On Wednesday 28th July five members of the BMW Club Oxford participated in a Rapid Training ‘Ride Out’ led by Rapid Training instructor Ali Weir – himself an ex-Police motorcycle instructor. The event had been kindly arranged by James O’Shea at a special discounted rate aimed at getting riders back to riding after lockdown.

I managed to break down on the way to the meeting point at Greenham Common Business Park but after retrieving one bike and getting on another I was just about in time. We all sampled the excellent coffee at the Base Cafe and Ali asked Julian, Marcus, Paul, myself and Wolf to give a little bit of our riding history and Ali explained the format of the course.

Basically the lead rider had a wireless intercom to Ali in position 2 and also number 3 rider. That way Ali could speak to them both. Riders 4, 5 and 6 followed behind and the group was brought up by Jo who had come to take some photos and was a very useful rider herself on her F800GT.

Once clear of Newbury we followed a very interesting route up towards Wantage for about 30 minutes and then the group pulled over for a debrief. Ali gave some detailed coaching feedback to the lead rider (Marcus went first!) and then we all moved forward for one position for the next 30 minute ride and feedback session. The ride continued towards Uffington and Marlborough with the pace increasing steadily as the group absorbed Ali’s advice.

We reached the Crown at Broad Hinton for a very good lunch out on the patio to avoid any coronavirus infection. The weather was actually not very good on the day and we had some real downpours to ride through but this did not ruin the riding at all.

Once we had completed one set of rotations we then did the same again so everyone had two coaching sessions in the lead position. I thought the navigation was going to be faultless but then Paul and Jo missed the turning to the B4000 near Newbury and headed up the A338 to Wantage. We eventually managed to contact them by phone and both met us at Chievely Services for our final debrief at the end of a very full day of riding.

So what was the Rapid Training Ride Out day like? First of all the instruction from Ali was superb. As a professional police motorcycle instructor with years of experience he was able to identify areas for improvement for each rider to get to their full potential. It did not feel as though we were conforming to a ‘riding standard’ but rather exploring our potential. I have passed the IAM test and recently achieved a RoSPA Gold standard but this was at a different level and felt quite liberating. I can safely say that we all came away better riders from our day with Ali.

After this type of Ride Out day which gives an introduction to Rapid Training there is a pathway forward with BikeMaster (more track oriented) courses and RoadMaster (more road oriented) courses see the Rapid Training website for more details.

We are looking at the option to arrange some special BMW Club Rapid Training Ride Out days in 2022 which could improve over the basic offer. These would be based in the Dorset/Cranbourne Chase area, which is Ali’s home base so we can expect some fantastic roads. We would probably combine the Ride Outs with a night away in a hotel/pub so that the full day can be enjoyed. We are also considering a rider/pillion Ride Out with Ali to focus on how two people can get the best out of your motorcycle together – and to enjoy a good hotel weekend in Dorset! Space will be quite limited on these Ride Outs so look out for announcements in 2022.

In summary I would say that the Rapid Training approach created more margin, capacity if you like, in your riding. One could convert this into faster progress or more time to enjoy the ride or to create a greater margin of safety if conditions were difficult – a very useful day indeed and well worth the £99 fee.