This is why we do it

I'm just one of thousands, if not tens of thousands of both volunteer and paid motorcyclists world wide who spend time trying to lift the skill base of riders to reduce the risk of harm and raise their enjoyment of riding on two wheels.  I guess the reasons why we do it are all pretty similar in that it maintains our own personal standards whilst trying to help others.  And let's not mention that essential ingredient of having fun!

Watching all riders go from strength to strength over the months of coaching with IAM to pass their Advanced Police Roadcraft test gives a lot of quiet satisfaction and pride.  However, some give a bit more pleasure than others and I'd like to introduce Colin.

Colin and his Road King

Colin joined IAM in 2013 and before IAM had established a presence in his region, it was a 4 hour haul up to Auckland, spending a further 2 hours on a demanding mentored ride; then riding 4 hours home again.  His level of commitment to raising his skills was truly humbling.  Even more recently, it's still been over 2 hours each way to attend more "local" advanced coaching.  Furthermore, on both the longer hauls and shorter ones, Colin unfailingly showed up in all weathers.

Colin's business and family commitments disrupted his coaching for lengthy periods but he showed real determination  to get the job done.   On Wednesday, I took Colin for his formal Advanced Test, covering city, freeway, and country road environments and he absolutely aced it.  The enthusiastic response Colin got from the IAM coaching team and other members showed just how much his perseverance and fabulous attitude was recognised and makes it all so worthwhile.  As the title of the post says: "THIS IS WHY WE DO IT".

Oh, and don't let anyone say that a cruiser isn't the ideal machine to make rapid progress on twisty back roads, it's all about situational awareness, road position, throttle control and being in the right gear - just follow Colin and be impressed!

There was only one downside to the day.  About 25 km from home, I got a puncture!  A bit of a wobble whilst cornering alerted me to the fact and I pulled over to have a look.  Sure enough, the rear tyre was well down but I couldn't see the source of the leak.  It was in the middle of nowhere with no cell connectivity either.  Fortunately, I always carry an electric pump and a bit of trial pumping showed that it would hold air for a wee while.  That last 25 km took well over an hour with regular stops to add air but at least I got home!

An inspection the next morning revealed a small slit in the corner of one of the rain grooves of my Pilot Road 5 tyre which was only fitted 2000 km ago - bugger!  I was a bit concerned about unseen damage to the carcass through running at low pressures so this morning, took it by car to a dealer about 140 km away who had a direct replacement in stock if the need arose.  A quick inspection showed that the tyre was damaged internally.  Offsetting the pain to my wallet was the outstanding service at Drury Motorcycle Performance Centre.  From arrival to leaving was under 30 minutes and they even made me a cup of coffee in that time - how good is that?

The new tyre getting fitted

Back home and ready to assemble

Aligning both wheels with a laser rig

Back out on the road again, scrubbing in the new rear hoop

Road safety concerns all of us and with increasing traffic volumes and drivers being distracted by any number of in-car devices, drugs, alcohol and downright poor attitudes and skills, it affects us all.

There is a very sobering website covering every road death in Australia since 1989.  The way that the graphics are presented make the statistics especially poignant.  It's HERE .   My best friend and close workmate was killed in a road accident in the late 1980's and only a few minutes after being told, Jennie and I, accompanied by a police officer; had to break the news to his wife and children.  That's not something you ever want to do more than once in a lifetime and it still haunts me in darker moments.

It was this tragedy which had such a big impact on my life in so many ways and every one of the deaths represented on the Australian website and the rest of the world have people who are profoundly affected for the rest of their lives.  The main hope is that at least some good also comes out of it for those left behind.  In my case, it caused me to focus on what was really important in life.  Indirectly, I suppose it caused my later involvement with the IAM rider and driver improvement programme, both from a personal benefit basis and being able to pay it forward later by helping others to become better riders.

On an altogether different note, for my 70th birthday late last year, our wonderful daughter gave me a voucher so that we could go together on an Asian cooking course in Auckland.  We finally found time to redeem the voucher and just over a week ago, attended the course.  I chose Malaysian food as I'd never cooked it before.

The tutors were huge fun, easy to follow and everything was prepared from scratch.  Here are some photos of the occasion.

Our gorgeous daughter - fantastic facilities

Demonstrating before we start - oh those spice aromas!

Teamwork - Victoria wielding a sharp knife whilst I wash rice 

Plating up - perfect rice dome

Ta-daaaa...... two delicious meals!

Pretty good, even if I do say so myself!  Tasted divine

We had a fantastic time together but I'm now under pressure to cook it for Jennie.  Managed to stall for a wee while as we can't get some of the fresh Asian herbs where we live but our daughter has sided with her mother and will be mailing some down from Auckland!

Not your normal day on the road!

The general perception of government departments (sometimes with justification! ) is of inflexible and slow to act bureaucracies, which are totally out of touch with the general public.  Well, I've just had that notion stood totally on its head, at least in the instance I'm about to describe.

I guess that motorcyclists worldwide have a much higher accident rate per capita than cars, trucks etc and the cost of medical care from trauma is pretty high.  I'm sure that a lot of public servants would like to see us gone from the roads.  Accepting personal responsibility for our riding standards and raising skills is one clear path to reducing the risk of serious harm but leaving that aside for now, it is fantastic to find a government department who are working in a positive manner to improve the lot of riders - who'd have thought it???

 The Coromandel Peninsula which I live on has a low static population, it's pretty remote and has challenging, twisty roads that run by the sea and over the Coromandel mountain range.  In other words, it's a bikers paradise and the so-called Coromandel Loop has an international reputation. Because it attracts lots of bikers, a percentage of them have a distinct lack of skill and very quickly run out of talent on this unforgiving road.  Consequently, it has a high accident rate.

