Thoughts from a participant
I am sure Barry’s article will give you a flavour of the weekend. I know he will also give our thanks to Iain for his organising/planning and to the observers who worked really hard carrying out six observed rides over two days. I found the training weekend was one of those events that make a significant difference. There were two significant pieces of advice that have improved my riding.
The first piece of advice was from Steve Wynne. Who stopped me twenty minutes into my first observed ride and suggested that I was in too high a gear for bends and hazards (third) and I needed to drop a gear to give me more acceleration control. I then did this and Steve’s comments was that my riding was then significantly improved.
The second piece of advice that made a real difference was from Clive Owen who had taken me out for a few rides to improve my cornering. Clive again reminded me to stay in position one or two on right hand bends until I could see the exit clearly. I was starting in position one and then drifting into position three.
The advantage of the training weekend was the ability to practice the advice given during extended ride periods. As a consequence, I was pleased to see that in the group ride back to Brentwood, the group following did not catch me up and overtake as would be the usual pattern for me on a Sunday or Tuesday ride.
Thanks again to our dedicated observers for their skill and commitment.
Tariq