August 4th riding class.
I was one of the attendees of the August class that Dave put on. The instruction he provided and the material he covered were well worth the money. Our class consisted of a lot of familiar faces and a couple of people with whom I was personnaly acquainted. Most are seen at the local District 36 enduros and hare scrambles. The majority were "B" class riders looking to improve their riding skills. Dave gave us what we wanted. I don't think anyone went away without recognizing improvement. For me, that improvement in a couple areas was impressive and dramatic.
The class started with an informal meeting of all at a breakfast spot in Downieville, CA. There we got a chance to introduce ourselves and say hello to friends who were there for the class. I saw a couple of guys I knew, one a DRN poster, and another person I always seem to camp beside at the hare scrambles. This helped smooth out some of the anticipatory jitters of the morning.
After breakfast, we caravaned down a dirt road a few miles to the actual starting place for the class. Once again, introductions and a brief overview of the class by Dave. During the overview, Dave mentioned we would be riding further up the dirt road we were parked on, and would probably encounter a land owner who had posted signs of "No tresspassing", "No Dirt Bikes", etc. on the county road. It seems there is always someone who wants to impose their agenda even when it is against the law. "Al", the landowner had been known to stand on the road to intimidate OHV'rs. Luckily, we didn't see 'ol Al.
In the course of the day, Dave introduced several skills on which we would work. He would introduce one at a time, and give you riding time to practice the skill while he and Mike Pascaralla (Sp?) watched and gave pointers. All the skills were introduced in environments that were fairly easy riding, but the skills were definately applicable to more technical riding adventures as we would find out by the end of the day.
Personally, I was amazed at how much more confident I was on areas that I had found concerning in the past. As an example, Dave had us work on dragging the front brake in turns to get the front tire to really stick. Believe me, it works! The last trail of the day was a pretty technical sidehill adventure with some vertical drops on one side to ensure the proper pucker rate was achieved. This trail also had some tight switchbacks that, with the soft, loose, and rocky terrain, would have had me considering walking around a few to avoid the consequence of a mistake, i.e. going off the vertical side. With the braking technique, not only was I riding around them, but I did it with some speed, and it was FUN!
Now having said that, I don't recommend that anyone in the Super Senior B class of District 36 attend Dave's classes. :p I am looking for a few first places this fall. :)
Seriously, I had a great time, enjoyed the time spent with my classmates, and immediately signed up for Dave's next class. Thanks Dave and Mike for the excellent adventure.