Hi All,
Apologies ahead of time, but this text is rather long and droning...
Kind of a whacky title I know, but I needed an attention grabber appropriate to how enthusiastic I feel about the ride I had this weekend. I consider it to be the FIRST real trail ride since I got the new KDX-220 earlier this year, or at the very least, the first time the bike was used for something much closer to its potential than had been thus far...
For me, a person with NO motorcycle experience whatsoever before picking up the brand new KDX, the prospect of things like fear, injury, embarassment, and intimidation stemming from the bike were extremely powerful distractions. The only thing stemming the negativity was the fact that (being over 40 now) I surmised that I could still do things that I enjoyed like writing, gardening, RC, cooking, etc even if I lived to 100, but how long could a person hold off on off-roading? I had to take the plunge now or forever wonder "What if?"
That was the first lesson in life: Never lose the wonder of things that you had as a child... My friends all accused me of being crazy and not to get the dirtbike because it was not "sensible" Does sensible and bored, necessarily HAVE to go hand in hand?
Before last weekends ride I was insanely cautious... green trails, fire roads, flat river beds.... Some MX track stuff but always at a sedate and unremarkable pace... I'm convinced now that if I had NOT ridden with a group of experienced (and considerate) riders, that I would be doing that same thing over and over for literally months or even years. For me, the Blue square at the trail head always meant "turn back"... I was riding behind my friends this weekend after FINALLY getting together for a ride, and up the Kiln Canyon trail they went, with me in tow in the rear.
I was already nervous and assuming because I had made certain to let them know that I wanted to be careful and was a new rider, that they would veer away from the trail right where the posted Blue Square signpost marked where Kiln Canyon became "moderate difficulty"... The signpost was ahead and to me great anxiety they all rode past it and continued up the trail. Not only that but they began to pick up speed... I rolled on the throttle a little more as the sign went past, more nervous about being left behind then the trail ahead.
In a half mile or so the path turned from a trail 4 bikes wide, to a narrow "footpath" that cut into the side of a hill. Bobble once and either end up with a bar in the side of the hill on the right, or a tumble into a small gulley to the left... I stiffened up immediately, feeling neither relaxed, nor confident... then I looked ahead and saw my friends communicating with each other... The lead rider even sat sideways for a moment, shouting something to the rider right behind him while looking completely backward, and for some reason that made me feel much more at ease. This of course lasted only a few more minutes before we came to the first short hill climb.
They had stopped at the start of it waiting for me to catch up... then they told me matter of factly like it wasn't even going to be a question, what I was to do... "You don't need to run up with speed, just stay in second, stay clear of that deep rut on the left and those rocks and grass on the right, then snake your way to the top from there. Don't go off the throttle, and if your rear wheel starts to spin pull in the clutch a little till you feel the wheel hook back up"
They all preceeded to run up the hill at that point and I watched the lines they took, though I wasn't certain if I could do more than stay on and try to go up any way I could, let alone pick the path!
As I started up, I suddenly realized that no one gave me instructions on how to recover or what to do if I fell... and being already commited to the climb I actually said to myself in my helmet "I'm just going to have to F*#&ing make it on the first try then" Halfway up the short climb and the KDX didn't seem to even be sweating it half as much as me... I never lost traction and the bike always seemed to have more power if I rolled more on the throttle (It was also the first time I was absolutely certain I was completely "on the pipe" :) ) The thing climbed like a tractor...
Up over the top and a HUGE feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction, plus I got a Thumbs up from everyone before we continued and as stupid as it sounds, that gave me the best feeling I've had in a LONG while...
Which is Lesson #2 in life: There are few things more important in life than friends...
There were several more hillclimbs, and descents, which made me even more nervous, but I learned many many things from them that helped tremendously... In steep climbs with shale outcroppings that stuck up out of the ground like large razors, I was absolutely certain I would hit one, stop, and fall over painfully... Before the climb I was told to try and avoid them, but if I had to go over something, the front end would already be light because of the climb and being on power already, so if I couldn't loft the wheel over it (I'm wheelie challenged) what would happen is the front would bump up against it and just go right over. I could choose at that point to veer away slightly or just lean forward and power over it... and that's exactly what happened, in fact, it was vastly less abrupt then I imagined it would be...
On one descent, there was a sharp hairpin at the bottom that immediately turned back uphill... I dreaded the sharp switchbacks because I felt so offbalance trying to quickly get the rear end around under power... I always felt like I was going to get highsided or fall over to the inside of the corner...
