Part 5

Coming in too soon ...   Yeah another common fault,  coming in too soon!  We position for view, we position for safety, right!  View is safety, right! We can work better with what we can see than what we can’t see, right!  Well why then do people come in too soon on entering a bend? Right hand bend, we’re positioned to the nearside, we can see further than if we are up near the white line, and before the view opens up, before we can see where the road is going, they leave the nearside, losing their view, and are up to the white line before the corner opens up!  If anything comes into view towards them, or the bend tightens up, they aren’t going be at home for supper that evening!  There are no ‘apexes’ on corners, on the road, that we can’t see round!  A left hand bend, we’re up near the white line looking round it.  Come in too soon and now we’re in against the hedge, still going round a lefthander, no view, lost it. Anything parked, pedestrians, we’re gonna hit them. AND we’ll run wide on the exit... back towards any oncoming vehicles AND if the corner tightens up we’ll just quite simply not make it.

Advanced riding  isn’t about having green stickers all over your ‘bike, helmet, and pyjamas, it’s about common sense, observations, planning, assessment, positioning and getting on with some decisive riding.  Why negotiate three hazards when you can turn them into one!  Why negotiate that right hander and THEN overtake Doris and Albert in their Morris Minor 1000 when with planning, cross views, accurate assessment, you can drop into the right hander and past them all in one manoeuvre, maybe stop there for the next left hander.  NO sweeping and swooping about!  It’s not magic, it’s not rocket science!  It’s common sense......err .... gumption!  We’ll show other road users that we’re ‘Advanced Riders’ not by the badge, but by our smooth uninterrupted progress that doesn’t interfere with them.  Those that ‘know’ will comment “Now there goes a good rider!” Those road users that have no idea whatsoever will have no idea of our passing!

Some of these views  might not be those of the IAM, or indeed other IAM Examiners.  Please feel free to question them.  If they make just one person think about what they are doing, and why, then I’m happy!

Finally

My Six P Strategy            Perfect  Planning  Prevents  Piss  Poor  Performance

Short video here of pal Arnold from Holland showing us how not to go through a ford.  The saying... “He thought it was all over, well it is now.”  comes to mind!