Tag: chris brownlee chief observer

Finally, a spell of summer sunshine. I hope you’ve all been out on your motorcycles making the most of it. We know that many of you have been on TVAM’s social rides: 413 of you joined 36 social rides in April alone, and that was before the sun came out!

I recently had a friend stay from South Korea on his way to Canada. He wanted to visit Wales and so I booked a lovely Airbnb near Llanidloes for a few days. This time travelling in the Mustang, I was still able to enjoy some of the fabulous roads that Wales has to offer, but without the ability to overtake quite as keenly as I would on the bike. The fine weather (yes, it does happen in Wales sometimes) brought out many a motorcyclist, either riding solo or in groups. In fact, there were a number of foreign groups, including a contingent of Dutch Harley riders gathered in Aberystwyth. What this meant was that I was able to sit back in the car and watch riders out on the road, and experience being overtaken by many. This led to a number of observations and “gosh, I don’t think I would have done that” moments.

First, I noticed a tendency for riders in groups to try and keep up with each other, seemingly at all costs. A good example was a group overtaking a queue of cars on approach to a solid white line and a blind summit. The first three riders completed the overtakes safely and in plenty of time. The fourth rider cut the white line a bit fine but the fifth and sixth riders were clearly over the solid white, at a pace that was maybe too fast with closing oncoming traffic; the car flashing its lights not totally unexpected. It didn’t seem to me that the “ride for yourself” mantra was being practiced.

Second, a comment about following distances. I had a number of instances where a motorcycle had overtaken one vehicle to come up to mine and sat right on my chuff, literally a few feet away from my bumper. Clearly waiting for the next overtaking opportunity, this posed a risk to both rider and me, and to compensate, I increased my own following distance from the car in front. Of course, what that did was to invite him to overtake me and said rider then found himself hugging the back of the car in front, trying to jump him or her too. We do allow a closing of the safe following distance to one second when an overtake might be on but we all know to drop back to two seconds when it clearly isn’t.

Riders riding in groups were also getting very close to each other, especially at speeds approaching or even exceeding the National limit. Some were trying to ride offset, but were invariably still too close. If anything had happened necessitating a rapid brake application, I am not sure all would have come out unscathed.

Marking rides was also variable, with some markers choosing some of the most inappropriate (i.e. unsafe!) places to stop in order to wave their fellow riders through. I saw one marker stopped on a zig-zag of a pedestrian crossing and another on a level crossing!

The first task for a marker is to keep themselves safe. This is made all the easier with a run leader knowing where best to drop them.

So what has all of this got to do with TVAM? I know that “we” would all be far more aware of these poor practices. But it does ram home the need for riding within your own capability, especially when the temptation might be to “keep up with your mates” on some fine roads in a social context in fine weather. As members of TVAM, we should be upholding the advanced riding standard at all times and acting as ambassadors for the Club on the road. These examples also stress the importance of effective run leading and back marking, and particularly the run leader’s pre-ride briefing. We are making our own Club social rides more descriptive, focusing more on route complexity, run length and time between stops. From this month’s St Crispin’s, Green Team ride outs will not be graded, the idea being that social rides should cater for every rider, riding to their own capability and with effective run leading, back marking and good use of the marker-system, making the ride enjoyable for all.

When I got back from Wales, I had one of my many chats with Barrie Smith, our Chair, and remarked on a new route I had discovered: the A485 from Aberystwyth to Tregaron and then over the Esgair pass and down the Devil’s Staircase to Beulah. “Oh that…” he said, “was where the ‘bimble’ in Barrie’s Bimble came from, having had an evening ride out from Doddy Wells.” It goes to show, we all know all the best roads in the country! Definitely one I want to go back to but on the VFR.

While on the subject of trips away, if you are planning your own trip abroad this summer with fellow Club members, remember not to fall foul of the EU package travel directive. If you are booking travel and accommodation, irrespective of how this is paid for, it would constitute a “package” and potentially expose yourself to liabilities for cancellations and/or repatriation. This is easily overcome by using our Club-approved travel partner – Not just Travel. Alex Harding was at St. Crispin’s last month and will be back periodically to offer practical advice on booking trips. He said he is happy to book specific travel and hotels, so please do discuss your needs with him direct (https://alexharding.notjusttravel.com/) This is good for you and good for the Club too, as we receive a modest commission back that we can reinvest in you.

So, here’s hoping the sun keeps on shining!

