Off road training day - Trail Ride World

Hi all

Scotty and I went to an off road training day at Trail Ride World near Dunstable today

http://www.trailworld.co.uk

I am not that experienced at off roading and was looking forward to having some proper tuition.

Arrived at the training school at 9.30 am, got kitted up and ready to go. There were 5 of us in total and we were trained by a guy called Chris (cant recall his surname) but he is some off roading champion god of some description. All hail. :)

We started off on some basic circuits including some water work and cornering technique, gravel work etc etc. Then learnt about leaning on the pegs to make the bike turn, some skidding (scary stuff!), learning how to ride through ruts (even scarier!) learning how to pick your bike up from awkward positions (mmmm might have been a few tears at some point - but I FINALLY did it) ....and all in pretty much torrential rain. We finished the day riding round an Enduro circuit and practising what we had been taught.

The rain made interesting riding especially up the hills where the ground was just getting churned up into slippery goo...all really good fun though.

Lost how many times I came off but everyone helped me and came to my rescue if my bike was stuck in awkward position where I couldn't lift it myself. Despite the weather and the sheer exhaustion, it was an excellent day and I would recommend it to anyone. I took my own bike, but they do hire bikes and gear too. It is more tiring than you can ever imagine...especially as the whole day was very focused and pretty technical for me.

So much to take in, I think I might need to write it down somewhere so I don't forget. It really was an unforgettable day and I really did enjoy it..even when sliding down the side of a camber into a rut I needed to avoid and covered in mud ;D Great great fun and well worth it [smiley=thumbsup.gif] Really feel like I have achieved a lot today as there were a few times where I kept getting bits wrong and eventually it clicked and I was so so so so so chuffed with myself. You really do get a sense of achievement with off roading...more so than road riding I think.

A long hot bath to soothe aching limbs is in order now :) :) :) :) :)

Just remembered - his name was Chris Koch
http://vimeo.com/9572426
The gun shots in the background are from the shooting club next door...most off putting as I kept ducking ;D

Sounds like good clean fun......or should that be dirty??
I see there are a fair few people on here who dabble in all persuasions of biking. I really like the idea of off roading but never considered it before because i thought (i realise now, wrongly) that you just couldn't do it anywhere...legally that is.
I might start looking a bit closer at this when the winter sets in and the roads go to pot. Biking's kinda taken over my life.....just ask my wife!! and i'm quite keen on mud, so getting some kind of crosser seems like a natural progression and a way of improving my overall riding.
I'll have to start picking some brains!

Sounds like you had a cracking day [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Just dont ride behind me offroad it may put you off for life ;D