Personal entry

Objective - With the Mentor's review completed on Sunday I proceeded to review my original training circuit in Stokes Valley for an hour and practice slow control including figure eight and u-turns. Also going up and over Holborn Drive and importantly here focusing on the left bends - I was able to appreciate my Mentor's remarks about how I was staying out quite wide unnecessarily so - I was able to find better and safer lines to take going up and over this part of the valley.

Parking

...

This extract extends over three Parts and a OCPD review comment is contained at the end of Part 3.

Applying the 30-40-30 program this week saw new district: ventured up through Whitemans Valley out to Mangaroa and came out at SH2 Te Marua.

Heading back ducked in at Mt Marua and looked at the estate there then pulled into Supercheap Auto, got some Autosol polish. Coffee at McD's Silverstream.

Some serious practice taken up during the week at the Fraser

...

In my second month of riding I was very fortunate to meet a very good person who lived in my suburb. He would be my mentor.:

Hey BuckBuck,
Nice to meet you today & put a face to the name. Keep up the practise & when summer rolls around you'll be ready to venture further afield.

1000kms....that's nearly from Welly to Cape Reinga....didn't know Stokes was that big……

Tragically he was killed six months later.

I have included in this extract ...

Whether one may consider my approach to learning to ride to be:

Obsessive
Practical
Cautious

Or

Transferring learning techniques gained from a military background.

I think this ‘transfer’ probably sums up the first three above. Why? Because at the end of the day, (if I got that far) my life, not may – but will, depend upon it.

My Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder over many years was full of ‘catastrophizing’ ...

To what extent a disciplined environment has on an individual, be it the military, police, emergency services paramedics, doctors, nurses, to name but a few occupations, is as wide and as varied as any and all of the individuals. How we handle situations is born of training, implementation, and accepting the end result knowing that every thing that could be done was done, be the outcome a good one or a bad one. The strength of the professional character is at times camouflaged as are the weaknesses. ...

How it came about I can’t be sure, but I think either my Dad or Aunt kept my school principal informed of the struggles occurring at home with Mum in and out of hospital. I was around eight years old when the principal handed me a box of matches and told me I was in charge of the school incinerator. Each lunch time a small group of us would round up all the garbage bins and bring them to the incinerator, I would run to the principals office and he would give me the box of matches, I would light ...

By and large I believe that parents do the best they can for their children with what they’ve got no matter how rich or poor.

You know I often look at my age, deduct the age my father was when I was born, and then move the calendar back to him at my age now. – you follow that – for example Dad was almost 33 years old when I was born, and so 33 years ago he was the age I am now. Where and what happened in his life back then, and how did he handle it. Similarly jumping forward, when ...

The Newbie Training Update
Well I have covered some personal background in these blog entries so far and will return to that shortly. In the meantime I have been asked by numerous people since leaving kiwibiker last year and while out riding over summer, whatever happened to the Newbie Training Update. This was a forum thread in the General Bike Ravings Forum – Wannabe and Newbie Bikers Sub Forum. The material was deleted from the Forum at my request and the Blogg was ‘emptied’ by me and ...