Ou Ryperd
Race Dog
Have you ever felt that time stood still? You’ve planned the perfect weekend, called the maats, paid the necessary fees, worked out the route, and then… You wait! What felt like an eternity was actually not more than two months.
What am I on about? No, I’m not sniffing white powder like some celebrities, I do, however have White Power suspension on my KTM. I am talking about my trip to Country Trax and a training weekend with Jan Staal du Toit. Now, for those of you who do not know Country Trax nor heard about Jan Staal I want to ask: “When were you released from C-Max?” Country Trax is the official BMW Off-Road training academy in Southern Africa with various training facilities across the country to cater for all the adventurous bike riders. And Jan? He is the head instructor and a true adventure biker.
It was about middle July when I decided that I WOULD attend the Off-Road training course the weekend of 23 October. A quick call to some friends, discussion with the wife and all was set. We are all going, the wives included. Promptly the bookings were made through Bikebookings (www.bikebookings.co.za) and the monies transferred. I must mention the effectiveness of Bikebookings. They kept me informed all the way, sent out informative mails well in advance to ensure that I’m properly prepared, plus they are friendly – thumps up! This was the start of a frustrating two-month wait. Tick-tock-tick-tock…
Eventually morning broke on the Thursday, 22 October. Work commitments almost threw a spanner in the works, but nothing could keep my spirits down, it’s Country Trax time. Marina and I met Wynand 13:45 on the Delmas road to officially start our weekend. Leonard and Rene will join early Friday morning as they had family commitments in Secunda, whilst Lenatha (Wynand’s better half) would join late Friday afternoon. It would be the three of us on course, together with 13 other adventurers. I don’t want to bore you with the tar road through M”pothole”langa, but we encountered strong winds and rain, and rode the last 60km dirt to the farm from Ermelo in mist.
Country Trax (www.countrytrax.co.za) is about 43km out of Amersfoort, a small town in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. The farm belongs to Jan and Elsie, and they were our hosts for the weekend. The accommodation is wooden lodges, which Jan built with his staff from alien trees such as Eucalyptus (Blue Gum).
Around the house he built various obstacles and training exercises to keep any level of adventure biker happy for a year non-stop. Thursday night we spent around the fire in the clubhouse, introducing ourselves to newfound friends, all sharing the same passion and objectives – adventure biking, to maximise our learning and to return home a better skilled rider. We called it an early night as we still had to unpack, and I wanted to be well rested before the training started.
Friday morning we woke up with mist surrounding the houses, creating a European atmosphere. This was soon shattered by the noise of a KTM, which barked to life. Others followed, and within minutes a symphony of sound echoed through the valleys. After a healthy farm breakfast, the group of trainees, 16 in total with two instructors, assembled back in the clubhouse for some basic rules for the weekend and the get rid of our ego’s, a process whereby each tear off a piece of paper and throw it away in a cup that is passed around. The piece of paper resembled your ego. I think some tore off too little. After this the group was split into two equal sized groups, with an instructor. I was in Jan’s group whilst Wynand and Leonard in the other.
After some basics such as why and how to stand, where to place your weight when cornering and more it was time to hit the road. The course is presented as practical learning, no classroom stuff, only you on your bike doing the exercises after demonstration by the instructor. Our instructors for the weekend were Jan Staal and Herman Cremer, both exceptional bike riders and instructors.
Jan
Herman
Now, I am not going to tell you what we learned, how we learned or why we learned as I feel that it is important for each adventure bike rider to go on a training course, no matter which one you decide on, but I can truly recommend Country Trax.
The facilities are top notch, Jan and Elsie the perfect hosts, Jan and Herman great instructors, and then the new friends that were made. The course is designed in such a way that the exercises build on each other, and before you know it you overcame your fear of something and are doing it.
My personal highlight of the weekend was the outride on Sunday morning after all the exercises were concluded. We were taken to an empty water canal and rode in it.
