Cornering - Smug :)

Having a few minutes to spare, I took a rare opportunity and wandered into the local WH Smith to browse the motorcycle magazines.  MCS&L . . . interesting, but not that interesting . . . Ah!  RiDE, a 'better riding' article.  Who's it by?  members of the Lincs. casualty reduction team, or similar organisation.

Content?  Hmmmm . . . some's based around the three-step cornering system of 'Look-Lean-Roll'.

This particular system is taught by the Thames Vale Advanced Motorcyclists group (IAM affiliated) during a one (or half?) day course.

It's been developed from principles used by the US Motorcycle Safety Foundation, and taught on their courses.  In the early to mid 1990s the US Air Force had several bases in the UK, and one USAF Master Sgt, Garth Leonard, managed to get about 80 UK civilians through the MSF's 'advanced' course, the Experienced RiderCourse.  That number included 25 members of TVAM.

When the USAF mostly moved out of the UK at the end of the Cold War, and access to the course was no longer available, TVAM picked up the gauntlet and developed their own machine control course concentrating on just the 'cornering control' aspect.

So, why the 'smug' title to this post?

Well, I initiated the link-up with the USAF, initially in 1992 attended both 'leaner' and 'advanced' courses as a trainee, then in 1994 qualified as an MSF instructor, bringing along TVAM members to come of the courses I taught.  It's interesting to see how far the 'system' has moved on - especially since the current RiDE article doesn't use the system as originally intended.

In a strange way this also goes through, if not a loop then a twist, in that several years ago RiDE organised a set of post-test instructors to put some RiDE readers through training.

Here's one of the trainees, putting the MSF system into practice during the RiDE training session with, particularly here the 'Look through the corner' head turn is very obvious:

And here's the group during the theory session, including instructors from other training organisations:

Far left is journalist Damon I'Anson.

Read more on Slow, Look/Lean/Roll - and how it can be improved and simplified as a cornering system, here:
http://the-ride-info.blogspot.com/p/cornering.html


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Cornering - Going Viral?

Ever wondered why some Youtube videos go 'viral' but others don't?

Well, at the time of posting (Sat. 11th June) this one has gathered 55,800 views since it was posted on Youtube on the 7th June!




Rather him than me!  Although it did amuse that, when you watch it on Youtube, there's a 'show more' option . . . :)


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Helibikes new web site

Latest news from Alf Gasparro of the Thames Valley & Chiltern Air Ambulance:
Further to my previous correspondence, I am writing to update you on the Heli
Bikes Initiative.

After launching the Helibikes Facebook Page & Group Page, which has proven to be a good vehicle to disseminate information relating to motorcycling safety.

I have now launched a website to achieve the same objectives;www.helibikes.co.uk and I consider training to be a key component in
improving safety.

I have established a contacts page for training operations on the facebook
pages and I will be creating an area on the website shortly.


The site includes several first aid videos:
http://www.helibikes.co.uk/videos.html

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Yellow Dot Car Program

From USA Today News:

A national program that immediately provides first responders with vital information about automobile crash victims is spreading rapidly, fueled by the growing wave of maturing Baby Boomers.

The Yellow Dot program is designed to help crash victims, especially seniors, communicate with rescuers during the crucial "golden hour," the first 60 minutes after a serious crash that can make the difference between life and death for the critically injured.

It is simple but effective: Participants in the free program receive a yellow dot to place on their rear window; it alerts emergency services personnel to look for a corresponding yellow folder in the glove box. That folder contains a photograph, their medical conditions, prescriptions and other vital information.

In Alabama, the program started in Etowah County in 2009; by June, it will be operating in 27 counties.

"There's a lot of interest from two different groups," says Lora Weaver, program coordinator for the Northeast Alabama Traffic Safety Office, who is adding two or three counties a month to the program.

"The residents of the state … realize the importance of it, particularly someone with a lot of medical issues. The second group is the first responders, because they know when they arrive, if the person is unable to communicate, they know they can go to the glove compartment and get the information they need, and they can do it immediately without wasting a lot of time."

The nation's first Yellow Dot program began in Connecticut in 2002. Yellow Dot programs, with slight variations from state to state, are in counties scattered across at least eight other states: Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Virginia, Alabama and New York. Georgia is among other states considering the program.

"It is very nice to see innovative programs to address the unique risks associated with older Americans and car crashes," says Peter Kissinger, president and CEO of AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. "Since older individuals tend to have more medical conditions, are on more medications and are generally more fragile, this sounds like a well-justified program, especially in light of the growing number of older Americans."

"It's a promising approach," says Jonathan Adkins, spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association. "Actually, this is one of the goals of automated crash notification systems. Eventually, when there is a crash, these key data such as medication needed will automatically be available to EMTs, etc. The Yellow Dot program may be a system that can be helpful in the meantime."

Traci Pondick, 47, of Rainbow City, Ala., swears by it.

