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MAY 2:1 MADNESS! Until 31 May book a course with a friend or partner and the second person SAVES a massive 50%!
With the odd blip, the spring here in the South East is well advanced and following the daffodils and crocuses, the spring blossom is appearing in the hedgerows. Evenings are lengthening out, so now’s the time to pick a course and polish up your riding for the fine weather ahead.
May Madness! Buy one course & bring a friend / partner along for 50% off!
Make use of the first weeks of the riding year and have your new and improved skills ready to use when the summer arrives. Our first training session in Oxford will be Saturday 28 – Tuesday 31 April, and our popular ‘wrong side of the road’ courses in France resume in April – - so get your diary out now! Check out the website www.survivalskills.co.uk
Under 24 and want to ride a bike?
Why you should take your bike test this summer!
READ THIS NOW… (more…)
Last minute availability for the TT
Andy Taylor, top bike & trackday instructor and one of my Facebook buddies has just asked me to post up the fact he has two places on the ride he’s leading going spare for the TT! Cost is £400 each, going out weds 30th and back tues 5th. Anyone interested? Drop me a line via survivalskills@clara.net and I’ll put you in touch!
WEEKEND WORKOUT – smooth, beautiful riding from Survival Skills PART ONE
WEEKEND WORKOUT
…smooth, beautiful riding from Survival Skills
PART ONE
What have you got planned for riding this weekend? Another rideout to the local cafe you’ve visited with your mates a dozen times before? One more hoon down your favourite road to add yet another video to your growing collection?
Or you could just spend a few hours over the next month or two giving your riding a weekend workout instead, which is why over the next few weeks, we’re going to be publishing a FREE step-by-step guide to improving your own weekend riding skills.
Every time I pick up a bike magazine these days, there seems to be an article on ‘cornering faster’ but we’re not going to start with any of that “we’ll tell you things that no-one else would ever tell you” nonsense, nor are we going to pretend that you’ll go from zero to hero in five minutes by reading a few pages of words text and somehow absorb talent from the text.
Riding bikes isn’t like that, it nearly always requires that you go back to basics to relearn things you thought you knew, and it certainly needs a bit (more…)
Tips on Tuesday: “Help Required”
As we move into the summer, I’m going to be putting together a regular series of tips for riders on Tuesdays. Some will be aimed at specific kinds of riding or particular issues, others will be more general.
Today’s tip is what to do if you’re a newly qualified rider and you realise you have a problem jumping from the steed you learned on, onto your new bike.
Finding the new machine post-test is a pretty common problem, and given that more and more riders are bypassing DAS to save some cash, it’s going to get more common as the 125 is poor preparation for a full size machine, even in 33hp guise.
The kind of things riders struggle with are throttle control (particularly turning right out of side turnings and exiting bends), gear selection (often going up the gearbox too soon but also struggling with slow control), clutch control and tight turns (not really an issue on a 125 but important on a bigger machine) and brake use (which to use, where and how hard compared to a smaller machine).
Basic training is notoriously weak in dealing with cornering in general – many trainees never get any instruction on countersteering or how to deal with the open road. Overtaking on single carriageways is rarely addressed either.
It’s nothing to be ashamed of – just because some riders will tough it out doesn’t mean they’re doing the right thing. It’s important to treat these kind of issues seriously as they are the kind of problems that can cause a loss of control or even a collision.
My first bit of advice would be not to put off extra training whilst you “pick up some experience”. I’ve heard this advice many times, and the (more…)
Workload revisited
A tweet arrived this morning which I followed to end up reading a slightly odd press release from the British Psychological Society that rather confusingly spreads two messages at the same time.
The first is that drivers (I think we can safely assume that includes riders!) overrate their driving skills, and whilst it may be confirmed by the new research linked to in the press release, is something which has been known for a considerable while
The second is that texting and driving don’t mix. Lisa Dorn, a Chartered Psychologist with Cranfield University, says:
“Driving requires the execution of highly complex sets of psychomotor skills coupled with higher level decision making skills based on moment-by-moment unfolding hazards in a dynamic traffic environment. There is simply insufficient spare capacity to text whilst driving and be safe.
“Hazardous events can develop within a second and cognitive interference will reduce the driver’s ability to avoid a crash.”
