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Marines

Photo Information

Chris “Teach” McNeil, professional freestyle rider, shows off his arsenal of tricks for the crowd during a trick demonstration session at the Semper Ride event here Sept. 17. The session displayed what expert riders, like McNeil, can learn in years of riding in safe and controlled environments.::r::::n::::r::::n::::r::::n::::r::::n::

Photo by Pfc. Joseph Altemus

Semper Ride visits the 'Big Easy,' assists service members making safe riding easier

28 Sep 2011 | Lance Cpl. Martin Platek U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve

Three years ago, the Marine Corps faced a bump in a road: record high 25 Marines died due to motorcycle accidents. The Marine Corps outlined its solution in the Marine Corps Order 5100.19F. The required safety training was put in place by the order for beginner and advanced riders. Two years into the training, a 64 percent drop in deaths was seen by the Corps.

Aiming to continue the trend of decreasing casualties, Semper Ride, a program designed to keep Marines safe on motorcycles, held a safety track day event at the airfield here Sept. 17.

The active-duty and Reserve Marines can train in the new Marine Forces Reserve Center for Safety Excellence motorcycle training facility that opened here this year. However, the event’s publicity has brought attention to service members about available training not just for the beginners but also for more advanced riders.

A highway is not a place to show off, said Jeff Peters, MarForRes director of safety who promoted the event here. But the service members take it upon themselves to go out there and be aggressive and ride in environments the required basic rider course has not prepared them for.

“This is a place to do it, at a controlled and safe environment and get real experience that would decrease the cause of mishaps out there,” said Peters.

“We’re providing a venue to provide hands-on real lessons in a fun environment,” Peters added. “What we’re doing is improving their skills by having fun while training by using a bike they bought to have fun.”

This track day event was aimed to help out intermediate riders by instructing them in a classroom setting first and then taking them to the airfield to receive one-on-one coaching from the 19 professional instructors present.

According to the Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic, a company that is instructing the Semper Rides events, their main focus is the cornering technique because it is the primary cause single-vehicle motorcycle crashes. To help the participants understand how to steer better during a turn, instructors educated them on techniques such as suspension selection, line selection, throttle control, throttle-to-break transition, body position, and mental attitude.

The ongoing education for motorcycle riders is crucial because of the number of deaths caused by motorcycle accidents, said Peters. Even though this year the number of motorcycle deaths is lower than the number of automobile deaths for the first in a long time, there is still not enough education to help out intermediate riders.

“None of the deaths were Reserves, but if we get one death here, that looks like a 100 percent increase on paper,” said Peters.

“It’s a major deal for Reservists because these events happen at the east coast and west coast major military installations, but this is the first time it happened here,” said Cpl. Charlee Law, who attended the event. Law is the MarForRes Motorcycle Club secretary and a Reserve administration clerk with the MarForRes safety office.

Many Marines attended the event because of the requirements for motorcycle riders set by MCO 5100.19F, however, the joint environment of the base brought many other service members.
“We have Marines, sailors, Army National Guard and Coast Guard attending,” said Peters. Navy is allowing the use of their facilities, which in turn, other service members are welcome to attend.
Among the service members from other branches who received a chance to attend Semper Ride was Navy Petty Officer 3rd class Reginald T. Wilos, a hospital corpsman from the medical clinic here.

“I love the course,” said Wilos.

“It’s good that it introduced other stuff than in the Military Sportbike Rider Course, like trail braking, decreasing turns with higher angles, and more importantly how to control the throttle and suspension,” said Wilos about different safe riding techniques he practiced.

“The adjustments were great because they made the bike feel like a whole different machine,” Wilos said.

Reserve Marines should get in contact with their unit’s ground safety manager to schedule a commercial motorcycle safety training class. If local training is not available, Marines may be allowed to travel here to complete their required training. For any questions please call unit’s ground safety manager or MarForRes safety office.