CNI progress picks up pace

The year has rather flown by! Rather nice to see the rate of progress in the CNI region accelerating. Of course there's no one single reason for this progress, the teamwork aspect definitely comes to the fore. Earlier in the year, a number of Associates were closing in on their Advanced Test, so working in rotation in order to get their Test done in order of priority has helped there. Overall it's a pretty neat feeling to have been part of the growth this far, and it really has been a team effort, with our highly regarded Geoff James steering us in the right direction.

It's humbling to see riders coming thru the ranks, having partaken in their coaching in Associate guise, then seeing them progress to Trainee Observer and gaining their wings to carry on under their own steam. The two Trainee Observers that I've worked with this year, one has already passed his Observer Test and the other is due to take his when a suitable time slot pops up. Fair to say they both bring an interesting, as in quite different, background to the table. What they share however, is that passion for seeing others improve.

Yes the word passion is perhaps a weird one, I use it freely, for I get a buzz out of watching someone mastering a skill that initially seemed daunting. My task as Observer is to break the learning curve into manageable chunks, and that's perhaps part art and part skill, for each Associate is different. So from an Initial Assessment we then customize the learning curve for the Associate, keeping them learning as quickly as practicable, yet not drag them too far from their comfort zone each time we venture out. The variations on this are obviously endless, on the surface at least. Now in my work environment I've done this for a while, so I'll readily admit that "reading" the responses from an individual becomes easier with time on the task. The first one or two outings a new Associate may show some nerves, so it's part of the strategy to "chill out" the rider to allow them to get the most from a ride, quite apart from keeping it safe for all involved.

What we've been seeing recently, with more riders coming thru the RideForever scheme then following up with IAM, is the starting point of these riders is quite high. This is a huge benefit in taking someone to the Advanced Test in a relatively small number of rides, the downside being the rider needs to master some key skills in a fairly short time as well. One example can be commentary, with a less prepared rider needing 8/10/12 outings to reach cross-check, we're now seeing riders getting to this point in 6 rides or less. Mastering commentary requires a bit of time and practice, so a suitable approach will come to the fore in due course. To be fair, as per suggestion by Geoff James, for CNI we use commentary in demo rides from the outset, which works, we just need to be mindful of the safety aspect. Overloading a new Associate mentally is never a good idea.

Having just partaken in another Observer training weekend, it once again sets the scene for growth, along the lines of many hands making light work. From my point of view the level of enthusiasm and skill is right on the money, we all bring something unique to the table when you look at the group overall, so as long as we can keep that team spirit alive and kicking we'll keep on growing. If anything, we're now temporarily in the situation of having more trainee Observers than we can effectively take thru practical training.

Trainee Observers on December 2018 course.

Another challenging aspect remains, how to recruit more younger riders into the IAM fold. On the one hand it may be as simple as riders not wanting to up skill and become safer until they reach a certain age, on the other hand it's likely we're not (yet) ringing the bell in the right place? The flow of riders from the RideForever system is picking up, so that's very encouraging. Yet the bike shows/expos that I've been to where IAM has had a stand, the number of riders interested in post license skills training seems rather small. I suppose the notion to up skill just isn't cool enough for a good number of riders? Do we need an incentive of sorts to get riders to come thru the system? I don't have the answer, for each approach I've thought of seems to have as many downsides as upsides. The first few years of the RideForever system certainly seems to be saving ACC a chunk of money, so now to take the next step and crank it up a notch? Or is the RideForever system an experiment that's about to come to an end? Certainly hope not!

My year has been more hectic than ideal, to say the least. Full noise at work for several months, which I chose to precede by doing the course to gain my I endorsement, then thru NZTA for the formalities, so now have a pretty licence with an I for all 6 licence classes. Initially this was driven by my job description, now the option of doing some days as bike instructor has materialized, and let's just say it's got me thinking. If there's a difference between trucking and biking for me, trucking has been my profession to date, whereas biking has been my hobby (or passion if you like). Do I want to risk losing the passion for biking by letting the coaching/instructing aspect move from the passion to profession part? Decision coming in near future I suppose. The positive angle is that I've got options, so no need to rush into anything.

As an aside, a fun distraction in the middle of the year has been the removal of all four wisdom teeth, so as my wife helpfully pointed out, I now have no wisdom left. A broken wisdom tooth kicked it all off, with the dentist being professional and efficient in removing the broken tooth, which unfortunately needed slicing the gum and then stitching up. This fun procedure was then repeated on the other side about 6 weeks later, slice the lower gum to remove the tooth and stitch back together, with the upper wisdom teeth being yanked on same day as the respective lower one. To say it's been painful covers it, but more to the point it's been a huge inconvenience for the duration of the healing process, which has at times left me grumpy (or grumpier than usual) and mildly sleep deprived. Glad it's done though and basically back to normal now.

Making progress in the CNI region.

In an effort to keep my blog a bit more up to date, I've kicked off the next instalment a bit earlier.

