Chair’s Chatter

The Masters, what all that about then?

Like many of you I know of it, heard stories about it - many of which I now know are not true, listened to various view points and other people’s thoughts, but what did I think and did I really care?

Well, I like a challenge, I like to improve my riding and learning new skills, but I don’t like tests, I don’t like reading boring books and I don’t like failure or being criticised. So, I sat on the fence for years thinking, wondering, what if? Is it true? I bet it’s over rated, waste of time, not real-world riding and of course making excuses about not having enough time, so at the end of 2023 I decided to make the time and with one other to share the journey and pain, we paid our money and set the wheels in motion. 

I’m not going to give you a blow-by-blow account of the process or the highs and lows of which there were many, you can ask me when you see me around and I’ll be glad to share my thoughts. But what I will say is this:

I went in a with a somewhat ambivalent attitude, ready to learn but expecting to be unimpressed, hoping to up my skill level but ready to have wasted the fee, ready to disagree with certain points but wanting to be enlightened by others. Strange attitude to go in with some of you might think. Maybe, but all that does it help me take a little bit of pressure off the situation.

But nevertheless, I did try, really try, and it didn’t all go well all of the time; there were days I wanted to just walk away and give up, telling myself it’s just too hard to unravel over 30 years of riding and put it back together again. However, undergoing the training with another person really helped, we did laugh and take the p**s out of each other’s mistakes, but it also made me do my homework before the next time we went out practising and the bad days were shared and never down days for too long.

So, what am I waffling on about? Was it worth it? Did I learn new skills? Was it a challenge?

The answer to all those questions is yes, definitely, 100% and I’m really glad I found out for myself and not take other people’s word for what it’s all about. Would I have been able to do it on my own?  Probably, but I reckon it would have been harder and not as much fun.

So, if you’re learning advanced riding, or training to be an Observer or trying to play the bagpipes or crochet, consider doing it with someone else, go out on an AOR or social ride, speak to people and they might be in the same position, ping out a message on the Forum that you’re going for a practice ride and someone might join you and help. What I’ve really learnt is learning is more fun with other people.

Check Tracker for rides and events right up to and over Christmas and the New Year, join in, have some fun.

And if you’re a full member planning any further training remember PATTA might help ease the financial side.

And as always if you want to give something back to the group, we’d love to hear from you.

Ride smarter, ride safe and enjoy……

Steve X