Just a reminder, and a heads-up to those who haven’t seen them before!
The Lucky 13 series of cartoons continues to roll out on the Acem website.
Latest is on night time hazards.
They’re aimed (mostly) at new and returning riders, in a “Joe Bar-style” format if you haven’t seen one.
Words by Yours Truly, artwork by a design studio and translated into 8 languages now by the look of it!!
One of the areas of study that I’ve been very keen on researching for myself and have worked to incorporate into my training courses is the mental side of learning riding skills.
For some years I’ve been running a Sport Psychology course which goes into considerable detail on the ‘brain training’ stuff, and looks at how to use techniques like ‘focus’ and ‘centering’, approaches to better performance used by sports people for years to get “in the zone”, as well as exploring topics like:
I’ve also written about many of the topics on Visordown, on my own website or for other publications – you can find the “Spidy Sense” article I wrote about it for “The Road” (the MAG journal) back in Dec 06 here:
http://www.survivalskills.co.uk/riding_skills_76.htm
There’s also another companion piece, “Armchair Riding” that went in the next issue and is also on the website in the ‘Riding Skills’ section.
I’ve also been running online e-courses since 2006. You can find the home page of that site here:
http://survivalskills.backpackit.com/pub/688691
and incidentally I am also an NVQ accredited e-Tutor, assessed in skills required to deliver distance learning.
My e-course parallels the practical training I offer on the Survival Skills practical courses which in essence is a three-cornered pyramid:
1) technical skills (can you handle the bike to put it where you want to be?)
2) attitude (can you control impatience, aggression/victim mentality, and avoid “power struggles”?)
3) knowledge (are your decisions based on a full understanding of the hazard, the various directions in which the situation may develop, and the risk to you, and the harm that may result if you cannot avoid it?)
You then need a fourth prop – the ‘brain training’ techniques that allow the skills you’ve learned to “stick” and to be “fresh” so that they can be applied as and when needed.
The e-course covers all these four areas of learning. Obviously on the e-course I can’t see students ride real-time (unless they visit me for an assessment ride), so they get a series of carefully constructed exercises to follow and report back on. I’ve also got plans to use on-bike video footage provided by the trainee and analyse that.
So it was with some interest I read a forum post about a new website, www.mindriding.com which appeared around the end of last year, run by Alec Gore. The name seemed familiar and I quickly recalled that Alec and I did correspond briefly when he was looking for work as an instructor, when he was coming to the end of his time policing in Hong Kong.
It looks nicely presented on the website but details are a bit sketchy – there are a lot of buzz words (”paradigm?”) but not much obvious content. There’s very little on the syllabus on the website, but assuming it’s a repacked version of the Mind Driving book, you can find the contents of that here:
http://www.skilldriver.org/sampleContents.pdf
Whilst it’s a good book, the ideas therein aren’t 100% original either. Malcolm Palmer of Cooper Bike Training and Steve Dixey of Rider Ideas have been considering the mental side of riding for years.
I don’t want to take anything away from the job that Stephen Haley and Alec Gore have done in putting it all together, but Malcolm, Steve and myself have swapped many of the same ideas in a public forum (Visordown.com) in the years since the board launched back in 2000, so our discussions predate by some years the appearance of the Mind Driving website!
As my own courses show, the distance learning idea isn’t new – in fact, “Mind Riding” is only paper-based with email support as far as I can see, rather than using a full online learning environment such as I take advantage of, where the learning exploits techniques like embedded video, interactive FLASH presentations and real time chat.
Interestingly at £495 the Mind Riding course works out at just £15 more than the combined cost of my e-course and a 2 day Survival Skills course, but it’s nearly £300 more expensive than the cost of my e-course and a 3 hour assessment ride!! Perhaps I need to put my prices up!
NEW FROM SURVIVAL SKILLS: new e-book!
“Survival Skills – Mistakes We Make” is
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and perhaps most importantly, how we can get out of trouble if we’ve
already made the error! The content is based on actual questions asked
me by real riders.
Pre-order now for Xmas delivery!
