That was the month that was, which is a vague reference to the political satire programme of the 60’s hosted by David Frost. In our case it refers to the August St. Crispin’s meeting where I made a total of 39 announcements, the highest ever for a single month. The achievement of a Pass, F1RST, Masters, Local Observer, National Observer or Trainee Observer is the result of a great deal of work, so well done to all.
TVAM also achieved a first in August, we were the first bike club to be permitted to hold a track event at Thruxton. As you may be aware, the IAM have been running Skills Days at Thruxton for several years for both cars and bikes. The bike days have proved to be very popular and as a result many TVAM members have been disappointed in not being able to book a place. It has taken considerable time to obtain the support of both the IAM and the Thruxton management, and on the 7th we jointly hosted a Skills Day for TVAM members only, with 68 riders and 15 TVAM Instructors.
I am pleased to report that the day was incident-free and we have had great feedback. All of the places were sold out within 24 hours of opening the webshop which suggests that there is a real demand for this type of training.
Although track-based training is historically not an area that the IAM have supported, I firmly believe that it adds real value to the road training that we do with our Associates. Being able to explore your own limits in the controlled environment of a track with a small group of like-minded riders and a high instructor/pupil ratio knowing that nothing is coming the other way is both confidence building and addictive. I would like to thank those involved from IAM RoadSmart, Wey Valley Advanced Motorcyclists, Rapid Training and all the TVAM Track Instructors who helped make it such a success.
I will be attending a meeting in October with IAM RoadSmart to discuss plans for 2018 and I hope to be able to schedule two dates for Thruxton next year in addition to the two Castle Combe days which are a regular feature of the TVAM calendar.
If you have ever attended St. Crispin’s you will no doubt, have been served by Monique Yallop at the coffee bar. Monique has been managing the facility for the last six and a half years and has decided to stand down from the position. Given the number of members who attend St. Crispin’s regularly I reckon that Monique’s team have dispensed something like 28,000 servings of tea/coffee and biscuits so she has certainly earned a rest. Thanks Monique, the coffee bar is an essential part of TVAM and your dedication to our Sunday sustenance has been much appreciated.
We are looking for someone to manage the team of ten volunteers and Monique has agreed to help manage the transition smoothly so if you think that this role would appeal to you please contact Monique or one of the Committee.
Safe riding and enjoy the last of the summer.
Safe Riding
Pat Coneley
Chief Observer
