Meet Allan Smith

Hi, I'm Allan Smith, a new member and on 9/2/22 after a few short weeks of training, I took my IAM test with Pete and achieved a First.

How did I manage to do it in a few weeks you may ask when normally it can take between 3 – 6 months ?.

 

I'm very fortunate to have been a police officer in the West Mids for 31 years (now retired) and during my time I became a Grade 1 Advanced car and bike driver/rider having been subject to ‘Road Craft’, the police drivers bible.  I've carried that training and experience with me for the rest of my current life and draw upon it daily.

 

Why did I take the IAM advanced rider  course if I'm already an Advanced police rider?, the truth is I applied for Cornwall Blood bikes and they insist that all new members have an IAM pass, no longer than 3 year ago. So I didn’t fit into that category so needed to acquire it. Also, its great to get a refresher now and again, we can all get a bit ‘rusty’. 

 

I contacted the branch and agreed to take a ride with an observer, who turned out to be Graham Barnett (as he lives close to me) and duly took an assessment ride.

At the end of which Graham could see that my skill level was still quite high but needed polishing to meet IAM pass standard. Thus it was agreed that I could be ‘fast tracked’  and undertook a series of rides with Graham to get rid of the rough edges and get into  the ‘IAM style’ . I believe that additional training is something to be embraced, not avoided.

 

We all like to think we are great riders and many of us don’t welcome criticism, but I for one was very welcome of it. Graham has a very friendly, courteous polished method of delivery and didn’t make you feel  awkward or uneasy.  He also pointed out everything that was great about my ride too which fortunately out weighed the bad.

 

Graham was only too happy to work with me around my work schedule (although no longer a copper, I'm still working) and thus we met a number of times until not long after I was told I was ‘test ready’.

 

The rest as they say, is history.

 

I look forward to meeting up with you all at some point, come over and say hi.

 

Ride safe..

 

Allan