I genuinely feel safer riding my bike than driving my car
BikeSafe was a great day of learning that has made my riding both safer and more enjoyable
Thanks again for your time a couple of Sundays back at the Warwickshire BikeSafe workshop.
What was good?
- Left the day feeling safer
- Generally had a great, legal ride on some lovely roads
- Great balance of humour, genuineness & relaxed environment
- Was not under pressure to pass any tests
- Great value for money. The goodie bag alone was worth half of the money paid.
- Seeing the CGI’d incidents heightened how important it is to educate/re-educate one’s self on roadcraft more frequently.
- Highlighting road lines and little tricks with road signs was a massive help.
- The constant reminder for lane position when being followed by a Policeman really helps concrete it into your mind. (This past week I have had the Sergeant’s voice in my head on each of my rides throughout the turns of the road.)
- X2 riders to x1 Policeman is the perfect balance of student to teacher ratio.
- There’s a difficult balance to achieve with confidence and knowledge. If one overtakes the other, you’re riding suffers. However I think the officers presented things well enough that this balance was achieved. I think this is heavily influenced by the mixture of Police presence and solid show & tell teaching.
- Great price
What was bad?
- Didn’t get a go on a Police bike (although I don’t envy you having to lug them mammoths around).
What gems of knowledge did I gain?
- Visibility is key. Plan your route.
- Take your time. You will get to your destination quicker & safer if you go in slow and out quick.
- It is mostly common sense. You just need refreshing on what’s the right way and why.
What changes should BikeSafe consider?
- I don’t think that any big changes are to be considered in my opinion. It gives riders a good basic understanding of how to approach hazards and be aware of them in the first place. If much more is added, it will be too much to learn and implement in a day. If anything is taken away, it won’t be enough to warrant a change.
BikeSafe was a great day of learning that has made my riding both safer and more enjoyable. I highly recommend the course as it’s great value for money to learn from a highly experienced Police Rider. On a sunny day, I now genuinely feel safer riding my bike than driving my car.
Kieran Rowe, Senior Design Engineer (Norton Motorcycles)
Attended Warwickshire BikeSafe (September 2020)
