Just done the off-road course in wales...

Adamm

Guest
Good morning all,

back home after two days of off-road training with Simon's/BMW's school and over all it was worth evey penny. for any one considering a off-road course the things that i know after the event that makes me able to recommend it to mates are;
Brand spanking new BMW's!! every enduro style was here from 650's to 1200's and the new 800's.
Instructors who really know what they are talking about.
A massive playground full of trails, tracks mud and ruts.
The progression of skills is logical starting from very basic braking and picking up the bike to "mad" hill decents and assents. The good thing about the harder tasks is that you are shown how to deal with them going wrong befor you do them. So befor tearing up a massive steep hill you have to practice stalling the bike getting off, turning it around and riding back down a smaller hill.

If anyone is thinking of doing it and would like more info just IM me, also i have up loaded some pics to facebook- go take a look!

All the best,

Adam
 
sounds like you had a blast! off down there again this year for the 4th time to do the day in the dirt, so no training just get out and enjoy the scenery! (hurry up and sort your diary Mav!)

Good sticky here in the off-road section full of hints and tips about doing the course and getting the most out of it:

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102427
 
.. off down there again this year for the 4th time to do the day in the dirt, so no training just get out and enjoy the scenery!
When is that? Three of us went on the course last year on our own but kopped a right bollocking off the owner as we were leaving. :eek: Would love to have another crack at it. :bounce1
 
When is that? Three of us went on the course last year on our own but kopped a right bollocking off the owner as we were leaving. :eek: Would love to have another crack at it. :bounce1

there is actually a public road that runs through the walters arena so as long as you enter and come out on that no-ones bollocking you, as confirmed by Si Pavey, however the day in the dirt is run by the off-road school and can be done on any of the bikes they use, check their website for details :thumb2
 
Thanks JimboGSA. Link HERE.

All participants must have at least completed the BMW Off Road Skills Level One Basic course and have a good level of fitness.
 
This training seems to be quite cool!!! :thumb2

Quick quesiton on the boots: are enduro-type boots allowed (in my case Tcx Infinity) or do they have to be specific motocross boots only?

Thanks!

Nico
 
Boots

This training seems to be quite cool!!! :thumb2

Quick quesiton on the boots: are enduro-type boots allowed (in my case Tcx Infinity) or do they have to be specific motocross boots only?

Thanks!

Nico

they'll be fine, basically any boot with good ankle support, personally I'd only ever do it in mx boots as on a number of occasions on the courses my foot got into situations where it tried to bend in 2!! the steel plate that runs accross the bottom of the mx boot sole prevented this!

Apparently people have quite often turned up in trainers and are surprised to be told off!!!
 
This training seems to be quite cool!!! :thumb2

Quick quesiton on the boots: are enduro-type boots allowed (in my case Tcx Infinity) or do they have to be specific motocross boots only?

Thanks!

Nico

Nico, they do have boots and other stuff there to hire. I hired the boots mine are ok but i wanted to be on the safe side as i have been told that ankles get most of the stick off road. The hire kit is good just book in advance.

Adam
 
This training seems to be quite cool!!! :thumb2

Quick quesiton on the boots: are enduro-type boots allowed (in my case Tcx Infinity) or do they have to be specific motocross boots only?

Thanks!

Nico

They do check your boots quite thouroughly. I had SIDI Flexforce, which are off road, but do not have the sole welt overhang, which they teach you to use to change gear whilst standing.

Fantastic course:thumb
 
Thank you guys, the boots to hire are 20 pounds which is basically nothing when compared to the whole cost. I guess I'll sign up soon!!! :clap
 
Me too!

Me and three mates did the course in Wales last Fri-Sat. What a fantastic experience. We'd all done a fair bit of off-roading before, but not on GS's and we were just stunned by what the things will go up/through/over! I wouldn't dream of doing that to my 1150gs but now I know it could do it if necessary! At one stage we had two of the 1200's upside down in a small river, with a near vertical bank to get out of.... which we did manage eventually!

The bikes were all pretty well brand new having only had two days use prior to our course. They were a bit more bashed by the end though!

It rained for about 80% of the time both days, so the mud and ruts were full of mud, but that's preferable to dust, and gives a softer landing when you fall off!

They really do teach you some invaluable tricks.

Our instructor was Zippy.... a three time Dakar support rider to Patsy Quick... What a great bloke and teacher. His stories of his Dakar adventures while we were (often) getting our breath back were amazing.

Anyway... can't recommend it enough. Even if you don't intend to take your GS off road, the skills it teaches, will serve you well in many situations.

Simon Pavey and team very professional, and all in all a very slick operation.

Highly impressed.

Will

Met Oonyakistan there too.
 
They do check your boots quite thouroughly.

They hardly blinked at mine - All they could see was the steel lip on the toe and I guess they assumed they were ok. I wouldn't go overboard on the technical aspect of boots - mine are 10 years old and are perfectly functional. If I were you I'd put up an ad in 'For Sale and Wanted' seeing if anyones got an old pair in the back of the cupboard....
 
And me

:):)I was another one who braved the elements in Wales last weekend and despite being soaking wet, frozen and having a couple of crashes I still had a wonderful time with Simon and his crew. Again I would recommend it to anyone and also recommend the Abercrave Inn to stay at, friendly welcome and great food.
Goat
p.s. Adamm any chance you could put up a link to your photos on facebook as I can't work out how to access them? Anyone else got any as I didn't manage to get any whilst in the park?
 
we had a great time too - I'm still discovering the bruises - and we are planning to go back next year. We stayed at a local farm where we were cosseted by the owners who thought we were insane and told stories of previous guests who had staggered in after a day on the hill, battered and bruised, smothered in mud, speechless with exhaustion and in some cases scared witless - but all still wanted more. The community of candidates for care in the community is not so small after all.

Decent boots didn't just save my ankles but also my leg from a nasty burn - it must have been one of the times I ended up on the ground/in the mud/ in a ditch. Cleaning off my protective (Hein Gericke) trousers I discovered they had burned right through the outer layers on the inside left leg, just below the knee. It would have been nasty if the melting material had made contact with my skin - as it happens the boots got it, and are no worse as a result.
 
'seal skin' socks

might also add that 'seal skin' socks from a decent outdoors shop, inside the boots (with trousers over the top, not tucked in) meant my feet were warm and totally dry all day, both days.

BMW phase-change jacket and trousers under the outer suit kept everything else snug. The only bit to suffer were my hands - cold and wet - the drive back to the centre was the worst bit - tired, sore and with frozen aching hands...

I'm going to give 'seal skin' gloves a try under GS gloves the next wet day.
 
Would love to see the pictures, I'm signed and paid up to do the Level One course in May 19&20 ready for my trip to Morocco in October.

Can't wait for it:bounce1
 
i learnt loads doin the offroad course.... slow control, hills water....came home and ached for about a week.......but it was a awesome weekend....want to do it again next yr...and just been readin the bmw tour book.......wanna go on them all....just need 20 weeks off work and 20k to pay for em.............:( do you think i could get away with a 20 week trip around south america).......do u think the hubby would notice.....lol
 


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