DS SkilzDrill 03 - Jan '08 - Recap

[GOTO previous post: DST 02 Roster]

COUNTERBALANCING & SLOW RIDING

What . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dualsport Skills Practice, short day
When . . . . . . . . . . . . .Meet Saturday, 19 January, 7:30 AM
Where . . . . . Meet @ BMW Motorcycles of Ventura County
Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laine MacTague

I am now convinced that there is no such thing as a blah dual sport ride. Ninety percent of the off-road portion of this ride took place on the shoulder of the road at a remote intersection, and we still had a blast.

We had nearly a full group (Roster) at the coffee machine that morning. I explained before we left that drills would actually start only a few miles away, in Somis, long before we got anywhere near an accessible dirt road. We began with a couple rules to apply in cornering on a twisty section. At the start of each new section of twisties – there were four – we added another rule or two. By the time we were winding down the grade from upper to lower Ojai, we had a lot to think about in each turn!

We stopped for gas in Ojai, where I opted not to add any more rules to how to turn the bikes, but offered suggestions for how to play around and experiment with the skills we had already practiced. So for the 15 mile climb to Rose Valley, we practiced what we’d been learning, or just enjoyed the view, or experimented with counterbalancing toward the inside AND the outside of turns...

After turning off of Hwy 33, we gathered up for a quick break on the shoulder. Next we talked about standing position – why, and how, we do it. We road standing up, experimenting with shifting body weight, turning, and whatnot. It was nice to take a break from drills and look up; the mountains were beautiful, and the air was crystal clear after the rains.

I wanted a section of dirt where we could work on controlling the bikes in turns at slow speeds. After an enjoyable hunt along the mountain roads, we settled on a remote three-way intersection with a lot of broad shoulder. I described some drills I wanted to do, and for starters, we played a game of follow the leader – at just under walking pace! It can be tricky to stay up at that speed, especially when you have to go where the person in front of you leads, and at their speed.



Once we had the hang of this, we divided into pairs to work on slow circles. This exercise demands good form, and good simultaneous control of brake, throttle, and clutch. One person rode, and the other observed and gave feedback. This turned out to be a lot of fun. All the studying was wearing down our brains, though; we finally took a break, to snack, and clown around in the dirt shoulder area, which provided considerable amusement, as well as a chance to see just how much we had improved our handling skills in a fairly short time. We even managed a little jumping practice!





We decided to spend the rest of the waning day looking for unpaved tracks to try our skills on, but had very little luck due to the sweeping closures following on the heels of fire and snow and rain. We found one short fire road stretch that somehow managed to be fun, even though it was only about a mile long. Then we raced up 33 like banshees toward a road that in my experience is ALWAYS open. Alas, it was closed, and with tears in our hearts, we wound down toward Ojai town, and consoled ourselves with a great afternoon meal.


We’re still battling the weather this season, but if we can have that much fun basically riding to a turnout and back, I think I can make it through winter.

[GOTO next post: DST 02 Orientation]