I’m writing this having just returned from an amazing weekend away in Wales with the Club. We re-launched 3Rs as a training weekend specifically for Full Members with the aim of providing a balanced weekend of social riding and training and what an incredible weekend it turned out. It involved 30 people, with a mix of 10 Observers and 20 Full Members. As recently with 7Ws we stayed at the Metropole Hotel in Llandrindod Wells, a place that the Club knows really well, as we wanted to go to an area where we knew the roads and quality of accommodation.
We met at The Wandering Kitchen in Wallingford for breakfast and a briefing, before three social rides set off to Wales. Led by Jeremy Davies, Salli Griffith and Simon Whatley, they all took completely different routes to our destination for the weekend. Thanks to the three of them for arranging these rides.
The Saturday introduced the training element for the weekend and saw us split into groups of three, with one Observer and two Full Members to carry out an Advanced Plus style ride for the day. I worked with two members who both wanted to develop their ability to maintain their pace, where safe to do so, in bends. We started by taking a look at where they sat in comparison to the IAM RoadSmart test standard and then built from that position. We worked on scanning the road, best positioning for the bend and developing our throttle sense. Both developed well and our key learning point was ‘read the road, don’t just ride it’.
On the Sunday, the majority of people selected a ride to return them back to a choice of finishing points. Tom Gray lead a run back to Blackbushe, Paul Kilby lead a run back to Marlow and I led a run back to Bracknell/Wokingham. It was great to see and hear about the excellent riding standard on the rides back as well as the whole weekend.
3Rs appears to have been a great success and I’d like to pass on my thanks to the organisation team of Tom Gray, Nina Bosley-Gray and Paul Kilby. They did a great job of organising and running the weekend and made it seamless and enjoyable for all who attended. I’d also like to thank all of the Observers for their efforts in putting together routes and development sessions for the benefit of the Full Members. Finally, I’d like to thank the Full Members for embracing the weekend and being open to learning on the Saturday and generally putting into practice what they had worked on. I’m already looking forward to the next one.
The Calendar is getting full of riding opportunities for all members within the Club this year. All local teams are regularly offering social rides and any
member can join these by becoming a member of that group on groups.io and then putting their name onto the database or RSVP event for the ride.
Associates looking for rides could consider the training runs (T-runs) that are being advertised by the local teams. These are designed to give Associates coaching sessions on their riding in an informal manner. The runs generally comprise an Associate, or two, riding with an Observer and then receiving verbal feedback on their riding without the formality of a run report form. Some T-runs use a starburst approach and others carry out observed sessions within a larger ride. Most T-runs offer a social ride in the afternoon to allow Associates the opportunity to practice what they have worked on in the morning
sessions. Keep an eye out in Slipstream and on the calendar and event reminder on groups.io for further information about these.
Unfortunately, we have had to cancel the Austin Vince seminar event for June due to a low take up. This may well be down to the fact that members are out riding in the lovely evenings that the summer season brings, so we’ll look to set another date in the future, perhaps when the evenings draw in, to enable members to come and listen to Austin’s enthusiasm of all adventures on two-wheels!
Whatever you’re doing this month, enjoy the good weather and your riding.
Barrie Smith
Chairman