The 3rd of October dawned a crisp autumnal morning
with the scent of damp leaves and last nights
chimney smoke hanging ripe in the air. Today was
no normal day for the Bike Safe London team. Today
was BikeSafe-London Tescos day and had been formulated
by one of their HGV drivers ,a John Millar, who
had recently attended a day at the Ace and was
suitably impressed with the format.With over 30
bikers at his depot he wondered if we could come
to him. No problem we replied.Have bike will travel.
So leaving their usual encampment of the Ace Cafe
the team prepared themselves to head north, to
border country. The Met./ Essex boarder to be
precise. Normally inhabited by Reveres, Brigadoon's
and apple scrumpers this was not familiar territory
for most of the team who looked at the map in
trepidation. Luckily Kate, a northerner by birth,
planned a cheeky little route taking in some twiddly
twisties, swirling sweepers and treacherous townships
in order to test the mettle of the hardest two
wheeled warrior.
The day started well with blue skies and a warm
welcome. There were 9 Tesco employees and 1
vicar which was really handy if anyone needed
a service on their bike! From a neighbouring
parish, he was initially worried about having
his collar felt by the old bill but was quickly
put at ease by the light hearted introduction.
What followed was the usual time honoured gaffs
throughout the day such as "more tea vicar"
"crumpet vicar" and "the curate
tells me you've got a mighty fine organ"
etc etc.These he took all in his stride and
produced much mirth and merriment to all those
on the day.
After
the usual morning presentations the first ride
was bathed in sunlight and showed off the Met/Essex
countryside in all its glory.Returning to the
canteen, the table was awash with heroic capers
of overtakes, police reactions and missed opportunities.
Made all the more adventurous by the release
of nervous tension and realising they had survived
their first ride with ECILOP glued in their
mirror.
Upon returning to their bikes for the afternoon
ride, black clouds threatened and the custom
cruisers on the course looked nervously at their
Autosolve subscription. They needed fear not
as apart from the odd spasmodic shower ,which
did little to dampen their spirits, all returned
with dry pants (no need for debriefs then) and
big grins.
After
the final chat about their afternoons efforts
and a Collision investigation presentation,
hands were shook and backs patted. They had
all done well and were really keen, after having
had their riding technique observed, to go on
to do advanced training courses. This gave us
a great deal of satisfaction as after all that's
what BikeSafe is all about.
So
anyone out there who works for a large organisation
why not take John's lead and give us a call.
After all when it comes to safer motorcycling
every little helps. |
