SGB
Race Dog
Having some good "maatjies" paid off again yesterday when I was invited to the Open Day to introduce the newly founded St Cathryn?s BMW Off-Road Riding Academy, presented by Roger Scheffer, the St Cathryn?s Instructor. Roger is a pleasant guy who understands a motorcycle in the dust, it was another learning experience in my life to watch him in action.
The facility is located near Greytown, about 150 km from Durban on the road between Pietermaritzburg and Stanger. I took an easy ride up there in the morning and arrived early enough to have a chat with John and Roy whilst setting up their shopping area. John Briscoe of Gear-Up fame has a shop in Umhlanga Rocks selling anything you could ever dream of in terms of biking gear. He used the opportunity of spreading the word a little here too.
The proceedings started by Roger introducing himself and the facility, and he showed a video of the tracks and typical content of a weekend course.
Then it was off to the bikes to do some training. The group was split into 2 and we went through a "crash course" covering some of the skills tought during the 3 day course.
Started with some stationary techniques, like mass distribution and transfer, steering, etc.
Then off to the track and some cones - the zigzag through cones 3m apart.
Figure 8's between the cones - tight turns. Roger expaining how.
Some more zigzagging through some wattle sticks. Wonder why these Adventures draw so much attention?
Emergency braking - to save the tractors and cows and riders when things suddenly need to slow down.
Bit of sand - Mr Peter Marshall in action
The oval track (in the background) is always a highlight - fun time.
The MAMBA is a 1.5 km track with lots of tigth turns and some jumps to practice all you have been taught. Again some fun was had by all.
At least I was not the only one this time.....
The mix of bikes was quite good, Yamaha XT 600 and AT seen here. The ATGATT rules were not so tight on the day, but Roger did mention that proper stuff is compulsory on the courses.
Back at camp we had a debriefing session and then I hit the road home. Some rain along the way, but not too serious.
Roger had a braai set up for the evening, and some even slept over at the venue.
I can recommend this place, the KZN boys now have no excuse for not doing some proper training and the scenery is good enough for riders from other parts of SA to attend as well.
Contact Roger: 082 447 4833 or Riz�©l: 084 052 6303, [email protected]
The facility is located near Greytown, about 150 km from Durban on the road between Pietermaritzburg and Stanger. I took an easy ride up there in the morning and arrived early enough to have a chat with John and Roy whilst setting up their shopping area. John Briscoe of Gear-Up fame has a shop in Umhlanga Rocks selling anything you could ever dream of in terms of biking gear. He used the opportunity of spreading the word a little here too.
The proceedings started by Roger introducing himself and the facility, and he showed a video of the tracks and typical content of a weekend course.
Then it was off to the bikes to do some training. The group was split into 2 and we went through a "crash course" covering some of the skills tought during the 3 day course.
Started with some stationary techniques, like mass distribution and transfer, steering, etc.
Then off to the track and some cones - the zigzag through cones 3m apart.
Figure 8's between the cones - tight turns. Roger expaining how.
Some more zigzagging through some wattle sticks. Wonder why these Adventures draw so much attention?
Emergency braking - to save the tractors and cows and riders when things suddenly need to slow down.
Bit of sand - Mr Peter Marshall in action
The oval track (in the background) is always a highlight - fun time.
The MAMBA is a 1.5 km track with lots of tigth turns and some jumps to practice all you have been taught. Again some fun was had by all.
At least I was not the only one this time.....
The mix of bikes was quite good, Yamaha XT 600 and AT seen here. The ATGATT rules were not so tight on the day, but Roger did mention that proper stuff is compulsory on the courses.
Back at camp we had a debriefing session and then I hit the road home. Some rain along the way, but not too serious.
Roger had a braai set up for the evening, and some even slept over at the venue.
I can recommend this place, the KZN boys now have no excuse for not doing some proper training and the scenery is good enough for riders from other parts of SA to attend as well.
Contact Roger: 082 447 4833 or Riz�©l: 084 052 6303, [email protected]