Looking back at the past year or so, we've arrived at a place where a number of Associates are close to their Advanced Test. A collective effort that has been put in by our small group, to enable our Associates to progress without delay, was looking like a perfect storm in the making. By this I mean a number of riders bunching up to go thru their Advanced Test.

What I've admired here is the way we've been able to work together, doing a bit of switching around as it suited, just to keep our Associates moving forward. With both Lloyd (fellow Observer) and myself on rotating shifts, this often clashes with Associates only available easily at weekends. Let's not forget we all need to fit a job and family life around the Observer task. In fairness there's also been a certain amount of shuffling done by various Associates to make their way thru the learning stages. The Associates that I've spent time with, all guys from different walks of life, there's one thing they've all had in common. An open minded eagerness to improve their biking skills.

It's only fair that I pay tribute to Geoff James, the ever enthusiastic chap I first conversed with on the Kiwibiker website, then subsequently he's seen me thru to the current stage I'm at. Only fitting that in recent days Geoff was offered the position of Examiner for our CNI region, certainly a just reward for the effort he's put into revitalising IAM in his patch.

Geoff certainly won't be short of Associates to practise his new title on! This will shortly kick up another gear, or at least that's how I'm seeing it. We have a number of trainee Observers in the wings, which will be signed off in months to come, and the cycle will start all over again. The main difference now though, we can handle a few more Associates coming thru. Or put it another way, we now have capacity to take on more Associates to keep the group growing. Our waiting list is relatively short, so it won't be long before we're open to taking in fresh Associates.

On that note I'm thrilled to share what trainee Observer Tony Knight got up to. In an issue of Bikerider mag, he'd spotted an article on Roadcraft, which he reckoned was written somewhat poorly. So Tony got in touch with Sean Willmot, assistant editor for Bikerider mag. As per below, Sean took his Initial Assessment with Tony and Geoff just recently. The article below can be found in March 2018 issue of Bikerider:

Have to admit the article is well written, it certainly embodies the relaxed but thorough approach IAM takes. Now for the responses to what Tony kicked off with Sean aye?

For me the topic of post license training, especially for motorcycles, is a no brainer. Talking to some of the providers who run the Rideforever courses, the reluctance against further training shown by the motorcycling population overall seems to be waning slowly. In practical terms the Rideforever series, and to a much greater degree what AIM does, is merely a stopgap measure to improved licensing standards. Until the powers that be get around to that though, well let's just say I wasn't going to wait for an official directive to improve my skills. Fortunately bikers seem to be getting the message that improving their skills is worthwhile, whether it be avoiding a coffin or hospital food.

On a more personal note, I've found the IAM lads overall very much devoid of ego, so it makes for a genuine non threatening learning environment. As we grow, this will require some guarding so as to not get off track on that topic. A recent social outing for CNI was well received by all who managed to take part. Now we just have to try and have more of these.

On a rather wet Saturday, have just been out with a new Associate in our region. He's done a number of Rideforever courses, asked what next of the trainer, and he's ended up talking to IAM. The really neat thing for me, is how a rider who has taken on board all the Rideforever coaching, comes to IAM with all the basics for Roadcraft already instilled into him. No surprise there, for Roadcraft is the basis for Rideforever. The difference is in the detail of course. Not for everyone I'll admit, but then biking safely and smoothly need not be a boring activity at all. This misconception that IAM and Roadcraft is boring and slow, is fading away gradually. Heck, some of us even partake in track days.

All we need now is some settled weather to keep making progress...

The first year as Observer

This month marks the first anniversary of gaining the Observer tag for IAM, so an opportune time to cast my mind over the past 12 months.

It's been an interesting experience to date, many positives and the odd negative as well. Seeing riders improve with suitable guidance is always a buzz, that's a given for me and it explains my passion for helping others. The downsides are few and far between, although I'll admit that seeing and hearing some narrow minded folks running down post licence training...well it grinds my gears a bit.

In my work environment we have a similar division between those who want to keep improving, and a small number who view any initiative to "be the best you can be" with not just suspicion but even derision. Not always the older chaps either, maybe it's just not cool to be compliant, safe and sensible aye? Fortunately, the tide seems to be turning as it appears resistance to post licence training is waning in some quarters. Same as at work, once the results start to show through, more are willing to have a closer look.

Take the ACC sponsored Rideforever series as an example. At the outset, only those who craved improvement went along. I can admit to being a participant in post licence training as soon as it became readily available. The funny thing that has stood out is how resistance to this type of training seems to have waned. As an Observer for IAM, my view is that we can take over from where the Gold course signs off. The basis for Rideforever is Roadcraft, so anyone following R4E on with IAM, will quickly see the basics are the same. Where IAM differs is we have the luxury to finesse more details, firstly as it's done one on one, and secondly the coaching is ongoing. Well, ongoing until an Associate reaches the standard required for the Advanced Test or until they give up I suppose.

So if you've done R4E you may have noticed the tendency for a day course to be driven largely from the lowest common denominator? Now I've partaken in a few R4E courses, and I'm not knocking the series or providers at all, but it's inevitable that the least able in the group ends up deciding how much is learnt on a day. You can do the same course several times over a number of years and still only get most of the content or intent. That's certainly the thing I found, which is ultimately why I made the move to join IAM.

