The Ride: October 2010

Friday, 22 October 2010

Riders for Health

I mentioned Riders for Health in the Ross Noble tour post.

In case you don't know about RfH, here's some info from their web site:

http://www.riders.org/default.aspx

http://www.riders.org/about.aspx

Vision and Mission

Riders for Health’s vision is of a world in which no one will die of an easily preventable or curable disease because barriers of distance, terrain or poverty prevent them from being reached.

Riders for Health manages and maintains the vehicles used in the delivery of health care and other vital services to rural communities in Africa . We manage them on a planned, preventive basis so that the vehicles do not break down however difficult the conditions. In this way our partners can deliver their services predictably and cost-effectively.

Despite the fact that access to public health, as well as prevention and cure for disease, are basic human needs, men women and children in Africa die of easily preventable and curable disease because they do not have that access. The knowledge and resources exist to prevent this waste of human life and the associated suffering, but those resources routinely fail to reach the people who need them because of lack of reliable transport.

Riders works with ministries of health and other agencies working to improve the health and lives of rural communities in Zimbabwe, Lesotho, the Gambia, Zambia, Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania.

The management of transport is the most neglected and yet one of the most vital aspects of development. It enables the Millennium Development Goals to be addressed and conserves the high costs of vehicle purchase and operation, so that resources can be refocused on direct humanitarian support.

Their shop http://www.riders.org/shop.aspx has some interesting ideas - rather than just buying something there's also the option of 'sponsorship' so that if you make a donation you'll know exactly what level of support that money will offer them, such as £55 - the most expensive option - buying a day's training for a health worker.

So if you're looking for an unusal Christmas or birthday present for the biker (or motorcyclist :) ) in the family, look no further!

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Thursday, 21 October 2010

Ross Noble - Nonsenory Overload!

Last week I was thoroughly entertained for two hours by the man that is Ross Noble, during a performance from his Nonsensory Overload tour.

Rather than try to describe the show, here's a quote from his web site 'reviews' page:

“All good comics are adept at weaving the odd heckler or late-comer into a stream of material. But I have never before seen anyone create an entire first half - about 50 minutes - from rapport with a couple of customers in the front stalls.” Daily Mail

Put it like this: a few people arrived late (I don't recommend you do that). From them came disabled Ninja warriors in wheelchairs causing grievous head injuries to a person waiting for critical medical test results, and the spectre of hooked lip poercings being used to display AlphaBeti Sphagetti . . .

If you get a chance - get tickets and go see!

And if you go see, spare some change for Rider for Health, who is is supporting.

http://www.rossnoble.co.uk/

http://www.rossnoble.co.uk/tour/

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Wednesday, 20 October 2010

Open Prison

This week, the former Huntercombe Young Offenders Institution became Huntercombe Prison, with a change in the ages of its clientele. The former young offenders institution in Oxfordshire had been housing 15 to 18-year-old males since 2000, but because of a drop in the number of younger people being imprisoned it was decommissioned and has now reopened as a Category C prison for up to 370 adults.

Intriguingly, the BBC reporter who interviewed the new Governor said "It opens its doors today".

Errr . . . Hang on . . .

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Tuesday, 19 October 2010

US Police Training Video

OK, it's not actually a 'training' video in that it isn't intended to 'teach' you the viewer.

What it 'is', is a US police instructor and one of his two trainees, practicing tight turns under 'adverse' camber.

Worth noting that, in the words of the instructor . . .

"One of my trainees wouldn't even attempt (a wise move) and the other one did great until he had a HUGE brain fart and grabbed a whole lot of front brake while still in a turn. After the bike went over it slid downhill about 5' until we grabbed hold of it."

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Monday, 11 October 2010

Save!!!

Raffaele De Rosa making an incredible save, and in the process showing that - given a chance - the bike doesn't want to crash, it's down to the rider to keep things under control.

Bet he's glad of the metal plates on the knees of his leathers . . .

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Tuesday, 5 October 2010

Scooter Safety

From the BBC's 'Odd Box' weekly video collection:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/newsbeat/newsid_7875000/7875393.stm

[The videos are changed weekly, so I'm not sure how long this link will remain active]

This particular collection features a BBC News report on scotter safety, withe orange-jacketed and be-helmeted kiddies on their small-wheeled scooters in the playground of a Brighton school.

Sadly, all didn't go to plan:

What's that old showbiz saying? Ah yes, "Never work with . . . . "

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Sunday, 3 October 2010

Belstaff 'Iron Man'

Belstaff - a name from UK biking history, now owned by an Italian company.

Italians - renowed for style.

"Fail", as the modern saying goes, when they release the Iron Man range . . .

IRON MAN JACKET MAN

Fabric composition: 100% Leather

GBP 1189.00

The official Belstaff Iron Man Jacket has been created using Belstaff’s trademark design of combining protection with style. Every Iron Man Jacket is hand-made (just like the Iron Man suit) using the most durable yet finest leather in the Iron Man signature colours of red and gold, with each limited edition jacket tagged with its’ own unique number and official Marvel trademark.

Yes, that's £1189 of your Engleesh pounds!

CBT by Distance Learning?

Have to admit, this had me confused.

One of the forums (yes 'fora', for the experts) I use is funded partly by advertising, with content-specific 'Ads by Google'. Every now and again, it (the software driving the advert allocation) will understand the content but not the context.

For example: it was with some confusion that I noticed - in the header of a motorcycle training forum - an advert for CBT;

CBT Training Course Diploma Through Distance Learning Leading UK College, Find Out More!

So, interested to know howDSA-controlled rider training could be managed on-line, I clicked on the ad.

It led to:

http://www.oxford-learning.com/product_info.php?cPath=11&products_id=355&gclid=CKnGmrbHtqQCFQFI4wodayKI1g

This Ascentis Quality Assured Level 3 Diploma course is the fundamental foundation for people looking to offer cognitive therapy either via Counselling or Psychotherapy. Many counsellors use a person centred approach, but many are now using cognitive therapy within their sessions.
This course will be a pre-requisite to further studies in this area. The course offers the student great knowledge of the subject areas in which to progress from. The course is a fascinating insight into the world of both cognitive therapy and psychotherapy and asks the students to look inwards as well as outward during their studies.

The course comprises of a series of assignments, a thesis and concludes with an online examination.

Ah! That sort of CBT - Cognitive Behavioural Therapy!

However, I was also intrigued to note that the final exam is an on-line multi-choice, after a series of assignments. When I was involved in the Edexcel-accredited BTEC L3 Advanced motorcycle instructor courses, we were heavily into observation of actual training, whether real or role play. How much easier if we could have done it all from teh comfort of our homes . . .

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