Her husband Marc's parents, Norman and Ping Pondick of Southside, Ala., enrolled in Yellow Dot soon after it began in Etowah County. Several months ago, Norman Pondick, 83, was driving alone in his pickup when he swerved to avoid hitting a car that had stopped in front of him. He left the road and hit a tree, lacerating his head.

"The first responders saw the sticker and immediately pulled the folder out," says Traci Pondick. "They called Marc. They were worried about the cut on his head."

Norman Pondick was air-lifted to University of Alabama-Birmingham hospital in Jefferson County. The family drove there.

"When we went back to see him, the nurse held up the Yellow Dot folder and said, 'Where did you get this?' Yellow Dot was not in Jefferson County at that time. I told her about it. She said, 'This is the best thing I've ever seen.'"

Norman Pondick soon recovered. Traci Pondick got her mother to enroll.

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Stay a Hero

Do you remember the 'Embrace Life' seatbelt ad (which is heading for 14 million views on Youtube!)?

This is the new motorcycle ad from the same team.



Sussex Safer Roads Partnership say:

Stay A Hero, Stay Safe’ is our new campaign aimed at reducing the number of motorcyclists casualties on Sussex’s roads each year. Currently, nearly a quarter of all individuals killed and seriously injured are riding a motorcycle – a massive over-representation when you consider that motorcycles only account for around 5% of vehicles on the road.


We have worked again with Writer/Director Daniel Cox and Producer Sarah Alexander of Alexander Commercials to create ‘Stay A Hero’, with the express aim of developing something more than the standard biker safety ad.



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"Sesame Street" does Road Safety (and so do Top Gear)

Sesame Workshop has appointed Grover at the Road Safety Ambassador as part of the United Nations Decade of Action on Road Safety. In these three Public Service Announcements, Grover promotes road safety behaviors addressing seatbelt, helmet and street crossing safety. The goal is to make road safety a family priority and a shared family experience.









Although, I like Top Gear's road safety broadcast:




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Keith Code? Cornering Lines? That's Just Plain Wrong . . .

Many riders (and readers) don't like the Keith Code books and 'style', but it works for me.

OK, the books take a bit of 'translation' - both from the US-speak and because they're track-oriented rather than road.  That said, I've found them useful and they've influenced how I train other riders.

But Keith also places articles on his web site forum, the most recent is about cornering lines:
Lines

Usually they're an interesting read (although you need to gently peel away the sales blurp that's knitted within the text ;) ).

But this one had me muttering, at the line: "The most obvious component of riding is the space the rider used to negotiate the bend, in common speak it is his line."  To be fair, the rest of the article makes sense.

The gist is that you should hone 'accuracy' of lines on a track (by taking training ;) ) before you try lines on-road.  To a point I agree - although he's talking about 'accuracy' from some riders of 'within +/- 5 feet'!!!  That's a good part of the width of a typical UK road!  With that degree of random riding, being on a track has to be good for road safety.

But as far as skills and 'training' for on-road cornering go, I emphasise the approach, set-up and negotiation of the bend long before getting into the necessity of 'lines', as the basic skills should be fluent before essential brain capacity (Code's '$10' to spend) is used for planning and implementing 'lines'.

See the specific cornering page for more details.



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Highway Code - 80th Birthday!

From the DSA:


On 14 April this year, the Highway Code celebrates its 80th anniversary.


When it was introduced in 1931 there were just 2.3 million motor vehicles in Great Britain, yet over 7,000 people were killed in road accidents each year. In 2009, this had fallen to 2,222 killed, despite there being over 30 million vehicles on the road.
Although road safety has come a long way over the years, the spirit of the Highway Code remains the same: the very first edition urged all road users to be careful and considerate towards others, putting safety first.
But of course some aspects of the Code have changed considerably. For example, in 1931 mirrors were not even mentioned and drivers were advised to sound their horn when overtaking.
More than a third of the original 24-page booklet was given to hand signals, compared to the single page covering the subject in the current edition.
The latest edition, published in 2007, was updated to include new legislation on vehicle emissions and smoking in vehicles, and references new initiatives like high- occupancy vehicle lanes, home zones and active traffic management schemes.
The Code is substantially updated every 8-10 years, meaning the next new edition is likely to be published sometime after 2015.

The 1931 edition:•cost one old penny
•was the only one to carry advertisements
•contained 18 pages of advice, compared to 93 pages in the 1999 edition
•included advice to drivers of horse drawn vehicles to 'rotate the whip above the head; then incline the whip to the right or left to show the direction in which the turn is to be made.'

Take the quiz
DSA's official publisher, TSO, has created a short quiz so all road users can see whether they need to brush up on their road knowledge. Take the quiz here: http://tinyurl.com/68u968p


From:
http://resources.govdelivery.com/resources/UKDSA/dsa_despatch_april2011.pdf


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Roman Bath

Or, more specifically, the Roman Baths in Bath.

We visited a few weeks ago, and enjoyed the tour.  There's an excellent audio system, which - as well as being multilingual - gives both adult and child versions and additional comments by Bill Byrson.

