Beachbum
Puppy
It was with great glee that i got the call a week earlier to say that Robin, a mate of mine and I had been
accepted to do the course at Countrytrax. It would be a 3 day course, Friday the beginners and Sat and Sun were intermediate.
We decided to drive down on Thursday and trailer the bikes down, as did not want to risk any unlikely mishaps.
So come Wednesday night, Rob brought the trailer round with his GS on and we loaded up my GSA.
Thursday we left at about 2.00 pm for an easy ride to Amersfoort. Nice and easy is exactly what it was.
We pulled into Countrytrax at about 5.30, and were greeted by the always smiling Gerhard, the no2 instructor. Jan du Toit being the no1.
We were shown our cabin and once settled we headed for dinner, prepared by Jans lovely wife. Man can this lady cook.
Every meal she dished up was off the chart it was so good. We were made to feel welcome from the start.
Accomodation
Day one started with an early call, but i found myself awake at about 5:30, staring out the window from my bed.
This place was awesome, even if it was just to come and relax. It was so quiet, all you could hear was the fridge running, that was it.
Soon after the farm animals started to rise, and the morning chorus could be heard.
After a great breakfast it was time to rate yourself out of 5 from an off-road experience point of view.
Most of the guys came in around 2, i was about 0.75. One guy came in at 4. If you rate yourself a 5 then you are Roof of Africa material.
OFFICE
We started with the basics, getting to know your bike, the shocks,preload,damper, handlebar angle etc..each bike had to be set to the individua rider.
After that it was balancing, holding the bike while standing next to it and walking around it, moving your grip on the bike from tail to left handlebar to light to right handlebar to tail again. You gotta do this with out dropping your bike. Then you gotta do it with only one hand.
Understand that you may not hold the bike at two places at the same time. You must hold the tail with two hands, and then let go and move to the left bar and grab. Starts to get interesting.
After that it was balancing while riding. Always standing on the pegs, never sitting, we moved to the lower field for this excersize.
Driving one behind the other at a slow steady pace, we had to follow the instructor and do whatever he did.
First of it was a simple left hand out to the side in one wing airplane style.
For a noob this was a big step, especially on uneven terrain. Then it was lifting alternate legs up onto the seat and sitting on your leg.
Then take same sat on leg and slip it to the wrong side of the bike, so now you are riding side saddle.
Once we had done this with both legs that you take it one step further and take your right leg, put it on your left peg,
with your left leg hanging free. And the other way around. Now were really cooking.
PARKING
From there it was slow manouvering, going between cones that are 2.5m apart at a very slow speed, almost not moving at all.
The idea here is that you lean your bike right over while you act as a counter balance, turning your bars at the same time, and doing the
clutch/break play the whole time. Now understand that when you are learning a 230 kg bike over on its side and you are trying to
counterbalance, you sometimes get it wrong. Actually quite a few of us got it wrong, so over we went and the fear of dropping your bike was gone.
Over the whole weekend all but one guy dropped their bike repeatedly. And even that guy said it was a miracle.
From there its off to do more balancing, except this time its zig-zagging between 3m poles that are laid on the ground parralel to eack
other 3m apart. Again at very slow speed, this is simulating moving between fallen trees and bushes, ie close quarter bike manouvering.
From here it was off to the obsticle course. Over the steel bridge, this was pretty straight forward but youd be amazed at how many
people mess this one up. They get the speed and trajectory all wrong and end up going over the side.
Then was the valley of death, or that's what i like to call it. It s two railway sleepers that are placed 6 inches apart long ways.
Here the concept is that your are caught in a rut and must keep the power up and follow through, while keeping your balance as your
front tires gnaws at the edges of the sleeper.
From here we went out onto the road that leads up to the farm house. Here we spent the next few hours doing slow u-turns, again using
the leaning experience we had just learnt. Its amazing how when using your head to aim everything comes right, but when you focus on obstacles
that's exactly what they become. After a while we then moved on to middle-mannetjie traversing at speed. Here we are learning to cross ridges in
the road or path using weight,balance and pure bike muscle, while doing 50 kph. It must be understood that at all time you are travelling on very
loose farm road, and leaning and getting your weight right are critical to staying on your bike.
