Saturday 4th June, was the date for our regular, first Saturday in the Month, Skills Development Session, held at the runway facility at Alconbury. Despite the wind, there was a good turn out, with 6 riders leaving from Haddon Services, picking 5 more riders up at the Alconbury entrance.
This session saw the riders progress through the 5 basic exercises, the Skills exercises on offer develop over time, and will be able to be used to extend a rider’s ability beyond whatever they thought was possible when they started.
The most basic exercise was riding your bike in a straight line at a slow walking pace, through U-Turns and basic figure-8’s to a slow speed slalom, on a layout that goes from relaxed to difficult. From these basic skills, then the riders, should they choose to, can move on to the more advanced riding skills used in Gymkhana style configurations.
The advanced practice is very well structured and delivered by our small team of enthusiasts, this week run by Mark Bearman. Although advanced Gymkhana can look quite daunting, the methodology, that we use for all of our training, takes the skills development in baby steps.
Even simple Gymkhana layouts can be confusing, but after just a short time the participants really got into the flow of the exercises. Gymkhana is conducted ‘at pace’ and takes a lot of concentration, so bike fitness is key to enjoying yourself. All of the participants really enjoyed the programme which will be developed over time into a progressive training programme.
It was great to see some new Associates on the course today and to see how much they developed their confidence and skills from the guidance and practice.
Bob Stewart and Garry Robson provided the tuition for the other training, and Bob, came equipped with tea and coffee for everyone, which was very welcomed.