DS Skilz-drill 01 - Apr '07 - Recap

DUAL SPORT SKILZ DRILZ:

TO STEER WITH THE REAR

What . . . . . . . Dualsport Skills Practice, short day
When . . . . . . . . . . Meet Sunday, 15 April, 7:30 AM
Where . . . Meet @ Ojai Coffee Roasting Company

DS Skilzdrill 01: RECAP

What a fun day! I really enjoy improving at stuff, and helping other people improve at stuff. As it happens, I got to do both of those things, and since teaching what I was teaching turned out to be one of the things I improved at as the day progressed, I got to improve at helping other people improve, which is – well – an improvement…

So, in all, the day was a blast. Everybody improved their skills, regardless of previous experience – including myself. The VCDSRS group of riders seems to me made up of several increasingly fantastic dual sport riders.

We met at a coffee house in Ojai for a morning wake-up, taking our time, since we were – for a change – facing a fairly short day. Once everybody

. . . . . .Steven Atkin . . . . . . . BMW R1150 GS . . . . . . . .Craig Boone . . . . . . .KTM 950 Adv
. . . . . .Angela Deubel . . . . . .BMW Dakar . . . . . . . . . . .Dan Goldstien . . . . . BMW HP-2
. . . . . .Don Gordon . . . . . . . .BMW 1200 GS . . . . . . . . .Brian Hodges . . . . . .BMW R100 GS/PD
. . . . . .Scott Huelskamp . . . .KTM 950 Adv . . . . . . . . . Calvin Morrison . . . Husqvarna TE610
. . . . . .Dan Taylor . . . . . . . . .Suzuki DRZ 400 . . . . . . . Phil Wren . . . . . . . . .BMW F650 GS

showed up, we climbed Hwy 33 toward our destination. Craig’s bike blue-shifted as he accelerated away from us in front. I tried to tell him that since the speed of light is the ultimate speed limit of all creation, the penalty is pretty stiff for breaking it, but the sound of my voice… you get the picture.

Roughly fifteen miles (a minute and a half…) later, we gathered up at the trailhead. I advised riders NOT to lower their rear tire pressure – we want the thing to slip around, remember? Front tires softened, we climbed a steep climb to the ridgeline, then headed east, looking for a section of straight trail, and perhaps a broad gathering space. That found in short order, we circled up and discussed the first exercise.


We began each drill with a talk about why / when the skill we were going to practice is valuable. Then we broke it down into steps and talked about technique and body position. Next, we practiced the steps separately. I would describe the exercise, and then do it once or twice. Next, riders would take turns practicing the steps of the maneouver. Finally, we would put the whole drill together and take it on the trail for a while. I spent a fair whack of time making tics on my outline, and making everyone stand in a circle so we could all hear each other over the brisk wind that kicked up on the ridgeline. The air was clear as a bell; we could see well beyond the Ojai Valley, even past Ventura to the Channel Islands; gorgeous day!


We started with skidding. We did several straight skids, circling back and forth up a short section of trail, and developing a feel for how the bike moves with the rear tire locked. We learned about how the angle of the road surface affects the movement of the rear tire, and how that echoes the behaviour of the tire when skidded into a turn. Next, we practiced turning skids in both directions. Initially, we used an open area and marked an imaginary turning point on the ground. We soon discovered that a more real-life setup made it easier to learn. It turned out that the most effective form for the drill made use of a simple straight section of fire road; this made it much easier to see how body position affected how the bike moved, and changed the controllability of the skid.

After a short and slow group ride during which we made use of every turn possible to practice our new skill, we gathered up again, this time to discuss using throttle instead of brake to make the rear tire break traction. As with skidding, the first exercise was turn-free; we got the bike just barely moving, and then hammered the throttle, spinning the rear tire as we accelerated rapidly in first gear. It can take a while to get comfortable doing this in an aggressive fashion, but it wasn’t too long before we were ready for the next step in the drill.

We found a broad circular area, which we hoped to use to practice powering the rear tire out of traction while turning. In practice, though – as with skidding – it was difficult to force the issue, when the turn wasn’t “real”; this portion of the drill provided a good situation in which to practice body position, but it was later, again on straight fire road, that we really began to get a feel for how to link that body position with throttle control in order to initiate a power slide.

Next we took our new bag of tricks on the road, and headed for a distant hilltop, skidding into or powersliding out of turns as much as possible – all at pretty low speeds. The hilltop provided another good practice area, as well as more awesome views of the surrounding area. We could almost make out the BMW shop in Thousand Oaks.

Some riders had to head home early, but six of us tacked another 5 or so miles of practice on, zipping down into a canyon and back on twisty fire roads. It was at this point I discovered that if I timed things well, I could approach a turn fast, skid into it, and – if my timing was just right – transfer smoothly from skidding in to powersliding out of the turn, accelerating rapidly, and cornering sharper than I ever had. When it worked, it was amazing fun.

Of course, when it didn’t work, I generally ended up sliding into a horizontal heap in the middle of the turn. I seem to recall kneeling by my bike, foot caught under the rear rack, honking the horn over and over so that Dan Goldstien, coming up fast from behind, didn’t run me over…

Back in Ojai we had a late lunch / early dinner at that Mexican restaurant where we always go (I must get the name of that place, next time…), and – for once – headed home before dark!

DSS 01 riders got to decide the subject for DSS 02; we will be learning a new and incredible off-pavement skill – wheelies! – and reviewing what we learned on this ride.


[Brian Hodges (who, incidentally, slides that GS/PD of his around like he’s dancing in a ballroom) took all the pictures seen here. My camera gave up the ghost, and Brian – who joined us for the first time, this ride – happens to be a professional photographer in Santa Barbara. If these are his snapshots, I’d love to see his serious work. Thanks for shooting, Brian.]