Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

I attended the Country Trax weekend off road training course from Friday 10^th to Sunday 12^th of July.

Hosted by Country Trax at the Njalo Njalo game ranch

The acces driveway itself is a course in riding stones, all onits own.

The welcome at the lodgre is very warm, catering is "uit die hepe uit!"

It was really not just good fun, but it was very worthwhile.

An excellent investment.

The good experience did not start on Friday.

I have struggled in the past and left the booking because it just did not do it for me, maybe it was frustration before that there were no intermediate courses in the next 6 months.

I bitched to Country Trax- to Johan and to Leon and they both suggested I try again.

I breezed through the booking in early June.

My booking was acknowledged, and I paid and my payment was acknowledged very quickly.

From then on Country Trax sent me material, reminders, directions, updates on a regular basis and then even met reports and what to wear to beat the weather.

By now I was getting seriously impressed.

 

In the meantime, I had learned in a flyer from Country Trax of the great GS Trophy and it’s  regional qualifiers in the five regions in SA.

I paid and participated, I was weighed, I was measured and I was found seriously lacking when benchmarked against the very few other competitors

 

Country Trax had put it all together when they eventually got the green light from Motorrad in Johannesburg.

So by Friday 10^th July I was very keen to get on the course and improve my skills.

But mostly the GS Regional Qualifier competition that eliminated me had identified that I had picked up some bad riding habits in so far as my weight usage on the bike was concerned

 

So the stars really Lined up when I met my riding buddy and kamer maat for the weekend- Neels to ride out to the venue Njalo Njalo game lodge just a skraal 10 km SE of Touwsriver.

 

We filled up at Touws, but forgot to drop tyre pressures (dumb asses) and arrived bang on 12H00, we had been delayed kuiering with Hennie B over brunch at the N1 Shell Ultra just shy of Worcester.

 

"...We did cones till we fell asleep ion the ike or ran out of fuel, ... or so it felt"

Let’s see, some of the exercises we did in the curriculum were done from basics  and lifting the bar all the time until the big figure eight.

School circle sessions indoors and outdoors were held to affirm the theory in between practical exercises.

 

the cone ciscuit was large enough to have six bikes orbiting all over. if ione had a side-stand incdent, it just became yet one more cone to negotiate around.

In the school circle- We elarned what causes a bike to steer,

How to use your body weight as a counter balance and a tool for balance to aid accelerating, decelerating swapping lanes, making the bike lighter over obstacles,  aiding in cornering, and mostly letting the bike get on and what it does best- negotiate terrain of types and textures.

We learned of the gyroscope effects moving parts have and how to use this knowledge to leverage better safer riding.

 

We learned how we need momentum and not necessarily speed to ride safely over terrain

The exercise were well interspaced with outride’s through the game park, treating us to close contact with Gemsbok, Wildebeest, eland, Zebra, ostriches, and other four legged hoofed and horned beasts of the plains.

The training took place over about four or five different locations, which was very refreshing.

We learned of ride discipline, and

• How to approach and go up very steep ascents and then descents.
• How to jump ditches, and get over logs, save the sump by using body, weight, momentum and the physics of the suspension to  lift the bike over obstacles.
• We learned to negotiate cones again and again.
• We learned to work and operate as a team.
• We learned towing
• We learned emergency braking
• We learned how to ride in sand and how not to ride in sand.

 

Yes we spent  a lot of time learning how and why NOT to do things.

Johan identified many bad habits and he thrashed them out of us.

I was called time n again to do an exercise and only released once I had the technique.

That’s what was so amazing. Everything is technique, so once you get your head around the technique, you can put into actual practice and then it comes easier each time.

 

Johan had us doing cones every time we came back to or past base, before we moved on.

We rode sand, mud, twee spoor, rocks, stones, ruts, wash aways, puddles, dam walls, mounds.

 

We mounted up in the ice cold weather and we soon shed inners and warm gear as we sweated each exercise.

We drank copious amounts of water.

Neels sets off on the cone course while Jan & Arina get ready...

Johan Mostert surveys the activity and plans his ride

Voorseun Johan explains tight steering lock turns using body weight to coutnerbalance and add traction while Ryan, Johan, Jan & Arina look on

 

"School circle! Gather round and listen well. Fokus manne Fokus."

School circle, Choose the best line- that's rule No:2, don't ever forget it!

And if we learned nothing else, we learned there are two cardinal rules of off-road riding and bike control

1 – Stand up, Look up, open up the legs, open up the throttle

2 – Always choose the best line.

 

Yes, to be honest, I did know a lot of this from the two Intro courses I have done, from riding experience and from listening and learning.

But spending a weekend gathering it all together with theory and technique as the principle guide, I leaned to do this much better.

 

 

 

Johan Mostert, Jan and Arina get set to commence the next exercise

The weekend, the night ride, the guys and the gal on this course was fantastic.

I re-affirmed old friendships and made new ones.

Johan was very tolerant, very patient and kept us going non-stop and remarkably, kept well to time.

It was lekker koud when we returned from the night ride

 

Changing lanes and spoor - techniques that make it easier and safer....

Johan kyk me t lang oê na die oefening eers voor hy met moed weggespring het...

and the game went on browsing

Each time the clouds cleared briefly over the Matroosberg, we saw the snow line was lower down and less rock was visible as the snnow fell and fell...

Use body weight to assist with control

Johan is very focused

Mr. 10,  Ryan from Saldaha pays special attention to the tuition.

 

 

 

Every exercise was first well explained, then demonstrated, then we executed utnil we had it taped..

Wow, it was chilly, but we soon were sweating and working hard in our ATTGAT.

It looks icy, it was icy.

 

On Sunday afternoon, Neels and I took off and rode home together via Montagu- gravel for 50% of the route home.

 It was interesting watching snow building up over Stettynsberg as I traversed the Eilandia pad on the way home

 

And still the course did not end, I found myself jumping slots, and wash-aways, using my body weight to compress the suspension then use the stored energy to rebound the springs enabling me to sail weightlessly over trenches and slots.  I went looking for obstacles and braked, jumped, sailed over and all too soon we were in Montagu.

 

 

I would really recommend that every off road rider invests in formal training of this nature and would like to see this course as sponsored prizes in events and competitions in future.

 

The only shocker to dampen the weekend was the extortionate bar bill- I will bring my own hard booze and soft drinks next time, that’s for sure.