Members of PECAM Committee work very hard behind the scenes for the Club and Members and we thought it would be good to introduce you to them and give you an insight into who they are and what they do.
This Month I would like to introduce you to Bob Stewart, Assistant Chief Observer.
How did your journey with Motorcycles Start
I joined the Met in December of 1968 and was posted to Edmonton in North London where I walked the streets, wearing a pointed hat for 5 years.
I decided that I wanted to join the Traffic Division, to drive fast cars and ride motorcycles.
After ten years on Traffic at inner and outer London Garages, whilst there I attained a Class 1 qualification in both car and motorcycling, a friend of mine who had joined the Special Escort Group, told me that there was a vacancy for a reserve rider on the Motorcycle Precision Team.
The Precision Team was a public relations exercise whereby organisations, schools, charities, other police forces, RAF air stations etc. who knew about the Team would write in, requesting that we attend their event to perform our precision ride display and we rode at these events on weekends throughout the summer.
The ride consisted of two teams of four riders, riding at fast and slow speeds, in a confined area of a 120-foot square, to display the skill and control required to ride a heavy motorcycle, mainly on grass. The Team was disbanded in 1992 on the grounds of cost.
I spent 15 years in the Group carrying out motorcycle escorts for all members of our Royal Family, visiting Heads of State, MPs and other VIP’s – imagine being paid to ride a motorcycle… fast!!
I retired from the police in December 1998 having completed 30 years of service.
I then went to work for a member of the Saudi Royal family who owned properties in London. I worked for them for nine years, travelling the world, looking after the Princes’ son.
I was still motorcycling but clearly not as much as I wanted.
Following on from that, I went to work for a company that supplied adapted bikes and riders (the bikes, not the riders!) for filming work, mainly for sporting events.
During the next three years I was riding motorcycles, carrying a cameraman. I rode the Tour of Britain Cycle Race, the London Marathon, The Great North Run, the Mille Miglia car race in Italy and several running and Iron Man events all over the country.
While I was doing this, the security of the London Marathon was reviewed and it was decided to use a team of retired SEG Class 1 motorcyclists, to accompany the elite runners and provide mobile security, each bike carried a security trained pillion.
I have done the last 13 London Marathons and always finish in around 2 hours!
How did you become a Member of PECAM and on The Committee?
About five years ago, having retired, I was looking for something to do, where I could use my motorcycling experience to benefit others.
At the MCN show at the Peterborough Showground I chanced upon Kevin Wishart, our Club Secretary, on the PECAM stand, we had a chat and the rest, as they say is history!
I believe that I got elected on to the committee as Ron Coleman’s deputy, based on my vast and varied motorcycling experience.
I am also an Observer for PECAM and get a tremendous amount of satisfaction from coaching a rider of average ability, to the level of passing the IAM advanced test, and knowing that I have contributed to making them a safer rider.