Adrian Ellison
Chief Observer

This will be my last “From the Saddle” article for Slipstream, as I’ll be standing down as Chief Observer at the TVAM AGM in January. TVAM rules mean that the key committee positions can be held for a maximum of five years, and the St. Crispin’s meeting, and AGM, on 15th January will mark the end of my fifth year in this role. That maximum tenure of five years means that people can’t stay in key committee roles for too long and ensures the ongoing input of new people, fresh ideas and renewed impetus. There are too many IAM RoadSmart groups where such time limits are not in place – and it often shows in the lack of dynamism, excitement, and growth in such groups. We do have a candidate for the role of Chief Observer and if you’re interested in standing for this, or any other role on the committee, then do have a word with our Chair, Barrie Smith, who will explain what’s involved and how to submit a nomination.

We completed another of the flagship 7Ws training weekends to Llandrindod Wells in October and despite a doubtful weather forecast most riders got away with no significant rain over the weekend. We have evolved 7Ws to offer the best training and riding experience for Associates and Full Members and we will continue to monitor and evaluate the feedback we receive for the ongoing development of the weekend. 7Ws will continue its focus of being a training weekend with priority for Associates and we also have, of course, the 3Rs training weekend with priority for Full Members. These weekends offer fantastic opportunities for observed rides on some of the best roads available; the development of riding skills is clear to see on the weekends, as well as being great fun. We are very grateful to the organisers, and particularly the participating Observers, for making these weekends possible.

TVAM continues to develop its relationship with Rapid Training. As well as carrying out the TVAM ‘Aardvark’ training for Observers, with a ride out for each Observer every two years, Rapid Training can also offer TVAM members bespoke training, their flagship Bikemaster and Roadmaster courses as well as their various accompanied tours. Rapid Training offers substantial discounts on their courses to TVAM members, for which we’re very grateful. If you’d like to take advantage of these discounts then make sure you use the appropriate link, which you can find on the TVAM Groups.io wiki page; https://tvam.groups.io/g/allmembers/wiki

Autumn riding offers a different experience. Roads are often quieter, the scenery can be spectacular and learning about your riding in more challenging conditions can reap big rewards in terms of skill development. Don’t let your skills fade over the autumn; enjoy the riding and keep up the practice to stay
sharp and build confidence.

It’s been a pleasure and a privilege to act as the Chief Observer for the largest and greatest IAM RoadSmart group, and the best bike club, over the past five years. I’ll still be around, of course, and I’m looking forward to spending more time with you all – out on the bike.

Chris Brownlee
Chief Observer

Well, we announced the return of the Look Lean Roll course at our new venue at RAF Benson, and within hours both September and October dates were oversubscribed. Our apologies to all those that wanted to get on this fantastic course and didn’t make it. We’ve only been able to arrange the two dates this year for the course, but the good news is that we expect to run a full complement next year from the Spring. Keep an eye out for announcements and dates – as you can tell, it is very popular.

There is a myriad of courses available to TVAM members, and these courses have been developed largely in-house to meet the needs of our members. We’re very proud of the range and quality of courses that we offer, which are the envy of many other clubs and groups. There hasn’t, to date, been any formal coordination between the courses and
this has led to some differences in the way they address similar issues. We have,
therefore, asked the Training Team to take a ‘review role’ so that we can be ensure that all of our courses are:

• Accurate in content
• Use similar techniques when addressing similar issues
• Have appropriate disclaimers in place
• Provide adaptable learning environments for the candidates
• Are safe and appropriate for the candidates and the course leaders

Due to the extensive range of courses it’s not going to be a quick project and we anticipate ongoing involvement of the Training Team in all courses, which should be beneficial for all.

We identified a couple of areas over the summer where we can enhance our guidelines for data protection. This highlighted the need for a more general review of where we hold data, why we’re holding it and what we’re using it for, as well as who has access to it. We’ll be embarking on this review as a new committee project and we’ll keep you appraised as to the changes that we’re making to ensure that we keep everyone’s data secure.

We’re getting close to the TVAM year end at the end of October, so you’ll see the usual flurry of activity as we compile reports, and we start to look at the activities, issues and budgets over the past year, as well as put plans and budgets together for next year. If you have any ideas for activities that you’d like to see next year, then please do let us know.

I hope you’re managing to make the most of good weather and lighter evenings, and enjoying your riding; I know I am.

Chris Brownlee
Chief Observer

I’m writing this just prior to the Observer Weekend where, as well as riding some great roads in Wales, we’re going to discuss Associate training, giving feedback and updates to the National Observer validation route.

