From Sarah Gray (Confidence Builder / Survival Skills courses, June 09)
“Thank you too for the training it is so good to have a course that is so flexible and at a pace that a beginner like me felt comfortable with at all times. I have plently to work on now and looking forward to a much safer and enjoyable time on my bike.”
Every course I run, I try to remember to ask for feedback, when a trainee has had time to think about it. I do get some, not often very much more than “great time, thanks very much” it has to be said, but from time to time I do get some considered and constructive criticism, which is excellent because it helps me make improvements to my courses.
So it was good to get the following comments from Carlo Rimassa last year, after he did the two day Bends/Double Bends course. He’d already done a fair amount of training, including a course with a well-known police run training school so it’s particularly interesting to see what he picked up over the two days.
I’ve split his comments up with the replies I made to the various points, to make it a little easier to follow and also to throw some extra light on the way particular issues were approached during the two days. It also hopefully offers an insight into the way courses are put together, carefully planned with serious goals in mind, and not simply a nice ride out for me.
“As promised, here are some thoughts about the two day course I did with you. I think the balance of the first day could probably be shifted a bit more towards riding. I found the notes about road signs quite informative and a lot of information was new to me. The practical part though was maybe a bit too disjointed, it was difficult to get into a riding rythm. The second day was good, and the rides long enough to enable me to establish some flow in my actions. I think you could maybe give some consideration to incorporate a couple of variations in your riding plan.”
Interesting feedback. Good to hear the information about road signs was useful! I find it an unusual ommission from advanced training, to tell the truth.
As for the “disjointed” comment, to be honest, part of the problem may be your history of previous training. In fact, what I am trying to achieve on the first half of the first day (after a short ride to assess the trainee’s standard) is precisely NOT to get into a rhythm, because as soon as riders feel comfortable, they start doing what they already know and NOT what I’ve asked them to do.
There’s also a danger of overwhelming the trainee with new info – the opening briefing tends to last around 45 mins, of which 15 or so is actually the intro to the course, then approx 30 to cover the core ideas of reading signs – which quite frankly is long enough to start most trainees glazing, despite the fact I’m really only expanding on the briefing notes they already have. I have more information I want to get over to the trainee in the first half of the first day.
So for two reasons, the initial rides are designed to be short exercises with a precise task to be achieved, followed by a brief review, then a bit more information. This is classic teaching technique too.
After lunch, the last hour or so of riding on Day 1 is usually where the “flow” starts to be achieved. Interestingly on the Double Bends second day, which I’ve planned as a chance for trainees to get on and ride a wide selection of bends precisely to get the “flow” you mentioned was missing from the first day, we didn’t get to ride some of the more interesting roads we would have finished the day on because you wanted to repeat some of the sections we’d already ridden. Having said that, it’s no problem for me, it’s up to the trainee to decide what they want to cover.
“I have to say not having radio did probably contribute to this: you are surely used to delivering commentary while you ride in front, not having it made those parts less useful than they could have been, and more difficult to spot your riding demonstrations. I’m sure you do, but check again your radio works in all its parts before you get to meet your pupil.”
[The radio malfunctioned!] Indeed, it didn’t help as some of the stops could have been avoided or shortened by use of the radios – two new radios have been ordered, delivered, and were in use by the next course. I had a spare but still haven’t got to the bottom of why the spare didn’t work. I’d checked that earlier in the year when it worked fine and it hasn’t been used since. Anyway, apologies for that.
“I found the “body outside, bike leant away from you” technique for turning very tight bends quite useful. I would have liked to try that more, maybe on a big, flat and empty surface, just doing tight figures of eight and circles.”
Given your previous training history, I’m interested that you found this a new technique – given that it’s simply a variation of what most Direct Access instructors teach on basic training to cope with U turns and tight turns, I’m not sure why it hasn’t already featured! There’s certainly something missing from other advanced courses if this is not covered. As for off-road practice of counterweighting, you could have done that – it’s part of the Survival Skills 2 day course – or the Slow Control short course. If you’d booked the 3 day “Survival Skills + Double Bends” course, it would have been covered along with swerving. But there’s obviously a limit to how much I can fit into each course, and there are those expectations to meet too – I think most trainees would be a bit put out if I started a bends course in a carpark!
