I took a great week off earlier this month and took all my treats at once: a trip through the Peak District, a track day at Oulton Park, down the best roads ever to north Wales, and finishing with the two day off-road course.
The track day was great - a good contrast to the short Kent circuit I've done a couple of times - even if the crotch rockets scorched me with shocking ease on the straights. But, I love what it does for for my riding the next day.... so easy, so smooth, so tidy (we're talking relative values, here though! )
But, the 2 day course was the biggest surprise. The bruises are still grandpa-stlye in many places, but help remind me what we got up to. I've done a bit off-roading, but nothing like this. At least some of the photos above start to convey the sheer scale of the hills, drops, cambers, ruts, rocks and rips. Seriously hard work, exhausting physically... and mentally.
I am delighted the instructors had such a balls-out attitude (who the hell insures them??!), and that helped create a give-it-a-go-and-have-faith approach to each challenge. Tony gets my vote for an excellent instructor. And boy was instruction needed.
Of course I've now blown all my savings, so it'll be a while before I get to think about doing it again - but it's gonna happen!
Conclusion - great value, great time.
