My good riding buddies at IR have one by one gone off road and what used to be an almost regular weekend road ride turned into a maybe bi-monthly...boring! They really got into it in a big way and I wondered what all the fuss was about.
At a recent Loftus BreakfastTorque meeting I picked up a flyer from the HART stand, a Motorcycle riding skill development organisation, which listed an Off Road introduction amongst other really useful courses.
I always freak when it comes to dirt roads on my sport bike and my top speed hovers around the 40km/h mark (if that!), making it a lonely and scary trip once all other group members have flown past me at at least twice that.
Shortly after that meeting my friend Lindy visited me and we both agreed that we needed to have a go at this. Once we'd booked it, I started to get all panicky and with a month to go took myself off to the Gym to send those hibernating muscles a reminder message: it is time to be on guard.
Today was the day.
The alarm went off at 5:30 this morning and I was excited and scared at the same time. After all, people don't just take up dirtbike riding at my age! And there are a couple of reasons for that...my lack of fitness and flexibility and then there is the reaction time...or better the lack of it.
It was a good two hour drive to get me there. It had been raining during the night and we knew to expect 'The Big Wet' on the trail.
We soon realised that we needed to forget all we knew about cornering and handling bikes. It is such a strange feel to actually lean out of the curve and then to stick your leg out into it.
HART at StIves in Sydney's North sports 42 acres of 'playground' with a variety of tracks to suit every level of rider skill. As I mentioned earlier, our track was pretty wet and the puddles quite deep. As time passed we made a bit of a mess of the circuit and things got quite slippery, but Paul, our instructor did equip us with the necessary skills to cope with that.
First things frst, we got the talk, then we got the bikes and then we got the ride. When it actually came to doing the dirt bit, it really hit me that I am about to push my fear boundary and immediately tensed up and forgot all I had been taught, but it did not seem to take long until we made good progress.
Once we got going along the track, Paul took us to a 5 meter high, almost vertical, rocky and slippery incline, got us to stop the bikes, take our helmets off and pointed at it. Our eyes widened and jaws dropped. For a moment there was stunned silence, then a gasp of relief when he laughed out loud as he saw our reaction and said "just kidding- we'll leave this one for advanced students".
There were only four of us and Paul's teaching strategy of demonstration and active, personal feedback worked really well. I enjoyed his positive attitude and relaxed manner. He's been doing it for seven years and certainly enjoys his job.
Well, at first I was trying to avoid the rocks and roots on the trail (as you'd do when you don't know what you are doing), but soon enough I was seeking the thrill of mastering the bumps. It did not take long for me to stand up and whooping across the crests before the puddles and following the ruts and using the camber to get me around sweepers quicker. Fun...fun...fun!
...and over lunch at 'Torque', Concord Frasers, a Sydney Harley Dealership, we decided that we'd do the next level of those courses some time soon.
What a thrill!
A great day had by all and I am still smiling...and mighty proud of myself.
Ps: perhaps before next time I'll do a couple more push-ups at the Gym...
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