It’s not often I get to make an announcement in this column of this magnitude, but I’m very pleased to be able to announce that we will, after a significant break, be resuming our flagship Look, Lean, Roll course.

We were using the DVSA Motorcycle Manoeuvring Areas (MMAs) for LLR, but access to the MMAs stopped with Covid-19 restrictions and now that the restrictions have been lifted the MMAs are so busy with tests that we are unable to get access. Limitations on numbers that could be on an MMA at any time meant that courses were smaller, and we had to run with two different venues to cater for demand. It is likely, even if we were to get access to the MMAs, that they would also now be too expensive to make the courses worthwhile.

We have, therefore, for some time been searching for a new venue and we’re very pleased that RAF Benson is allowing us access to the helicopter landing area for Look, Lean, Roll.

We still have some issues to iron out, and we have to ‘construct’ the course to fit the new venue, but it is hoped that the new courses will be available later in the summer; keep an eye out on Groups.io for the announcement and how to book a course.

The size of the new venue means that we’ll only need to run one course per month. This means that we only need one LLR team, so we will, therefore, merge the two current teams into one. We’d like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to Mel Hakhnazarian for setting up the extra LLR team and running the LLR courses at Greenham.

Many of you will be aware of Rapid Training, who offer advanced riding skills and also carry out our Observer riding skills checks every two years. Rapid Training has put significant effort into developing its courses over the past couple of years and we’re keen to develop our relationship with them.

We’re very pleased to be able to announce, therefore, that Rapid Training is offering a significant discount on its courses to TVAM members. As well as a 10% discount there are deeper discounts on their flagship courses such as Bikemaster and Roadmaster. Hopefully by the time this goes to print you’ll have seen the
discount codes etc. on Groups.io.

We’re very grateful to Rapid Training for these discounts and we hope that TVAM members will take advantage of the fantastic training and trips that Rapid Training offer.

So a great month from a training perspective, with training updates for Associates, Full Members and Observers.

Here’s to a great summer of riding!

Chris Brownlee
Chief Observer

The improvement in weather over the last month or two has seen a welcome increase in our riding activities – and also more bike traffic on the roads. We encourage everyone to ride appropriately at all times and bear in mind that other road users can see how we ride and may comment if our riding is not appropriate.

In April we held the latest incarnation of our flagship training weekend, the 7Ws. In response to feedback from previous weekends we made some changes to this 7Ws:

• We changed the start point to the Wandering Kitchen at Berinsfield. The café opened early especially for us and provided everyone with bacon, sausage, egg and hash brown baps, pastries, teas and coffees – all very efficiently. The change in start point meant a wider choice of routes to leave Oxfordshire.
• We changed venue to the Metropole Hotel in Llandrindod Wells. After several years at the Commodore Hotel (also in Llandrindod Wells), we couldn’t get the dates we wanted, so we thought we’d try the Metropole which we’ve used for the Observer Weekend for many years. We hoped the higher prices would be justified by more comfort, better facilities and better food.
• We opted to use smaller groups of two Associates and one Observer to get to Wales on the Friday, rather than the larger social runs, as well as retaining this format for the Saturday sessions too. This provides Associates with more opportunities to read the road and ride for themselves, as well as being more flexible. Full Members were catered for with runs in smaller groups of up to six, with optional observation.

We’re very pleased with the feedback that we have received on the weekend which has, with one or two small exceptions, been universally supportive of the changes. We will, therefore, be retaining these changes for forthcoming 7Ws weekends.

I’d like to thank the Training Team for taking on the organisation of 7Ws, moving the weekend to a new format and making it such a success. Do read the article (page 8 Slipstream May 2022) to find out more about 7Ws from the perspective of an Observer, an Associate and a Full Member.

I’m very pleased to announce that Sam Grant has joined the TVAM Training Team. Sam brings a wealth of business process experience to the team and, as an Associate, will be able to contribute directly to the development of our revised Associate Training Programme.

Some Full Members have been getting out early on the Advanced Plus rides that we offer – and you can sign up for these at the Green Team desk at
St. Crispin’s, as well as online. We’re pleased to be able to offer an extension of this with Advanced Plus rides now available in Yorkshire, courtesy of our very own Nigel Taylor. There’s a short article on page 7 (Slipstream May 2022) about how this works and how to book up. I’m sure this will be a popular extension to our Advanced Plus
programme.

Here’s to a great summer of riding!

