2002-08-24

Motocross riding class

One of the things I learned on the Globeriders tour was that skills for riding on dirt and gravel are completely different from skills for riding on the street. If you are like me and you don't have off-road experience you can still make it through a tour like the Globeriders but you will enjoy it less, you will expend more energy and your will have anxiety when dealing with the poorer roads. It was impressive to watch Helge standing on the pegs of his R1150GS Adventure and zipping across gravel roads at 45 mph without a hint of difficulty. I could barely sustain 20 mph the first couple of days on those roads. All of my street instincts were wrong. I joked with the guys that I had the most "custom" handlebar grips in the group because I was squeezing them so hard. Eventually, with practice and advice from the others, I grew more comfortable and was able to manage. But I need much more practice to develop my beginner-level skills before I feel confident.

I wish I had learned this when I was a kid but like a lot of parents mine forbade motorcycles as being too dangerous. Better late then never! This morning I went to a class at the Sky River Motocross Park. Though I will never be a motocross competitor the track is an excellent and safe place to work on improving dirt skills.

The instructor told me that it would be ok to bring my KLR650 to the class. I arrived that morning to find that I was somewhat out of place. Everyone else had dirt bikes and appropriate gear. My KLR outweighs most of the other bikes by 200 lbs and it has street tires instead of knobbies. Well, I am always up for a challenge and this should be interesting!

We started our lesson by doing cornering exercises on the kiddy track. Put your weight forward, the inside foot forward and outstretched, the outside knee leaning into the tank, your body weight on the outside peg and your elbows up. It works! My rear tire slid through the corners but I was able to maintain control. I fell only once, on wet grass, with no harm done.

We next moved to the beginner motocross track. The track was muddy and my street tires clogged up instantly. Traction was not much better than riding on ice. Better to wait until it dried out. The instructor felt bad about permitting me to bring the KLR but I assured him I was having a great time and had already learned a lot. I wandered around to watch the other riders and take a few photos.

I gave the track a try after it had some time to dry a bit. Not bad! The cornering technique they taught us earlier worked. It is thrilling to slide through the corners and keep control of the bike. Once in a while I have to throw a foot down to stay upright but the monster KLR never falls on the track. I even took a few jumps in a mild way (nothing like the jumps in the photos.) This is fun!

I've got to get a real dirt bike and come back.