Ooh, I’m blogging

Posted on February 9, 2012 Updated on February 11, 2012

So, I’m having a go at blogging with WordPress. Not sure I will have loads to say but 2012 is quite a year with the Olympics in London.

It is partly this I am going to blog about as this has been one of my targets since about five years ago when I thought I’d put my previous experience of cycle races and motorcycling together again as a volunteer Motorcycle Escort for British Cycling.

As a kid, I enjoyed going to cycle races with my father at the weekends where he was a volunteer race commissaire, which is kind of a referee plus safety marshal all wrapped up in one. A thankless task in many cases but an important one as cycle races wouldn’t happen without these people, like many amateur sports.

I could tell it was thankless even as a 13/14 year old, but I could also tell it was rewarding and it supported the sport my elder brother was starting to excel in as a Junior, which is a category for 16-18 year olds. It was probably this which sparked my enthusiasm to volunteer my services for the good of other cyclists. That and the fact that I wasn’t as slender or as talented in suffering as my elder brother, something that’s not changed much in 20 years, well, apart from the weight, he catches me up every now and then.

Motorcycling itself came naturally to me at a young age, I was about 21 when I got my first bike, much to my mums dismay. After cycling on the roads since about 13/14 and learning the rules of the road travelling at my fathers side for thousands of miles, I’d learnt all but the controls of a motorcycle but that didn’t take long either. A 125cc bike is all a 21year old could afford to insure in Northern Ireland as the accident rates are horrendously high for a small region, even worse in the Republic.

A move to England saw an upgrade to a VFR750f for about 5/6 years and during this period I travelled back to Ireland to act as Motorcycle Escort on the annual Tour of Ulster cycle stage race that my father used to organise after years as Commissaire, Judge or whatever was required.

The two finally joined in a marriage that seemed to have been written in the stars.

The next step in doing the same in England for British Cycling was to find out how and who I needed to talk to as there was limited info available on the web and early attempts of email contact seemed to fall on deaf ears, or blind eyes as it is.

By chance, I’d mentioned these difficulties in passing, to a colleague who volunteered as a computer results specialist for cycle races, whilst at the Tour of Ulster. The same year, he called me from the Tour of Britain asking me if I was still interested as he was chatting with a guy who was involved with the motorcycle escort riders at British Cycling, a chance meeting with the now late Rob Jeffries. As enthusiastic in his love for his sport as my father is, he advised and assisted me greatly in getting started, first understanding the wealth of knowledge I had on the sport and then advising on how to proceed quickly and effectively do I achieved a similar status in England as I had in Ireland.

So, the advanced motorcycle test it was for me. Achieve this and I’d be accepted for observation with a view to being a fully fledged BC National Escort Group rider.

The advanced qualification is available through Rospa or the IAM in a similar way, hours of riding along with observers every Sunday possible, until they felt I was ready for testing, book a test and get a chief observer to give the okay so your not wasting your test fee. I didn’t find this difficult, but I did learn a lot, more about what it was that I did already do to make myself a safe or advanced rider but also a lot of good techniques to improve weak areas or uncommon situations, like controlled slow riding. Always easier to ride into a space or walk a bike backwards than ride slowly in control to perform a Uturn for example. You can always tell an advanced motorcyclist in a car park, they’re the ones with the bike reversed into a space, ready to leave with a safe view after Uturning into the space.

I turned up at a race in South London, with a view to being observed by an experienced member of the NEG, Paul Morton, son of the now National Co-Ordinator, Tom Morton, after Rob Jeffries had had a word on my behalf to try and fast track me due to previous experience and recommendations.

It was a fairly simple circuit race, the type we wouldn’t need to escort in Ireland as traffic is far more cooperative and relaxed, or Irish, you could say.

With just one misdemeanour, something I’d never come across in Ireland due to only working at higher level races, I was signed off and ready to go. In fairness, Paul called Tom to confer after this minor incident and he told me he only done this as it was so visible just how much more experienced I was as an escort in how I carried out every other aspect of my role. Theres always more we can all learn and this was no exception for me.

That was it, I had qualified as a NEG rider and was now available for races in my area.

The start of a five year plan was one year in and on target.

The first big event was the actual Olympics roadrace test event itself, the London Surrey Classic as they named it. In a very different role, I was among the most experienced NEG riders working as a Sector Manager which was an interesting and different role but in the end rewarding.

Next stop, get the right experience to be selected for the Tour of Britain, as close a race to the Tour de France as the British Isles can offer, even including some of the same teams and a few top level riders.

I worked on various races over 2 seasons, also completing an Assistant Commissaires course on Rob Jeffries recommendation, so I could experience everything required to gain selection for the ToB. Fairly simple for me having spent years assisting my father.

In my area, we don’t have a Premier Calendar race, so I never got a chance to work with the peers who would be responsible for the selection so had to rely on my natural charm to convey my suitability for selection. Didn’t quite work the first year but I showed willing and the right people noticed. I was also patient and cooperated with the programme. The reward was being put on the reserve list for a second year but this time selected at short notice to pilot a press photographer.

The 2011 ToB was actually one of the most competitive of recent years so I was experiencing life in the toughest surroundings with the most experienced staff and teams all taking part in what for many was an initial preparation for the Olympics in 2012 and as it was so soon after the test event, they where there anyway.

And that’s where I am now, well almost, add in my volunteer role for LOCOG as I’ve been selected to work at the velodrome starting with the test event in one week and training this weekend.

Will blog as I go when I can.