Again, it’s not exactly news. I wrote about the issues of what’s known as ‘workload’ quite a few years ago on my website. The full article has been taken down but I’ll precise it here in a concise form.
In the mid 1980s a series of studies were carried out to evaluate the workload associated with a proposed one-man attack helicopter. The proposed cockpit systems used a significant amount of automation. Nevertheless, it was determined that the workload was too high for a single crew member to adequately perform all the required tasks. As a result, the Comanche helicopter uses a two-person crew.
The term workload refers to the total demand placed on an individual as a task is performed. The theory is that workload is not the result of one central processing resource but instead uses several processing resources. For example, we can easily walk and chew gum at the same
time but we cannot talk and listen at the same time.
The argument was that there must be multiple resources for information processing. These processing resources are usually described by four components; visual, auditory, cognitive and psychomotor.
Any task performed by a person can be broken down into these components. The visual and auditory components refer to the external stimuli that are attended to, the cognitive component refers to the level of information processing required and the psychomotor component refers to the physical actions.
For example, the resources required for riding a bike would include the visual component of looking at the road ahead, the cognitive component of interpreting the visual data, the psychomotor component of using the arms, hands and feet to control the machine and the auditory component for hearing the feedback from the sound of the motor.
The original article explained at some length how rating scales have been developed for each component, to give an indication of how “much” each resource is being used at any one moment, but suffice to say it’s possibly to run out of resources if one task (operating the controls of a car, looking at the road, thinking which number to dial) is being performed at the same time as another that makes demands on similar components (pressing buttons on a phone, looking at the phone to see where the buttons are, remembering the phone number).
Once we’re in a condition of excess workload, errors result. We fail to perform the right motor actions, our responses slow down or we might fail to perform one task at all, something that’s know as ‘task shedding’.
There is problem is determining what defines excess workload, and it’s not the same for all people. For example, it’s not just texting behind the wheel that can lead to excess workload, simply holding a conversation on a hands-free phone whether it’s in a car or in your helmet can lead to excess workload and put the driver or rider at risk, because holding a two way conversation places a lot of demand on the cognitive elements.
When driving with a passenger, drivers stop talking when they need to concentrate on the road, and most passengers react accordingly – they shut up and let the driver concentrate. And that’s the essential difference with holding a phone call in the car or on the bike – the person on the other end of the phone can’t see the road ahead and doesn’t know when to stop talking, so continuing to make demands on the driver’s attention right through a manoeuvre they should be concentrating on.
This is the reason that helicopter pilots and police drivers (and, I might add, riding instructors!) are trained to use two-way radios carefully – it’s precisely to prevent task degradation might reduce the safety margins for the vehicle.
So, if you’re thinking that an in-helmet speaker system connected to your phone or a bike-to-bike intercom is perfectly safe to use because it’s hands-free, think again. Whilst pressing buttons adds a level of complexity to a task, simply thinking whilst talking reduces your attention for the road ahead. If you need to take, pull over and take the call at the side of the road.
Driverless cars get their full driving licence
I suppose I should be surprised, but the Google driverless car has been licenced for use on the roads of Nevada.
Google has been talking about, developing, and demonstrating its driverless cars for a few years now and I wrote an article a couple of years ago ((http://survivalskills.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/google-powers-driverless-car/) but last May Google approached the state of Nevada to put their vehicles on the road.
Forward a year on, and the authorities in the desert state have agreed to be “at the forefront” of development of “the autonomous revolution”. Google now has a license to allow driverless vehicles on the busy freeways.
The arguments in favour of a car that drives itself include better fuel consumption, no road rage and the elimination of speeding and accidents.
Whilst it’s almost certainly true that a computer can deliver more miles per gallon, it’s unlikely to eliminate road rage (if an auto-car gets baulked in its progress by a human-controlled vehicle, it’s unilikely the PC can deliver an aura of zen-like calm to the occupant) and of course it all relies on the system not going wrong. For the moment, they are only classed as test vehicles and someone sits behind the wheel ready to take control if something goes wrong, though a recent study mentioned here showed that there’s a delay in response to an emergency when the driver is allowing the vehicle to take control.
A look at the plates will tell whether a vehicle is autonomous or not. They are red, have the infinity symbol on, and the letters AU for “Autonomous Vehicle” printed on them.