Chris Brownlee
Chief Observer

I’m writing this at the end of February, when the formal restrictions around Covid-19 have just been relaxed. Of course, we’ve been able to carry out observed rides and social rides for some time, and we are hopeful that the reduced restrictions will continue to make organising social events easier and less stressful. We’ll keep you posted as to any changes that may be required, and we would encourage anyone that wants to continue with personal measures to keep themselves safe to do so.

I was very pleased to see a return of the 3Rs weekends, particularly given its focus as a training weekend. What is very welcome is the focus of the weekend on Full Member training. Emulating the very popular 7Ws weekend, which is aimed at providing a weekend’s training for Associates, the 3Rs will be providing informal observed rides for Full Members across a weekend – on this occasion based in Llandrindod Wells. Although this first weekend is fully booked, we are hopeful that we will be able to arrange further weekends to provide more opportunities for Full Member training.

One of the reasons the 7Ws and 3Rs weekend book up so quickly is the popularity of our electronic communications platform, Groups.io. We wanted to remind everyone that Groups.io offers the following advantages over other unofficial ones:

• Groups.io has only TVAM members, so you can be sure that when you’re using Groups.io everyone in the group is a TVAM member. We automatically add people when they join TVAM, and we remove them when they leave.
• There are no adverts or tracking cookies.
• You can choose to have messages delivered by email, with different delivery options, so you don’t have to log into the website (although it’s even better if you do).
• All communication on Groups.io is private to the group. The settings we use mean that other search engines can’t see the content, so it’s only available to members.

If you’re stuck how to use Groups.io, check out the Wiki at https://tvam.groups.io/g/ allmembers/wiki or, if you’re really stuck, drop the admin a note at groups.io@tvam.org

As the weather starts to improve, more members are looking to organise overseas trips, which is great. We’d like to remind everyone that if you’re organising a trip that might involve a ‘package,’ such as an hotel and sea crossing, the club has guidelines in place to prevent the organiser or the club being liable under the Package Travel Directive, which is a European-wide directive designed to protect those taking package holidays and ensure repatriation is covered if required. If you’re planning an overseas trip then you need to inform the committee about your trip and explain how you’re avoiding the terms of the Package Travel Directive, or involve a travel agent. The club has an appointed travel agent for this very purpose – https://tvam.notjusttravel.com

We can’t just “club together and run our own overseas trips” any more if we’re to ensure that the organisers and club do not become liable under the Package Travel Directive, so do let the committee know about any overseas trips in good time.

I’m looking forward to taking advantage of more relaxed Covid-19 guidelines both in the UK and Europe this year, so hope to see you on a trip or a run.

Best wishes

Chris Brownlee
Chief Observer

And Happy New Year to everyone.

Firstly, I’d like to remind everyone that our Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Sunday 16th January at 12.30pm. At the time of writing, we hope to hold the AGM as a face-to-face meeting at St. Crispin’s. We are continuing to evaluate the Covid-19 risks and guidelines and if conditions deem it appropriate then we will move this to an online meeting.

The ongoing monitoring of the guidelines and rules around Covid-19 will also be used to inform any restrictions we might place around our social and riding activities. I’m writing this on New Year’s Eve and there are currently no formal guidelines or rules in place in England that mean we need to restrict our activities – although this may have already changed by the time you’re reading this article. We do urge members to keep themselves safe and to take appropriate individual measures. We will keep everyone informed as to any restrictions that we, the government or IAM RoadSmart decide to implement, so please keep an eye out for any relevant messages on Groups.io.

One of our flagship training events, the 7Ws weekend, continues to evolve. Started many years ago under the leadership of Daf Phillips, we held the 40th 7Ws last September. Ness and Andy Boudier organised a very successful celebratory event, with a great mix of observed runs, social runs and social interaction – as well as raising a whopping £464 for the Air Ambulance (which receives no public funding) via contributions and a raffle. Due to family and business pressures, they have decided to step back from 7Ws and the organisation is now with the Training Team; we’d like to say a big “thank you” to Ness and Andy. Details of the 41st 7Ws, to be held on 8th-10th April 2022 and based in Llandrindod Wells (where else?) are now on the Groups.io calendar. Although some things have evolved, the core aims of 7Ws as a training weekend, aimed at Associates, and enjoying great riding on some fabulous Welsh roads, remain the same. See the calendar entry on Groups.io for more information or scan QR code to register your interest.

The local teams have been organising some fantastic runs in the lead-up to Christmas and over the New Year break. It’s great to see so many getting engaged
on these runs despite some less-than-ideal weather. The team leaders will be taking more steps to increase engagement and will also be taking the lead on driving TVAM involvement at local events. Please ensure you engage with your local team and get along to the team meetings and social runs. The local teams are really the heart of the club and so much of the social and riding activity is driven from the local team members.

