Rupert
Paul - Bike Magazine
Urrgh. My legs hurt. My knees won’t bend properly. My forearms feel like wood.
And after 48 hours my brain is still stuck in an endless replay, running over
corners and lines time and again. I’m buzzing and happy, in the way that you
only can be when you’ve had an experience that’ll stay with you for years.
And no, it wasn’t a club race. I’ve been on an advanced motorcycle course.
Like most people reading this, I began my motorcycle career as a
fully-rounded expert. There was nothing about riding I didn’t already know,
so I didn’t need training – which was just as well, because I didn’t get any.
But later (OK, 28 years later) there comes a moment when you look in the
mirror and admit you are not Valentino Rossi after all. And that’s OK. And
with that little hurdle overcome, the rest of your life opens up in front of
you. And hey – maybe I could take the day off work and learn how to ride
these tricky contraptions we call motorcycles. In truth, the idea had been
stewing for a while. Back in the early 1990s I’d met a Nürburgring instructor
called Jon Taylor. Not only was he staggeringly fast and safe around that
most lethal of circuits; his whole approach to riding bikes seemed admirable
– the same kind of humility, simplicity and discipline I’d once witnessed in
a fifth dan Karate master. Jon had won a couple of club championships, and he
was also a police rider, though he didn’t fit my idea of one. Up to that
point, I’d never met a copper who was faster than me. We stayed in touch over
the years, and eventually I plucked up the courage to book a day’s training
with the outfit he works for, rapidtraining.co.uk. It couldn’t have come at a
better time. Two months into living with a barking mad GSX-R1000 (p???), I
was beginning to wonder if I’d lost all my reference points. It wasn’t the
bike that bothered me; just the mismatch it created with the rest of the
world. My instructor turned out to be occasional Bike contributor Gary
Baldwin. Like Jon, he combines a lifelong love of bikes with a respectable
racing career and a Police Class One certificate. This mix of skills turns
out to be more or less standard at Rapid Training, even if it is rare as
hens’ teeth. The format’s simple: initial chat, rules of engagement,
assessment ride, debrief, demo ride by Gary, debrief, then ride and review
until the day is done. To spot how sharp your hazard perception and road
reading is, Gary stays immediately behind you. How he can ride so close
safely all day I can’t imagine, but he does – and the result is
extraordinary. With Yoda on your tail there is literally nowhere to hide.
Your riding – warts and all – is laid bare. ‘Ride exactly as you do,’ he told
me before the first session. So I did, mullering the Suzuki in an authentic
reproduction of my somewhat frantic riding style. Too bad his new 600 Hornet
wasn’t even run in. And only a 600. After about 10 miles we stopped. Gary’s
advice? Try smoothing out the peaks and troughs by just a few mph.
Concentrate on flow. Wow. I’d spent so many years testing bikes I’d
unconsciously developed a ‘road test’ style of riding. Sure, it’s smooth from
a machine control point of view, but it forces the bike to do its stuff in an
exaggerated way. It had never occurred to me to work on my mental smoothness
instead. Trying it out on the B-roads of Berkshire, Oxfordshire and
Gloucestershire was like discovering a different rider. Helpful details?
Those too – among them: drivers look at your distance, not speed, when
judging if it’s safe to pull out of a side road. Forget indicating to pass
cars: it leaves more brain spare for other stuff. Point the whole bike right
before turning right out of junctions – it’s smoother. And I can now hit 30
and 40mph limits without checking the speedo. I came away massively
impressed, and brimming with confidence. (Gary’s mastery of giving
constructive feedback to the fragile male ego is, if anything, even more
astounding than his riding.) And I can’t remember when I last had so much fun
on a bike. Best 140 quid you could ever spend.
Advanced training
- Worth it or is it just for old men?
Wozza from Superbike spent a day out with Rapid, here are his thoughts.
ADVANCED TRAINING? YAWN. Surely there must be some kind of mistake? I
mean, what on earth would a subject so seemingly dull be doing nestled within
the pages of Britain’s rootingest, tootingest sports bike mag? Well, simple
fact is that done right advanced training ain’t dull and is the quickest way
of becoming a faster rider this side of, well, anything really. And at the
same time, it’ll reduce your chances of crashing and could even save you
money on insurance.
The course I did was with Rapid Training, They are a top bunch of boys I
first met a few years back when they transformed me from a fast and very
dangerous road rider into a faster and slightly less dangerous one. Thanks to
their easy-going teaching methods (you ride around a load of top roads and
stop for a chat every now and again), I've been back a few times since for
general brush-ups on my road riding and to make sure I'm not slipping into
bad habits. Just having someone who knows their stuff analyse your riding is
a useful thing in itself.
In the last year, I've done a stack more track riding than I used to but
living in London my open road riding has slipped somewhat, so I reckoned a
trip back to Rapid could be what I needed.
Sure enough, instructor Mark picked me up on being too aggressive with
traffic (essential in London, but pointless in the sticks), and peeling into
corners too early (perfect on the track where the apex is all-important, but
too extreme on the road where your view around the bend should take
priority), otherwise I was bad habit free.
All in all, a good day out thrashing about the Buckinghamshire countryside
with like minded bods. Instructive into the bargain too. It doesn't matter
that Rapid’s instructors are all current or ex-traffic cops because not only
can they ride, they fit into the ever-decreasing minority of ‘good’ traffic
cops. Warren Pole
RiDE Magazine
Review
Not long after Rapid was formed, Ride's Deputy Editor Damon l'Anson tagged
along on a course. This was for an article on Advanced Training. This
appeared in the magazine, it followed seven different training schools. To
say we were chuffed with the article is the understatement of the century.
