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macduff

Race Dog
Joined
Jan 24, 2006
Messages
854
Reaction score
0
Location
Cape Town
Bike
Yamaha XT600
thats the way it is, sorry.

yesterday, mango, a friend alan and myself attended the bmw off road course for beginners.
i have to secretly confess to something. after 2x at grabouw and 1x west beach sand riding, i thought i would not be "challenged".
BIG mistake.

i will skip the usual starting off with coffee stuff, and go straight to our training ground - which was a fairly hard dusty soccer pitch.

we split up into two groups. pillion riders, females and two guys making up leons group. the rest with marchant (this huge monster of a man). he is based at the uniondale academy.

we started off with a short introduction to the balance of a bike, picking up a bike which was good. it also gave us time to get to know the group a little more. to suss out the "know-it-alls", the timid, the brave etc.

riding exercises started off with the slow race. my first dissillusionment. i struggle with this. i used to think i was a hottie with slow, balanced riding, but i was shown up here quite quickly. i just dont have throttle control. and it showed the rest of the day.
slalom riding. this introduced us to both throttle control and looking ahead, with using the body (hips) and wide open legs to control slow speed obstacle evasion. another thing i could not get confidence in easily was keeping my legs wide of the tank. i clung to the tank with both knees most of the day. i found myself taking to the "looking-ahead" part fairly quickly with the use of the body to change direction.
tight turning was my next disaster. i just cant do it. i blame it again, on lack of throttle control. looks like i must visit the local shopping center car park more often. :(
the emergency braking was not only a revelation, but fun. i was poep bang to lock my rear wheel, but to do the exercise, i had to have total belief in marchant. and it works. it worked so lekker, that i had moerse fun doing it. the blipping (dont know how to describe the technique) of the front brake whilst locking the back went well. at least something, hey?

we enjoyed two outrides. the first one was a pleasant gravel road ride but we had to do ballet whilst riding. hands in the air, or waving legs, or kneeling on the seat. trickiest one was standing on the left peg with the right foot. but it worked ok :)
the second ride (end of day) was split into 2 groups who decided if they wanted to do an easier ride, or one more technical.
of course, big boy mac thought he had it all in control. what could be worse than grabouw? well, this one was.
donga ridden gravel pathways, sand covered steep descents through beautiful forests. this was tough. i dont know how i managed, but i did. my main concern once again, is that i would improve 50% immediately, if i could have smooth throttle control. i sukkeled along though. a few minor spills amongst the group but the smallish group managed to get thru. ag, it was soooo lekker. :D :D :D

it was a tired and quiet group who gathered at the end.
a highly reccommended course - thanks a lot leon and marchant
:thumbright: :thumbright: :thumbright:

3 negatives.
- a 2 minute coaching session could be given before any group rides. nobody had any idea how to do it and we were constantly bunched up, leading to some hairy braking.
- i am unfit. bliksem, its bad.
- wrong weather ordered leon. i struggled in my long thick jacket and lost a good couple of kilos in sweat. :roll:
 
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