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The realisation that I needed to improve my skills came during a 2 day trip to mid Wales this year – great roads, my easy handling BMW 1200 GS and riding with a group of friends – it should have been a perfect combination, instead I found that I was struggling to ride smoothly and wasn’t enjoying the experience as much as I should have been. My normal riding is a commute to Cambridge from Northamptonshire – dual carriageway and motorway and a style of riding which I am very comfortable with. The realities of riding well and safely on more challenging roads made me quickly realise I needed help. Discussions over a beer in the bar during the evening led to a suggestion from one of my riding pals to improve my skills in the specific areas where I felt uncomfortable – he said that the Enhanced Rider Scheme enabled exact tailoring of a programme and that he had used Andy Giddings to improve his own skills. Contact with Andy was quickly made and we arranged a Saturday morning ride to give us the chance to meet each other and for Andy to understand my ability and me to decide what I really wanted from the course!
Our time out on the road passed quickly and was a constant learning experience for me – whilst I was a reasonably safe rider, I was not getting the most from the bike or the road and Andy then set about designing a programme to improve my riding – the main focus was on speed management, anticipation, positioning and safe overtaking, all of which were suffering from too much motorway riding. I must admit to some apprehension before I met Andy, but he proved to be a great learning partner – friendly and objective advice but firm in improving the areas that needed the most work. The course has been a real eye opener – I am riding more confidently, more safely and really enjoying my time on the bike – I can’t wait to get back to mid Wales and put my learning into practice!
I have had a variety of road training such as advanced and other trainings to help and stay sharp. Most of these were somewhat boring as not much comment was made by the instructors as they considered me to be a good rider.
Now we have spent 5 hours together on the road, it was very eye opening to hear how I could change my techniques, road position and overtaking skills to be more save and efficient in my riding.
Doing 20K miles a year on my own, I always feel bad habits slipping in and that is the exact reason I think we all need polishing up every year to stay sharp and safe. I can truly recommend such a day to all bikers in Britain.
Jake.
I cannot thank you enough for your invaluable training this morning.Your instruction has greatly improved me as a rider.My confidence has grown tenfold.You have given me plenty to think about and practice each time I start the bike up. I will continue to ride as you showed me and the more I practice the quicker it should become second nature.
Fabulous ride and Thanks again. Brian
I found the whole session was very friendly and professional and found it enormously helpful as I knew I had a couple of areas which needed attention, and couldn’t quite work out, 1.. what was wrong, and 2. therefore, how the heck to improve it!! You spotted my main issue immediately. I didn’t really know which gear I should be in when, and got a bit fixated on it., after our first chat I was looking forward to getting back on and trying it out! Your hand signals indicating the gear to change to was really helpful, and I felt able to carry that on myself afterwards. I take on board your suggestion of moving significantly over to the left when there is an oncoming vehicle, to ensure maximum safety, all part of the planning I guess. I think that being happier with the gear changing will help me have more time to spend on forward planning.I certainly felt much more confident and in control on my way home, and will now be able to look forward to riding very much more than I was! A hugely valuable experience , for which I am very greateful….Thankyou.
Hi Andy, Thanks again very much for yesterday. Thoroughly enjoyed it and learned a lot, so defiantly worthwhile! Just need to put it all into practice now!!! Mark
Planning and implementing overtakes I particularly found useful. But on the whole I had a fantastic few days. It has made me much more aware to things to take into consideration when driving. Porsche 911
Andy, many thanks for taking the time to assess my riding skills; despite the nerves and ridding somewhat like a beginner I thoroughly enjoyed my time. I have felt I can ride to a higher standard than I do, but was unsure which area to address in order to improve, now with the benefit of the information you have given me I will be able to make a start. I learnt a lot and will thoroughly recommend you to anyone who will listen. Kieron
Hello Andy, Many thanks for today I found your advice really useful and can't wait to get out on my bike more to practice. Simon
