Rideouts Saturday & Sunday (18th & 19th)

I had definitely lost my concentration, needed a good drink and break. Didn't brake till I was right in front of those directional arrows.

Sorry Grant for knocking into your bike. I had started to use my rear brake again, especially at low speeds, I went through my last tyre in 900 miles, and although I off the line quick, many people suggested that the rear brake wore the rear out really quick, so I stopped using for a while. When I panic braked here I didn't use the rear.

Lewis!!! Welcome. Will have a look at the vid in a mo. Just wanted to say hi! Sorry to hear about the broken bones and op. I take some responsibility because I missed the turn for the cafe after Llandrindod. I went back today and know exactly where I went wrong. After coming out of Llandod, there is a roundabout that says (Left) Hereford (Straight Ahead) Builth. Should have taken the left, Cafe's right on the corner. So, apologies as I did intend to stop earlier for some food. Hope the op goes well and you're back on the bike soon.

Ronnie.

Thanks, I signed up a few days ago to checkout the bikes for sale here. Ah it's ok, not really a big deal, mostly annoyed that I'm going to miss the best months for riding that I waited all winter for. Not your fault at all, so many things I could have done different to avoid it.

Yeah, it isn't the easiest to see, you come out of the corner before it fairly fast and its hidden by the petrol station.

I hope it's not too long.

[squirrel_hunter]

Good to hear from you, was wondering how the foot was. Shame its going to need an operation, hope its not going to stop your BikeSafe.

Good little video, what's the music on it? Also without sounding morbid I am interested to see the crash footage, though the word "footage" sounds a little harsh...

Edit: Just seen it come up, watching it now.

Originally Posted by squirrel_hunter

Good to hear from you, was wondering how the foot was. Shame its going to need an operation, hope its not going to stop your BikeSafe.

Good little video, what's the music on it? Also without sounding morbid I am interested to see the crash footage, though the word "footage" sounds a little harsh...

Edit: Just seen it come up, watching it now.

That's strange, it was in my post above but somehow it's gone.

or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTlYIpWzxCQ

Won't be able to do my bikesafe, but I'm phoning them next week to change to one in August.

Thanks, the song is The Distance by Cake.

Oh and I've got to find the footage of that ricer with the ****ty body kit you pointed out.

[squirrel_hunter]

Links there now.

Crash Analysis: Yes its concentration and observation. I think you missed the sign for the junction and the give way warning or at least you didn't react to it as I thought you should. On the video, look in your mirror, you can see me maintaining distance to you right up until the give way sign before I drop back and disappear. That's not the corner that was me backing off ready. Once you go round the corner and see the parked bike you try to break, but you are a little to fast and there was a lot of dirt in that gutter that you were riding on, once you touched the brakes on that surface, you're going down.

So what have we learned from this? I think the first thing is that if you are tired or need food/ a break then its fine to stop. On group rides like this when we pull in if you need more time out of the saddle then that's fine let the other riders know and it will be accommodated. The other thing I think happened is you focused on Grants tyre or the gutter, always look were you want to go, not where you want to crash. And finally if you have a lot of braking to do for a drop off that isn't going to happen in time then its fine to run on, if the other bikes have pulled in but you cant make it for whatever reason then carry on, we will regroup and not leave you behind.

Finally most of this is just experience and I was pleased with the standard of ridding you showed throughout the rest of the day (excluding this and that other little bit) considering your time on a bike. Please don't take any of this as criticisms just hopefully some constructive feedback. I would be more than happy to ride with you again.

Originally Posted by squirrel_hunter

Links there now.

Crash Analysis: Yes its concentration and observation. I think you missed the sign for the junction and the give way warning or at least you didn't react to it as I thought you should. On the video, look in your mirror, you can see me maintaining distance to you right up until the give way sign before I drop back and disappear. That's not the corner that was me backing off ready. Once you go round the corner and see the parked bike you try to break, but you are a little to fast and there was a lot of dirt in that gutter that you were riding on, once you touched the brakes on that surface, you're going down.

So what have we learned from this? I think the first thing is that if you are tired or need food/ a break then its fine to stop. On group rides like this when we pull in if you need more time out of the saddle then that's fine let the other riders know and it will be accommodated. The other thing I think happened is you focused on Grants tyre or the gutter, always look were you want to go, not where you want to crash. And finally if you have a lot of braking to do for a drop off that isn't going to happen in time then its fine to run on, if the other bikes have pulled in but you cant make it for whatever reason then carry on, we will regroup and not leave you behind.

Finally most of this is just experience and I was pleased with the standard of riding you showed throughout the rest of the day (excluding this and that other little bit) considering your time on a bike. Please don't take any of this as criticisms just hopefully some constructive feedback. I would be more than happy to ride with you again.

Not at all I appreciate the feedback.

I knew I needed to stop, but thought I could go a bit further before I had to, really need to start trusting my gut feeling.

Yeah, I remember thinking there was going to be another corner and only suddenly realised there was a junction ahead just when I started to brake. Yeah, I should have swerved to the right, but it happened so quick that I was braking as hard as I could, didn't look like I was going to stop before Grants tyre (Target fixation), so put a bit more force in when I locked the front.

The overtake where I almost went into a head on car still looks deceiving on the video (Will upload that here too) It looks like there isn't anything ahead in the other lane (possibly blocked by the car ahead, or dip in the road) and I couldn't out accelerate the car in front. I think he might have purposely accelerated to stop me from overtaking.

[squirrel_hunter]

Originally Posted by BikePike

The overtake where I almost went into a head on car still looks deceiving on the video (Will upload that here too) It looks like there isn't anything ahead in the other lane (possibly blocked by the car ahead, or dip in the road) and I couldn't out accelerate the car in front. I think he might have purposely accelerated to stop me from overtaking.

Not sure of that, I certainly didn't see anything like that when I was ridding with you. It is worth adding that videos can make things look faster or closer then they actually are, but yep nothing wrong with looking at that bit again and thinking over what happened. The other bit I was referring to was what we discussed at the fuel stop, and like I said on the day I did see that you took that on board in your riding later on, so no need to go in to that again in any detail.

But coming back to overtaking, remember there is nothing wrong with moving out to make the overtake, deciding its not safe and moving back in until the space opens out.

Originally Posted by squirrel_hunter

Not sure of that, I certainly didn't see anything like that when I was ridding with you. It is worth adding that videos can make things look faster or closer then they actually are, but yep nothing wrong with looking at that bit again and thinking over what happened. The other bit I was referring to was what we discussed at the fuel stop, and like I said on the day I did see that you took that on board in your riding later on, so no need to go in to that again in any detail.

But coming back to overtaking, remember there is nothing wrong with moving out to make the overtake, deciding its not safe and moving back in until the space opens out.

What was that again? I can't remember what was said at a fuel stop?

What I meant to say was, the overtake looked clear, there was only a slight bend in the road, moved out to check, couldn't see anything, then went for the over take but they guy in front accelerated as well. then I had to pop back in, but it was fairly close, with my camera in 720p it's got a 170 degree lense so everything does seem much closer though.