RESTING
Sunrise again and we are up and going at 7 am. A few warm -ups to get the muscles going saw lots of moaning and
groaning as muscles you forgot you had come to life again.
Day two would incorporate lots of technical events. So for ease of reading i will tabulate them.
1.Downhill riding going into a tight inclined corner and exiting going back up the hill, without overshooting the corner at any point.
2. Descending a steep decline using only 1st gear as breaks. ie compression.
3. Descending decline onto inclined wall of dam, around and back up a massive incline to stop on top, without overshooting.
We talking steep, really steep and high.
4. Use of breaks on hills going up or down, and both front or back or both breaks. Here we were also taught on slow moving down
steep hill, nearly to the point of falling over, that's how slow we were going....(in expectation of doing SANI PASS )
5. How to pick up bikes on steep inclines.
6.How to manouvre your bike when having stalled on an incline and no room to turn around.
7.High speed breaking using both sets of breaks simultaneously, remember we are on gravel.
8. Hole jumping, basically bunny hopping your bike over a metre wide hole.
9. Deep soft gravel riding, here its all about your wits and strength.
10. Deep soft sand riding. The "powder" is about 1 1/2 feet deep, and the run is around 50 m long. Lots of falls on this one.
Again its about power control and weight distribution
11. Oval track riding, good old speed biking.
12. Traversing water, going through a section of dam about 20 m long where the ground is very rocky, and you cant see it.
13. Crossing over the humps. Using your weight to get the bike over short sharp humps so as not to ground the bike on the motor.
13. A long ride of about 7km, which is 100% technical, the whole way. You are made to use all the skills you have accumulated over the
last two days all in one long run at a very calm pace.. There were some very good stories that came out of this exercise
BREAKING
GERHARD
SOFT GRAVEL
SOFT SAND
TEAM WORK
CRASH
CAMEL HUMPS
OVAL RACING
TEAM BREAK
WATER CROSSING
A lot of the last two days was all about positioning on the bike, weight distribution and head position. We were taught a few very simple
principles that if adhered to would keep you from getting into too much trouble.
Day two ended with a few very sore bodies, mine included. But for the best part there was this incredible sense of achievement from everyone.
We had all come there not knowing what to expect, with our own fears and expectations, and we were all leaving having overcome our own limitations.
Sunday was a great breakfast and then a fantastic out-ride of around 90km through some of Jans farm and the surrounding countryside.
Back at the farm by 1pm we were all on our way home buy 2 pm. For the best part the bikes all survived the weekend with some new
scratches and a ding or two. There was nothing to serious in the bike damage department. Not so for the human department. On Sat afternoon
i had a bad fall and it felt like i dislocated my hip, only to pop it in again as i hit the ground. Had a black bruise the size of a rugby ball on the back
of my leg and i couldn't walk properly for a week. Mark had a bad wipe out on Sat evening and we thought he had ripped a ligament or something
but his missus, Elsabie informed us later in the week that he had broken his leg just below the knee...eeina.
A week or so later i contacted Tino who informed me that after much pain he went to the Doctor and was promptly informed that he had
2 broken ribs, torn shoulder ligaments and a very sore finger that was dislocated during the weekend and re-located. As for the rest of the gang
they had mostly very sore bodies, Most of us being north of 35, closer to 45.
ACCOMODATION
JAN ON HIS GS ADV
To all the group, Robin, Guven, Llewelyn, Jannie,Tino, Mark, Elsabie, Walter and Roan, i thank you all for a great weekend.
To Jan and Gerhard, thank you for your patience, your knowledge and your dedication.
To Elsie and all the ladies that helped, thank you for a fantastic weekend of great accommodation and fabulous food.