The next course I want to attend is the Dirtbike Fundamentals course end of January 2010. See you there.
Safe riding,
Herman
What am I on about? No, I’m not sniffing white powder like some celebrities, I do, however have White Power suspension on my KTM. I am talking about my trip to Country Trax and a training weekend with Jan Staal du Toit. Now, for those of you who do not know Country Trax nor heard about Jan Staal I want to ask: “When were you released from C-Max?” Country Trax is the official BMW Off-Road training academy in Southern Africa with various training facilities across the country to cater for all the adventurous bike riders. And Jan? He is the head instructor and a true adventure biker.
It was about middle July when I decided that I WOULD attend the Off-Road training course the weekend of 23 October. A quick call to some friends, discussion with the wife and all was set. We are all going, the wives included. Promptly the bookings were made through Bikebookings (www.bikebookings.co.za) and the monies transferred. I must mention the effectiveness of Bikebookings. They kept me informed all the way, sent out informative mails well in advance to ensure that I’m properly prepared, plus they are friendly – thumps up! This was the start of a frustrating two-month wait. Tick-tock-tick-tock…
Eventually morning broke on the Thursday, 22 October. Work commitments almost threw a spanner in the works, but nothing could keep my spirits down, it’s Country Trax time. Marina and I met Wynand 13:45 on the Delmas road to officially start our weekend. Leonard and Rene will join early Friday morning as they had family commitments in Secunda, whilst Lenatha (Wynand’s better half) would join late Friday afternoon. It would be the three of us on course, together with 13 other adventurers. I don’t want to bore you with the tar road through M”pothole”langa, but we encountered strong winds and rain, and rode the last 60km dirt to the farm from Ermelo in mist.
Country Trax (www.countrytrax.co.za) is about 43km out of Amersfoort, a small town in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. The farm belongs to Jan and Elsie, and they were our hosts for the weekend. The accommodation is wooden lodges, which Jan built with his staff from alien trees such as Eucalyptus (Blue Gum).
Around the house he built various obstacles and training exercises to keep any level of adventure biker happy for a year non-stop. Thursday night we spent around the fire in the clubhouse, introducing ourselves to newfound friends, all sharing the same passion and objectives – adventure biking, to maximise our learning and to return home a better skilled rider. We called it an early night as we still had to unpack, and I wanted to be well rested before the training started.
Friday morning we woke up with mist surrounding the houses, creating a European atmosphere. This was soon shattered by the noise of a KTM, which barked to life. Others followed, and within minutes a symphony of sound echoed through the valleys. After a healthy farm breakfast, the group of trainees, 16 in total with two instructors, assembled back in the clubhouse for some basic rules for the weekend and the get rid of our ego’s, a process whereby each tear off a piece of paper and throw it away in a cup that is passed around. The piece of paper resembled your ego. I think some tore off too little. After this the group was split into two equal sized groups, with an instructor. I was in Jan’s group whilst Wynand and Leonard in the other.
After some basics such as why and how to stand, where to place your weight when cornering and more it was time to hit the road. The course is presented as practical learning, no classroom stuff, only you on your bike doing the exercises after demonstration by the instructor. Our instructors for the weekend were Jan Staal and Herman Cremer, both exceptional bike riders and instructors.
Jan
Herman
Now, I am not going to tell you what we learned, how we learned or why we learned as I feel that it is important for each adventure bike rider to go on a training course, no matter which one you decide on, but I can truly recommend Country Trax.
The facilities are top notch, Jan and Elsie the perfect hosts, Jan and Herman great instructors, and then the new friends that were made. The course is designed in such a way that the exercises build on each other, and before you know it you overcame your fear of something and are doing it.
My personal highlight of the weekend was the outride on Sunday morning after all the exercises were concluded. We were taken to an empty water canal and rode in it.
The next course I want to attend is the Dirtbike Fundamentals course end of January 2010. See you there.
Safe riding,
Herman
