So today I took the Ottawa Safety Council's Experienced Rider Course. Offered as frequently as the Gearing Up class, this one focuses on refining the emergency and slow-riding skills learnt from the beginner's course.
The course usually costs around $100 but OSC will offer a discount to groups. I signed up as part of the Ott-Motorcycle group and received a considerable discount so it may be worth your while to find a bunch of friends who ride in order to take advantage of this offer. Don't worry if you can't find twenty friends, OSC will fill the empty slots with other riders!
I arrived at the Mitel parking lot for 8:45 and there were already half a dozen riders waiting around for the instructors, who showed up a few minutes later and quickly began checking over the participant's bikes.
Afterwards, we started the morning off with slow circles around the parking lot to get the brakes and tires warmed up - good thing, it was chilly! From there, we moved into slow-speed maneuvers around cones in the parking lot. This was very challenging since you had to be on the clutch and brake at the same time while keeping the throttle constant - skills that were themes for the day!
From the cones we moved onto braking in a straight line and then we tried something new, deliberately trying to slide the front end. By putting the front wheel on a piece of plywood, the instructors coached us on how to make the front end slide in order to give us an idea on what a front-wheel lockup would/will feel like. The moral of the story with this exercise: if your front brake locks up, release it and reapply ASAP! After lunch, we did another new activity: going over an object in your path. The trick here is to stand up a bit on the pegs (so your legs can absorb the shock) and then gas it just before you get to the object. Of course, like most non-tarmac things - try to hit it perpendicular to your travel line!
When we finished the new stuff, we wrapped up with some old favourites: figure-eights, circles, u-turns, and finally, braking on a curve. Nothing really new here but the instructors gave us lots of practical feedback on improving our techniques and things to look out for/be aware of.
Since the course doesn't count towards licensing, everyone passed. Some insurance companies will take the certificate provided and give a discount for riders who are successful. Finally, they filled us on in on options/opinions for further training (dirt riding near Peterborough, FAST at Shannonville, Track Days... Mmmm... Can't wait!)
Definitely recommended!