Incidentally, this should show show readers that the different courses incorporate different material – they are not simply “the same stuff rehashed with a different name” as one advanced instructor suggested I was doing!
“That 90 degrees bend we found in the afternoon would make a great “testing ground”. You can approach it in several different ways, each testing important roadcraft parts: you could try to do it without braking or approach it with a racing line, braking well deep into it, or every other braking point variation in between. It’s an open bend with full visibility, so you could use it to test several body positions and approach speeds, up to and incuding those that require you to use more than your lane. And the presence of a side road right in the middle would enable you to stand aside and obeserve the pupil from a side. It requires a bit of time to turn around and do it again, but really, I think that bend has a great teaching potential.”
Main objection to that is that it’s not a particularly safe place to be turning the bike – it does get cars and riders coming along there at extremely high speeds who won’t expect a bike doing a three point turn. Safety has to be paramount – but the concept is something I’ll think about and see if I can incorporate a sensible loop at some other point on the course.
“That’s it really. I think that among the notes I took home, the ones that might affect my riding most were those related to your riding philosophy. I have always liked riding because of the mental challenge it represents, but if I incorporated more of your “easy ride” attitude I think I could improve further my daily mileages. Plenty to ponder for me over the coming season.”
That’s good to hear. I sometimes find I’m at odds with other trainers on my “plan for what goes wrong” and “Keep it simple” strategies, but they’ve worked for me for many years and I do think they are more applicable to the vast majority of riders than “max progress and perfection” style” riding. Tortoise and hare. At very least, I think the contrasting approach does, as you mention, get people thinking which to my mind is one of the most important outcomes of the course.
“Thanks again for your time.”
You’re more than welcome and many thanks for your attendance on the course!
…or more exactly from Visordown!
I’d completely forgotten about these reviews of one of the training courses until it got flagged up this morning to someone interested in doing a course. This one dates from April ‘05 and refers to training in Montgomery, mid-Wales.
Went to Wales with Bonners to do some refresher training…we’d both booked in for a general look at our riding, and to make sure we weren’t an absolute liability.
Unfortunately, cos the Dragon in Montgomery is so bloody expensive, me and Bonners had to share a room I pity the cleaner, unless she had nose plugs… :burp:
Had a lovely rideout with Spin, Bonners, Ruby and TRX, up through the Cwmbran (sp??!!) hills, round some gravel tracks, etc. Welsh countrside was beautiful, fields of Oil Seed Rape at it’s most pungent, verges screaming with Wood Anemones, daisies, yellow flowers (Marsh Marigold look-alikes), wide vistas, babbling brooks, and everything
Bonners persuaded me to have the steak in the Dragon. I then pointed out that the 8oz was only £2 cheaper than the 16oz, so i insisted we order that, along with a few pints of Brains (how ironic) and Woods. Fat Bastards-r-us
Hence the room the next morning
Went out Monday (yesterday) for the training. Started off absolutely gorgeous
Did a few roads, Bonners leading, then me, then Bonners, then me
Then it pissed it down – thunder lightning RAIN!!
Just as we stopped for lunch It took us 20 odd mins to get served with standard fares of beans eggs and sausages, and the like. NEVER let it be said that inbreeding is rife at the Morrisons in Newtown
Then it stopped raining – just as we were leaving the caff. For about 30 seconds when the heavens opened again . For a few miles, anyway. Hit the A483…class road, but thankfully we didn’t hit it in the same way as the parked up Gixer appeared to have. Slightly mangled, leaning up against an armco, with a set of leather pants draped over the Armco
It was wet on the way up, but was mostly drying nicely on the way down!!
