I don’t normally take Bluhofi to work, as I live only 10 minutes walk from the office. But today I had a dentists appointment before work, and then my first IAM Observed Ride in the evening.<\/p>\n
So after work I headed to Ocean Terminal, grabbed a sandwich and ate it quickly, then headed out to meet Alan, my Observer, at the McDonald’s car park in South Queensferry.<\/p>\n
It had been a wet day, but the rain was mostly gone by the time I got there – wet roads, but no need for waterproofs. I’d no idea what to expect from the ride, but was nervously looking forward to it.<\/p>\n
Alan was easy to find, white helmet and yellow hi-viz jacket, parked at the back of the car park. I pulled up next to him, and parked my bike, aware he’d been watching me ride into the car park, pull up and park up the bike. Alan put me at my ease pretty quickly – I guess I’d expected someone who was a bit of a Highway Code anorak, but he came across as a solidly competent rider.<\/p>\n
We started with a briefing on how the rides work. I’m responsible for my own safety, regardless of what he does, or asks me to do, I need to make sure I’m comfortable that I’m safe. He’d be riding behind me, possibly to the right or left so he can see what I’m doing, and possibly much closer than normal. I was just to ignore him, and ride as if he wasn’t there – except that he’d use his indicators to show me when to turn. I was to show I was making good progress, but not break any speed limits – so where safe, ride at 30 in a 30 limit, 40 in a 40 limit, and so on – but not accelerate until past the end of limit signs.<\/p>\n
He then talked about how I’d ridden into the carpark and parked. I’d pulled up by the space, and then, with the engine still running, waddled the bike backwards into the space. I think I’ve always parked like that since I got a heavier bike – but as Alan pointed out, it’s not safe – I could slip and drop the bike, it could kick into gear. Instead, I should stop, put the side stand down, turn off the engine, and push the bike back into the space. It’s probably going to mean I need to change how I park the bike at home too – cars often leave me only minimal space to get the bike back out.<\/p>\n