Although we’ve had some unseasonably warm weather over New Year (the warmest on record), and the evenings are starting to get lighter, please do keep an eye out for cold snaps, icy patches and micro-climates. It’s sometimes better to delay going out for an hour or two than to risk encountering frost or ice. We have better weather to look forward to and I hope to see you on a ride soon.

Best wishes

Chris Brownlee
Chief Observer

Hi everyone

With the recent change in government guidelines to ‘Plan B’, the increasing concern over the rising number of Covid cases, and its closeness to Christmas, the Committee has decided that we should move the December meeting from face-to-face at St. Crispin’s to a virtual online meeting.  We understand that this may be disappointing, but we feel that it is the responsible thing to do.

We will, therefore, hold an online meeting from 9am to 10am on Sunday morning and there will be no face-to-face meeting at St. Crispin’s in December.

We hope that we can meet face to face again for our January meeting, and for our AGM, on 16^th January and we will keep you informed about this.

We look forward to ‘seeing’ as many of you as possible for our online meeting on Sunday morning, when we’ll have lots of Full Member qualifications to announce.

We’ll keep you posted as to further changes as we can and, in the meantime, we wish you all a peaceful, happy and safe Christmas and New Year.

 

Best wishes

 

Chris Brownlee                                       Barrie Smith

Chief Observer                                       Chair

Many of you will know Rapid Training as a provider of advanced motorcycle riding and that we have had a close relationship with them for many years, not least because we use Rapid to develop our Observers’ riding skills.

Rapid Training is undergoing a transformation in the training that they offer and the coaching skills that go with this. They are getting a much wider range of riding experiences for their coaches and they are even sponsoring a BSB team to learn from their track riding skills.

We have been working with Rapid Training to develop our Observer riding skills package, and Rapid Training has also developed some track skills sessions – one of which, on 13th October, they offered to TVAM members at a discounted rate. We are continuing to develop these riding skills packages with them, and hope to be able to offer more dedicated sessions for TVAM members later this year.

Continuing the focus on training, many of you have asked about our cornering skills course, Look, Lean, Roll (LLR). Pressure on bike testing meant that the DVSA withdrew our access to the motorcycle manoeuvring areas, where we ran the course, meaning that we had no venue. We have been working to secure another venue and, whilst we’re not quite there yet, we are well advanced with a potentially great venue, and we hope to have this in place for our LLR courses next year.

We’re also about to announce the first step in the revision of our Associate Training Programme. This first step will equip all Associates with a record card that will provide them, and Observers, with a concise record of their training and development plans. Once we have this in place, we hope to enhance the programme further with better tracking and learning.

The weather is obviously on the change and the evenings are drawing in earlier, meaning that the potential for evening social runs is much reduced. There is lots going on, though, and we’re booking plenty of cross checks, advanced tests, advanced plus rides and there are many social rides still being organised through local teams, so please take advantage of the opportunities for riding and further development. Some of the initial exuberance that we saw with the return to riding is being tempered and riding standards are being maintained – please keep this up, especially as the weather deteriorates and skills become more important.

We are now back at St. Crispin’s for our regular monthly meeting. It’s great to see everyone there and we will continue to make adjustments as required to keep people safe. If you’re able, please
come along for an observed ride or a social ride and celebrate what a great club we are.

Hope to see you on ride out sometime soon.

Best wishes

Chris Brownlee
Chief Observer

Well, the Covid-19 government restrictions have been lifted in England, for the time being at least. We are, therefore, planning a return to our monthly meeting at St. Crispin’s and I look forward to seeing you at the meeting on 15th August, which will be at St. Crispin’s School in Wokingham.

We have quite a few new TVAM members since the lockdown who have never been to a St. Crispin’s meeting – and quite a few that don’t believe it really exists! Please ensure that those in your Local Team are included in the plans to attend St. Crispin’s and I would like to encourage all Observers to help their Associates to attend.

Because there are still issues around Covid-19 we’ll be taking steps to try and keep everyone safe. This will include wearing face coverings when indoors and we might try and hold some of the meeting outdoors if possible. So there may be a few changes for our first meeting and we’d like to encourage you to keep an eye out for those who may look a little ‘lost’ and direct them to the Red Zone or Green Team desks as appropriate.

Ultimate Ear will be in attendance and as well as offering their standard discount on impressions and ear protection, will also have a special offer on in-ear monitors. Mark Hammond of MH Racing will also be on site offering his on-site suspension check and adjustment for £25 (cash only) – well worth it to get your suspension set up.

