This morning I went out for a 25 mile ride with a police motorcyclist. It is one of the most interesting rides I have done in the six years since I passed my bike test.
As a private pilot I would regularly fly with an instructor, even though I had a licence, so that I could be shown ways to improve or be taught new things. Three years ago I did a similar thing on a bike, which resulted in me passing my Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) motorcycle test. But that was three years ago and since then, despite reading books, watching videos and striving to improve my riding, I haven't had an objective and honest assessment of my riding.
Bikesafe is a scheme, run across the UK, funded by speeding fines, which aims to improve motorcycling standards. Our local police forces have been running a huge Bikesafe event this weekend at a local motor museum, and I attended with colleagues from the Freewheelers EVS blood bike charity. Our aim was to show a face and try to encourage some of the bikers attending the event to take their advanced test and join us as blood bike riders. However, I also had a selfish reason because I wanted to get my riding assessed.
Enter Phil, a police motorcyclist from the Devon & Cornwall force. His first question when he saw the blood bike that I was going to be riding was "Why did I need him?". He seemed pleased when I explained about wanting an objective assessment of my riding and some suggestions on how I could improve. As we set out I was nervous and fluffed the first couple of junctions - silly little mistakes which I was quick to point out when we stopped half way round for his initial assessment. He complimented me on my riding, but then proceeded to tear me apart (in the nicest possible way) by telling me about several minor mistakes that I had made, but hadn't spotted. He also made some suggestions on ways I could improve my riding - traits in my riding style that I had never known I was doing wrong, or to be honest had never even thought about before. The second half of the ride was certainly not perfect but it felt fantastic because I was able to put into practice the new things that he had pointed out. A final debrief and a written assessment at the end confirmed that I am a good safe rider, but one who can do a couple of things to raise my standard of riding.
I started out today thinking I was a really good rider. I finished the day knowing that I'm not as good as I thought but with a plan to help me get even better. Today showed me that while striving for self improvement is a good thing, it never hurts to get an assessment of how your are doing and some coaching from someone who is at the top of their game.