Headed back towards Monty, where I got the lead, and took Spin for a spin at a less sedate pace for the last few miles – sorry Bonners :burnout:
Best bits were doing the A483 in the rain – I hate the wet roads that I ride routinely, cos they tend to have had loads of traffic and feel fucking greasy and horrible, and it scares me The A483 is a bit less traversed by vehicles, and feels so smooth and grippy it was a joy to ride in the wet. Not particuarly quickly, mind, but brisk enough to bring a smile
Spin’s commentated bit around Newtown was excellent – he even seemed to be able to predict the prescence of skips around blind corners This really was informative as he takes a far wider view than I do – or more notice of things I choose to ignore. Also the way he reads what is likely to be around semi-blind corners is good.
We spent a fair bit of time during the day chatting, which was good – reinforcing some things I knew, introducing some things in a different way, etc.
Not sure what NEW things I learned, but I certainly have a lot of thinking material, maybe slightly different ways of doing things, etc.
Finally, it was nice to do a refresher – make sure I’m still in the correct ball park, and that when I do give her her head that I’m not a total fucking liability, and that I judge each situation on it’s merits, rather than blindly charging headlong into any old situation. And that my obs (which is what was worrying me a few months ago) isn’t so bad.
Well recommended.
Even by hardened battle scarred veterans like meself.
Thanks to Rainmaker for that view of a day out for experienced riders.
By the way, I’ve moved the lunchstop from the Morrisons!
And Bonners had this to say:
First off, Monday’s training.
We started off with a talk for about an hour with Spin, going over some of the principles of what we would be doing, and also focusing on what we wanted to get out of the course. This bit I find pretty essential, as it really focuses the mind on what we are trying to achieve.
Started off the riding with both taking it in turns leading the way, and stopping for a debrief with Spin. He would then start bringing up the next concepts. After he had had a chance to assess both our riding, he started to bring in some slightly different concepts to the training.
We worked a lot on visualising hazards, body positioning, and even Thirds was mentioned Have to say that the whole concept of Thirds still leaves me a bit cold. Having said that, once we had gone over the concept, I kind of put my own interpretation on it, and found my braking in a straight line before the bends seemed to be better judged, and I was getting set up for the bends a lot easier. So, I guess there is something in there, you just have to use these things in the way that makes sense to you. So despite my threat to go home if Thirds was mentioned , it was actually quite useful.
As for the body positioning, again really useful, actively thinking about why you move your body, it also seems to have gone some way to curing one of my main faults of turning in too early on right handers, definately more work needed, but that was something that definately put me on the right track.
As Rainy has mentioned the around town riding was brilliant, I love those commentated rides. Shame about the slow speed control training, but I have to admit my enthusiasm for doing it in the pouring rain and thunder storms was a little ‘dampened’.
There were lots of other things which I’m sure will come to me later, but all in all was a cracking, if tiring day.
As for the rest of the weekend, we had a brilliant time, Rainy actually turned up at my house at the apointed hour on Sunday morning, and we had a lovely ride down, very sensible, apart from the bit on the motorway where the matrix signs were telling ‘bikers save the racing for the track, not the road’ Stupid sign, red rag to a bull, etc…
Met up with everyone at the Dragon Hotel ready for the rideout over the Welsh Mountains (hills?) lovely rideout. I have a feeling that TRX’s ‘Blade was the first one ever on some of those gravel tracks I’m sorry someone has to mention the Goldwings that flew past us, not exactly the most sensible o overtakes on single track roads with blind bends, but hey they seemed happy enough, I’m still not sure when the one behind me saw my right indicator when we turned off for Devil’s Bridge.
Had a lovely snack, also bumped into something like Nick Sanders Moto Challenge, some seriously dirty bikes. Then on for some more cracking B-roads. Just five riders, all willing to go at a nice brisk pace, but no stupidity, lots of fun.
Back to the hotel, I dont think I can even mention the stake without feeling full, ever had a lump of red meat plonked on your plate that moos?
Lovely evening, but I really hope the cleaners had gas masks.