Special TRC pre-order price £10 until 24 December 2008!
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I’ve got through my really busy time for on-road training and can now take some people on the e-course.
If you’re interested and you haven’t already done so, you can find more information at:
http://survivalskills.backpackit.com/pub/688691?
This is the home page of Survival Skills on the interactive Backpack, and the information on that page should hopefully answer many of your questions. There’s some more information for you to read below.
Survival Skills to launch e-learning course in advanced riding skills!
———————————————————————————-
* I’m sure that the majority of people reading that are already thinking with some disbelief “how can you train someone to ride a bike by e-mail?” and it’s a reasonable question.
There is actually a very reasonable answer too. Let’s look at what a practical course covers – there are a number of elements in the way I cover each part of advanced riding technique. We discuss a topic of riding technique, so that first of all, we cover the theory. When we’ve done that, we go out on the road with the trainee to a place where we can find examples of hazards that illustrate the theory of the topic we’ve just discussed, look at them, understand them in the context of safe riding and if necessary I can demonstrate what I mean.
The balance of time on each topic is spent observing the trainee deal with the hazard using the techniques outlined in the theory, followed by correction if necessary, and assessment by me as to whether the exercise has been successfully completed.
With nearly every topic I cover, that general formula is repeated.
* So you might well ask “how can that be translated to online learning?”
Well, actually surprisingly well. E-learning has taken off in a big way in the field of education generally, and many practical subjects that many would have thought quite impossible to teach in this way are now done routinely via the internet – open heart surgery for instance has been demonstrated to students via the internet. It’s particularly useful where there the people who want to learn new skills are a long way from a potential tutor. With new developments in interactive learning environments online, it’s now technically possible to support e-learning.
* Another question that has been asked is “what experience Survival Skills has in e-learning and how can I be sure that I’ll be getting a well-designed course?”
For the last 12 years as well as being a full time motorcycle instructor, I’ve also been engaged in informal coaching of riders via the intenet, being first of all an active member of the Compuserve Ride forum, and for the last seven years as moderator of the Survival Skills section on Visordown.com, more recently as a contributor on TheRevCounter.com, as well as directly through the Survival Skills website, where typically I answer four or five emails a week on riding issues.
The result is that I’ve built up a huge database of information about the problems that riders face and the solutions that work for them, along with considerable experience of delivering those solutions without any face-to-face contact. I seriously doubt there are more than one or two other instructors in the country with the experience I have of online coaching.
Much of this information has found its way into the Survival Skills series of CDROMs, which have been well received by those who have bought them.
So I’ve decided to put that information to good use by offering formal online training. The only real difference from what I’ve been doing will be that the advice to be offered will be “proactive” rather than “reactive”. In other words, rather than you contact me asking me to try to fix an existing problem, the online course will tell you how to avoid it in the first place.
And to ensure the program that I have put together for delivering these e-courses is realistic and effective, I’ve successfully completed a level 3 NVQ as an “e-tutor” with
Sheffield College.
* So, I hear you asking another question. “Why should I pay for this advice when I can get it for free online anyway, or couldn’t I just buy the CDROMs?”
Well, the answer quite simply is that with structured coaching, however it is delivered (online or face-to-face), three of the most common statements I hear are:
“I never realised…”
“I never thought…”
“I never knew…”
Many riders are simply unaware of how much their riding could be improved by learning new techniques. Just like trying to learn to ride as you go along, if you try to learn by picking up bits of random advice from the internet, it’ll take you years to get better, and there are pitfalls a-plenty along the way to trap you, the consequences of which are often painful and nearly always expensive. I know that from personal experience!
And you’re right – if you buy the Survival Skills “Course Notes” CDROM, what you’ll get is a structured “rider improvement” program.
The extra that you get with the Survival Skills e-learning course is a series of exercises designed to make you think about the content of the CDROM, 1:1 support and personalised feedback on your development. You’ll be set tasks to complete, have access to training resources I’ve put together and be able engage in real-time chat with myself and other trainees.
* “So who is it aimed at?”
