Tuesday 28th August 2018 was a very emotional day for Tracy and me, as we delivered our last learner training session before closing the school for CBT & DAS courses.
It was made all the more special because the candidate for that day – taking his category A2 module 2 motorcycle test – was Konnor, Tracy’s 19-year old son!
Konnor had never ridden a bike before taking his CBT with us a couple of months before, then taking to the roads on a Yamaha YBR125, riding to and from his job at Flip-Out in Manchester. Having never had a car driving lesson, he was typical of many new riders we’ve had the pleasure of training over the past 4 and a half years. We didn’t do anything special for him, just put him through our standard 3.5 day DAS course, which he shared with Becca, instructor Anne’s daughter. She passed her module-1 and module-2 tests first time, but due to test availability we weren’t able to get Konnor a mod-2 test on the same day. Like Becca, he passed his module-1 test first time with a clean sheet (no faults). But the module-2 test is different, it involves negotiating the roads and dealing with other traffic, not simply riding round some cones in a car park. On the day of his test, as always, Paul took him for a warm-up ride prior to the test itself, offering further guidance on planning ahead and being pro-active, not re-active. It worked, because Konnor not only passed first time, but also with a clean sheet!
So we closed the chapter of our lives where we’ve worked hard to help people get their full bike licences, and concluded with 230 people passing their tests thanks to Inner Circle Training. Many of those had turned up to say farewell at our “Retirement Bike Night” the week before.
Now that Inner Circle Training is no longer delivering CBT & DAS courses, what ARE we doing?
Well, firstly the most important thing is we are continuing to offer advanced rider training and the DVSA’s Enhanced Rider Scheme (ERS). We are continuing to offer ERS assessments for riders looking to volunteer for Blood Bikes Manchester.
Anne has now obtained her RoSPA Diploma in Advanced Riding Instruction and passed the DVSA’s motorcycle instructor’s theory test (twice as many questions and a higher pass rate than the standard motorcycle theory test). She will soon join Paul in becoming a DVSA Enhanced Rider Scheme Trainer.
Which means that between the 2 of us we will be able to offer all our advanced training courses, including our Training Tours.
In the meantime, Paul is jetting off to the US to ride a 4,000 mile trip from Florida to Nova Scotia in Canada. On his return, Tracy will be joining her family for a holiday to Orlando. Then next year, Paul will be guiding a Gloebusters trip from London to Tokyo, before Tracy joins him for some more travelling!