You can‘t rely on luck & slow reactions
I never thought I could learn so much
First and foremost, many thanks to Warwickshire Police and the BikeSafe team for a very enjoyable day. We were made to feel at ease from the start and this remained the case throughout the day, helping the learning to stick. Some feedback from the day to consider as you wish…
Classroom
Good use of diagrams and this helps make some of the video examples clearer to understand.
Whilst the videos are a little dated the messages have not changed but I find these less memorable than the diagrams (may be just my preference for learning).
I think the pace of the delivery was good with lots of opportunities for discussions and questions and find it hard to think of areas for improvement. Maybe a ‘confessional’ where we discuss our main faults or biggest errors and focus for improvements. For those too embarrassed you could get us to write them on cards and drop them in a box.
Riding
Perfect matching of the roads to our specific challenges was great. Being able to follow and lead provided equal opportunities for learning. I did struggle to maintain a focus when leading on the skills, the route and traffic. Headsets for directions would be great as bike mirrors struggle to show a vehicle let alone indicators or hand signals of a following rider.
Great feedback from Andy and well spaced stops to reflect on key points. I was really appreciative of biasing the time on the road to letting my son lead for 60%, Andy was very flexible in his approach and this will help my son and I on our joint rides out together. I think the balance of classroom to riding is spot on.
Summary
I have been riding on the roads for 40 years now and never had any formal training other than that necessary to pass my test at 17 and consider myself lucky to have avoided any major accidents in all that time. But you can‘t rely on luck and slowing reactions forever! In one day this course has changed the way I ride – different lines, greater visibility, more time to think and a more relaxed and enjoyable ride as a result. And no slower.
Huge thanks to Warwickshire BikeSafe. I never thought I could learn so much in a day and its a credit to them that I forgot we were riding with Police towards the end – just out riding with friends. Many thanks
Written by: Neil Lewin
Attended Warwickshire BikeSafe (28/07/19)
