Lessons from a low-speed fall
I recently took advantage of the glorious weather to make an overnight trip to the Cederberg. On the return journey, coming down the twisty gravel pass towards Mount Ceder, at low speed, I glanced back to see where my riding buddy was. Within seconds, my front wheel had found the loose dirt at the edge of the road, and I was lying in a ditch with the bike on my leg. Fortunately, no harm done to me (ATGATT) and little damage to the bike, but it required the help of my friend and some helpful passers-by to extricate my leg and get the bike back on the road. The lessons I learnt from this little episode:
- Don't be complacent - bad things can happen at low speeds
- When you look behind you, you tend to steer slightly in the opposite direction
- Don't ride in the outback alone - you may need someone to lift the bike off your leg!
As Andy Connell has always said.....its easy to ride fast but real skilll to ride these big bikes sloooowly, all my accidents have happened at slow speeds
but surely the fall was fast 
?
I am new to off-road so learning all the time ... on my last trip i found it difficult keeping tabs on the rider behind me when standing up as the mirrors are obviously set for sitting down .. and looking around upsets your rhythm and balance as Stephen found out. A simple solution occured to me which was to set one mirror for the standing positon and the other for sitting so with a quick glance in the mirror i could see how my fellow rider was doing whether i was standing or sitting.
Hi Stephen
Glad that you came away unscathed! No substitute for experience though and emphasing the importance of TITS - Time In The Saddle!! 
Ride safely & enjoy it.
Stephen, I nearly came short doing exactly what you did!
... and yes, we go down kwik-kwik!
Go Pieter.
Attend training.
Standing 101, you learn to set one mirror for standing as you stand up.
After a while muscle memory hardwires this into your CPU and your hand auto sets the mirror in the same movement as you stand up.
Hi Andy. Have done both Country Trax and Donford courses but must have missed that tip ... next plan is to do one of the weekend courses when i can get the time .. and save up some money. Lots to learn still!
Rgds Peter
Pieter,
I will arrnage two rides in the enxt few weeks.
One 80km dirt ride from Palttekloof to Paarl for real gravel beginners
And another day ride down the Hemel en Aarde Vallei of 250 kilometres - 60% gravel, 40% tar.
Please come on both.
It is on group rides- leanring by watching others and by seeing what gear they wear, what egar they put on their bikes, that you really grow.
Rdiging with other riders accelerates your growth curve.
The sefety brieifigns all include some skills acquisiton lessons on basic principoles you will have learned on the other training rides.
| © BMW Motorrad Club Cape 2006 - 2020 | Back to live site | Site built and hosted by HoneyBadger.net |
