Track Sense Off road school (updated with report)

[natefz6]

So the other half decided to treat me for my birthday and got me a days off road tuition at Track Sense.

Having not done any trackdays or off roading whatsoever I am quite looking forward to it. The guy who works in the building next to me mentioned that he did one and thought it was great, I must have mentioned it to the misses and she remembered. in't she good

Has anybody been to one, any good? Got any advice so i dont make a plonker of myself?
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"no I didn't steal it that's just the way I ride"

[drzsta]

Best advice I can give which goes for any sort of training is that your there to learn. Don't make a prick of yourself by being a cocky twat
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Current Bikes - BMW S1000RR ‘17 & KTM 690 SMC-R ‘12

[weasley]

I did a one day offroad course a while back. Awesome fun but really hard work. I ached for days afterwards; get fitness training!
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Yamaha XJ600 | Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat | KTM 990 SMT | BMW F900XR TE

[natefz6]

Never thought about the fitness aspect, but I do ache after a long ride, I guess this going to be even worse. I will have to do some prep work.

Last time I went paint balling my legs killed for days from all of the crouching. I guess this will be pretty tough on shoulders and legs if you are not used to it. I'm sure I will be OK I'm not too unfit.... much.


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"no I didn't steal it that's just the way I ride"

[Kradmelder]

Riding off road is much more exhausting.

And the technical skills you will develop in feel of the road, picking a line, watching for obstacles and bad patches, clucth control and throttle will pay huge dividends on the road.


Even the MAD report on bike accidents has shown that those coming from an off road background have far fewer accidents thna thos coming from a street bike background.

The technical skills you will pick up offroading are valuable
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2011 KTM 990 Dakar
2009 BMW 1200 GS

[natefz6]

So I did this on Saturday, quick report..

Short version, it was good I learned lots, had fun and did not break anything.


Long Version,

Got up early and took the car, it’s based just off the south perimeter road of Heathrow so was really easy to get to, it’s a field/scrub land about 4 times the size of a football field. The sun was shining and it was looking to be a really hot day. Turned up with about 30mins to spare and there was another participant who had his own TTR250 waiting at the gates, the others turn up shortly after to make 10 in total. At 10am Adam/Alan (can’t remember which ) came down to open the gates. We took the cars up inside the gates for security and then proceeded to the van and the trailer that was housing the kit for the day.

For the day you get provided with;
Motocross helmet with quick release goggle
Shin pads
Motocross bottoms
Body Armour
Motocross shirt
Gloves
TTR250
Motocross boots

The kit was all in good condition and looked to be looked after as much as it could be with the job it does. The bikes seemed to be well maintained and only one person had trouble starting them though the day.

We proceeded to get the kit on and then he gave us a brief safety talk regarding the bikes and where we could not ride, looking where you want to go and target fixation. After this we got on the bikes and followed him through an oval circuit to get used to riding a trial bike with 15 psi tyres on some dirt. He guided us around a few times and then stopped so he could watch us continue to see what level we were at and what he would need to teach. Our group was fairly varied with some people who had ridden trails many years ago, some young lads who were in to motocross and a few people like me who had no experience apart from on the road.

Once he had seen us ride the day followed the following format;

Instruction on riding on the pegs,
Using body weight and position to keep grip and instigate turns.

Clutch control in turns,
Feathering the clutch to maintain revs and keep stability in turns. This is the same as I have been taught in most motorcycle tuition.

Locking up rear wheel,
Teaching you how to control rear wheel skids. Easy just like on a mountain bike when you were a kid.

Locking front wheel,
Whilst maintaining revs gradually apply front brake until the front wheel begins to skid then releasing. This helps you to practice controlling the bike if you start to lose the front end. It seemed unnatural to keep the revs on when braking but was not too difficult.
Follow my leader round some trails,
We followed around a trail some of which was pretty tight using what we had practised in the morning.

Pub Lunch (sin alcohol)
Cheeseburger. mmmmm

By this time I was getting a good feel for the control of the bike. The confidence was coming and I had only nearly stacked it twice . Once when I over cooked it in to a corner and was focusing on the brambles rather than the path, and another time when the front wheel slipped down a large track.

Obstacles,
On returning from lunch we started to look at obstacles you might come across and how to deal with them. The first being steep hills. There were a couple of mounds that we went up releasing the clutch at the top so we could judge the path the other side and then ride down. We did this a couple of times and then practised trying to stop half way down on a 30% incline. Here I managed to lose it and end up on a bush.
Follow my leader round some trails,
Some more tails this time with bigger obstacles and a bit more difficult.

Obstacles part 2,
This time we practised riding over big bolder tracks and dug in logs, the basic principal was to use acceleration to get the front wheel up so it glanced off the obstacles and you continued in a straight line. To quote Adam/Alan, “if in doubt go flat out” . I thought this would be harder than it was and by now I was very comfy on the bike so it was great fun.

Jumps,
By now despite being at ease with the bike the idea of jumping still seemed a little insane, but sod it you only live once. There are a couple of jumps on site one like a flat table top with a 2 foot drop off and one 3 foot kicker. The basic idea was get to the end of the ramp/ drop off and blip the gas to bring the front wheel up in the air, the back wheel will follow and then try to land on the both at the same time. What can I say but AWESOME. I was never very good at jumping on a mountain bike so I thought I would suck at this but it was so much easier. After a couple of runs I was getting some good air and loving it.

Freetime,
We were told a couple of places that we could not ride as they came out near the exits of the jumps and given free roam of the site. I did a few more laps and jumps and called it a day, better to have a good day and go home in one piece than push it and go home in an ambulance.

In all it was a great day, I learnt a fair bit and it increased my confidence on different surfaces. They are running a green lane day later in the year and I might look to do that as it was lots of fun. I do feel like an old man still, the aches feel like I went horse ringing for a week. I was glad I took the car as in 27 degree heat I was well and truly knackered by the end of it.

edit:Oh this is also the last year that they are doing it the bikes are getting tired and they don't make enough money off it.
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"no I didn't steal it that's just the way I ride"

[Kradmelder]

did you get to do sand and mud and descents?

standing on the pegs also lowers your COG and lets the bike hop around under you.

I dont enjoy going in circles at all, the whole MX thing. But the trails day could be fun. You going to give it a bash?
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2011 KTM 990 Dakar
2009 BMW 1200 GS

[natefz6]

It was pretty hot so the mud was quite compacted and dusty and the area is quite flat so and accent/decent was limited. It was more like an introduction course, but good to try it out.

I think I will definitely give the trails day a go but might wait till it gets a bit muddy and cooler, I must have lost 3 liters on fluid.
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"no I didn't steal it that's just the way I ride"

[Kradmelder]