Paul's Success

I ride a Honda Transalp, I’ve had it for a few months, and as I have an A2 licence it’s restricted. You don’t really notice it until you get to the top end speeds like on a motorway, but it’ll get you there quickly enough.

I spend a lot of time working away from home, usually around Portsmouth or Plymouth, and I can just sit in my room all night, or I could go and do something useful in the evenings, and I thought that being a Blood Biker would get me out on my bike and doing something worthwhile. But of course, you need to be an Advanced Rider to join them, so this is why the IAM Advanced Riding course was on my radar.

When I did the free taster with DWDAM, I saw that you guys can easily out-ride me, and all within the speed limit. You were just so much faster through corners and much smoother. I’d like to learn how to ride like that. I also think that the skills that I will learn will naturally make me a safer rider.

Not long after my free taster session I had signed up and was quickly out on the road with an observer.

Early on in my first couple of sessions, my observer Jim was quick to identify areas in my riding for me to focus on. Taking these points onboard I quickly became more confident in my riding and having much more enjoyment on my bike. This was great as I was then off in a small group to France, Italy and Switzerland to enjoy the amazing roads and sights. Having done just a small amount of advanced rider training before this I was really able to enjoy my time away.

I have since completed a few more sessions and started to improve in my riding before doing my Pre Test Ride Check. This was another opportunity to demonstrate what I have learnt to another observer, and for them to give me any last areas to work on. I am now hoping to polish off a few of these areas in my riding before taking my Advanced Rider test.

Hopefully if I am successful I can then join the advanced riders group and work towards getting involved with the blood biking as well as joining group rides with other advanced riders.

On Wednesday 31st December, Paul nailed all 10 skills and passed the IAM Advanced Rider Test. To quote his Mentor Jim Leese "It was his 23rd birthday, the sun was low and it was flipping cold! He did an ace job"