The change in restrictions also means that we can organise larger runs and trips away, in England at least. Different rules apply in Scotland and Wales with the restriction levels changing on 7th August in Wales, and on 9th August in Scotland, so if you’re planning trips it’s wise to check first. Although larger runs are allowed, many people have preferred the smaller runs that were used during some of the lockdown period, and we are therefore encouraging run leaders, if they wish, to set limits on the number of participants – so there’s no pressure to take out a run of 40 if you don’t want to!

Our new TVAM website at www.tvam.org and our open Facebook page offer free taster rides, so potential members can see what sort of coaching we offer, and what
sort of club we are. This is proving to be very successful with about 15 applications a month. I’d like to thank all the Observers who are giving up their time for these.

There are many social rides available with local team and club runs starting to fill the calendar. Do check them out in Slipstream, as well as your Local Team and the allmembers calendars on Groups.io to find out what’s being organised. If you have any doubts as to whether a run is appropriate for you then the run leader will be only too pleased to discuss this.

Whist things may change again in the future let’s make the most of our opportunities today and get out and enjoy our riding. We have been a model of restraint over the entire period of the lockdown and it has been great to see the contribution that everyone has made to ensure that we have done the right thing throughout. Let’s make our return to our full range of activities equally impressive.

Chris Brownlee
Chief Observer

As I write this, at the beginning of June, social rides and outdoor team meetings are being organised for groups of up to 30, and it seems some while ago that we couldn’t get out in groups at all, and then had a small relaxation to allow for groups of up to six. Whilst the signs are still there for Step 4 of the government’s route map out of lockdown to be on the 21st June, which should mean a complete relaxation of all rules and guidelines around Covid-19, we will need to keep an eye out for any extra restrictions that are imposed.

IAM RoadSmart has recommenced advanced testing, and we have some newly qualified members of IAM RoadSmart as a result; our congratulations to all of these previous Associates, and I’m sure there will be more to come over the summer. We have also been able to recommence our Observer Training Programme and have a smaller, more restricted, Observer Core Skills Day this month. We are hopeful that we’ll be able to start our Observer training again properly very soon, with fully attended Core Skills Days. If you’ve thought about becoming an Observer then please drop an email to observerinterest@tvam.org and one of the Training Team will be in touch to discuss what’s involved.

We also have some newly qualified Observers, as well as some National Observers being successfully revalidated. Our congratulations to all those that have successfully validated or revalidated. Of course, the potential relaxation of the government’s Covid-19 restrictions may mean that our last virtual St. Crispin’s is upon us and we’ll be meeting in person again at St. Crispin’s School in Wokingham on the third Sunday of the month from July. There are many members who have joined since the lockdown and have never been to a monthly meet – and quite a few of those don’t believe it really exists! I’m sure we’ll make them all welcome as soon as we can resume face-to- face St. Crispin’s monthly meetings.

Building our relationship with Rapid Training, they have offered us a TVAM-only track skills day. This will use the skills development modules from their flagship Bikemaster course, with dedicated Rapid Training coaches, on a track venue. There are only 27 places available, and a 25% discount, so if you’d like to take part you can sign up on the allmembers calendar on groups.io; the event is taking place on 13th October.

Social rides are now well under way, with local teams and club runs starting to fill the calendar. Do check out your local team calendar, and the allmembers calendar, on groups.io to find out what’s being organised. You’ll also get access to the webinars that are being organised, as well as other trips, weekends away and, hopefully in the not-too-distant future, some overseas trips.

I’m sure you’re all making the most of the current great weather and, whilst we still need to exercise appropriate caution and social distancing, we can hopefully look forward to a safe and progressive (and systematic) return to riding.

Chris Brownlee
Chief Observer

I’m writing this just as we take the first step on the government ‘route map’ out of lockdown.

Step 1, which was on 29th March, means that we can now meet up outdoors in groups of up to 6 for exercise and recreation.

Step 2, which won’t be before 12th April, and will hopefully have passed by the time you’re reading this, will mean the opening of non-essential retail, and

Step 3, which won’t be before 17th May, will mean that we can meet outdoors in groups of up to 30 and indoors in groups of 6. Step 3 also means that the ‘minimise travel’ guidance is lifted.

