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New Rider Mentor Program
By Fernando Aguirre
Posted: 2018-05-28T16:10:00Z
I have talked to or emailed several people over the last many months who are either just getting back into riding or have purchased a new bike and are looking for opportunities to ride with people. But as relatively new riders or on new bikes they lack the confidence to join a club ride and they don't know anyone in the club to contact about a short, local ride. 

A long-time member of the club expressed an idea to me about having some sort of "new rider mentor program" to match up new or less-confident riders with more experienced riders on a one-to-one basis (thanks Ben Hearn!). After hearing from those several people I would like to give it a try. 

Here is the concept. A new rider would contact me by email or phone and request someone to ride with. I would relay the request to one or a couple of people who have volunteered to help out. The new rider and mentor would get together and after a brief introduction determine what to do or what to work on or practice and go for a short ride. Rinse and repeat. 

For new or less-confident riders this has several advantages. The mentor will be an experienced rider and also, most likely, unknown to you. So you don't have to be afraid of judgments or mistakes or asking dumb questions like you might if you were riding with a friend or a group. By requesting a mentor you will be more or less obligated to get out and get it done. Procrastinating is easy - a week turns into a month which turns into next season. By committing to meet someone you will be energized and motivated to ride more. The funny thing about riding motorcycles is the more you do it the more you want to do it, and the less you do it the less you want to. Why do you have a motorcycle if you are not riding it regularly? Let's try and fix that!

I would like to have several potential mentors around the city - north (maybe The Woodlands), west/northwest, and south. That way a mentor might be relatively close and could meet a rider at their place or a local parking lot. The idea is to make it easy for the new rider. Start easy and work up, depending on time and ability. Crawl, then walk, then run. 

Initially, I will keep the participants anonymous, depending on their preferences. But I would like to publish some comments in the forums about some experiences to hopefully encourage others to contact me and get started with their riding. 

Your comments and suggestions are welcome!


Jerry Matson
President
BMW Motorcycle Club of Houston