A day with Rapid Training
I had a days advanced riding training with Rapid Training on Sunday. My instructor, Alan, is a retired police class 1 rider, so it's fair to say he certainly knows his stuff. The emphasis was on observation and planning, and it was a real eye opener; by moving my obs much further down the road, I was astonished by how much extra time it gave to evaluate and make decisions. It immediately paid benefits, I was smoother, more relaxed, yet faster; all very rewarding.
He also got me to move the bike around the road much more freely, to maximise vision. Quite a bit of time was spent on using the vanishing point; I've read plenty about that, but couldn't really use it effectively. By actually walking a bend we'd previously ridden, it became clear and by the end of the day I was able to corner much more smoothly and confidently. We were travelling at a fair old lick by the end of the day, but despite this it always felt very safe and controlled; there was no heavy braking, no iffy overtakes, just very brisk and smooth progress. I'm aware there is a risk of overconfidence now, I need to remember to use these skills to increase the safety margin, not just go faster.
We covered at least 150 miles, and I was pretty tired when I got home (I'm clearly not used to concentrating that hard). Sleep didn't bring any respite though, I just dreamt of endless roads and bends!
He also got me to move the bike around the road much more freely, to maximise vision. Quite a bit of time was spent on using the vanishing point; I've read plenty about that, but couldn't really use it effectively. By actually walking a bend we'd previously ridden, it became clear and by the end of the day I was able to corner much more smoothly and confidently. We were travelling at a fair old lick by the end of the day, but despite this it always felt very safe and controlled; there was no heavy braking, no iffy overtakes, just very brisk and smooth progress. I'm aware there is a risk of overconfidence now, I need to remember to use these skills to increase the safety margin, not just go faster.
We covered at least 150 miles, and I was pretty tired when I got home (I'm clearly not used to concentrating that hard). Sleep didn't bring any respite though, I just dreamt of endless roads and bends!
