Advanced Rider Training...Two Months on.

So two months on from completing the first stages of rider training ( Part 1  Part 2 )  how am I going?  Unfortunately I have to access this in a self analytical kind of way.  I will try to be as honest as I can.

There are some areas I have felt have very much improved.  My feet position and hazard awareness has improved a great deal. I seem to be far more aware of what is going on around me, even behind me. I am constantly scanning and taking in what other vehicles are doing, how they are parked, position of wheels etc etc.

I am far smoother under breaking, and am using the brakes to control the bike, especially when coming up to lights and having to control my speed. My breaking distances have reduced considerably.  No more jerking to a stop, then taking off.   Saying that , my slow speed manoeuvring has improved, but there are still lapse's where I need to put a foot down , but completing it a few times normally results in success.   The thing about rider training is it gives you the tools to work on your own riding, where as before the 'wing it' theory was my main form of education.  

When out on the open road I am constantly reminding myself about I.P.S.G.A.   The thing I have noticed about this is that I am selecting a lower gear when entering corners than I use to, giving me a nice firmer acceleration out of the corner.  Interesting point my average mile consumption use to be around 5.6km/1000, now it is around the 5.8-5.9 mark.  Obviously using the power of the bike a lot more.  This has been one of the great joys of the training, I am enjoying the stability of cornering so much more, and combined with the change of entry and exit angle I feel Like I am cornering far better and with more confidence. I am positioning myself differently on the road when entering corners, giving greater visibility during the entire process. Great fun.

All in all the lots of skills are being slowly built into my riding.  I still have a long way to go, yet at the same time I have come a long way from where I was.

Having read Police Riders Handbook to better Motorcycling  and Proficient Motorcycling both excellent books they have helped to re enforce  what I have learnt and are a great resource for future referral.  Click on the link and you can read both reviews.

In the spring I will go back and attend some more sessions.  Lots more to learn and I want to make sure no bad habits are creeping into my riding.  It is a long journey, but incredibly rewarding.

Something I learnt when I was learning guitar.  I would practice stuff really hard, spend hours trying to master a technique or riff, my tutor said to me, after practising just play.  Forget about trying to learn , just enjoy and play.  What happens is those very skills you have been trying to master came naturally into my playing once I was relaxed and not trying so hard. I would just start having fun, yet I would be doing some of the stuff I had been trying so hard to master. To some degree this principle applies to riding a bike and acquiring new skills also. You work at some thing and after a while it becomes natural.