IAM RoadSmart has issued guidance to say that observed rides can start again at Step 2 (not before 12th April), bearing in mind that we are still advised to minimise journeys, and that official group rides can begin again at Step 3 (not before 17th May). We will, of course, still need to take appropriate social distancing measures for the time being and to plan stops, and take snacks, as the larger groups won’t be allowed to congregate indoors until Step 4. We are hopeful that the government will be able to adhere to its timescales and that we achieve Step 4 by 21st June, which should mean, hopefully, a return to normal activities.

We had a lively discussion on the Observer forum last month when IAM RoadSmart asked us to re-state the behaviour and values it expects from Observers. These are completely in line with the behaviour and values that TVAM expects from all its members, and which are clearly stated in the group handbook. Given the discussion we had on the Observer Group I thought it worth restating here that the Club aims to create a harmonious and positive environment in which all individuals:

• are treated fairly, with dignity and respect at all stages of involvement.
• are able to make best use of their skills, free from discrimination or harassment.
• do not discriminate against any person on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.
• have an equal chance to contribute and achieve their potential, irrespective of the above.

I know that this may seem like stating the obvious, but we do live in a world where we need to remind everyone of the values that are important to us, to welcome those in minority groups, and that to ensure that there are appropriate rules to protect those in minority groups.

By the time you get to read this IAM RoadSmart should have released the latest version of its Manual of Guidance for Group Rides. This was a much-needed update, and the new guidance is much clearer. Group rides encompass everything from a bunch of mates going out together through to formal training runs. The new manual explains the differences and makes it clearer as to what the requirements and appropriate guidance are for each type of group ride. Worth a read, before we resume group rides at Step 3 of the government roadmap.

I know we’re all starting to get out on our bikes, and I’d encourage you to re-read Barrie’s article in last month’s Slipstream before heading out. Remember that we are acting as ambassadors for TVAM, for IAM RoadSmart and for motorcycling in general. People are often jealous of the freedom that we, as motorcyclists exhibit and we don’t want people to form a negative opinion of what we do.

I hope that you have a safe and progressive return to biking.

Chris Brownlee
Chief Observer

Hi everyone

Well, we’re still in lockdown but the success of the vaccination programme is a brightening light on the horizon, and it seems that we are finally starting to plot a route out of the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. So maybe it’s time to start thinking about getting the bike ready for riding, and getting your riding gear ready too.

Thank you to everyone that attended the AGM. This was our first virtual AGM and once we got over a couple of small technical issues at the start it seemed to go very well with opportunities for questions and discussion.

I was sad to say goodbye to Andy Slater and Paul Taylor; it’s been great working with them over the years. It was equally exciting to welcome our new Chair, Barrie Smith, and our new Treasurer, Bjorg Arnadottir; I’m looking forward to working with them on our plans for the forthcoming year.

As a committee we believe that it is important to keep planning for the future, even when there is little prospect of an immediate return to normal activities. Barrie outlined our objectives for 2021 and, whilst we might need to modify the timescales, or perhaps even the objectives themselves, having a plan and modifying it is a much better place to be than having no plan at all.

Do look out for updates in forthcoming issues of Slipstream, and on Groups.io, as to how to get back into riding and our progress towards our other objectives.

We also unveiled a fantastic new website for TVAM. It has, of course, attracted constructive criticism as to what we might have done better and we’ll take this on board as we evolve the website. The new site is completely externally focused so that it better represents what we do to the world outside of TVAM and we hope that it will form a key platform for our ongoing recruitment activities. All internal communications and files for TVAM members have already been moved to Groups.io.  We’ve had very warm congratulations and compliments on the website from IAM RoadSmart.

In the meantime, please continue to participate in your Local Team meetings and online activities, and in the virtual St. Crispin’s each month. Phil Donovan and the Events Team (sounds like a group from the 60’s) will be publishing details of some online seminars over the coming months, the first of which you will find on pages 8 and 9, and I hope you will find these interesting and informative.

We are, first and foremost, a bike club, albeit one with a focus on training and riding to Advanced Standard, so stay engaged and help newer members and Associates keep on track, until we can get out on our bikes for social rides, training and trips.

Chris Brownlee
Chief Observer

I’m writing this as we’ve just moved out of our lockdown status and into the current Tier arrangement. Most of us in the TVAM area are in Tier 2, with the exception of those residing in Slough, who are in Tier 3. From a TVAM
activity point of view this means that:

• We can’t hold indoor social meetings, or indoor training sessions.
• Those members who reside in Tier 2 areas can participate in observed and social rides with up to six people, whilst maintaining appropriate social distancing. Note that socialising is only allowed in outdoor settings, so you should not meet with others who are not from your household in any indoor setting – so we are not able to meet/stop in cafés except for take-away drinks, etc. Riders should avoid riding into Tier 3 areas, although it is permissible to ride through a Tier 3 area as part of a longer journey.
• Those members residing in a Tier 3 area (e.g. Slough) should not participate in observed or social rides, since people residing in Tier 3 areas should not meet socially indoors or in most outdoor settings.

