When I heard of the opportunity to join an IAM Motorcycle Skills Day at Thruxton, I jumped at the chance and so, at 6am on a bright and clear April day I found myself waking up and heading up to the famous circuit.
After signing in and getting a voucher for a bacon butty, the first order of the day was to attend a mandatory Safety Briefing covering what to do (and what not to do, like doing a u-turn and riding around the track the wrong way!) plus details of the warning flags (as Thruxton is also a working aerodrome, if someone is waving a red flag they want you to stop immediately as an aircraft may be about to crash...)
We were divided into two main groups, then split into several sub-groups with different coloured bibs so we could identify our instructors before getting a briefing on what would be happening during the day.
Because this was an IAM day, the skills training was based on the IAM's IPSGA System (Information, Position, Speed, Gear, Acceleration), so the first session was Information: On each bend there were Red, Yellow and Green cones where Red marked the Turn-in Point, yellow was where you should Apex and Green was where you should aim to exit.
We started by following one of the Instructors who would demonstrate the correct line, then, in a way similar to the Marker System in Group Rides, the second rider would drop back and the next rider move up to enable everyone to get a chance to follow the Instructor's line.
Each session was followed by a short debrief chat from the Instructors, then a full brief on what we would be doing on the next one, working through applying the IPSGA System to what we were doing, using Positive (Counter) Steering, three-stage braking and making sure we were allowing sufficient time for the bike to settle before manoeuvring etc.
In subsequent sessions, the order system changed slightly, instead of the Instructor leading, one of the riders would lead, then the Instructor, followed by the rest of use. Subsequently the lead guy would drop to the back, the second guy (behind the Instructor) would move up to Lead and the Instructor would stay in second place so we'd all get a chance to lead and have the Instructor watch us through the course.
Although there was no racing, time keeping or pace-setting etc, it was noticeable that our speeds were definitely increasing as the day went on and we got more confident about handling our bikes and discovering just what they could do if we let them!
Things started to get really fun when Overtaking was introduced and we were allowed to pass other bikes, not least because our group seemed to be making more progress than the group in front of us and we kept catching up with them, but on previous sessions we had to stay behind them instead of move past.
There were blue cones on some sections before certain bends and on the main chicane (and two "cone chicanes" that had been added to slow things down a bit in places) indicating that you should not overtake through that section, but apart from that, if you could get past someone, you were permitted to do so (and generally people would move over if they saw you coming past).
There were no serious problems although one guy did blow out his Akrapovich can and got Black Flagged for being too loud and I did get annoyed at one time when a Yellow Flag was put out, so I slowed as we had been told to do, only to be passed by half a dozen other bikes which was more than a bit naughty of them!
Unfortunately, due to the very early start, I was so tired that I had to leave before the final session, so I missed the end of day debrief, but none the less I had a most enjoyable time and certainly learned a lot more about handling my bike and knowing what was possible on it.
All in all a great day