In fact getting to the bottom of one, that is exactly what happened... I fell over to the inside... Coming back down from the following climb I was given more instructions on how to turn... I knew the texts I had read and thought I had absorbed them, but in practice, trying to combine all the elements was maddeningly difficult in its subtlety... One rider in the group got off his bike and placed me in the position prior to the switch back. He said not to be afraid of throttle and that I was having trouble because I was going too slow... He put his hands on my knee to the outside of the turn and pushed it into the bike hard... He said to press the knee to the outside of the bike, and that would help with balance.
They waited as I trundled a bit back up the preceding hill... turned around (gingerly) and started back down... They were all waiting at the bottom and watching as I came into the turn, drove my knee into the outside of the bike and in a sudden flash of realization, I found out that when you do that, it forces your upper body to be more "upright" as the bike leaned under you... It was also 10 times easier to stick my inside foot out next to my front wheel because of the leverage I got from that outside knee pressure... I whipped around the soft dirt at the base of the turn, the back end came around just like the feeling you have when someone grabs a chair you're sitting in and pulls it around to another direction, and up the hill I went! Because my upper body was more upright, it felt less like "leaning against a strong wind" with the offbalance sensation that gives you if the wind intensity changes, to more of a angling your legs to brace you against the wind, keeping your body more or less vertical... I know to more experienced riders it sounds inane, but to me it was a minor epiphany, and something no one could EVER get by simply reading technique articles in a magazine... :)
As an added bonus, my friends were all covered with a light dusting of dirt when they came up behind me because I had roosted them all inadvertantly as I was powering around the corner LoL! but they were not miffed in the least :)
So that's the next lesson learned in life and off-road: SIt up straight and don't slouch! :)
Sorry that this got so long... More experienced riders might respond with the ho-hum and a yawn, but hopefully newer riders will look at it more as an encouraging sign that just as in life, its far more common to sell yourself short and rest on "the best you think you can do" until you try a challenge you believe is outside your abilities but others with you know, is simply fear clouding your judgement and potential...
Its rare to find expert riders who never forgot what it felt like that first time they were on a bike... I consider myself more than fortunate to have the opportunity to ride with them whenever I want!
Have fun all and be safe!
Feanor
Apologies ahead of time, but this text is rather long and droning...
Kind of a whacky title I know, but I needed an attention grabber appropriate to how enthusiastic I feel about the ride I had this weekend. I consider it to be the FIRST real trail ride since I got the new KDX-220 earlier this year, or at the very least, the first time the bike was used for something much closer to its potential than had been thus far...
For me, a person with NO motorcycle experience whatsoever before picking up the brand new KDX, the prospect of things like fear, injury, embarassment, and intimidation stemming from the bike were extremely powerful distractions. The only thing stemming the negativity was the fact that (being over 40 now) I surmised that I could still do things that I enjoyed like writing, gardening, RC, cooking, etc even if I lived to 100, but how long could a person hold off on off-roading? I had to take the plunge now or forever wonder "What if?"
That was the first lesson in life: Never lose the wonder of things that you had as a child... My friends all accused me of being crazy and not to get the dirtbike because it was not "sensible" Does sensible and bored, necessarily HAVE to go hand in hand?
Before last weekends ride I was insanely cautious... green trails, fire roads, flat river beds.... Some MX track stuff but always at a sedate and unremarkable pace... I'm convinced now that if I had NOT ridden with a group of experienced (and considerate) riders, that I would be doing that same thing over and over for literally months or even years. For me, the Blue square at the trail head always meant "turn back"... I was riding behind my friends this weekend after FINALLY getting together for a ride, and up the Kiln Canyon trail they went, with me in tow in the rear.
I was already nervous and assuming because I had made certain to let them know that I wanted to be careful and was a new rider, that they would veer away from the trail right where the posted Blue Square signpost marked where Kiln Canyon became "moderate difficulty"... The signpost was ahead and to me great anxiety they all rode past it and continued up the trail. Not only that but they began to pick up speed... I rolled on the throttle a little more as the sign went past, more nervous about being left behind then the trail ahead.
In a half mile or so the path turned from a trail 4 bikes wide, to a narrow "footpath" that cut into the side of a hill. Bobble once and either end up with a bar in the side of the hill on the right, or a tumble into a small gulley to the left... I stiffened up immediately, feeling neither relaxed, nor confident... then I looked ahead and saw my friends communicating with each other... The lead rider even sat sideways for a moment, shouting something to the rider right behind him while looking completely backward, and for some reason that made me feel much more at ease. This of course lasted only a few more minutes before we came to the first short hill climb.
