongside of the NSL (that was a bit surreal), but a lot of it made sense and was enjoyable.
Comments people have made to me when I told them I was going to take advanced instruction about never exceeding the speed-limit and never crossing the white lines couldn't be further from the truth and I highly recommend RoSPA instruction to anyone who takes their road riding seriously.
In summary: top day
What sort of feedback did he give you? Was it expensive and did you think it was worth the money (last one was probably a stupid question as you said you had a good day)
John.
I don't know if it's a sign of increased age and maturity (yikes!) but I would love to do more advanced training. I have been out woth a police rider a couple of times and found it very useful. I love improving my confidence and ability on the road and track and see it as something both fun and sensible to do. I see my riding as a skill - something to improve - as well as a means of transport, leisure activity, social club . . . this is why I love biking so much! Long may it last . . .
Hi,
Why scoff? We can all learn.
I also enjoy climbing. There are a number of high altiture peaks I've literally put on the map, because I was on the team that made their first ascent, plus I've climbed solo to nearly 23,000 feet. Nonetheless, I regularly seek out climbing instruction to further my knowledge and skills. We can all learn from a good instructor; the same goes for biking or anything else.
Until you've been out with a top notch instructor, you don't know what you don't know
For example, check out a few of the instructor 'profiles' for Rapid Training www.rapidtraining.co.uk/e/faq.htm (Jon Taylor, Andy Morrison, Gary Baldwin, etc). These guys have probably forgotten more about biking than most of us will ever know in the first place! How much could you learn from one of them? A staggering amount in only one - very enjoyable - day (in my experience).
Experience is invaluable. Good training is invaluable. I reckon you need both to be any good.
Cheers
biker's nemesis said:
Ten years ago I would have probably scoffed at the idea of further training, now though, I'm starting to wounder if, maybe I should give it a try.
Advanced training always seemed like a no brainer to me. I enjoy biking and my experiences of advanced training have only increased my enjoyment. With more skill comes more pleasure Why scoff? We can all learn.
I also enjoy climbing. There are a number of high altiture peaks I've literally put on the map, because I was on the team that made their first ascent, plus I've climbed solo to nearly 23,000 feet. Nonetheless, I regularly seek out climbing instruction to further my knowledge and skills. We can all learn from a good instructor; the same goes for biking or anything else.
Until you've been out with a top notch instructor, you don't know what you don't know
For example, check out a few of the instructor 'profiles' for Rapid Training www.rapidtraining.co.uk/e/faq.htm (Jon Taylor, Andy Morrison, Gary Baldwin, etc). These guys have probably forgotten more about biking than most of us will ever know in the first place! How much could you learn from one of them? A staggering amount in only one - very enjoyable - day (in my experience).Experience is invaluable. Good training is invaluable. I reckon you need both to be any good.
Cheers
Edited by SVS on Saturday 2nd June 16:33
SVS said:
Hi,
Why scoff? We can all learn.
I also enjoy climbing. There are a number of high altiture peaks I've literally put on the map, because I was on the team that made their first ascent, plus I've climbed solo to nearly 23,000 feet. Nonetheless, I regularly seek out climbing instruction to further my knowledge and skills. We can all learn from a good instructor; the same goes for biking or anything else.
Until you've been out with a top notch instructor, you don't know what you don't know For example, check out a few of the instructor 'profiles' for Rapid Training www.rapidtraining.co.uk/e/faq.htm (Jon Taylor, Andy Morrison, Gary Baldwin, etc). These guys have probably forgotten more about biking than most of us will ever know in the first place! How much could you learn from one of them? A staggering amount in only one - very enjoyable - day (in my experience).
Experience is invaluable. Good training is invaluable. I reckon you need both to be any good.
Cheers
I'm heading for my 26th year of riding bikes on the road and if I'm honest i'm not really enjoying it anymore.biker's nemesis said:
Ten years ago I would have probably scoffed at the idea of further training, now though, I'm starting to wounder if, maybe I should give it a try.
Advanced training always seemed like a no brainer to me. I enjoy biking and my experiences of advanced training have only increased my enjoyment. With more skill comes more pleasure Why scoff? We can all learn.
I also enjoy climbing. There are a number of high altiture peaks I've literally put on the map, because I was on the team that made their first ascent, plus I've climbed solo to nearly 23,000 feet. Nonetheless, I regularly seek out climbing instruction to further my knowledge and skills. We can all learn from a good instructor; the same goes for biking or anything else.
Until you've been out with a top notch instructor, you don't know what you don't know
For example, check out a few of the instructor 'profiles' for Rapid Training www.rapidtraining.co.uk/e/faq.htm (Jon Taylor, Andy Morrison, Gary Baldwin, etc). These guys have probably forgotten more about biking than most of us will ever know in the first place! How much could you learn from one of them? A staggering amount in only one - very enjoyable - day (in my experience).Experience is invaluable. Good training is invaluable. I reckon you need both to be any good.
Cheers
Edited by SVS on Saturday 2nd June 16:33
It would take me all day to list the reasons why, but I am going to do some sort of advanced training, so thanks for the reply, I've had a good look through the link that you posted.
John.
SVS said:
Advanced training always seemed like a no brainer to me. I enjoy biking and my experiences of advanced training have only increased my enjoyment. With more skill comes more pleasure
Why scoff? We can all learn.
I also don’t understand the attitude that advanced training is to be scoffed at and not for ‘real bikers’ who need to do track training instead. I’ve done both and can honestly say that I learnt more about riding a bike in half a day of advanced training than I did in a whole day of track training and more than I ever learnt on trackdays. As most of us are not track gods and will not be riding our bikes to within an inch of its’ life (especially on the road) then the machine control you are taught on an advanced course is just as good as any track training. But, and it’s a very big but, you will also learn how to accelerate hard, brake hard, corner quickly etc. while looking out for the ‘Mr Magoo’ in the Ford Ka about to pull out of the side road, or the chav about to push his Saxo into a death or glory overtake coming the other way.Why scoff? We can all learn.
