Potter wrote: ↑Thu Jun 03, 2021 3:41 pm
I applaud your passion for the thing that you are passionate about
That's appreciated.
I appreciate your offer and I'd struggle to put up an argument against good training,
Do you know what? I'd be more than happy if you tried because that allows a dialogue from which we both benefit.
The people who are toughest to train are those who believe taking training automatically makes them better riders. And that's because they often come in thinking it's turning up and taking the course that matters, not what happens during the day. They are looking for confirmation of what they think they already know, not to be challenged - they are essentially 'badge collectors'. I had a guy like that years ago who was on the old VD forum, and he wrote a scathing report to his RoSPA group about how I had gone back to basics with him and taught him 'learner stuff' like how to read road signs. It clearly never entered his head that the reason I went back to basics was because he'd forgotten most of it. He could spout off about limit points and IPSGA till the cows came home, and why engine braking was better than using the brakes... and out on the road he failed to spot junction signs which would have warned him about a turning concealed by a bend where he had to brake hard to avoid a turning car, or to use his mirrors when slowing down a few metres ahead of an HGV doing 50+ mph!
however, consider this, a geezer I know is one of these tactical urban survival experts, he teaches people how to appropriately deal with a potentially violent encounter. He's ex-military and good at it and he makes a living from it. He lives and breathes this stuff.
Just out of interest, how many advanced urban defence type courses have you been on in the last twelve months?
I ask because you're at least five times more likely to be stabbed in the street than you are to be killed whilst riding your motorcycle. And that's just stabbed, if we consider all violent crime then it's many more times than that. If you're nipping down the road for a pint of milk or a Cornetto without going on one of these courses, especially if you're a young man, then you're taking a big risk... I could offer a pretty similar argument asking how you reconcile letting anyone you love walk the streets without doing multiple advanced urban defence courses, seeing as the risk is more significant.
Others have questioned the numbers, the answer is to look at micromorts.
Data aside, the point is a reasonable one. But much the same answers apply. Know the risks. If you hang out with city centre gangs of teenage drug runners and carry a knife yourself, then you significantly up your exposure to the risk. It doesn't mean you won't be mugged on the way back from Sainsburys but our choices have consequences. So we need to be able to make informed choices... which leads me back to my original point about riders simply not being aware of how, when, where and what bike crashes happen or what they can do about them.
I take my parenting seriously, but since he's been 5yrs old I let my boy ride/race motorcycles without an advanced course, I don't want to do one and he doesn't want to do one and I don't force it, am I a bad parent for this?
I'm not offering advanced training as most people understand it
I'm offering 'insight' training these days. And that's all about giving you the tools to make better decisions.
And (whisper it...) provided you don't just think "Spin's talking out his arse again", this dialogue IS undoubtedly achieving that.
And the book isn't training either - it's knowledge
