MEET THE TEAM - CHRIS LINDLEY

Chris had no interest in motorcycles, despite a keen interest in cars and driving. He was on the road as soon as possible at 17, and joined the police in his early 20s, looking to work in traffic. A motorcycle course on a whim, however, opened his eyes and a whole new world.

Rapid Pro Coach Chris, with his favourite mode of transport.

My interest in cars and driving was there from a young age, and I couldn’t wait to get on the road. I passed my driving test at 17 but I had absolutely no interest in motorcycles whatsoever.

At 23 I joined the police as I wanted to pursue a career in the traffic department, and at that time a friend mentioned he was going to take a motorcycle course and if I fancied doing it as well. So, I began my motorcycling journey on a whim, but from the moment I started it was as though a whole new world had, unintentionally, been opened up to me.

I was working on traffic patrol before completing an advanced motorcycle course and moving onto the motorcycle wing. The course takes your riding up to the highest level and I was subsequently trained to work as part of the VIP escort team and the off-road team.

One of my favourite memories was coming on duty one afternoon, being told to collect a crime sample from CID and take it from Yorkshire to a central London forensic laboratory for urgent same-day analysis, which involved blugh-lighting it down to London in torrential rain.

We also got to max-out most of the fleet at Bruntingthorpe over a few days to try and identify any handling deficiencies that a few bikes seemed to have at high speed. And while we were there a Bentley test driver offered us a passenger ride. I can confirm that they are still quiet at 155mph.

Despite my motorcycling qualifications and the skills I have learned, one thing that has shaped my outlook when it comes to riding a bike is my time spent as a collision investigator. It provided many real world examples of applying the ‘so what?’ test that Rapid uses as part of its training courses.

Prior to retirement from the police I trained to be an approved car driving instructor, as I knew I would enjoy the challenges that coaching learner drivers would inevitably bring, but, after learning of Rapid Training just after retiring, I felt that my skills would align really well with its vision and values, and I enjoy being able to share these skills with clients.

I enjoy the freedom that motorcycling brings and the technical side of riding: there’s more to think about than driving and I enjoy that. I’ve done track days and rode many miles both professionally and for personal enjoyment. Although sunny days are good, I also enjoy riding in the rain as this requires extra thought and improves my skills further.