The Bikesafe Experience...

[Steve H]

Rather longer and slightly more boring than I had anticipated (this thread as opposed to the course I hasten to add!)...

The first day was purely a classroom session - I got there half an hour late after attempting to break the world record for the amount of times I could utilise the snooze function on my alarm clock. It didn't seem that I had missed much however and I sat down and was treated to a mild (in Policing terms I suspect) rebuking for keeping everyone waiting!

The Sessions involved road craft, positioning, gearing techniques, awareness, cornering lines, etc. Basically just about everything that you could wish to know/learn about competent road riding. A lot of it was things that you may have been aware of previously however it was nice to get a refresher of those techniques and also an insight into how the Police use them for their own benefit. The teaching was interspersed with a couple of 'I remember a tw@t that I stopped in 1967' type stories which were amusing however I reckon that most are taken from 'The Big Book Of Fireside Fuzz Fables that you can tell to keep a class attentive' - still it works so thumbs up

Eight hours in a room with a copper preaching about the benefits of training etc, sounds extremely boring, however if there is an art (and I believe there is) to speaking in a public forum then the Policeman who took this course seemed to have it in abundance and the day was enjoyable, funny and at times extremely interesting and thank goodness (even during the after lunch 2 'til 3 snooze hour) I didn't feel my interest waning as he commanded the attention of the class at all times - especially when he treated a snoozer to half a gallon of mace between the eyes

The 'accompanied ride out' was the on the 2nd day of the course and 8.50am on Sunday (Yes, for those of us without kids I can confirm it exists) saw myself and Dave on his GSXR 600 tentatively leave Cheltenham Police Station followed by our observer who said at the outset 'ride as you would normally do' - that was never going to happen despite promises to myself to the contrary and I found myself sticking behind vehicles when I would have probably overtaken and keeping filtering to an extreme minimum although my speed was invariably the limit plus 10% which was never really brought into question.

After 4 hours of riding, stopping, reviewing scenarios that had occurred during the ride and swapping places to allow Dave to take a turn in front it was all over and we made our way back to base for a debriefing session. This was where myself and Dave both confessed to not riding EXACTLY as we would nave done had we been alone (then blaming the presence of the other two for hampering our filtering style due to the fact that 'I'd rather keep the group together!'). This was accepted by the observer as the norm and as I looked around I saw similar guiltily admissions taking place around the car park and the mace was brought out again - only joking

So £12.50 for two days of talking, learning, riding, socializing with bike minded individuals - not a bad price to pay?

Well, I learnt things specifically smoother, quicker riding by setting yourself up for bends without hard braking which after a morning out on my own today has improved my speed through corners. Other than that it was more a refresher although still so obviously worth the pittance that I paid that it is disappointing to know that all the places were not taken.

I'd heartily recommend it, I've posted the link before but here it is again should any of you wish to get in contact with your local organizers www.bikesafe.co.uk

SteveH
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Mellow Yellow
The BCF Top TEN - 2010, 2009, 2008, The Original.

[hustler]

Thanks, you certainly got me interested sounds like you had a good time and learnt something new which is always good.

It's a really stupid question, but what the hell I'll ask it anyway. Was your bike fully road legal? I'd hate them to get the old mace out after spotting the really small writing on my can which says something as un-significant as "race use only"
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As I said to that guy with the crutches and full camouflage gear, you can hide but you can't run.

[Steve H]

Hustler,

Mine is totally standard, however there was one person that mentioned that he had a race can fitted when the Lecturer asked if any had any less than legal add ons and (rightly or wrongly) he incurred the wrath of some of the participants on the course who came up with the usual arguments (noise, nuisance, etc).

The Lecturer mentioned that on the day of the ride race cans, number plates etc wouldn't be recognized as illegal as such, however he DID make a point of saying that if they were picked up as part of a Police check during any other time then they would be treated as illegal with the usual ramifications ensuing.

SteveH
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Mellow Yellow
The BCF Top TEN - 2010, 2009, 2008, The Original.

[katana]

Hello

I did my bikesafe in London and it was a one day course and was £20 or £25 including a meal at the ace cafe.

The courses are different for different areas. They are designed for the riding that is in the area.

But they are a good day out.

[The Tot]

Evidently, would you need a full license to go on a bikesafe course... i wanted to go for the Bikesafe London course after chatting to a few traffic cops at the Alley Palley fair but i'm 17, only have a 125 and L plates, however having said that, i want to concentrate on the safest lines around corners and how to make yourselves confident yet quick when riding on the roads... i don't want to wait for another spill to think about going on some more training... doing my A2 test in October/November
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[Steve H]

Titot

I'm pretty certain that there are no restrictions for Bikesafe courses, there were all sorts of shapes and sizes of bikes on the course that I attended and the things that were taught could be of benefit to any person, experienced, novice, born again or even the much maligned 'ped bois' should they feel the need to attend!

For the ride the Policeman who took responsibility for the course as a whole paired people up with similar styles of bikes so I'm sure you'd be fine if you attended.

I would advise you contacting your local organiser (you can find the details on the website) and asking a few questions regarding attendance. I found them more than happy to chat on the phone about biking in general and I'm sure they'd make an attempt to accomodate anyone who expresses an interest.

SteveH
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Mellow Yellow
The BCF Top TEN - 2010, 2009, 2008, The Original.

[Sadie]

There are two Bikesafe events coming up soon.

Bikesafe Essex - Sunday 5th September 2004 - See here

Bikesafe Hertfordshire - Sunday 26th September 2004 - See here

I'll be working the BMF stand on both days, so if you come to the event, pop over and say hello.


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With experience comes age.