Regards
Dean Phillips
<Image tags fiximacated - a moderator>
accepted to do the course at Countrytrax. It would be a 3 day course, Friday the beginners and Sat and Sun were intermediate.
We decided to drive down on Thursday and trailer the bikes down, as did not want to risk any unlikely mishaps.
So come Wednesday night, Rob brought the trailer round with his GS on and we loaded up my GSA.
Thursday we left at about 2.00 pm for an easy ride to Amersfoort. Nice and easy is exactly what it was.
We pulled into Countrytrax at about 5.30, and were greeted by the always smiling Gerhard, the no2 instructor. Jan du Toit being the no1.
We were shown our cabin and once settled we headed for dinner, prepared by Jans lovely wife. Man can this lady cook.
Every meal she dished up was off the chart it was so good. We were made to feel welcome from the start.
Accomodation
Day one started with an early call, but i found myself awake at about 5:30, staring out the window from my bed.
This place was awesome, even if it was just to come and relax. It was so quiet, all you could hear was the fridge running, that was it.
Soon after the farm animals started to rise, and the morning chorus could be heard.
After a great breakfast it was time to rate yourself out of 5 from an off-road experience point of view.
Most of the guys came in around 2, i was about 0.75. One guy came in at 4. If you rate yourself a 5 then you are Roof of Africa material.
OFFICE
We started with the basics, getting to know your bike, the shocks,preload,damper, handlebar angle etc..each bike had to be set to the individua rider.
After that it was balancing, holding the bike while standing next to it and walking around it, moving your grip on the bike from tail to left handlebar to light to right handlebar to tail again. You gotta do this with out dropping your bike. Then you gotta do it with only one hand.
Understand that you may not hold the bike at two places at the same time. You must hold the tail with two hands, and then let go and move to the left bar and grab. Starts to get interesting.
After that it was balancing while riding. Always standing on the pegs, never sitting, we moved to the lower field for this excersize.
Driving one behind the other at a slow steady pace, we had to follow the instructor and do whatever he did.
First of it was a simple left hand out to the side in one wing airplane style.
For a noob this was a big step, especially on uneven terrain. Then it was lifting alternate legs up onto the seat and sitting on your leg.
Then take same sat on leg and slip it to the wrong side of the bike, so now you are riding side saddle.
Once we had done this with both legs that you take it one step further and take your right leg, put it on your left peg,
with your left leg hanging free. And the other way around. Now were really cooking.
PARKING
From there it was slow manouvering, going between cones that are 2.5m apart at a very slow speed, almost not moving at all.
The idea here is that you lean your bike right over while you act as a counter balance, turning your bars at the same time, and doing the
clutch/break play the whole time. Now understand that when you are learning a 230 kg bike over on its side and you are trying to
counterbalance, you sometimes get it wrong. Actually quite a few of us got it wrong, so over we went and the fear of dropping your bike was gone.
Over the whole weekend all but one guy dropped their bike repeatedly. And even that guy said it was a miracle.
From there its off to do more balancing, except this time its zig-zagging between 3m poles that are laid on the ground parralel to eack
other 3m apart. Again at very slow speed, this is simulating moving between fallen trees and bushes, ie close quarter bike manouvering.
From here it was off to the obsticle course. Over the steel bridge, this was pretty straight forward but youd be amazed at how many
people mess this one up. They get the speed and trajectory all wrong and end up going over the side.
Then was the valley of death, or that's what i like to call it. It s two railway sleepers that are placed 6 inches apart long ways.
Here the concept is that your are caught in a rut and must keep the power up and follow through, while keeping your balance as your
front tires gnaws at the edges of the sleeper.
From here we went out onto the road that leads up to the farm house. Here we spent the next few hours doing slow u-turns, again using
the leaning experience we had just learnt. Its amazing how when using your head to aim everything comes right, but when you focus on obstacles
that's exactly what they become. After a while we then moved on to middle-mannetjie traversing at speed. Here we are learning to cross ridges in
the road or path using weight,balance and pure bike muscle, while doing 50 kph. It must be understood that at all time you are travelling on very
loose farm road, and leaning and getting your weight right are critical to staying on your bike.
