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A Few Observations (if I may) by Wing Cdr. Tony Butler (CVAM) Hello, my name’s Tony, I’m 50 years old and I’ve crashed my motorcycle. It was a ride-to-work accident on a smallish bike, with me on the major road where - for the briefest moment - my then ‘Divvi’ and a Renault Espace taxi occupied the same space: the taxi driver – neglecting to look where he was going – had driven into me. After a medical process which lasted just short of 2 years, I was cleared to ride again and on becoming the proud new owner of a Triumph Sprint ST- now started looking for some help to overcome the skill fade that not riding for such a long time had brought about - and discovered the IAM. Now that I have read Motorcycle Roadcraft, I can see that my judgement in the foregoing was not necessarily as straight forward as appearances may have it. Like any good student, I had been studying the set text but found my first meeting with this affable, recently retired chap with lots of time to go motorcycling - my appointed observer - to be quite different from what I had expected. There was me with my shiny bike, sniffing the air and ready to go - instead of which we stood around chatting for over 20 minutes; about me, about him, my bike, my riding experiences, then slowly we drifted onto aspects of motorcycling safety, the 5m ‘bubble’ and ‘The System’ (I.P.S.G.A, of which I had only a vague notion). I learned that the purpose of The System was to inform a riding plan, and the need, because the information is constantly changing, to constantly review and, if necessary, change the plan. Next, the condition of my machine - which I’d never previously seen as much of a problem because it is a nice bike that I keep clean and regularly serviced. Embarrassingly, as we were running through a pre ride - P.O.W.D.E.R - check (another new one on me) we had found a dry chain and surprise, surprise, an empty reservoir in my Scott oiler. Good heavens - there is some sense to this after all! We dealt with ride protocol, what to do if we became separated, riding within the law etc, and after what might have seemed an eternity but actually, because my interest had been sparked, almost no time at all, we established - in the tones with which I was to become very familiar before each ride - ‘your bike, your ride, your decisions’. In other words it was made absolutely clear that I was responsible for my own actions on the ride. I signed the disclaimer sheet which said as much and confirmed that all my documentation was in order (talk about the Great Escape!). Over the years, I have covered some ground with guys who were very ‘progressive’ riders (another term with which I was soon to become very familiar) and was confident that, with a bit of tweaking and polish, I could be up to Advanced Test Standards. Off we set with a view to a lay-by stop in 20 minutes. My memories of that are a little hazy now but I do recall that at the first stop only a few observations were made and a demonstration ride to illustrate those points offered, by way of the observer leading and me following. The next two rides were more ‘confidence boosting’ than really ‘working on specifics’. The points that arose were dealt with on the day, so I left with sense of achievement, ready for the next go. I was being groomed for a ride of 130 miles in Wales. My observer gave a careful run-down of what was to be achieved - bends, bends and more bends. The ride was to be in three sections, the first leg from Chepstow to just north of Monmouth (A466) was one of mostly national limit bends, many open, with one or two tightening. After Monmouth there was a short length of dual carriageway (A40) and then we stopped for a chat. Having been asked for my opinion, I had said that I thought it had gone fairly well but had my views adjusted somewhat with words along the lines of ‘Well, I am glad I was riding in my position and line, not yours’. A reminder that the improvements to my riding were not achieved in one easy smooth curve. And so this section of the ride was dissected.
But, apart from that… My observer led for the next few miles along the B4233 to a somewhat awkward left hand turn. Although I was asked to tuck in behind on the 2-second rule I found it quite hard to achieve, musing as I went how quickly he seemed to exit the bends, how little I saw of brake lights and how at each bend he was pulling away from me. I was then waved through to the next section - along the B4521 which had an even greater number of even tighter bends - leading down to Abergavenny. The Bus Station there was the next ‘talking shop’. More time with the sketchpad and anecdotes of this and that; and so the final section through Usk to Chepstow… that’s where the penny dropped. I actually found myself grinning in my helmet, almost by stealth I began to have time; to look over hedges to get an idea of where the road might going, up side roads to see whether there might be a vehicle coincident at the junction – yes, the junction that I had seen signed up previously and was now planning for; in short I had time to observe, anticipate and plan. Bends that would have had my buttocks clenching the seat now seemed no more than fun curves. Back at Chepstow, my observer remarks, ‘well Tony, I could see the grin coming out of your a*se (the perv!)’ The feeling was a little like learning to bat in cricket: there comes that moment when the ball seems as big as a football and you have all the time in the world to play whatever is So it had taken four rides just to put me in a position where I felt I was in control of my environment instead of merely reacting to it. Now that I was ‘settled’ as it were, my observer set about pushing the boundaries. The next trip was pretty well entirely about gears. I thought I knew a little about motorcycles and it came as some surprise to me when my observer, who rides a Pan European ST 1300, asked ‘How many gearboxes does your Triumph have?’ Still looking to catch me out he asked ‘how fast can your Triumph go in second gear before maxing out?’ I hadn’t a clue; firstly because I had never thought it necessary to consider the point, and secondly because the second gear was a ‘get it rolling’ gear, rather than a running gear (and that’s what fourth and fifth are for – or so I’d thought). On a previous trip we had delved into different methods of overtaking and with the control I now had, I not only seemed to have all the time in the world to plan the manoeuvre, taking extended views, waiting to decide whether to overtake before signalling and if going, doing it crisply ‘1.5 seconds should be quite adequate’ by then ensuring my zone of safety was still intact. Interestingly, the vehicles now seemed to sense my purpose and many moved over a little, to assist, and I was delighted to give an acknowledgement whenever I could. I learned to roll off the throttle upon re-entry and similarly learned the counterpart to acceleration sense – deceleration sense. That bit where, by carefully setting the throttle to match engine revs with road speed in a chosen gear and then rolling off, engine compression slows progress. Now rides aren’t just about open roads, we did urban routes as well, learning that in positioning, one size doesn’t fit all. Learning to consider where the danger points really are. Learning to plan not only for stopping distances but also rolling distances – do I need to stop and put my foot down or can I control my speed early and just roll through? and, at the same time, exercise some control over the traffic around me. All this and more was thoroughly explored and reinforced at an excellent (and, as it transpires, essential!) all-day theory session that CVAM ran in Bristol. Eventually, the moment came when I was pronounced test ready. I had already had a pre-test run (which had not been entirely successful) but now I felt a good deal more confident and a final ride was set up. When that was over, my observer advised, ‘You’ll be absolutely fine Tony, you just need to notch it up a couple of levels’ and handed me a little crib sheet of pre-test notes. ‘Well’ thinks I, ‘blow that’. It was only later when I read the notes that I realised why he made that comment, it was a matter of keeping the concentration levels up; really reading, interpreting and planning for all those signs, especially, in my case, the speed limit ones. I referred earlier to ‘observer’ being a synonym for ‘instructor’. I have enjoyed (as I do still) a career in HM Armed Forces and know the difference between ‘instruct’ and ‘observe’ and in fact, didn’t experience much of the former in my observed rides. My observer observed and pointed out the benefits and reasoning behind the choices I might make and which I could choose to take on board - or not. It didn’t take me long to realise that the guidance he was sharing with me was a distillation of his, and his observers’ experience over thousands of hours of riding and was well worth hoisting in. More than that, and having thought about this over several months, I view my CVAM experience as being an entirely positive one - and not purely from a motorcycling perspective. It was as though my observer was actually sharing a life-skill or, if you like, a philosophy which uses riding skill as the focus around which the 2- wheeled world may - properly delivered all make sense: it was a leadership lesson which, by a happy coincidence, happened to improve my motorcycling ability by several orders of magnitude - result!
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