AFSEC Mentorship Motorcycle Ride

by Tech. Sgt. Kathee Mullins

6/18/2013 - KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. – The Air Force Safety Center hosted a mentorship motorcycle ride on June 6, 2013. The ride focused on safety and riding capabilities of experienced and novice riders. The ride provided group riding on multi-condition road surfaces, as well as allowing for multiple riders to critique each other on skills and tactics for safe riding.

The day’s events began at 8:30 am with a few words from James T. Rubeor, Air Force Safety Center Executive Director, followed by briefings by Mr. Arthur Albert, Motorcycle Program Manager and Mr. Tim Cahill. After the briefings the group assembled for T-CLOCS and personal protective equipment (PPE) inspections.

T-CLOCS is a method of inspecting your motorcycle to make sure the bike is safe to ride. T-CLOCS is a mnemonic developed by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation for assisting you in doing a comprehensive pre-ride (or a pre-purchase) inspection of a motorcycle. It is easily memorized and very useful. The individual letters stand for the specific areas to check: 

T – Tires & Wheels
C – Controls
L – Lights & Electrics
O – Oil & Other Fluids
C – Chassis
S – Stands

“Mentorship rides often provide a larger dividend by allowing interaction among the riders,” said Albert. “Even a very novice rider may provide an invaluable mentoring tidbit on something they experienced, turning their role from a mentored to a mentor. Remember, mentoring is open honest sharing of experiences, both those that work and those that may have ended in not so memorable experience. A good mentor is an excellent listener and feedback coach.”

Mentorship rides are used to ensure riders are aware of available training, get a chance to interact with experienced riders and are conscious of proper safety gear and the hazards of riding.

“We put this ride together to give the riders a wide variety of the road issues they meet in this area,” said Cahill. “These are high traffic areas, road construction and rural roads and they all present different hazards. Mentoring our less experienced riders is important. If we can save just one person from an accident, then it is time well spent. Today we rode safely through all types of hazards. It’s a learning experience.”

“There are really three simple steps to having a successful mentoring session: decide what environment and skills to share with other motor cyclists, accomplish a thorough Risk Assessment of the ride and mitigate or reduce as many hazards for those being mentored as you can, while still providing a realistic and challenging ride for the experienced and inexperienced riders,” said Albert. And providing feedback sometime during the ride and at the end of the ride on the good things seen and to discuss the not so good things helps rider gain the most from the ride. Remember, everything that happens on the ride is another opportunity to be a good Wingman and to encourage good risk management.”

The Mentorship Ride acknowledges daily occurrences that all riders experience on a regular basis and how to deal with them safely and confidently. It gives riders a chance to ride in a group which has more eyes and a wide level of experiences throughout riders to critique, correct, foster, and mentor all riders. The wide variety of experience ranges from the novice rider to the experienced rider and gives is an excellent chance for all riders to gain from the participation.

“There were many riders of all kinds of motorcycles, they met and made new friendships and learned safe motor cycling skills. It was a win-win for everyone!” said Cahill.

“Mentoring involves more than just going on a ride with other experienced and inexperienced riders. It is a sharing of knowledge and lessons learned from one rider to another that truly exemplify mentorship,” said Albert.