Bikesafe Bikesafe Course Wirral - Day 2

[Fiddlesticks]

Day two. Same time, same place.  This was something organised by the local agencies to compliment Bikesafe - the opportunity for a one-to-one ride with a Rospa or IAM qualified observer.

First, though, a session on first aid. How to deliver CPR, when and how to remove a helmet, a defibrillator demonstration, stemming bleeds and more.

After collecting some freebies, it was time to be introduced to our trainer for the ride out.  He reviewed PC Dave's charge sheet from the previous day to give him some idea of what to watch out for, and we got out to the bikes.

Today's run was down to the Horseshoe Pass near Llangollen and to the Ponderosa for a lunch break. Lots of nice twisties, albeit with a recently reduced speed limit. We got there safely, despite the annoying yellow jacket sleeves flapping around and getting in the way of the mirrors. At one point an oncoming Range Rover decided to use the whole of our lane to overtake some cyclists, but a quick dip into the gutter put us beyond the reach of his crumple zones.

We got to the Ponderosa, plenty of bikers about, one guy said he had ridden up from Luton for the day. A bit of a chinwag and some food was in order.

"Have you thought about doing the full IAM Course?" I was asked.

We went over the basics - cost, length of time, advantages, socials, ride-outs. It has never happened to me (although I'd never be able to tell you if it had) but I imagine this is how they recruit you into MI6.

We set off back to the centre ahead of the incoming rain. A run of about two hours through North Wales' winding roads, followed by a review of the ride. It was all very friendly, lots of good tips, where things went well and a few areas for improvement. Apparently, I can be a bit too hesitant, which Mrs. Fiddlesticks thinks is hilarious. I put this down to both having to navigate and being too aware/concerned about the guy watching behind.  Heisenberg called this The Observer Effect. It is demonstrated in a physics experiment in which the act of watching affects the behaviour of the object being watched.

One final classroom session from the IAM trainer with safety very much the watch word. We looked a little at the mechanisms of the brain when it comes to focussing on moving objects. Scanning, looming, circadian masking. There were one or two videos to demonstrate all of this, and an invitation to do some further training.

Top marks to the guys who put it all on. I found the two days very useful and would highly recommend the course to anyone on two wheels.

 

Edited July 30, 2023 by Fiddlesticks

[Mickly]

Having done a couple of Bikesafe courses I can identify with the Observer effect, we were told to ride as we normally would so the feedback would be useful …. Yeah right, with a copper up your chuff that wasn’t gonna happen, so it was a nerve wracking process of reigning back my normal exuberance while not riding like a spinster with a box of eggs in the top box.

They were not fooled, at the first stop and feedback session I was told to stop dicking around and ride properly

[skyrider]

yes i used to do that on the iom marshals imc course

[Steve_M]

1 hour ago, Mickly said:

Having done a couple of Bikesafe courses I can identify with the Observer effect, we were told to ride as we normally would so the feedback would be useful …. Yeah right, with a copper up your chuff that wasn’t gonna happen, so it was a nerve wracking process of reigning back my normal exuberance while not riding like a spinster with a box of eggs in the top box.

They were not fooled, at the first stop and feedback session I was told to stop dicking around and ride properly

I did a few assessments of new associates to the IAM and you can tell pretty quickly if they’re doing their normal ride or not. It usually shows in inconsistency in dealing with hazards. A quick word to explain that it’s better if they do their normal ride (bearing in mind speed limits… ) to give a baseline.