Just read this; and it's made a great start to the day. Nice one.
This what an uplifting start to the week, well done Tim, the confidence you have released within Liam will stand him in good stead for other life challenges.
Just read this; and it's made a great start to the day. Nice one.
Ok Timothy .... You've had 48 hours of lime light which you deserve ....
My best day instructing;
I get notification of a days coaching, and in the blurb where the student can write something if they wish, I read that this female students partner has recently passed away after a short illness. Her partner was a biker, she had got into biking through him and had taken her test maybe 18 months previously, and that since he had passed away she had not been out and had lost her confidence. Oh, and she had a Harley. She didn't want to shelve her biking and really missed it.
I pitch up for the day at our prearranged meeting point (service station), and if I'm honest, ( we're all guilty of pre-conceptions), I was expecting a sort of 'Patsy' from Ab-Fab. I had in my mind a Harley wobbling into the carpark with a woman in her late 50's with bleach blonde hair and big panda eyes!
At the allotted hour an 883 rolled in, and off jumps a 30 something year old lady. She's bubbly, polite, (nervous) and is a consultant anaesthetist, with a leather bag thrown over her shoulder. My pre-conception couldn't have been more wrong!!
With all these days of coaching, we break the ice with a coffee, and of course the conversation rolls into "why are you here, How can we help, what's your biking background, what are you looking for today .." etc
This lady (lets call her Jane, but thats not her real name), gets about ten words out of her mouth before big fat tears stream down her face. She's very frank and open, talks about her partner that has passed away between big gulps and face wipes, that she was devastated, that they enjoyed their biking together so much, and that she desperately wants to carry on biking. She is clearly still very raw, and still mourning.
I listened, and .... I cried too! As she told her story it seemed the most natural thing in the world to do!! It didn't feel embarrassing, it was deeply moving and the two of us sat there for nearly an hour as she poured her heart out and we both cried!
Eventually it's time to get going, so she is given her radio and we walk to the bikes. Jane is nervous and very shaky in her voice, we have a pep talk about her mindset in the context of the last hour and if she's ok to carry on, and she's good to get on with the day.
And our day is as you'd expect, a day of coaching, starting at the beginning and looking at all the standard things you'd expect from positioning to limit points to bend assessment, scanning, acceleration sense .. and so on.
We regularly stopped, (lunch, tea breaks), and when we did, she talked, I just sat and listened, and we cried !!
Fast forward to the end of the day, we have covered about 120 miles of A and B roads; fast flowing, twisty technical, and this woman has put every ounce of energy she has into her day, wanting to learn.
From wobbling out of the car park with a shake in her voice, nervous, unsure, and clearly frightened of what demons she may or may not unleash is her grieving process and how biking is part of that grieving, she is now flowing down the road like a swan with great lines (bright girl - only had to tell her something once), and a huge smile on her face (in-between the down pours of tears at our tea breaks). It is a joy to watch her blossom.
At 5, we say good bye.
In any professional work there is of course a boundary of ..... well, professionalism! At what point the lines of professionalism and good old humanity merge, I don't know, but it seemed entirely natural and .... HUMAN! to give her a hug as we said goodbye.
She squeezed the life out of me! We stood in the car park hugging each other for a good 30 seconds, both cried again and said our good byes!!
I guess for her, I was a stranger that she hadn't met before, was not going to meet again and so it was easy to unload and pour her heart out.
For me, it was just the most extraordinary day of humanity, and watching someone that was broken, fix a part of themself (her biking self) in front of my very eyes. This day wasn't about sorting out her positioning or her limit points, (albeit thats what we were doing during the day), it was really about 'Do I hang up my biking boots and let this beat me, or do I get this monkey off my back, bury my fears and enjoy biking again'.
And watching that process unravel itself as the day progressed, was one of the most moving experiences ive ever had!
...
At the same time a colleague was teaching this 6ft tall beautiful blonde woman.
......
I have just discovered this. What compelling reading, from both instructors and what a difference to my perception of motorcycle trainers has come from it.