Meet John Fricker

My Biking Journey - John Fricker 

Hi Guys, just wanted to put a few words down re me, my recent biking history and the IAM journey I have recently started. 

I am 62 years of age and recently re ignited my passion for bikes as something to do in my retirement. Like probably a lot of you guys/girls I started biking at a young age. Being bought up in Helston that took the form of a bit of Scrambling as it was known back then on a local mates farm till he broke the back of his BSA scrambler jumping it over a hay bailer and me and a mate messing around under age on rough ground and building sites with an old Mobilette moped that we rescued from the school tech lab scrap heap, got it running and used it to plague the life out of the site Securicor guys, building ramps out of roof trusses and legging it on the bike down the routes that only 12 year olds would know through the Building site we lived on. We were early residents at the beginning of what seemed to be years of building work on the start of the estates known as Trenethick Park, Helston. 

That love of doing up and riding wrecks of bikes continued through my early 20’s, after a 5 years break while I did a spell in the Merchant Navy, where time at sea and Cars took over. Unfortunately the Merchant navy was short lived due to the collapse of the Industry in the late 70’s and early 80’s. So having been made redundant I moved to London to make my fortune. Worked in the City for a spell, bikes again became my default means of transport and fun as commuting was order of the day. My trusty Honda CG 125 and my RM 250 served me well. We rode all year round back then. It was not unusual to see me wrapped around the exhaust for warmth in deep mid winter to defrost frozen hands etc. Kit was rubbish back then. I joined the Met police in 1986, where my passion for driving served me well. I did 13 years in the Met then moved on to IT consulting. Spent the years working my way up through various “Trail” bikes as they were known back then, culminating in the Suzuki DR 800 (Dr Big) a big beast but great riding position and a certain presence on the road, ideal to do battle with the dreaded Black Cabs and Route Master buses as I travelled across London from Ealing to Aldgate every day in the early days and later in West London, X district as it was known in my Police days. 

As with most, married life and a young family curtailed my biking for many years, as my better half decided I needed to be sensible as I had responsibilities. She also cancelled my Hang gliding career, so I have to thank her for enabling me to live to the ripe old age of 58, when I retired. We had by this time worked our way back to the South West and were living in Devon, so one day I said to my wife that I fancied getting a bike again, no complaints from the better half this time round, the years had eroded my responsibility level and maybe the life insurance policy seemed like reasonable compensation if I did anything stupid. The bike passion soon became an obsession, ended up with a few bikes in short order. Went from Triumph 1050 Sprint, Aprillia Mille, 98 Fireblade, another 98 Fireblade, 2017 Fireblade, Aprillia Tuono 1000, KTM GT and to my current steed a 1290 KTM SAS as I thought comfort out weighed the need for balls out speed. On a more sobering note that also swayed my stepping back from sports bikes, as during a short period my riding group lost 4 people in 5 months 2021, so I decided to take a step back from that group and follow a long held passion to get “Qualified”. During my time in the police I was fortunate to be trained as an Area car driver at Hendon, but never got the chance to do the bikes; always fancied giving it a go to see if I was good enough. 

This is where the IAM journey began, during summer 2022. My opinion for what it is worth I feel it is by far and away the best and most cost effective one to one training you can get. It is also an opportunity to spend quality time with like minded individuals and a bargain of the year! I looked at other courses but this one suited my riding style and aspirations, to be smooth, be safe and be able to make progress. The riding system is heavily based on “Road Craft” principles that were familiar from my time in the job. The local group is active and has a great vibe and we have some wonderful real estate to ride on. I paid my dues, attended my first get together at Ladock and was assigned Colin as my mentor, I feel I struck lucky as I think we hit it off, however he is a hard guy to please. I will be honest I came in thinking with my background it would be pretty easy a few rides to prove how good I was and then a quick test, oh how wrong I was. 

My attitude was wrong and I wasn’t putting in the hard yards to get the job done. Too many distractions and not enough mileage invested after each ride. Colin wasn’t slow in letting his disappointment show. But gradually I realised that if I was serious and wanted the prize I had to work at it. Each week slowly bits fell into place, other bits became more second nature and left more brain power for the harder stuff. The system became more familiar, it had been 30 years or so since I left the job and my driving and application of the system learned back then had become jaded. My better application of the learning started to show in my steady improvement, then came the day that Colin suggested he put me forward for the check ride, that was booked and I met Malcolm, the heavens opened on the day and I found my bike suit wasn’t as water proof as the Ads had said, in spite of that we sploshed our way through a very pleasant hour or so. My test was subsequently booked and today I spent another hour or so with Simon, a fellow KTM rider and ex Old Bill, so we had some bits in common. I was nervous but he soon put me at ease with his laid back style and total clarity re what he expected. The weather held off and after a nice run down the north coast from Chiverton to Camborne, Via Hayle and the Porth’s and back to Chiverton Cross for a well earned coffee and the rest is history. Simon spared my agony gave me the good news, and a few pointers and I left buzzing - super keen to get some miles in over the next few months and go for the Masters training in the spring. It is simply the best money you can spend to feed what should be a lifelong pursuit of perfection. One item ticked off my personal bucket list! So guys if you are thinking about going for it my advice is do so, but make sure your head is right, you are willing to put in the effort, respect your mentors, and the process, they are giving up their valuable time to impart their knowledge and expertise to us, to keep us safe, so try and make them proud. 

Stay shiny side up guys, and see you at the next Sunday ride out. 


J