Although there was a fair-sized queue outside, it moved along fairly quickly (if you get offered the chance, tell the poet three words!) and once inside it never seemed over-crowded. 

The majority of the tour is underground - Bath must be hollow! - and the exhibits are very well displayed.

One example of the imagination that has been used is in the presentation of the 'temple pediment' stonework, which faces tiered seats.  You can either stand at the top and listen to the explanations, or sit in the seating area.  There's also the option of walking close to the stonework without getting in the way of other visitors.  The stonework is illuminated to show it 'as is', then using a projector to fill the missing detail and then to show how it would have originally been painted.

More: http://www.romanbaths.co.uk/

Take a tour: http://www.romanbaths.co.uk/Tours/Panomorphic_Museum_Tour/reception%20hall.html

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More Books from Kevin Williams at Survival Skills

Kevin Williams, of Survival Skills rider training fame, has expanded his publishing empire.  Until recently, you could read his articles either on-line via his web site or in a variety of magazines.

However, he's now widened the scope, with both traditional 'print' and iPhone e- versions, more details here (including free downloads of pdf 'minibooks').

The books include:

Also available for free, his blog.


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Ever Ridden a Chopper?

No, not a bike of the 'extended forks, ape-hanger 'bars and alternative lifestyle' type, but the whirly-bird variety.

The UK is served by a network of air ambulances, all - as far as I know - privately funded.  My local service is run by the Thames Valley & Chiltern Air Ambulance Trust .

This year the trust is particularly interested in motorcyclists - but as fund-raisers rather than potential customers! :)

Amongst other events planned, the H Cafe in Dorchester on Thames will hold an Air Ambulance & Bikes day on the 25th Sept.: 'HELI - BIKES day'.

They're also offering speakers to come to your club nights, the opportunity of visits to their base (at RAF Benson near Wallingford) for groups, and even a fly-past if you are planning a major event.

I'll keep you updated as I hear more.


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Travelling with Mr Turner

When lawyer Nigel Winter takes a few days off to follow in the tyre-tracks of one of England’s greatest engineers on his way from Land’s End to John O’Groats, he finds far, far more than he expects. For Mr Turner designed the motorcycle that powered Marlon Brando to fame in The Wild One and also the Triumph Bonneville, so beloved of sixties tearaways.
Travelling with Mr Turner throws wide open a portal into another world. As the author travels north you begin to feel the ghost of Mr Turner, and his larger than life personality, peering out of the pages. Behind him looking on, are the multitude of ordinary working people from the 1950s and 1960s, their fears and hopes, and the weird and wonderful class prejudices and management styles of the day.

And as they ride towards John O’Groats, the author on his modern Triumph and Mr Turner on his Triumph Terrier in 1953, we encounter the bizarre history of Triumph Motorcycles.

Record breaking machines that sold around the world, and whose entire work force locked out the management just so that they could continue to make motorcycles and prevent Triumph from being consigned to history. A history so completely off the wall that it simply has to be true.

Travelling with Mr Turner draws the reader in to experience how life was lived in those post war decades of tumultuous change and Rock ’n’ Roll and how the legend of Triumph encapsulates an entire generation in a world now nearly vanished into history, but still somehow wonderfully alive today.

Witty, satirical and a truly riveting read, one that leaves the reader just begging for more!


Travelling with Mr Turner

Price £9.99 approx including UK p&p 160 pages approx, 198x128mm, Paperback, ISBN 978-0-9564975-4-3 illustrated

 
The book is available at:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Travelling-Mr-Turner-Nigel-Winter/dp/0956497543/ref=sr_1_1/276-8051650-5210047?ie=UTF8&qid=1288213498&sr=1-1

Waterstones ( but not in store ) http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/nigel+winter/travelling+with+mr+turner/8140782/

Tescos ( again online only )
http://www.tesco.com/books/search.aspx?Ntt=travelling+with+mr+turner&Ntk=primary&VSI=1&Ntx=mode2Bmatchall&Nty=1&N=0

WHSmiths
http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSearch/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=9780956497543

BBC Show Extreme Political Bias?

In, perhaps, a rare hint of true feelings, the producers of BBC1's 'Question Time' may have shown us, the British public, what they really think of the UK's politicians.

And they didn't show political bias towards just one party, more against all of them :)

Yup, not just Dagenham Dock, totally Barking :)

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Voice in a Million

Tuesday 1st Feb 2011 saw the O2 Arena (aka Millenium Dome) invaded by a choir of 7,500 schoolkids, and an audience of probably 15,000 (probably mostly proud parents and other relatives) taking part in the annual Voice in a Million concert.

More info on Voice in a Million

The Voice in a Million event at the O2 raises awareness for the British Association For Adoption and Fostering (BAAF).





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First Aid & Agonal Breathing

Just had a first aid refresher course at work, which included this video:



The 'good' is that they saved the guy's life.  The 'bad' is that they took a long time to do it!

It's also very good for seeing agonal breathing - the body's last gasp attempt to survive.

Here's a coupl e of training videos which show how it should be done:




However, no video is a substitute for actual training.



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