Shortcuts

by John Reblin

Hope you all had a great 4th of July! That day long ago our Founding Fathers said, hey Great Britain, get outta here! The 4th is the time to reflect that 56 of America’s original freedom fighters signed the piece of paper that if caught, the Brits would have more than likely killed those signers for committing treason. Those 56 felt compelled to sign this, our Declaration of Independence. Fast forward to 2019 and we are hitting the meat of the summer, hot humid weather, longer days and the calendar full of things to do. Yes, we are watching out for our rights, but we are also getting that time to do what we love to do, ride our bikes. Along with getting the warmer weather we love, we seem to be in that trough of wet stuff with rainstorms rolling through the state like it was the Florida coast, but ride on we must.

So, besides everything else going on here at Stately Reblin Manor, I found out I need to get recertified for my job. It used to involve a week of traveling to some really cool place that you got to go to and explore, like the Seattle area or North Carolina. This go around it is in northern Illinois. Wow, that could be exciting, said no one ever. With the number of people needing this training, it was easier for the company to fly the instructor out and to bring us all in for a week in Illinois. For me, the big decision is do I stay there for the week or drive back and forth?

I always look forward to the training, learning something new, discovering a small trick that makes the job a little easier and faster, sharing ideas of what works and what doesn’t and giving your opinion of what would make a better working product. It seems that after doing this for a while you start taking short cuts, making assumptions that leads you to just put parts in hoping that they should fix the problem instead of taking that 10-15 minutes to actually diagnose the issue rather than just installing the part for a quick fix.

It’s the same thing when you sign up to take a BRC2 course. Whether you sign up with Safe Rider or find a site down the street from you, they have the trained instructors that can make a difference in your riding skills. These people have proven to their peers that they have the stuff that can not only teach the beginner how to ride that bike, but also can take an old die-hard rider and show them a new trick or two.

Those instructors watch to make sure you’re not taking that shortcut. They are making sure you are watching and judging the road surface, looking for the traction to stay upright. They make sure you are using both brakes to stop in the shortest space possible if needed, to avoid hitting a car, deer or some other obstruction. They watch to see if you are looking at where you want to go through the curve and that you are watching to change direction quickly in case something gets into your lane of travel. They instruct on how to look out for potentially dangerous situations and how to create possible escape solutions before they are needed.

These men and women that are training you have spent a lot of time working on their skills, in order to help recognize your bad habits and how you are taking a shortcut or two while you are out riding. They talk about the loss of skills if you partake in a few adult beverages and decide to head out on your bike to the next stop. This group of instructors wants you to ride safely and increase your chances of arriving home safely.

You still have time yet this year to get signed up for a BRC2 course. If you have taken the BRC2 course a time or two and think there is nothing there anymore to challenge you, take the next step and try the Ultimate Bike Bonding Course, or the Advanced Rider Course. Whatever your skill level there is a training course out there that can help you hone in on your skills.

On August 20th we are again having a Peer Exchange discussion as part of the Motorcycle Safety Advisory Council the afternoon before the Wisconsin Governor’s Conference on Highway Safety. The event is being held in Wisconsin Dells at Wilderness Resort, Glacier Canyon Conference Center, 45 Hillman Rd, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965. The Peer Exchange is scheduled from 3 pm – 5 pm. Got an idea, thought, criticism in what is going on as far as rider safety, training and awareness is concerned, this would be the place to voice it.

Free tickets for the Motorcycle Peer Exchange are available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pre-conference-45th-governors-conference-on-highway-safety-tickets-59854795304.

John