My Experience with IAM Advance Rider Training

Muddling Through

Making progress is a key mantra for IAM/Roadsmart training, it means proceeding briskly, confidently and efficiently while maintaining your safety and that of others. It is something police officers are trained to do so that they can reach emergencies without causing accidents in the process. This police derived methodology has been translated into advanced training for civilian riders.

My initial reaction was to think, ‘this is just what I need’ as I was experiencing increasingly frightening incidents with drivers who often seemed in no mood to take prisoners. What caught my eye was their reference to defensive riding. The process kicks off with a taster session, it works both ways, you find out a bit more about the course and it enables them to assess your performance.

I was allocated an observer, their word for a tutor. The training takes place on a one-to-one basis, each session is a little over two hours with a break in the middle. The cost of the course is in the region of £160 but you end up paying nearly twice that as you must contribute to the observer’s fuel plus buying coffees and there are booklets they advise you purchase.

The associate, or trainee, goes first following directions given by the observer behind via their indicators. This was a surprise as I thought instruction would be by radio link. On the good side, it makes you use your mirrors. I found it a strain as my old bike vibrates the mirrors and the observer’s big adventure bike had lights and indicators close together.

In parallel to the above I went on group ride outs on the advice of my observer, these are set at three levels. The beginner one was OK, but it quickly became obvious that my heavy 1980’s tourer, with shaft drive, wasn’t as nimble as the powerful modern racers and enduro type machines ridden by the others so I slowed the following riders and felt stressed for doing so.

After this, the observer encouraged me to take bends faster using various techniques and I improved as a result but not before a few occasions when I got it wrong and I was lucky not to have been injured. This process hardly felt that safety was the uppermost consideration no matter how much they said it was. More ‘do or die’ in my opinion.

My tutor signed me up for a level two ride out which turned out to be too fast for me. I tried to maintain position, but it was getting scary and I felt the lead rider was charging through bends on their 150 bhp bike in situations where, it seemed to me, impossible to see far ahead.

I wonder if attaining an advanced rider qualification does not feel like an immunity against misfortune. At another point on a second ride out the route flicked to a metaled farm road, raised about the fields it passed across. My bike started to oscillate, I had to slow as I was beginning to lose control, meanwhile the lead bike became a speck in the distance. It felt dangerous.

When I confronted the ride organiser about this speed matter I was told that I should go at my own pace, I suppose that meant that they would wait up ahead. However, there is a pressure to keep up. When I mentioned the oscillation issue, I was told to get better shock absorbers, my bike had only just passed its MOT with no advisories. I upgraded anyway even though I don’t ride like that.

The experience left me both fed up and humiliated. I was told that Rospa were less concerned with making progress so I had a taster session with them only to find, if anything, there was more of an expectation to overtake – when safe to do so of course. I quickly found that I did not always see the need to overtake when they did.

The course involves relearning ingrained habits, it reminds you to keep your bike in top condition and makes you think about positioning, hazards, to read the road in advance and how to pass in the safest way. I'm a plodder though, too long in the tooth for pressing forward.

I will nip by other vehicles if necessary but the words 'making progress' jars as I'm happy to stay in line. For me, the term is better applied to motorcycle endeavours like becoming acquainted with far off places and upgrading my bikes.