Did my assessed ride this morning, which consists of a ride followed by a motorcycle policeman, then a ride with me following the policeman, then a little bit of the reverse again.

Met up in Peebles, where the Police station has relocated, which I now know due to the map I bought at the petrol station. There were three of us on the Bikesafe run, with two motorcycle police from Lothian and Borders. The other two guys who arrived first (must have been because of the GPS on their bikes) went with one, I went with the other police bike. We got the radios on, so we could listen to what the policemen where saying, the first three headed off and with about 10 minutes head start we headed off too.

Then a mixture of A and B roads, with even splits between the two. A few pointers for my riding:

• When turning right aim to angle the bike slightly, so the turn to the right is easier. I.e. point the bike at the angle of the give way line to the centre line.
• Get braking done before leaning the bike over – I’ve developed a bit of a habit of dragging a bit of rear brake into sharp corners.
• Think about speed and use the information available on the road – i.e. more paint more danger. Chevrons point to a sharp bend. It’s all about stability on a bike, and brakes, cornering and the engine all de-stablise the bike. I.e. don’t hoon up to a corner and go heavy on the brakes as the road surface might not lend itself to that approach.
• Head up through the corners, position left for right hand corners and right for left handers. Watch for oncoming traffic cutting corners and therefore be prepared to compromise visibility for safety.

It was all over too quickly – an experience to hear the commentary picking out all the road features to be seen.