My experience is advanced training is always done at a pace right at the top end of my ability so, other than ultimate flat out top speed (and any wally can hold a throttle open) I would not have gone faster on a track than I did during my advanced training.
black-k1 said:
SVS said:
Advanced training always seemed like a no brainer to me. I enjoy biking and my experiences of advanced training have only increased my enjoyment. With more skill comes more pleasure
Why scoff? We can all learn.
I also don’t understand the attitude that advanced training is to be scoffed at and not for ‘real bikers’ who need to do track training instead. I’ve done both and can honestly say that I learnt more about riding a bike in half a day of advanced training than I did in a whole day of track training and more than I ever learnt on trackdays. As most of us are not track gods and will not be riding our bikes to within an inch of its’ life (especially on the road) then the machine control you are taught on an advanced course is just as good as any track training. But, and it’s a very big but, you will also learn how to accelerate hard, brake hard, corner quickly etc. while looking out for the ‘Mr Magoo’ in the Ford Ka about to pull out of the side road, or the chav about to push his Saxo into a death or glory overtake coming the other way.Why scoff? We can all learn.
My experience is advanced training is always done at a pace right at the top end of my ability so, other than ultimate flat out top speed (and any wally can hold a throttle open) I would not have gone faster on a track than I did during my advanced training.
I am all to aware of the dangers riders face on the road (there have been a lot of riders killed around here over the last couple of years, some too close to home.
Maybe I would like to become an Instructor, to pass on my experience to newly
qualified riders.
Regards.
John.
biker's nemesis said:
Well a lot of what you've said above is one of the reasons why I've not considered advanced training. I have to agree that you talk a lot of sense, but I'm not some "newbie" wet behind the ears.
I did my first bit of training after about 12 years of motorcycling so I was hardly "wet behind the ears" either yet I still learnt a huge amount. One of the things I learnt was that I should have done it sooner but in the early 1980's nobody did that type of training.biker's nemesis said:
I am all to aware of the dangers riders face on the road (there have been a lot of riders killed around here over the last couple of years, some too close to home.
Maybe I would like to become an Instructor, to pass on my experience to newly
qualified riders.
Good luck with that. I used to be an instructor and it was great fun and very rewarding (not financially though!) but it just took up too much of my time. Maybe I would like to become an Instructor, to pass on my experience to newly
qualified riders.
Everyone who's posted seems to have a few years experience on 2 wheels
I figure it's a bit early for me to consider the advanced riding (I took my DAS in November, only clocked up about 1,500 miles since), but wondered if anyone has experience of the BikeSafe schemes? Living in North Wales, the local police organise them. Any thoughts welcome.
I figure it's a bit early for me to consider the advanced riding (I took my DAS in November, only clocked up about 1,500 miles since), but wondered if anyone has experience of the BikeSafe schemes? Living in North Wales, the local police organise them. Any thoughts welcome.
GRynners said:
Everyone who's posted seems to have a few years experience on 2 wheels
I figure it's a bit early for me to consider the advanced riding (I took my DAS in November, only clocked up about 1,500 miles since), but wondered if anyone has experience of the BikeSafe schemes? Living in North Wales, the local police organise them. Any thoughts welcome.
I think it was a Bikesafe day that my bro just did. He posts on here sometimes so might see this and comment....I figure it's a bit early for me to consider the advanced riding (I took my DAS in November, only clocked up about 1,500 miles since), but wondered if anyone has experience of the BikeSafe schemes? Living in North Wales, the local police organise them. Any thoughts welcome.
I did my IAM test way back when ('89?) and have done nothing training-wise since. That said I didn't ride much between '95 and last year, then just bought a bike and jumped back on
It's like, erm, riding a bike: you never forget But I suppose the hundreds of thousands of miles in various cars and vans in various countries on various continents might just have given me some road experience in that time GRynners said:
Everyone who's posted seems to have a few years experience on 2 wheels
I figure it's a bit early for me to consider the advanced riding (I took my DAS in November, only clocked up about 1,500 miles since), but wondered if anyone has experience of the BikeSafe schemes? Living in North Wales, the local police organise them. Any thoughts welcome.
You can't really go wrong by doing Bikesafe - it's cheap and you get advice / instruction from serving police motorcyclists who are there because they want to be. You don't need to be soemone who has been riding years to benefit ..... just do it - I am sure you won't regret it I figure it's a bit early for me to consider the advanced riding (I took my DAS in November, only clocked up about 1,500 miles since), but wondered if anyone has experience of the BikeSafe schemes? Living in North Wales, the local police organise them. Any thoughts welcome.
GRynners said:
Everyone who's posted seems to have a few years experience on 2 wheels
I figure it's a bit early for me to consider the advanced riding (I took my DAS in November, only clocked up about 1,500 miles since), but wondered if anyone has experience of the BikeSafe schemes? Living in North Wales, the local police organise them. Any thoughts welcome.
I have done Bikesafe in North Wales twice. I would definately recommend it. Paul Cheshire is the main instructor, and he is a top bloke. All of the observers are either Rospa gold, IAM or police riders. You will certainly get a lot out of it.I figure it's a bit early for me to consider the advanced riding (I took my DAS in November, only clocked up about 1,500 miles since), but wondered if anyone has experience of the BikeSafe schemes? Living in North Wales, the local police organise them. Any thoughts welcome.
Do it!
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