Enter the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA).  Its broad purpose is to deliver transport solutions within NZ on behalf of the government - a pretty wide mandate. Rather than introduce punitive measures against motorcyclists, they looked at initiatives which would positively benefit the 2-wheeled community in conjunction with some other specialist government agencies.  Over the last couple of years, they chose the southern part of the Loop to implement a range of measures which would be of  particular benefit to bikers.

Some of these measures included:
Sealing property entrances to stop gravel ingress onto the road
Better design of roadside storm drains
Improved safety barriers for motorcycles
Better signage and reflective chevrons for bends etc (advisory speeds are marked on signage in NZ)
Modification of roadside cliffs, banks and foliage for better sightlines
Improved road surface and clean-up after repairs
More roadside emergency helicopter landing pads in remote areas. "The medical Golden Hour"
Perceptual countermeasures (Different road markings and other visible cues on deceptive corners, designed to reduce the rider’s speed, improve their lane position and give greater separation from traffic travelling in the opposite direction.)

The graphic below is part of an explanatory pamphlet showing the Southern Loop.  The letter P shows where perceptual countermeasures have been employed and H is where helicopter pads have been installed.  The other initiatives have been implemented as appropriate throughout the Loop.  The full pamphlet can be accessed by clicking here HERE :

Southern Coromandel Loop initiatives

The million dollar question is have they worked?  From personal experience, the maintenance-oriented improvements and signage certainly have.  It's too early for any statistically valid data from the perceptual countermeasures but it's certainly prompted some discussions among riders on bike forums.  Overseas research (check the internet) suggests that it's particularly useful for riders (and drivers) with less experience of riding in those conditions. Riders with higher levels of training tend to use a range of other cues to enhance their situational awareness.

Just before Christmas, I was invited to a preliminary meeting with NZTA and associated agencies to discuss extending the initiatives to the northern section of the Loop.  The invitation was extended because of both my IAM training and being a local from Coromandel Town. Several other riders from the wider region were invited for their input too.  The first thing which struck us was that the various agency representatives were very professional and it was clear that our input was valued.  A number of the agency reps are also keen riders which was an excellent sign!

Last week, I received an invitation to accompany the various agency reps to drive round the northern part of the Loop.  This is it:

Northern Coromandel Loop

Met them at Kopu at the southern end of the Loop for a clockwise inspection of the route.  They had detailed motorcycle accident statistics over a number of years marked on the maps, together with the severity and details of the accident.  Each location was investigated for sightlines, road conditions and many other variables.  In addition, certain spots were investigated to see if perceptual countermeasures would be of potential value.  Possible locations for rescue helicopter landing pads were also identified.  My role as a regular rider on the Coromandel Loop was to give feedback on road conditions, sightlines, tar bleed and so on which constitute a potential hazard to riders.  One example is a particular tight bend with a cliff on one side and the sea on the other.  The base of the cliff is within half a metre of the road and particularly after wind or rain, pea gravel comes off the cliff and settles in the nearside lane.  Limited forward view makes it an even bigger potential hazard.  All dutifully recorded by NZTA for appropriate remedial action!

Blind downhill  25 km/hr left-hander with a sheer drop on one side - the site of a serious accident

The Coromandel-Whangapoua Hill 5 minutes from home - biker heaven! 

Potentially risky overtake with limited forward view

In the photo above, the SUV driver has relied on the logging truck driver signalling that an overtake was ok because of his view from a higher vantage point.  The SUV driver would not have been able to have a clear view from the lower vantage point because of the small trees to the left of the photo. In some locations, clearing some of the vegetation to improve sightlines is carried out to mitigate risk.

In the photo immediately below, this is the approximate view the SUV driver would have had as he crossed back onto his side of the road.  Any approaching vehicle would be masked by the vegetation and during the overtaking manoeuvre, there would have been even less visibility.  Buggered if I would have put my safety (and that of my family) in the hands of the logging truck driver in this particular set of circumstances even if he was trying to do the right thing - would you?

View of oncoming traffic obscured by vegetation

Unforgiving corner with steep drop.  Our house is on the hill in the background!

The last 30 km of the northern part of the Loop is across a stretch of road shared with the southern part where remedial work has already been implemented and we stopped to look at a few spots.  The two photos below show just one example of perceptual countermeasures on one corner.

Downhill traffic is in the lane on the right of the photo

The broad intent is catch the rider's attention and to slightly channel them away from traffic heading in the opposite direction.  Also note that the plastic vertical edge marker posts are closely spaced as a guide to corner severity, particularly as they are reflective at night.

View in the opposite direction

I've deliberately avoided going into technical details on this post but wanted to give NZTA and their associated agencies accolades for being so proactive on behalf of motorcyclists in this instance. Pragmatic people, good listeners, easy to talk to and consummately professional.   As I've been typing this, an email from NZTA has arrived with all the action items for checking - how good is that??  Really impressed and pleased to have contributed in some small way.

Before finishing, it's worth mentioning that one of the other government agencies represented on this project, the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC); has contracted qualified providers to run heavily subsidised one day refresher courses for motorcyclists under the Ride Forever banner.  There are 3 levels designed to cater for different levels of experience plus a specialist course for urban scooters.  More info HERE .  The most expensive course is $50 for a whole day so no-one can claim that the cost is prohibitive!  Plaudits are due for the holistic approach to improving motorcycle safety as opposed to trying to legislate us off the road!  These initiatives aren't the complete answer to improving motorcycle safety but it's a great step in the right direction.  Taking personal responsibility for one's own riding standards is still the big ticket item!