North Auckland Street Skills - NASS

[BoristheBiter]

I don't think there are many open at 9pm though. I think any bar would be out because the Police don't want potential pictures of them being leaked to the press of holding meetings in bars - even if attending an official sanctioned function. It just looks bad.
Put it this way, if there was some major negative press that would be the end of it.

There are plenty on the other side of the mall 3 i think, 2 down in Albany village (3 if you include the dodgy pub) and the Albany tavern just past the bridge.
3 at the other end of William Pickkering so there are quite a few to choose from.
I was not meaning change but if it takes 30 min to all get there maybe somewhere closer so more learning time.
As for the police in uniform it is very frowned upon, they even can't sit in a cafe to have lunch.

[p.dath]

There are plenty on the other side of the mall 3 i think, 2 down in Albany village (3 if you include the dodgy pub) and the Albany tavern just past the bridge.
3 at the other end of William Pickkering so there are quite a few to choose from.
I was not meaning change but if it takes 30 min to all get there maybe somewhere closer so more learning time.
As for the police in uniform it is very frowned upon, they even can't sit in a cafe to have lunch.

Oh I see, I got the wrong end of the stick. It is a 5 minute ride from the car park to Bar Africa. It is quiet road, with some gentle twisting corners at the start (perfect for learners at the end of the night).

I was thinking it would be nice to have a venue the Police could join us at. Sometimes when it is pissing with rain it is just nicer to have an indoor practical session.

[MarkH]

I think quite a few learners use cars for their day to day travel.

What, commute by car? That's crazy - they should definitely hone their skills and NASS then and switch to the 10x better commuting vehicles (bikes). Commuting by car pissed me off so much that after a year of having both vehicles to choose from I sold the car because it just wasn't being used.

[p.dath]

What, commute by car? That's crazy - they should definitely hone their skills and NASS then and switch to the 10x better commuting vehicles (bikes). Commuting by car pissed me off so much that after a year of having both vehicles to choose from I sold the car because it just wasn't being used.

I'd like to return to commutting by motorbike, but alas I have four children to drop off and pick up from 3 different schools most days now. Some days I spend up to 3 hours doing this essential service in the car.

Sigh.

[MarkH]

why go to bar Africa?
There are plenty of bars/cafe's/resturants in that area, or in most areas.

My suggested schedule works fine with whatever bar/café/restaurant you wish to substitute - the name of bar was so totally not the point of my post and I only used Bar Africa in that list because it is the current after NASS haunt.

Obviously the police in uniform would not head there and those who want to head off home before 10pm would often skip the ride to the bar. If there were enough guys keen on the idea of heading to BK or whatever so the police could join in on the after NASS discussion group then obviously it could be changed to that.

Another idea could be to have a group leave Shell Westgate at 6:45pm in good weather for a longer ride and a 2nd group leave at 7pm for a shorter ride. I only mention this because there have been grumblings in this thread in the past about riders turning up at Albany at 7:30pm to find no one there. In the Summer time a longer ride is often nice so a 45min ride could be done by those who can start 15min earlier without cutting into the 1 hour car park session or leaving those at the car park wondering where everyone is.

[thehovel]

Starting earlier.........been tried didn't work
2 Having the ride at the end ..............Riding in the dark for an extra 6 months ....I don't think so
3 At the moment one bike cop is happy to ASSIST us......Great we'll see if he is as keen next winter
4 NASS is not broken don't fix it to death

Since no one else has been turning up each week for the last 5years (except holidays or sick) I think I should have the last word. It isn't in stone ,(hard mud maybe) I have an open mind,We won't be rushed in to any thing.

Regards Richard

[TOTO]

I think Richard has a point. you don't go changing all things at once. You may tweak something and see if it works better or worse, re-assess etc. Change too dramatic to the structure and it will get too confusing and people simply wont be bothered coming over.

another thing is, that the police guys, haven't yet seen most of the stuff we do, and now going onto a day light savings and hopefully bettwer weather, they can see some of the excersises and suggest impovements etc. At the end of the day it is our night, and it is up to us to make it as interesting as possible as well as helpful. You all know that if it turned into theory only nights, with strict sceddule, it will feel too much like school/work/marriage (call it what you like). I think if the structure of the NASS nights stayed more "fluidy" (is that a word ?) then we can sort of work around what people feel like it is of interest to them and interests catered for better.

2c

[emerald]

Last night was my 3rd ride with the NASS group. Each week has been a new learning experience. The police teaching has been good. Looking forward to the on the bike learning skills part again. Great people and the snacks and a drink finish off an enjoyable evening.

[zealchick]

I really like how NASS is structured from what i gather its been great fo a long time :-)
But just a suggestion, if people think it would be more beneficial to do a carpark session first then maybe the car park behind Westgate. Its pretty well empty by 6. any who just my 2 cents worth :-)

[MarkH]

I think Richard's point about doing the ride after the car park = riding after dark, should not be ignored. Yes, there may be benefits to doing some exercises first and then going for a ride - and on a Saturday or Sunday skills training thingy this might be a good idea. But on a Wednesday night it probably does make a lot of sense to do the ride first while the light is there and then do the car park exercises after that.

[p.dath]

I've had some feedback from the Police. I have paraphrased the responses here.

The Police want to re-assure everyone they don't want to hi-jack or take over NASS. They just want to assist.

They have expressed a desire to do more practical exercises, as opposed to standing and talking like last time. I'm sure everyone likes this idea better.

They have expressed that while "on duty" they need to be actively working to ensure the safety of the public. So that means spending anytime at a pub/cafe is out.

[p.dath]

Taking on board what everyone has said (especially Richard), I think the desire is to keep the current schedule as is.

There are restrictions on when people can get there, when we can use the car park, when people have to be home by, and a general "vibe" and social element that has formed over the years to produce the current sucessfull working formula (sucessfull in that people regulalrly turn up).

[MarkW]

Interesting discussions.....

NASS needs to be fun and flexible to work well as the vastly different skills levels and attendance abilities of those who come along would make a structured program very very difficult.

The existing structure has evolved over time and is always going to be a compromise. I know that both Richard and I almost always ask if there is anything that participants would like covered that night and if so we endeavoured to cover the requests. No requests is plan b and not a problem.

Longer rides are great fun and can be good experience but can be daunting for a brand new rider and some who come have less than a weeks riding experience. But then some of you have been coming for more than two years and the short ride can be boring. In tribute to all of the long time attenders invariably you come for the ride, no matter how slow or sedate it may be, help with route marking and give encouragement to the newer riders.

Extra instructors in any shape or form are always welcome and it is always a pleasure to see the police along. The Police must get sick and tired of seeing some of the silly things that happen on the road and to come along to an informal gathering of people who are there to improve their own riding skills must also encourage the Police that not everyone is an idiot out there.

From an instructors point of view regular attendance at NASS is a commitment and Richard's has been huge. Rain, hail, wind or nice and fine if he can possibly make it he does. Enthusiasm, dedication and the ability to make progress with all riders whilst keeping the event fun is no small task.

Celebrate the variances and enjoy the differences - after all if we were all the same life would be very booring!


Regards to you all

Mark W

[zealchick]

Yay the sun is shining :-) and we have more daylight! see you all tonight :-)

[Morcs]

Im not being critical of what you guys do ( i was involved with AWNMR when it started years ago), but id say you guys need to do less theory, more riding riding.
You can learn more from a difficult 30 minute ride at a reasonable pace than weeks of carpark stuff... gotta put the theory stuff into practice on the road.