The list of tiers is here: www.gov.uk/guidance/full-list-of-local-restriction-tiers-by-area.

I’m pleased that we’re able to run our Slow Manoeuvring courses on the third Saturday of the month at St. Crispin’s. Places are limited and you can book your place online in the TVAM web shop at www.tvam.org/product/slow-manoeuvring-at-st-crispins

We are continuing with our programme of free Taster Rides and these are advertised on social media and on the TVAM website. They’re designed to give someone an overview of the sort of coaching we offer and an introduction to advanced riding. If you know of someone that might benefit from this then please do let them know.

Remember to participate in your local team video meetings and also the next virtual St Crispin’s at 9am on 20th December. The link for the meeting is on Groups.io and is also on the opposite page.

The AGM is approaching and will be held, virtually, on 17th January 2021. As well as a review of the activities of the previous TVAM year, we will also discuss outline plans for the coming year and elect positions for the committee. It is important that you participate, so please make every effort to attend and note that you will need to pre-register (details are in this issue of Slipstream – see page 17).

I’m sure we’re all hoping that 2021 will prove to be a better, more involving year than 2020 and the signs are encouraging that it will. We are, therefore, planning for a return to normal activities, albeit with a measured approach to take account of ongoing restrictions.

In the meantime it just remains for me to wish you all a very happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

Chris Brownlee
Chief Observer

Hi everyone

I guess we ought to get the latest Covid-19 government guideline/rule update out of the way!

The most recent announcement, on 22nd September, means there is not a great deal that changes in what we can do as a club. In England, we can still conduct social (and socially distanced) runs for up to six people, and we can carry out observed runs. Many people have been taking advantage of the smaller social runs and we hope that this will continue; if you haven’t led a run yet, then have a chat with your team leader about what’s involved; there’s lots of help and guidance available. Remember that if you are on a social or observed run and you go into another country (e.g. Wales) or into an area of England that is in lockdown, then the rules are different so please plan ahead.

We have had a couple of questions raised about who is allowed to participate in social runs.
We categorise social runs to help make it clear what sort of run the run leader is planning:

• A   Skilled/progressive for confident riders on all types of road. Aimed at smaller groups.
• B+ More progressive pace (than a ‘B’) for the confident, focused rider.
• B   Medium paced, relaxed ride.
• C   Leisurely paced with no overtaking within the group. Suitable for first timers.
• T   Team training run – observed/social ride with an element of coaching.

We hope that the categorisation will encourage the right sorts of riders onto the runs and members will not be discouraged from participating in runs that they consider appropriate. If you see someone new on a run, then please go and say ‘hello’! They may not know anyone else and be feeling a bit left out – so please make the effort to include everyone.

The updated government rules do mean that other activities, particularly face-to-face social meetings, St Crispin’s meetings and most of our trips and courses, including Look, Lean, Roll are not possible now.

Local teams are continuing with video meetings and the virtual St Crispin’s meeting, at 9am on the third Sunday, is gaining in popularity. We have test pass announcements now, with 17 (including 8 F1RSTS) announced last month. The virtual St Crispin’s also has ‘breakout sessions’ for the Trainee Observers and one for those interested in becoming an Observer. You can join the virtual meeting via the link on the facing page which is also on the Groups.io calendar.

The Training Team has been updating the Highway Code quizzes. There are two levels available, and both levels have new questions. And did you know we host these quizzes for other groups, including Bristol, Bournemouth & Wessex, Cheltenham & Cotswolds and Hull & East Riding? Why not check out your level of knowledge on the Highway Code and related areas here www.tvam.org/ highway-code-quiz/? It’s all for fun and the scores are private – even I don’t get to see them!

Although some difficulties remain around face-to-face and larger group activities, we can get out on our bikes, there are some great social runs going out and we can do observed rides too – so let’s make the most of it. Some local teams are arranging sessions for Associates to get observed rides with different Observers – so do ask your team leader about these if you’re interested.

I’m sure we all see many examples of people out there on the roads that appear not to be fully aware of what’s going on around them, so do take time to apply the advanced riding principles – and have fun!

Chris Brownlee
Chief Observer