They had stopped at the start of it waiting for me to catch up... then they told me matter of factly like it wasn't even going to be a question, what I was to do... "You don't need to run up with speed, just stay in second, stay clear of that deep rut on the left and those rocks and grass on the right, then snake your way to the top from there. Don't go off the throttle, and if your rear wheel starts to spin pull in the clutch a little till you feel the wheel hook back up"
They all preceeded to run up the hill at that point and I watched the lines they took, though I wasn't certain if I could do more than stay on and try to go up any way I could, let alone pick the path!
As I started up, I suddenly realized that no one gave me instructions on how to recover or what to do if I fell... and being already commited to the climb I actually said to myself in my helmet "I'm just going to have to F*#&ing make it on the first try then" Halfway up the short climb and the KDX didn't seem to even be sweating it half as much as me... I never lost traction and the bike always seemed to have more power if I rolled more on the throttle (It was also the first time I was absolutely certain I was completely "on the pipe" :) ) The thing climbed like a tractor...
Up over the top and a HUGE feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction, plus I got a Thumbs up from everyone before we continued and as stupid as it sounds, that gave me the best feeling I've had in a LONG while...
Which is Lesson #2 in life: There are few things more important in life than friends...
There were several more hillclimbs, and descents, which made me even more nervous, but I learned many many things from them that helped tremendously... In steep climbs with shale outcroppings that stuck up out of the ground like large razors, I was absolutely certain I would hit one, stop, and fall over painfully... Before the climb I was told to try and avoid them, but if I had to go over something, the front end would already be light because of the climb and being on power already, so if I couldn't loft the wheel over it (I'm wheelie challenged) what would happen is the front would bump up against it and just go right over. I could choose at that point to veer away slightly or just lean forward and power over it... and that's exactly what happened, in fact, it was vastly less abrupt then I imagined it would be...
On one descent, there was a sharp hairpin at the bottom that immediately turned back uphill... I dreaded the sharp switchbacks because I felt so offbalance trying to quickly get the rear end around under power... I always felt like I was going to get highsided or fall over to the inside of the corner...
In fact getting to the bottom of one, that is exactly what happened... I fell over to the inside... Coming back down from the following climb I was given more instructions on how to turn... I knew the texts I had read and thought I had absorbed them, but in practice, trying to combine all the elements was maddeningly difficult in its subtlety... One rider in the group got off his bike and placed me in the position prior to the switch back. He said not to be afraid of throttle and that I was having trouble because I was going too slow... He put his hands on my knee to the outside of the turn and pushed it into the bike hard... He said to press the knee to the outside of the bike, and that would help with balance.
They waited as I trundled a bit back up the preceding hill... turned around (gingerly) and started back down... They were all waiting at the bottom and watching as I came into the turn, drove my knee into the outside of the bike and in a sudden flash of realization, I found out that when you do that, it forces your upper body to be more "upright" as the bike leaned under you... It was also 10 times easier to stick my inside foot out next to my front wheel because of the leverage I got from that outside knee pressure... I whipped around the soft dirt at the base of the turn, the back end came around just like the feeling you have when someone grabs a chair you're sitting in and pulls it around to another direction, and up the hill I went! Because my upper body was more upright, it felt less like "leaning against a strong wind" with the offbalance sensation that gives you if the wind intensity changes, to more of a angling your legs to brace you against the wind, keeping your body more or less vertical... I know to more experienced riders it sounds inane, but to me it was a minor epiphany, and something no one could EVER get by simply reading technique articles in a magazine... :)
As an added bonus, my friends were all covered with a light dusting of dirt when they came up behind me because I had roosted them all inadvertantly as I was powering around the corner LoL! but they were not miffed in the least :)
So that's the next lesson learned in life and off-road: SIt up straight and don't slouch! :)
Sorry that this got so long... More experienced riders might respond with the ho-hum and a yawn, but hopefully newer riders will look at it more as an encouraging sign that just as in life, its far more common to sell yourself short and rest on "the best you think you can do" until you try a challenge you believe is outside your abilities but others with you know, is simply fear clouding your judgement and potential...
Its rare to find expert riders who never forgot what it felt like that first time they were on a bike... I consider myself more than fortunate to have the opportunity to ride with them whenever I want!
Have fun all and be safe!
Feanor