Damon's verdict on our course read, "An excellent day course. Both
students were of a higher than average standard and take their riding
seriously. The roads chosen weren't too busy and nearly all were national
speed limits in pleasant countryside. The briefing in the morning and frequent
updates meant the riders were getting what they wanted from the course, which
is what it's all about". Our thanks go to Mark Edwards for putting his
neck on the block, to Mike Hardy and Neil Whatley from the Wey Valley IAM for
allowing Damon along for the ride, and for saying nice things about us.
Copies of the article are available from Mark's bedroom wall, or his mum.
Bike
Bike was next with Martin Child being the reporter In the news!! Advanced
training with the police? Martin Child was convinced he'd go down for a long
stretch.I turned up for my advanced riding course looking like a Honda Mac
instructor - Black Arai, red and black Belstaff. Instructor Gary Baldwin
wasn't too alarmed, the Mac lads (sic) are ex-police officers and all nine
instructors at Rapid Training are current Plods. Don't let this put you off,
though. All were bikers before they became coppers, the only lead pipes were
in the heating system and I was free to leave when I wanted. Which,
considering the force-8 gale and lashing rain outside, wasn't high up on my
agenda. But 180 miles later I was brought back in for questioning. I
confessed all (coffee, no sugar, thanks). Had I learnt anything? Did I enjoy
it? Well, sort of, and yes. The inch thick cack on my Fazer indicated the
trying conditions we'd been forced to endure all day. I was wet but happy and
I'd been re-introduced to many a safety point I'd forgotten. Only one road
crash in 15 years of riding means I must be doing something right, yer
honour. Gary's charge revolved around my tendency towards 'comfort braking'.
I'll hold my hands up to that one. But the real surprise was the overall pace
of the course. This is no kill-joy, ride slower course, exactly the opposite
in fact. Pace is dictated by the suspect (sorry pupil) and cautions are only
given to improve your performance. Whatever level of skill you have and how
ever long you've been riding, a day's fun riding which will teach you
something, whether massive or minute, has got to be worth doing an eight
stretch for (hours, that is). You'd be stir crazy not to. Rapid also has
plans to do some track days. Suppose they'll be looking for some circuit
Judges then. Martin Child, HMP Peterborough From Bike Magazine.
Mark Hamilton Performance
Bikes
PHIL CURTIS pays his mortgage by wearing a fluoro jacket and instructing
other coppers how to ride motorbikes, but today he's showing me the finer
points of how to ride more safely and smoothly on the road - which should
hopefully translate into getting from A to B quicker.My main problem is
hammering up to bends, then bottling it and grabbing the front brake. So Phil
says he'll concentrate on cornering. There aren't any strict rules as such,
but this off-duty copper says he won't cross double white lines or exceed
speed limits in 30, 40 or 50mph zones. Fair nuff. But he also says he's not
going to nick me for a bit of "enthusiastic riding". Phil follows
me for the first 20-30min and wants me to ride as normal, so he can assess my
riding. When we stop he points out a couple of things for me to look at: road
positioning and overtaking. While I thought I was setting myself up properly
for a corner, it turns out I was sticking pretty much to the centre of the
lane, give or take a few inches. And as for overtakes, I was barrelling up
behind cars and then getting stuck behind them. He gets me to concentrate on
setting myself up properly for a bend (to the nearside for rights and the
centre of the road for lefts), well before you get there. It's obvious stuff,
but makes a difference when you make sure you're doing it right. The
"Thirds Rule" is next up, where you break down sections of the road
into bite-sized chunks. You treat your exit from a bend as the first third;
the straight as the second, where you start setting yourself up for the next
corner; and the final third is the corner entry itself. This lets tiny brains
like mine process the information from the road ahead without getting
overheated. This advice has an immediate effect on my riding. By using more
of the road, you get a much better view round a bend, so you can go round it
quicker. The next step was making sure you get as good a view round vehicles
in front as possible, which again has a lot to do with road positioning.
Generally, out to the centre of the road and not right up the chuff of the bloke
in front. Again, fairly common sense, but the new bit for me was on
left-handers. If you're sitting in the middle of the lane you can't see a lot
past the vehicle, so the trick is to fall back and into the nearside, and
look through the inside. "Sometimes all this shows you is that you can't
overtake, but at least now you know why," says Phil.And this is where
the planning bit comes in, always trying to maximise the view you get round a
car or truck in front, so you go past traffic as early as possible without
having to slow down. The System, as the cops call it, is about using simple
stuff like this to maintain a decent speed for a sustained period. The idea
is to get into a flow, rather than stopping and starting all the time, and
getting stuck behind traffic without being able to see past it, or going for
risky overtakes.There are other ways of getting from A to B quicker on the
road, but only by eating into your safety margin, which means that sooner or
later you're gonna get hit by something. So even if you're already a fast
road rider, you'll benefit from this course, ~ 'cos it'll almost certainly
make you safer and smoother on the road - it certainly worked for me and has
transformed my road riding. Good points: made me safer, smoother and faster.Bad
points: avoid if you've any outstanding warrants.Overall: tailored for you,
so even fast road riders will get something out of the day.
Simon Weir Bike
A spill can damage more than your bike, as I found out in June. Rebuilding
the Ducati ST3 after my first crash for years took a month. Rebuilding my
riding took longer. I was hesitant, my positioning was not particularly
precise and I was backing off more than was necessary. Steps had to be taken.
Enter Andy Morrison of Rapid Training, a former police Class One instructor,
racer and current training guru who spent a day giving my riding a set-up.
After an initial assessment ride, Andy showed some lines with his FireBlade,
then coached me over the following 150 high speed miles. The result? I'm back
to my old riding self - if not better. Invaluable.
