Streetmasters Precision Cornering Workshop
I read an interesting article in MCN last month by Ken Condon who is a well known MSF RiderCoach as well as the author of Riding in the Zone: Advanced Techniques for Skillful Motorcycling. He stresses the importance of of safety and measuring risk then riding within that measure. I enjoyed the article and the fact he also stresses that an “arrogant, know-it-all instructor creates an instructor-focused atmosphere which rarely results in an emotionally and psychologically safe learning environment”. Wow, I can’t agree more.
I was fortunate in that my MSF instructor was a woman who couldn’t have made me feel any more welcome. She asked great open ended questions and didn’t make you feel like your reply was going to be scrutinized and dissected mortifying the learner. I felt she aptly protected each of us on the course, even to the point of sending home one student who after being asked to show up in over the ankle boots, did not. She made the environment fun, the learning special and the approach professional. I easily passed my test after her instruction, but left knowing this was only day one of a very long journey into riding proficiency.
Now for the shocking stats I found in the article:
“Studies have shown that formal rider training is effective in reducing crashes for the first several months after a rider gets his or her course completion card. However, the benefits of rider training seem to fade over time so that trained riders are involved in crashes at a similar rate as riders who did not take a safety course”.
What I take from this wake-up is that we all need to keep our skills sharp and to keep our “training” everlasting with more courses, riding with better riders than ourselves, and continued reading regarding safety. We also need to set that focus for all new riders, so that they know they know to keep up the cycle of learning. I think rider training is definitely the way to go for all riders, especially if you have a good instructor, that is patient and focused on your safety and learning. It is said, “if the wheels aren’t turning, the students aren’t learning,” which is precisely the point. We all have to “do” to learn and a good safety conscientious instructor will get us out on the course sooner than later. Clear concise instruction and doing seem to be the perfect combination.
What has been your learning experience and what works best, in your opinion? Do you feel rider trainer is effective.
Same course another year another bike…the Horse Thief Mile.
2 responses to “How effective is rider training??”
Hmmm…when they say, “fade over time,”, I wonder just how much time they mean?
I learned completely on my own, as a teenager in the late 70s. After four years of riding, I finally took a basic riding course–not because I felt I needed it, mind you, but because I’d been hired as an instructor and they had to bring me up to speed. I learned more during that four-day course than I’d learned during the previous four years–how to actually brake and steer the bike, for starters.
And that info has stuck with me ever since (granted, it may have been more firmly entrenched in my brain through the repetition of teaching for the next few years, but still…). All I know is, my riding improved, and my confidence increased, after taking that course–and has continued to do so ever since, even allowing for more than a decade off the bike.
And I hope to continue to improve. Riding skills are something I still actively try to improve, through reading, research, and practice (and advanced classes, if I ever get the opportunity). Attitude is as important as training, possibly more so–a riding course can only sketch out the basics, it’s up to the rider to fill in the blanks.
Geoff.
Thanks so much for your experienced imput, Geoff!!