Once we had done the training me and Rainy headed off, great ride back. Got a bit caught up in the crowds leaving Oulton Park (BSB), so we headed for the back routes, and found some more cracking little roads. A perfect way to finish a great weekend.
So, thanks to everyone for a great time, and Spin’s excellent training. The whole thing was very much worth it.
Thanks, Bonners!!
“Thirds” is a means of breaking down straights between hazards into a ‘go’ phase, a ’steady whilst you think’ phase, and a ’slow’ phase. The key point is the ‘think’ phase; if the faster rider is encouraged not to leave the transition from throttle to brake as late as possible, the middle ‘think’ phase does away with a lot of “in too fast” errors, which paradoxically means they are happy to carry more speed on the straight!
It also gives the steadier riders something to do in the bit between corners where they tend to switch off and make exactly the same “in too fast” error but for a different reason!
From “BikerLass”
Bikerlass and her hubby did a Bends course were we looked at positioning and using the positive braking, slow entry, quick steering and positive acceleration approach to cornering I call “Point and Squirt”.
“Me and Mr BL have used this Point and Squirt method as a matter of routine since having the training with Kevin, and it is very confidence inspiring.
“It really works; it may seem alien to push yourself out towards the centre of the road on a left hander, but once you are confident about counter steering quickly and thus being able to quickly move away from any oncoming traffic that may be straying over the centre line, it makes a lot of sense.
“You can see further around the bend, and whats more, can also be seen sooner by oncoming traffic. The same follows for junctions just around bends – any traffic joining your road can see you quicker than if you are hugging the left hand side of the road.”
From Nigel
“The course made a big difference to my Spanish Pyrenees trip last year – not one dodgy moment in a bend (or otherwise) in a week despite truly atrocious conditions (ferocious rain most of the time!). Braking early was the trick…”
That’s excellent news… always good to get feedback!! Nigel has just booked a “Double Bends” course and is “looking forward to it“.
From Gary Rouse November 08
(Gary arrived on his brand new Hornet 600, having only picked it up a couple of days earlier. Although he’d passed his test some time earlier he’d not ridden in the interim, so we decided on a Confidence Builder course. Given the time of year, we were doing quite well with the weather until a few minutes from the time I normally end over a coffee, when suddenly black clouds appeared out of nowhere and gale force winds whipped up, so I sent him straight home and did the debrief by email, to add to the feedback that’s usually sent on after the course.)
Thank you for the feedback / debrief.
It was certainly a strange ride home, I kept it below 60 and just
followed others in the slow lane as there was plenty of surface water
by the time I got to banbury. Coventry was suprisingly dry however, I
think they call that sods law 
I just want to say thank you for your support throughout the day. I
felt you were very reassuring as I was quite nervous before we set
off. Having the chat before we hit the road helped loads, it allowed
time to develop a better understanding of each other.
Your instruction was clear which in turn meant I could have fun throughout the day rather than ponder on what things meant. Not many people are able to give me such rapid confidence in trying out new things, but I can honestly say you did.
When I got home I couldn’t stop phoning friends and family to tell them how it all went.
Now all I need to do is practice, practice, practice (watch out Tesco’s car park, here I come).
I will certainly be recommending your courses to others – I’ve already
started to bug my brother into doing a France trip in the summer with
us.
Well, the roads are starting to dry out now, so that can only mean one
thing – ride time! (I gave it a nice clean yesterday so don’t want it
to get dirty straight away).
Thanks again for all your help so far and hope to see you again soon.
From Mark Boyes November 08
Mark also did a Confidence Builder, having done some riding on the Isle of Man on a 125, then had some time out before taking a DAS course this year. Mark arrived on his brand new Triumph Tiger on which he intends to commute across South London and also enjoy some fun riding, possibly two up with his partner.
Mark caught the tail end of the overnight rain, so had first hand experience of the morning rush hour and spray on the A3. Not fun!
One of my observations about Mark’s riding was that the training school that had done his Direct Access course had done a good job – there were none of the usual signs of a rushed course that I do see occasionally. Gary’s riding was also to a good basic standard, so Direct Access does do a good job in most cases.
