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UPCOMING RIDES

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WHAT TO BRING ON A RIDE

SETTING UP YOUR BIKE

ADVENTURE DAY RIDE FUNDAMENTALS
PART 1. . . . . . . . . . .PART 2

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DS SkilzDrill 04 - Mar 2008 - Recap

SAND
What . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dualsport Skills Practice, short day
When . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Meet Saturday, 8 March, 7:30 AM
Where . . . . . Meet @ BMW Motorcycles of Ventura County
Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laine MacTague



Photos courtesy of Frederic Charpentier:

Our first look at the sand. It looks... deep.












Laine discussing body English before drills begin.













The "too cool for school" faction stands off. These hoodlums made trouble and distracted class the whole time...












Airing down will help -- but it means you have to air up again later.













Street tires won't. Zeev digging for clams.












Getting off & pushing out of the deep stuff, as you spin the tire, is effective.













There was a lot of terrain variety; some sections were incredibly deep and loose, while others were damp and firm, or stabilized by rocks. Here we see riders stalled out in one of the deepest sections.










So Cool shifting his weight back to help the front tire come up on top of the sand.












Short practice stints and demos were separated by discussions of what went well / what could be better. Here Laine's bike sits in the ditch carved by a front brake stop, while Elee is feeling the results of his earlier left shoulder stop.











Yoram & Laura watching other riders practice. There is a lot to be gained simply from watching.












This long run included a muddy water crossing, damp sand, deep dry sand, short steep berms, and rocky sand. Laine set up an up-and-back drill that included feedback each time we passed him on the way back. Here he and Laura discuss deep sand patches.








The few muddy sections would completely coat the tires, as seen here. This -- not to mention the touring tires -- made the sand even trickier.












Lunchtime looking cocky after sailing over rough sandy terrain at about 30 mph. Or maybe he and Yoram are discussing the pros and cons of tipping over that blue Dakar...











Leaping across the sand like that must have loosened the saddlebag straps or something...























Laine gave a demo before we returned to the BMWVC Open House...
















DS SkilzDrill 04 - March 2008 - Orientation

SAND
What . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dualsport Skills Practice, short day
When . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Meet Saturday, 8 March, 7:30 AM
Where . . . . . Meet @ BMW Motorcycles of Ventura County
Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laine MacTague



No Orientation necessary. You don’t need much gas, maybe a snack, a little water. We’ll be back at the shop near lunchtime. In fact, if all goes unwell, we may be back even earlier! That would give us time to get custom earplugs made, sign up for the raffle, and test ride a bike or two before we eat. I hear RawHyde Adventures is providing lunch for the Open House, btw.

Consider yourself Oriented.


360 Degrees of sand, punk. What are you gonna do?
Chris Craig & Paul Beck resting in the
eye of the windstorm, DSR 11.

DS SkilzDrill 04 - Mar '08 - Roster

SAND
What . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dualsport Skills Practice, short day
When . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Meet Saturday, 8 March, 7:30 AM
Where . . . . . Meet @ BMW Motorcycles of Ventura County
Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laine MacTague



Laine MacTague
BMW F650GS Dakar

Dan " Lunchtime" Taylor
BMW R100

Laura Smith
BMW F650GS

Don "So Cool" Gordon
BMW R1200GS

Frederic Charpentier
BMW R1200GS

Zeev Rabinovitch
2000 BMW R1150GS

Yoram Weinberg
BMW R1200GS

Elee Hadad
{Newbie -- No Photo}
BMW R1150GS

DS SkilzDrill 04 - Mar '08 - Intro

SAND
What . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dualsport Skills Practice, short day
When . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Meet Saturday, 8 March, 7:30 AM
Where . . . . . Meet @ BMW Motorcycles of Ventura County
Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laine MacTague


Carving turns in sand; DSR 06

Just in time for the BMWoVC Open House...

In light of the upcoming DS Overnight in the Mojave Desert, a little sand-riding practice seems in order. This will be a local, low mileage ride of half a day or less. Our goal will be improving sand riding skills. You will encounter a wide variety of sand depths, textures, and, well, dampness: There will be bone dry stretches, and you will also get your feet wet.

We will aim to be back at the shop by noon or noon-&-a-half. There will be opportunities to win a bike that day, so you may want to stick around for lunch. For more Open House info, click the link above, then click on the Open House link in the BMW Calendar.

This Skilzdrill is limited to 10 riders. If you intend to come on the Mojave National Preserve ride (DSO 02), put this practice day on your agenda as well!

VCDSRS Slideshows: DSS 01 - DSS 05

Click any slideshow to play it. Click any displayed image to open it in another window. Images are downloadable. Do you have images from one of our rides? Contact me about including them here as well!

DSS 01










DSS 02










DSS 03










DSS 04










DSS 05

Movie of the Moment


Strong intermediate riders on R4 terrain. BMW R1200GS, Suzuki V-Strom, BMW X-Challenge. ['10 ADR 02/13 - R4]

picture of the week (or vaguely similar time period. Click to enlarge.)

"Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul." ['10 ADR 04/10 - R3]

Community (Click to enlarge. [Er, to enlarge our community, come on a ride.])

Huzzah! Another best-laid plan "gang agley" yet survived all the same.
['10 ADR 03/13 - R2 (became, oh, R8 due to mud... and stubbornness!)]