Welcome to the latest edition of the Survival Skills Rider Training newsletter, which goes out on Thursdays and covers my Facebook posts up to Wednesday. Survival Skills is all about helping you improve your knowledge, your skills, and your understanding of ‘better biking’ and I won’t take up half your day with random ads or product placement! All you get are links to my ‘better biking’ posts of Facebook.
TRAINING – It’s looking as it we’re going to have some unseasonably warm and sunny weather next week, but even if the forecast doesn’t look promising, don’t forgett the Survival Skills WET WEATHER GUARANTEE that avoids having courses disrupted. I am currently taking bookings to end-October.
—LATEST FEEDBACK FROM SUE GREGORY—
Really enjoyed the time, especially helpful when you get constructive information with an area of my riding that is giving me concerns. Good riding on some nice twisty roads giving me loads of practise… Would recommend Kevin to anyone…
Visit www.survivalskills.co.uk for more info on training courses. You can also download the latest information PDF here. Or drop me a line at info@survivalskills.co.uk.
Talking of the website, it has been given a bit of an upgrade! As well as some new articles about my courses and training generally, I’ve adds links to my EBOOK SHOP at Ko-Fi, my paperback BOOKSTORE at Lulu, the 60 SECOND SAFETY VIDEOS on YouTube, as well as the FACEBOOK ARCHIVE of 500+ better biking articles!
And of course, I’m also available for ONLINE COACHING sessions immediately.
READ ONE THING – if you’re pushed for time, have a look at the TIPS on TUESDAY post on mastering tight right turns. It’s a surprisingly common problem, even for experienced riders.
NEXT LIVE PRESENTATION – BRAKING IN BENDS – must-have skills or avoid at all costs? In theory, we’d enter every corner ‘at a speed that allows us to stop in the distance we can see is clear’. In reality, the situation ahead of us can change in an instant. And we’re human – we make mistakes. And so sometimes, the ability to lose speed rapidly and under control in corners is an absolutely essential skills. Unfortunately, not every rider manages to slow down AND keep control – braking in corners leads to far too many crashes.
In this webcast, we’ll look at how braking and steering inputs can work together without overwhelming tyre grip. Tickets cost £5 – get yours here:
WEDNESDAY, 3 NOVEMBER 2021 AT 20:00
DECEMBER’S TALK – SCIENCE OF BEING SEEN (SOBS)
CLUB & GROUP TALKS – I’ve just booked up my latest rider group talk and have a couple more in the diary for coming months. If you’d like me to arrange something for your own group or club, get in touch. As well as the ‘Science Of Being Seen’ and ‘Crash Course (as in “how not to…”) presentations, I have a selection of others on various riding issues. Drop me a line to sort something out.
NEXT Ko-Fi WEBINAR – I planned to run this on Monday October 4 but due to other commitments, I had to postpone it – look out for an announcement next week on the revised date. Free to all supporters & subscribers!
THIS WEEK ON FACEBOOK
*** ELEVENSES *** Elevenses 177 Wed 6 October
In today’s webcast… teenage rider stages fake crash in Mansfield… fuel crisis latest… bikes seize coal-smuggling in India… NYPD faces backlash after crushing illegal bikes and ATVs… 2020 casualty results for e-scooters released… Bandit9 sacrifice function for beauty with latest design… Tuzo Moonex Night Vision jacket… today’s talking point – electric bikes – feel the hate…
Make a brew, grab a biscuit and pull … See more
*** TIPS ON TUESDAY *** The right hand giveth, the left taketh away
Here’s a question for you. Which is tighter – a right-hand bend? Or a left-hander? Take your time. The answer is not: “what a dumb question, how do I know?”
The answer is actually pretty obvious. If you are riding on the left, as we do here in the UK, and in a few other countries including Australia and New Zealand, then the left-hander is tighter. Reverse that if you’re in the USA or anywhere else that ride… See more
*** TRAINING *** Oxford and back
I had a good day out with Sue yesterday. She’s a DAS instructor from the Avon area but was looking for a bit of a sanity check and some reassurance after a cornering crash – specifically, she was worrying that she was turning-in to corners too soon and that she was a bit slow. So I delivered a Performance: BENDS course for her yesterday out in Oxford.
The only hitch? The petrol crisis. … See more
*** SURVIVAL SKILLS TT *** Buttertubs
There are many high roads and passes in the Yorkshire Dales with fantastic views of the surrounding valleys and fells, but Buttertubs Pass in the Yorkshire Dales is one of my favourite roads anywhere in the UK.
It’s a mountain pass, climbing to 528m (1,732ft) as it crosses between Wensleydale and Swaledale.… See more
*** ELEVENSES *** Elevenses 176 Sun 3 October
In today’s webcast… fuel crisis hits blood bikers… RAC support ‘dynamic’ lanes on smart motorways… Aussie magazine debunks “42% increase in fatal bike crash” claim… avoiding clickbait ‘safety’ articles… Zero S becomes first electric vehicle to circumnavigate UK for under £20!… police to give away free bike locks in Thanet… Hiplock D1000 – is this the uncuttable bike lock we’ve been waiting for… today’s better biki… See more
*** SKILLS ON SATURDAY *** New bike? Five skills to practise #4
Tipping Point! It’s that awful moment when you realise you’ve lost your balance and the lovely, shiny bike that you’ve only owned for minutes / hours / days / weeks is going down!
Been there? … See more
*** SOBS *** Looked, saw and forgot – major update
As part of a general reorganisation of the Science Of Being Seen (SOBS) website at the new domain, which is www.scienceofbeingseen.org incidentally, I’ve finally updated the ‘workload’ page to reflect the work of a crucial ‘missing link’ paper that appeared late in 2019.
The paper questions the standard “driver didn’t look / didn’t look hard enough” explanation for Looked But Failed To See (LBFTS) that so often result in So… See more
*** FOCUS ON FRIDAY *** Changing times… except in training
Over the last 18 months virtually all of us have had to accept a significant change in the way we approach our daily lives, whether at work or at home. Personally, I’ve been exploiting Zoom – I’d never even heard of the platform until late March!
I’ve used it to work with my trainees to brief and debrief them on the courses, and I have used it to make numerous online presentations, both here in the UK to clubs and… See more
*** 60 SECOND SAFETY *** #53 Buses – another along in a minute
60 Second Safety is a series of short Better Biking tips from Survival Skills Rider Training.
It’s always useful to know when we’re on a bus route so we can plan how to encounter buses themselves. A good clue is spotting the bus stop. There’s one here on the other side of the road. They often stop in specific places – here, outside a school.… See more
THAT’S IT FOR THIS WEEK – so finally SHARE THE NEWS!
Please Please PLEASE pass on the newsletter to biking family and friends. Let’s get everyone we know ‘better biking’.
See you next week
Kevin Williams
Survival Skills Rider Training