Kevin – really enjoyed yesterday, many thanks for the advice and skills you imparted. Wish the weather could have been like today though. Kind Regards.
Doing a tidy out of some files, I found some reports and ‘Thank You’ mails that I’d put to one side intending to put up on the website.
So better late than never, here are some observations students have made about Survival Skills training with myself, the ‘Spin Doctor’, in the last few years!
“Grassington Revisited” from ‘TwoWheeler’ on Visordown
Sunday night:
Pack tank bag, top-up Scottoiler reservoir, check tire pressures and oil level.
Monday morning:
Check weather forecast (two days solid sun!), quick bowl of muesli, slip into leathers, get bike out of garage, add tank bag and self and set off.
Get to Grassington very early (I cheated and used the map this time – it took far less time than last year ). Head up to Forrester’s Arms to look for Spin, who has been staying there all week, and Marty Boy, who did the Sunday ride-out and stayed over. No bikes. Ask inside and find that Spin doesn’t have a room there???
Enjoy sunshine and let the world drift by for a bit. See silver Kawasaki heading for Forrester’s – go and meet Marty Boy, who went back home last night. And it turns out that the good Doctor has been camping. Does the man know no limits in the cause of giving value for money?! Black Hornet arrives – sure enough it turns out to be Spin – we’re all together and it’s time to get started.
Course components are explained to us:
Assessment
Refresher SS course
Psychology of riding/learning
Requests
Also there’s a video camera on Spin’s tank, ready to capture any bike/sheep interaction for immortality on t’internet.
And so off we go.
In brief, the assessment had me riding like a fool, desparately trying to remember all the stuff I had only really practiced in the first month after last year’s course But it did the job of showing what I needed to work on and the refresher course soon started putting things right.
The psychological work was brilliant. Having an understanding of what’s going on with respect to a model of learning is really useful. This was particularly relevant to Marty Boy and myself because we knew (by now at least) that we hadn’t integrated all of last year’s course into our day-to-day riding and wanted to better understand how to practice and assimilate new skills and techniques.
Last thing on Tuesday we did some work on overtaking, in response to my request. I got a much better understanding of how to use long range observations and the lie of the land to best advantage in overtaking. And after I had practiced with Spin pretending to be a slow car, we came across a nice, slow flat-bed truck and I was able to practice on a “real one”. I guess it’s just luck but the timing was so appropriate it was as if Spin had sent the guy up the road to wait for us
By the end I felt that I had got the most out of the course that I possibly could have done, bearing in mind rider-fatigue and weather conditions (you can’t do wet weather riding when the sun’s shining all day ).
And if you can’t tell already, I also had a really good time, not least because Spin and Marty Boy are intelligent, friendly folk who know how to enjoy a couple of days good biking.
Highly recommended
Tuesday evening:
Return to York despite not looking at map and ending up in Harrogate for some strange reason. Harrogate was under a huge, black cloud so I stopped to put on my waterproofs for the first time in the entire trip. In the end I saw about four drops of rain on my visor. (If/when you book a course with Spin, make sure you order the no-cost, “good weather” option )
From ‘Bad Jelly’ on Visordown
Had a brilliant day out training with The Spin Doctor yesterday. Learnt loads and had a great time.
If you’ve been thinking of booking up some training, do it now!! (Leave at least one day for me when the weather warms up though, I’m going back for more).
For those not in the know:
www.survivalskills.co.uk
Thanks again Kevin.
Sometime ago you gave me some good advice about touring for a novice biker.
Well, just to let you know I’ve just returned from a 2000 mile bike trip from the Highlands of Scotland. Pretty wet on parts of the A1, good experience!!! and all sorts of weather in Scotland!
Apart from one ‘moment’ everything went well, and the more miles I did on main roads, single tracks and even the ‘Pass of the Cattle’ across the Applecross mountains (the highest road in Scotland) I felt I was gaining in confidence. I’ll never be Rossi round corners but I really tried to put your advice into practice and I’m sure it helped.