For me passing the Advanced Test was a stepping stone, then qualifying as Observer was the next one. Mentoring Associates has been fun so far, but now the past few months have been the most challenging so far though, as I'm now partaking in training the next batch of Observers. My two assigned trainee Observers are both trainers/tutors in their day jobs, so lots of similarity to my own background. Now both of these chaps can identify faults, getting to the root cause of these faults is another step, then working on corrective action is another skill. I suppose it gets easier with time, and we have multiple rides to work thru. Take for example when an Associate tends to brake often for easy bends, is this a gear selection issue? Poor forward observation? Just a habit? For me personally it was a combination of all three when I was an Associate.

Then progressing to Observer gave me a new appreciation how tricky the task of the Observer can be, now mentoring trainee Observers is cranking it up some more. But hey, we get to have fun as well. I'll share how me playing the role of fast rider, then having my trainee Observer following can quickly show to a trainee Observer how a mental overload can come about. The fast rider may have an Observer riding near or at their limit, which then leaves little or nothing in reserve to actually observe. So apart from giving a trainee Observer a real taste of this situation, we can swiftly follow it up with techniques for dealing with this, taking charge of the situation, keeping it safe and turning it around to maintain a positive learning environment. Building blocks or even light bulb moments.

The next element to keep in mind is that the IAM journey is one of multiple rides. So you might have been on a Rideforever course, the instructor gave you plenty of helpful advice during the day, but at the end you left without homework? Well, as an Observer we're expected to not just identify fault (root cause of fault really) but we have to correct it. At the end of a ride we have to send an Associate away with an action plan, so as to make a lasting change in their behaviour. This often entails homework of sorts, reading up a specific topic, then next outing we get to see how well this was absorbed. Now picture a trainee Observer learning the above steps. If one can picture an objective and break down the incremental steps needed to walk an Associate in the required direction, this is easy aye? Well, the Advanced Test is the objective and all that remains is for the Observer to keep measuring and guiding the Associate.

We all take a slightly different approach to achieving the objective, so we'll have differences between Observers. In some ways it's a problem, yet in other ways it can actually help an Associate. When I was an Associate it was certainly a bit of both. For trainee Observers, having a simple way to deal with what at the outset is one of the more challenging aspects, can help tremendously. What I'm referring to here is a trick to remember enough of the positives and negatives observed during a ride. This came from my day job some years back. Think of two pyramids, one for good, another for bad points. By nature we tend to remember the negatives easily, the positive stuff not so much. Keep the pyramids balanced is the trick, but we now need to add a priority element to both. The Wellington lads from IAM shared their 3 L approach when I did the Observer course. This sounded similar to a method from work, but 3 Ls made more sense, so I've adopted it and freely share this with my trainee Observers. The 3 Ls stand for Life / Licence / Learnings. So to use an example, if an Associate does nothing to endanger life during a ride, only one item to endanger licence, the rest is just learnings. It's now up to us to remember enough positive elements from the ride to "package" these negatives in between positives, so as to elicit an improvement from the Associate going forward. The term applied to this technique is the "shit sandwich" and it makes me chuckle, for it actually works quite well, so I've taken this into my work place. It sure as heck works better at eliciting improvements over time than the hard line encouraged in the olden days by trainers.

The variations between Observers could be deemed a problem, right? Yes and no. Before the Advanced Test there's this lovely element called the Cross Check. So whilst we can see variations in coaching approach, and even how one Observer scores/rates an Associate, by the time the cross check is done we end up a level playing field. I suppose on some level I struggle with this aspect, for to me the riding standard is fairly black & white and I'm used to working with SOPs and accepted standards in my work place. But oh well, human nature...

Those two words, human nature, are a very important part of whether the IAM approach works for you or not. An Observer needs to be able to relax an Associate, for this is essential to see the true nature or ability of the Associate. There are several high stress times for an Associate as they progress towards their Advanced Test. The initial assessment can have some prospective Associates buzzing with nerves. The cross check can similarly freak some riders out, to the point where their nerves skew the performance drastically. The advanced test itself, on unfamiliar turf, can once again unsettle a capable rider, to the point where an examiner may be wondering whether it's nerves or lack of ability.

Our methods continue to be refined as IAM in NZ grows of course. As an example, I favour putting an Associate thru a mock cross check prior to sending them off for the real deal. The objective is to help an Associate see for themselves they've got the topic under control, in effect quelling the self doubt they may have. Human nature again aye? Taking a rider away from their home turf is another aid we can use, again it instills self confidence if they can perform to a high standard on unfamiliar roads. We're never going to turn a back country resident into a city slicker, with the tendency to lane split at the slightest provocation, but we can at least give them the tools to safely negotiate city traffic. The chap who only commutes in suburban settings can similarly feel lost on roads where the centre line ends, at least initially.

Makes the task of the Observer quite a tall order, or at least appear like it at first. As perverse as this may sound, enjoying it more than ever though, and learning all the while myself.