Chair’s Chatter

Hello fellow LAMkins,

I hope you’ve all enjoyed the long weekends and have had opportunities to get out and ride (when the rain has allowed) but also some time with friends and family celebrating the recent coronation.

Whether you are pro or against the idea of a monarchy, I don’t think anyone can argue that we do pomp and ceremony better than anyone else, and we should do; we have been doing it for over a thousand years.

Something else we do well is a training weekend, and thank you to Pat, Trevor and Paul for helping arrange our Norfolk trip, which was held over the first Bank Holiday weekend. I am not sure which one of you arranged the weather; I am just thankful one of you did.

There is no such thing as a perfect LAM trip, but we try hard.

Getting the right number of single, share, observer and associate places is a logistics nightmare. Add into this the need to feed and water us and then the changes that occur (some a day before departure) it’s a wonder anyone steps up to organise these events, but as I have said, thank you to those that do and a special thanks to Trevor who worked his keyboard to the bone. Thank you, Trevor; you are a legend!

It is also nice to see test passes trickling through from those associates who attended the weekend and used them for what they are laid on for, a way of supercharging your progress to test, and the two passes (as at the time of writing) would seem to back that up. Well done both.

The next event is the Kent Weekend which is a non-residential weekend.

This event will run for two days; we would ask that you only book one day, either Saturday or Sunday; However, IF you feel that you need two days of OR's, then book both, but please bear in mind that you will progress more quickly if you take time to consider and put into practice the feedback given to you on the day.

You and possibly one other associate will be allocated to an observer for the day, or possibly both days, depending on the Observer's availability for a full day of training. The meeting point will be the Toby Carvery, where an all-you-can-eat breakfast will be served from 9 am at the cost of £5, and once you and your Observer have had your briefing (and finished breakfast), you should be out on the road by around 10 am.

This event costs £25 per day and is bookable through the LAM shop. Spaces are limited to the number of Observers we have available on the day, so hurry and book before it's too late.

This event is marked as closed on TRACKER, but we will add your name once you have booked through the shop and are allocated a slot.

Please note that breakfast is payable to the venue, not to LAM, and whilst it is all-you-can-eat, this is not a challenge; eight sausages and three fried eggs might look great on your plate, but perhaps not four hours later deep in the wilds of Southeast England.

So, what to look out for in June? Well, the trees and the pollen are in full “bloom.” That brings a new set of hazards to us.

From blocked noses and inconvenient sneezes, usually just as you’ve planned, the perfect three-stage overtake.

It is amazing how far one can travel in the split second of a sneeze and, in that split second, how much can change in your information.

Likewise, that beautiful unobscured vision you had across your favourite corner or the vision into or out of the junction can disappear quite quickly when the hedges start doing their hedge thing, so take nothing for granted!

The environment we ride in is, like the information part of IPSGA forever changing and consequently, so should your riding plan.

Of course, the best thing about the summer is the longer and lighter days, so don’t be afraid to get out and practice more or ride more, lead a ride more, discover more and come back and tell us so that you can lead a ride to wherever it is you found.

Have fun, and see you soon; fingers are crossed for dry but not too hot fun on our bikes.

It will soon be September, and the Wales weekend will be upon us

Jane