The course will cover most aspects of the Survival Skills two day advanced riding course, so is suitable for any rider who want’s to find out about advanced riding skills. Whilst you don’t actually need a motorcycle or indeed any riding qualifications at all, you’ll get the most out of this course is you have basic riding skills and a motorcycle to try out some of the more practical aspects of the course.
* “OK, so assuming I can get a good training course from Survival Skill online, what advantages are there for me?”
The answer to that there are quite a few:
1) flexibility – learn at your own pace and when you want to
2) expert, personal advice – your tutor is focused on your individual needs
3) communication – be put in touch with a wide body of learning and information resources available on the internet
4) easy access – if you can access the internet, you can access the course anywhere you happen to be
In particular, don’t discount the ability to learn in your own time at your own pace. When you come to me for face to face training, I have a timetable that I have to (more or less) adhere to and there is quite a lot to take in – like any training course, it would be great to double the length to make everything more relaxed, but it’s doubtful that you, the trainee, would appreciate the doubled cost and I can’t afford to work for half the money! This isn’t an issue with e-learning – you can devote more of your time to a topic before we move onto the next.
* But I’m not a “techie” person?
You don’t need to be. Other than basic typing skills, you will need an internet connection, some basic experience using the internet, a FLASH and Shockwave-capable web browser, access to email, a basic digital camera for snapping photos to upload as part of the exercises, approximately 4 hours a week for two months and the enthusiasm to try a new way of learning about riding.
* “OK, I’m nearly sold but what will it cost?”
The online equivalent of the two day Survival Skills advanced course will cost £150, and at the end you’ll get a free copy of the “Course Notes” CDROM to act as an aide-memoire to the course.
E-mail (naturally!) Survival Skills at survivalskills@clara.net for more details!
I hope everyone out there had a good break over the festive season. I’m struggling back to the desk this morning (and into DIY detox too!), and catching up on a few mails that came in over the Xmas period. So if you haven’t had an answer yet, don’t panic, I’ll get round to it in the next day or so. I’m also rounding up the loose ends on the previous course that should have finished just before Xmas, but overran slightly due to work commitments on the part of one of the participants.
I’ll also be kicking off the next batch e-learning courses in advanced riding skills in the next fortnight. I still have a couple of places open on the timetabled course, so drop me a line if you are interested in using the internet to gain a unique insight into riding at a time when riding probably isn’t topmost on your priority list. Alternatively, you can start a “do it i your own time” course with no timetable.
You can find out more about the e-course by visiting the Survival Skills e-learning centre at http://survivalskills.backpackit.com/
A new e-learning course will start in two weeks time, on Wednesday 17 October to be precise, to run for 8 weeks and finish just before Christmas.
I’ve got a couple of places spare on this one, so if you are interested, drop me a mail ASAP and I’ll send you some more details.
From Simon – about the Survival Skills e-course
…the e-course material itself is excellent, it’s certainly working
in terms of making me scrutinise the way I ride and the thought
processes involved. The format of weekly assignments works for me too,
I need a deadline to work to!
The Survival Skills e-learning course will cover three main areas:
* traffic skills
* bend skills
* progress and restraint
The Survival Skills e-course will introduce you to many of the ideas behind defensive riding technique, including the concepts of risk assessment and risk management, and the practical techniques such as observation skills that allow you to assess and manage risk whilst riding.
At the end of the course you should be:
* aware of the need to prioritizing safety
* aware of the hazards of traffic and be able to employ systematic riding in traffic
* aware of the hazards of bends and be able to employ systematic riding in bends
* be aware of the hazards of making progress
* be able to employ risk assessment and management strategies
You don’t need any riding qualifications, and a full motorcycle licence isn’t essential, but a motorcycle would be useful to try out the theory ideas. Other than that, you will need an internet connection, some basic experience using the internet, a FLASH-capable web browser, access to email, a basic digital camera for snapping photos to upload as part of the exercises, approximately 4 hours a week for two months and the enthusiasm to try a new way of learning about riding.
You can find more about the e-course on the public page of the Survival Skills e-learning centre here