My Honda CB 500 was more than up to the task, perfectly adequate for the roads and really, really comfortable, no aches or pains, just a slightly tired
brain!!!! Unlike my hubby on his naked 1200 Bandit, sore shoulders and
backside, having to hang onto the handlebars!!!!! He must get a better touring bike.
I’m already planning another trip sometime. Thanks for your encouraging
words.
Best wishes
Alison
I’ve just spent the past day or two reading almost every word you’ve written. And I just wanted to thank you for having taken the time to share your thoughts with us.
I rode my first powered two-wheeled vehicle in 1963. It was an NSU 175cc step-thru scooter, with small wheels and even smaller brakes. But to a 15 year old teenager it was heaven.
I took a long break from motorcycling in 1972 when someone decided that they needed my 1969 Norton Fastback more than I did. However, for my birthday in 2006 my wife bought me a 1982 Honda CB900F with only 5,750 km on it and I came back to the joys of riding. I now ride almost every day from the end of April to the beginning of October, which means here in the National Capital Region of Canada (Ottawa) I see weather from zero to 40 degrees C.
I decided to take the Rider’s Safety Course when I first started riding again in 2006. It was worth the day. There were many things I had forgotten, and many things I could not do well. But it was a good beginning.
I like your writing style. Informative, authoritative and crisp. You get the point across – and omit all the blather.
Thanks again for taking the time. I appreciate your work.
Cheers,
David Langlois
From Alison
Hi Kevin
Sometime ago you gave me some good advice about touring for a novice biker.
Well, just to let you know I’ve just returned from a 2000 mile bike trip from the Highlands of Scotland. Pretty wet on parts of the A1, good experience!!! and all sorts of weather in Scotland! Apart from one ‘moment’ everything went well, and the more miles I did on main roads, single tracks and even the ‘Pass of the Cattle’ across the Applecross mountains (the highest road in Scotland) I felt I was gaining in confidence. I’ll never be Rossi round corners but I really tried to put your advice into practice and I’m sure it helped.
My Honda CB 500 was more than up to the task, perfectly adequate for the roads and really, really comfortable, no aches or pains, just a slightly tired brain!!!! Unlike my hubby on his naked 1200 Bandit, sore shoulders and backside, having to hang onto the handlebars!!!!! He must get a better touring bike.
I’m already planning another trip sometime. Thanks for your encouraging words.
Best wishes
Alison
I do indeed remember! It’s always really rewarding to get an email back from someone!
Glad you had a good time and that the advice helped! Interesting that you got on better on the CB500 than hubby on the 1200 Bandit. Sometimes the lack of weight and the unthreatening power deliver on a smaller bike more than makes up for the lack of ultimate power. I take it you have a screen too.
I hope you enjoy the rest of the summer and have some good riding!
From James
Hi Kevin,
The day in France seems ages ago. 7000 miles and 12 countries later and I’m back home. No mishaps to report. How about a bends course in Norway sometime? 
The roads in the fjord area in the west were fantastic e.g. http://www.solvang-camping.com/gfx/turistinfo/trollstigen.jpg
There was a lot to practice after the course. Braking for bends was uppermost.
I’m not sure how much was the bike or its rider. Perhaps you could’ve had a quick go on it to have decided. The Dakar doesn’t really flatter a ride. The soft long front suspension “kangarooing” at anything but the most gentle change of speed and the lightness at the front can make steering imprecise (On the plus side, the front tyre still looks almost new!).
In bends I found it was smoother to brake up to the point of turning, letting the brakes off gently so that they were coming off at the turn point. I’ve done all the free things to improve the handling – internet wisdom is that the only thing to do is change the front fork springs, although I’m worried that might compromise off road stability. I might change the fork oil weight the next time it needs doing as a first step.
Thanks again,
James
Epic trip!! You’ll remember that for a while!! I think Norway would be a great place to run a bends course but for the time being N France will have to suffice – the roads aren’t bad!! And the beer’s a bit cheaper ;o)