RESTING
Sunrise again and we are up and going at 7 am. A few warm -ups to get the muscles going saw lots of moaning and
groaning as muscles you forgot you had come to life again.
Day two would incorporate lots of technical events. So for ease of reading i will tabulate them.
1.Downhill riding going into a tight inclined corner and exiting going back up the hill, without overshooting the corner at any point.
2. Descending a steep decline using only 1st gear as breaks. ie compression.
3. Descending decline onto inclined wall of dam, around and back up a massive incline to stop on top, without overshooting.
We talking steep, really steep and high.
4. Use of breaks on hills going up or down, and both front or back or both breaks. Here we were also taught on slow moving down
steep hill, nearly to the point of falling over, that's how slow we were going....(in expectation of doing SANI PASS )
5. How to pick up bikes on steep inclines.
6.How to manouvre your bike when having stalled on an incline and no room to turn around.
7.High speed breaking using both sets of breaks simultaneously, remember we are on gravel.
8. Hole jumping, basically bunny hopping your bike over a metre wide hole.
9. Deep soft gravel riding, here its all about your wits and strength.
10. Deep soft sand riding. The "powder" is about 1 1/2 feet deep, and the run is around 50 m long. Lots of falls on this one.
Again its about power control and weight distribution
11. Oval track riding, good old speed biking.
12. Traversing water, going through a section of dam about 20 m long where the ground is very rocky, and you cant see it.
13. Crossing over the humps. Using your weight to get the bike over short sharp humps so as not to ground the bike on the motor.
13. A long ride of about 7km, which is 100% technical, the whole way. You are made to use all the skills you have accumulated over the
last two days all in one long run at a very calm pace.. There were some very good stories that came out of this exercise
BREAKING
GERHARD
SOFT GRAVEL
SOFT SAND
TEAM WORK
CRASH
CAMEL HUMPS
OVAL RACING
TEAM BREAK
WATER CROSSING
A lot of the last two days was all about positioning on the bike, weight distribution and head position. We were taught a few very simple
principles that if adhered to would keep you from getting into too much trouble.
Day two ended with a few very sore bodies, mine included. But for the best part there was this incredible sense of achievement from everyone.
We had all come there not knowing what to expect, with our own fears and expectations, and we were all leaving having overcome our own limitations.
Sunday was a great breakfast and then a fantastic out-ride of around 90km through some of Jans farm and the surrounding countryside.
Back at the farm by 1pm we were all on our way home buy 2 pm. For the best part the bikes all survived the weekend with some new
scratches and a ding or two. There was nothing to serious in the bike damage department. Not so for the human department. On Sat afternoon
i had a bad fall and it felt like i dislocated my hip, only to pop it in again as i hit the ground. Had a black bruise the size of a rugby ball on the back
of my leg and i couldn't walk properly for a week. Mark had a bad wipe out on Sat evening and we thought he had ripped a ligament or something
but his missus, Elsabie informed us later in the week that he had broken his leg just below the knee...eeina.
A week or so later i contacted Tino who informed me that after much pain he went to the Doctor and was promptly informed that he had
2 broken ribs, torn shoulder ligaments and a very sore finger that was dislocated during the weekend and re-located. As for the rest of the gang
they had mostly very sore bodies, Most of us being north of 35, closer to 45.
ACCOMODATION
JAN ON HIS GS ADV
To all the group, Robin, Guven, Llewelyn, Jannie,Tino, Mark, Elsabie, Walter and Roan, i thank you all for a great weekend.
To Jan and Gerhard, thank you for your patience, your knowledge and your dedication.
To Elsie and all the ladies that helped, thank you for a fantastic weekend of great accommodation and fabulous food.
Regards
Dean Phillips
<Image tags fiximacated - a moderator>
