SVboy
19th February 2012, 10:27
I have made use of these amazing subsidies to go to two riding courses lately. The first was Dan Ormsbys Advanced course. This is divided into two sections-track and road. We started at Ruapuna in the classroom with Dan running through classroom presentations on safety, road craft and cornering skills. Good healthy food and drink was provided-nice touch. Then it was onto the track for cornering, line, braking and slalom practice with a little free track time at the end. We stopped early so we could attend Cams Funeral and will complete the road component soon. Dan is a very experienced rider and offered great tips and feedback. This course is limited to 4, so one on one time was excellent. This course and Dan are recommended for honing skills and identifing bad riding habits and dealing with them.
Next up was Ducan Seeds 2Drive Safe Apex course in Rangiora. For me, this was a very different course, with an absolute focus on defensive riding. This is the advanced riding system, developed in the UK for Police riders initially. The morning was spent with lectures and video clips and discussions. The Apex course is limited to two riders [Transalper, of this forum] ,me and the instructor. Duncan bought us lunch and made sure we were hydrated with regular breaks and drinks during the ride[provided by him-nice]. We were wired up to rider to rider intercom-with varieing degrees of clarity and went for a considerable trip thru north canterbury. Duncan had each of us lead at times and debriefed us at each break. He lead himself at times, giving an interesting commentary on his riding thought process, road position and potential hazards. We finished off around 7.00pm in Rangiora[9.00am start]. This course is very thought provoking as its total emphasis is on safety. It has certainly highlighted some issues about my riding and my challenge is to practice and incorporate them into my road craft.
Recommended also. Duncan is a great communicator and even if you dont agree with the system, you are forced to think and reflect on your own riding practice.
In summary, we in Canterbury are sooo lucky-$50 each, for full days training[for a short time]. That is some payback for the rego hikes and an initiative where ACC can be thanked[for once!] Do it!
Next up was Ducan Seeds 2Drive Safe Apex course in Rangiora. For me, this was a very different course, with an absolute focus on defensive riding. This is the advanced riding system, developed in the UK for Police riders initially. The morning was spent with lectures and video clips and discussions. The Apex course is limited to two riders [Transalper, of this forum] ,me and the instructor. Duncan bought us lunch and made sure we were hydrated with regular breaks and drinks during the ride[provided by him-nice]. We were wired up to rider to rider intercom-with varieing degrees of clarity and went for a considerable trip thru north canterbury. Duncan had each of us lead at times and debriefed us at each break. He lead himself at times, giving an interesting commentary on his riding thought process, road position and potential hazards. We finished off around 7.00pm in Rangiora[9.00am start]. This course is very thought provoking as its total emphasis is on safety. It has certainly highlighted some issues about my riding and my challenge is to practice and incorporate them into my road craft.
Recommended also. Duncan is a great communicator and even if you dont agree with the system, you are forced to think and reflect on your own riding practice.
In summary, we in Canterbury are sooo lucky-$50 each, for full days training[for a short time]. That is some payback for the rego hikes and an initiative where ACC can be thanked[for once!] Do it!