I too agree with what everyone else has said, riding in a group can be fun, but it can also be very stressful, don't ever ride faster than you are happy with, it's just not worth it, going fast is not mandatory, the most important thing is to enjoy yourself. Give yourself permission to slow right down on corners if that's what you are comfortable with. I ride on my own 99% of the time, and just do what I want. Take care and relaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaax
Hi Steph, this may sound a bit boring and daft but, if you get a chance get to w h smiths or somewhere simula and by yourself Motorcycle Roadcraft, give it a goood read then go and try your hand at cross country roads. I think you may find it alot easier.
Best of luck, 2wheely
well I have had the pleasure of riding behind you and what i saw was a good rider (and a nice arse) don't try and beat your self up hun its not how quick you get there but to enjoy getting there.
read once.
perfect speed is not measured in MPH
you know perfect speed when your there (could be 20mph or 80 mph)
I too would recommend getting further training, I can recommend the Bikesafe course as a good place to start. If you would like to borrow the Roadcraft book or the IAM book, let me know I have both here. I would also recommend A Twist of the Wrist, it may be aimed at the track rider, but it does teach how we affect the bike and also how the bike behaves and also breaks each manoeuvre into its component parts.
From the sound of it you are reacting to your ride rather than planning your ride, which does usually mean that the ride becomes a lot harder and more stressful than you need it to be, so you get tense and it makes it worse. Try the “Chicken Flap” If you cannot wiggle your elbows without it affecting the bike you are too tense and you need to loosen your grip and drop your shoulders. I don’t know what bike you ride, but if you grip the tank with your knees you will find that your grip can be lighter on the bars and you will feel more secure in the seat. Putting too much weight through the bars can upset the bike, especially during breaking.
There are 4 levels to learning, and from what you are saying you have just hit the 2nd level, now you must progress to the 3rd. I found that a friend of mine who is a copper going though the science bit then about 4 hours of one on one riding was a big help. The police method is IPSGA,
INFORMATION the more information you have the more you can plan and the safer and smoother you will be riding. Its mainly the visual, but other senses kick into play as well, and never ignore the mysterious 6th one ;)
POSITION How and where to position yourself to increase your view of the hazard and also keep youself safe
SPEED Get your speed for the hazard correct well in advance.
GEARING Select the correct gear for the speed you are doing, this usually means keeping it in the best place in the rev range so that you have some engine braking and acceleration, but won’t need to change up or down in the middle of the hazard.
ACCELERATION SENSE This is the most difficult to explain, so here goes! A bike is at its most stable when travelling at a constant speed in a straight line. Grip and stability is affected by braking, accelerating and cornering, there is a finite level of stability/grip available for a given set of conditions ie weather, road surfaces etc, so to do one thing to a greater degree you must do the other/s to a lesser degree. Balancing these things are what constitute your Acceleration Sense.
The distance between any two hazards is broken down into 3 sections. The Hazard is also broken down into sections.
From the sound of it you are not giving yourself enough time to plan the ride, and I don’t just mean the route! Rushing up to corners, junctions, roundabouts etc is pushing your skill level to the maximum, then your body goes into survival mode. Then you start making mistakes, the most common one is turning into corners too soon, or not giving the bike time to settle before making the turn. Other riders may be able to take a corner faster than you, but that is because they have trained their brains to ignore their instincts.
If you ever fancy a ride out, let me know, like Phil said I am only twenty minutes away over the Grane. I work weird shifts, so I have time when the roads are quieter.
Thank you all for the encouragement. I'm not giving up on it just yet, just think i need to go back to basics and get it sorted out. I'm going to speak to Andy(my traffic man) tomorrow and see if we can get out together soon, cos i need to know whats going wrong. I'll keep you all updated...i'll try and do it Stella stylee
P.s Thanks Pete, that comment will keep me smiling for weeks
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