Update Observer Training

It has been a while since I updated my progress on my observer  training with IAM.

I think it is important at this stage to remember why I wanted to do all this in the first place.  I know for Geoff it was to up skill, as well as continuing his riding years.  For me it was a bit of that , but  the over riding factor was a desire to put some thing back into motorcycling, and to be in a position where I could offer advice on being a safer and better biker.  IAM is the perfect platform for me to do that.  If I was ever in situation like this again I would like to think I can be pro active and not passive about motorbike safety.

Since  our training weekend back in  late July  (read about it here) ,  I am been trying to get out with Morne for some regular training and feedback  Back in March I met a young fellow who came around to see my BMW, we got to talking and he showed an interest in IAM.  Long story short, he joined up and became the perfect guinea pig for me to practice on.  So I have been able to get out with Jarrod, and Morne following me, it has proved to be very beneficial to all concerned.  Morne has been brilliant in making himself available to me for training.  I considered it important that I take control of my training and push on, not leaving it to others to organize   It is my responsibility to organize it and get it completed and Morne has been very willing and giving of his time unconditionally. At times I have had to go to great depths to get to the monthly Sunday rides and fit other training in between.

I have spent a lot of time on my own as well, riding along practicing my commentary skills has been a fun exercise.  (Although do feel like a bit of a loony talking to myself inside my helmet).

At first I found it all very hard, following and observing an  associate as well as concentrating on my own riding and safety.  But the stuff I learnt to become a member in the first place is now well ingrained in my riding and I don't really have to think about it as much as I first did.  Safety still remains an over riding factor in all we do.  Being an observer is not just about watching the rider in front, you are thinking of his safety too and this reflects on how you follow and where I position my bike.

One of the biggest things I have had to struggle with is my 'recall", so when debriefing and going back through the ride and remembering the very things that are important and that I want to relay.  This skill has slowly been developing and I think will continue to improve as I progress.

I have managed to get most of my "Training card" signed off, just a couple more to complete and I think I will be getting  very close to sitting the observer test.  Personally and with out sounding  like I am tooting my own horn, but I think I will make a great observer.  I am relaxed, I think I make my associate feel at ease, I am  seeing stuff that once upon a time I wouldn't have even noticed.  I think my commentary and observation skills are really good, and I am relating well what I have seen back to the associate.   It is of course not  for  me to say.  It is important to me to maintain the standards that are all ready set.  But I have thoroughly enjoyed all the observer training, and certainly haven't found it as stressful as going from associate to full member.

IAM provides the perfect opportunity to those that want to up skill  and I have found those that come along to learn are a pleasure to teach and impart knowledge to.  The first chapter of Motorcycle road craft covers the mental aspects and I have become a firm believer that if you don't have the right attitude you wont get to chapter two.  What we learn and teach saves lives  and promotes safer riding, this still remain's my driving force behind all the hard work.

It is not always easy to get to the Sunday rides, I have my kids every second week and for the last few months there weekend falls on the same weekend as the rides. But I am lucky that I have two great kids who see what I am doing as beneficial and continue to support me, as well as my sister who watches them for me.
I hope that in the years to come they will see me as a roll model, and that doing stuff voluntarily and with out payment for a cause you believe in is a rewarding and productive use of time.  Life is not always about what you get..it is about what you give.