Having not ridden for 22 years and gone out and bought a 999s (probably not bright, but what the hell) I thought a little refresher course was a good plan. After having done a bit of research an outfit called Rapid Training seemed to stand out as a good option, so I booked up and had the day yesterday. Rapid Training seem to be a group of police motorcycle instructors, and ex police instructors from Thames Valley and the Met who are all independent but come under the RT umbrella for booking. Tony, the chap I booked with, is still with the Met, having been a car instructor, motorcycle instructor and M/C escort. Very practical, down to earth, good sense of humour and at no time did I think I was out with a "policeman". My objective was to try to get a system into my head for riding, specifically road positioning. I don't want to be Foggy or get my knee down on the road, but I do want to make reasonably rapid progress safely. We met up at South Mimms at 0900. Had a chat about the day, including an interesting chat on speed limits, which basically suggested that 30's, 40's and 50's are there to adhere to, but when in the national limit areas ride a fast as you are comfortable with. He also added that if we get nicked we were both in the shit! Tony followed me for 20 minutes and we stopped for a chat. He was happy with safety, suggesting I was perhaps a little over cautious, happy with hazard perception, but felt we needed to do a bit of work on road positioning, especially round bends. He went through the theory, very simply explained and easy to understand, and we then went up and down a wiggly section of road for 30 minutes until he was happy I had got it. We did about 200 miles in the day, stopping every 30 to 45 minutes for a chat or a cup of tea, with him picking up points I needed to work on and setting tasks for the next session. At times I followed him, most of the time he followed me. We did make some pretty rapid progress towards the end of the day when he was happy I had got the accuracy of positioning needed to do it safely. We finished off at 1630 and went our own ways. It was a great day, I learnt a lot, I have my system now, which was the objective, and I feel safer and more confident to push on a bit. Tony was fun to be out with, great company, exceptionally knowledgeable and professional, I couldn't recommend him highly enough. If anyone was thinking about doing a similar exercise I would definitely say Rapid Training were worth a call.
I have done this three times (one purely for myself and twice principally for two friends) and absolutely agree with this. A superb real world training day and well worth it.
Second that, there is never enough training to be had, I feel I never stop learning,but this team have the ability to carry you onwards. after all it pays to be trained by the best,who get the best training,but they also impart their knowledge in such an unpretentious way. Strongly recommended to everyone,and long term too.
Did one a few years back and wrote a review up myself for my little website. A brilliant day to be had and a lot to be learnt/polished if you arrive with the right attitude
I'm another fan of Rapid Training. I had a day with them a couple of years ago working on overtaking. (I can't generally be bothered with overtaking, and didn't have much confidence doing so). A day blasting around Hampshire certainly built up my skill and confidence, and although I still can't generally be bothered to overtake (I'm happy to potter around at a more leisurely pace) I know I can get past things if I really want to now. I was occasionally surprised when glancing at the speedo to realise how rapid my progress was! The other half and I did a couple of days training in Wales with Rapid Training later on. Weather was dreadful (torrential rain - if nothing else I learned that Kriega tailpacks really are waterproof) but the roads were great and the advice was useful. Not a cheap option but a good one in so far as they take time to listen to what you want to learn, what you want to work on and tailor the training to meet your needs.
I must do one. My road riding has been ruined a little by track riding, my obs are ok but positioning is often in the 'cant be arsed' category except for junctions and obvious hazards
That's exactly what we focused on most of the day. No more "racing lines", clipping the apexes, much more focus on seeing round the corner before winding it on. I thought it was bloody good. And a 6 ft 3 policeman explaining it to you and riding on your tail for 200 miles making sure you do it properly is much better than reading about it.
They refer to it as " rapid safe progress". More about getting there in one piece at a good pace than cutting a few extra minutes off the journey by going balls out. That principle works for me. When he took the lead towards the end of the day and pushed on a bit it was plenty quick enough for me and it felt under control, safe and most of all fun.
You don't have to, in fact, its probably unwise to try. You can break down the whole day to two words. Observation. Positioning.
Thats a heck of an assumption, you have no idea how people ride. But aside from that a day on the bike is a day on the bike
One of the instructors I had, twice, was Jon from Coulsdon. Not only did he write the IAM manual, ex police rider but was also a Nurburgring bike instructor for 10 years. Pretty handy I would say. But enough willy waving, for road riding I would suggest these guys are the best out there.
I don't think any racing required, I spend a lot of time out with different riders for observing purposes,come across all sorts,the fast tearaways on R1 etc came rip past you on the straights, come to the bends out of shape and out of position,might scrabble around a few bends before having to back off and realign. Even if these Barry Sheenes keep the speed up for 2 or 3 miles they can't do for 10,20,50 miles. Most of the finest riders I come across have had class1 training, and don't need to slow down for the bends. Tortoise and the hare comes to mind.
I bow to far more superior knowledge I'm sure they'd leave me for dead (not literally) as I'm dog slow but not everyone is...and I've seen people write books on being a top athlete, yet they can't beat the best I'd wager Shakey Burn woful leave any of them for dust in his fast bikes days
Fair point,but think about when you are getting track tuition, you're going as fast as you dare,and the instructors simply pass you holding the bars with one hand,looking behind them for ages to see where people are,you can't believe it,well when it gets to road,shaky etc would look at the better road riders with the same admiration,polarity reversed. The best I have come across as a Bob the Dog are very experienced track instructors who are also current or ex class 1 riders. No more willy waving,if only it was that long!! Lol