So soon Big Brother won’t only be watching you, he’ll be driving you to work too.
Bikers’ Classics 29 June – 1 July at Spa-Francorchamps
A date for the diary:
Bikers’ Classics 29 June – 1 July at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
For many, Le Mans and the Paul Ricard circuits are the home of endurance racing, but for me my favourite circuit is Spa-Francorchamps near Liege in Belgium. The track is an abolute classic and it’s a real shame it no longer features on the calendar of the World Endurance Championship. The sight and sound of bikes racing deep in the forests of the Ardennes in the middle of the night is simply unforgettable.
But at least the track is still active for other events. In August, the Belgian Superbike Championship visits the Spa-Francorchamps circuit and the event features a 6 hour endurance race on the Saturday evening.
And just a couple of months away at the end of June the 2012 edition of the Bikers’ Classics sees the return of big four-stroke superbikes to the circuit together with a huge array of classic racing machinery.
APRIL COMPETITION WINNER
It may have escaped notice but we’re now into the warm and sunny month of May, so it’s time to draw the winner of last month’s competition which was for a free “Bends Basics” course worth £60 to be taken here in Kent…
…and so, without more ado, the first name out of the virtual hat and so the winner is…
CLAIRE RUSSELL
An email is on its way to Claire as I write! If you didn’t win, don’t forget to check the blog or on here for the May competition, details of which will be posted soon!
Is the Enhanced Rider Scheme ‘proper’ advanced training?
The Enhanced Rider Scheme (ERS) was launched around four years ago as a joint Driving Standards Agency (DSA) and Motorcycle Industry Association road safety initiative. The scheme is designed to encourage riders, regardless of ability, to continually develop their skills. The trainers offering the scheme will be DSA-certificated via the Register of Post-test Motorcycle Trainers (RPMT).
So what’s it all about? Well, the DSA say it’s “for fully licensed motorcyclists who have passed their test” and goes on to list the kinds of riders who would benefit:
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new riders
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returning riders
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riders moving to a more powerful bike, etc.
In short, they say it’s for pretty much everyone. The idea is that once you have found an ERS trainer near you, they take you out to assess your riding, then either issue a ‘DSA certificate of competence’ if you don’t need any further help, or design a personalised scheme of training to bring you to the required standard if they believe you need it.
The big carrot at the end of the course is that there’s a certificate issued to every rider who completes the programme which, depending on their insurance provider, could lead to a discount.
Writing on the RAC forum back in October 2009, ‘DSAgovuk’ responded to a question about why riders shouldn’t simply go the more familiar IAM/RoSPA route. He wrote:
“The main difference between ERS and some of the other schemes available is that ERS is tailored to the individual, rather than being a ‘one size fits all’ training or assessment package. (more…)
Live on Facebook today…
*** The Doctor is [IN] ***
Got a question about biking skills or biking in general? I’m in front of the PC much of today so don’t be shy, post your question on our Facebook page and I’ll do my best to answer it!
Or just ask us questions about our training courses… find out what a qualified advanced instructor can do for you!
www.facebook.com/SurvivalSkills
Be good to see you over there!
April Showers – some tips for riding in heavy rain
April’s well-known for slow-moving storms, producing prolonged and sometimes intense rain and with possible hail and thunder mixed in, so here are some tips for riding in and dealing with heavy rain.
Forewarned is forearmed
Like any bad weather, the first thing to do is ensure you know what the forecast is. The Met Office offer warnings of expected bad weather 24 hours or more in advance, and the various weather forecasts will offer a more up to date picture.
One of my favourite websites is http://www.raintoday.co.uk/ which offers radar images of where rain’s been falling in the last half hour or so. There’s a pay-for version of the site with more information and a forecast but quite frankly, looking at the moving graphics on the free version is quite good enough to work out where the rain will be in the next half hour or so with remarkable accuracy, and even several hours ahead. At 9am yesterday, I was able to time the disappearance of the heavy rain from east Kent at 12 noon. On that basis I delayed the start till 12, and I was almost exactly right – I met the trainee in rain, but by the time we’d had a quick chat, it had stopped and fifteen minutes later the sun was out.
Clothing and tyres
Rain’s cold. Not only does it chill the body as it evaporates from your clothing, but it chills the air around you too, partly as it evaporates from (more…)
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