Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

May 2008 saw the first [http://www.countrytrax.co.za Country Trax Advanced Offroad BMW Rider Training] in the Western Cape - held at Klipbokkop. I was lucky enough to be a part of it, by grace of my wife and on the insistence of Mr. Badger, my 1150GS (who doesn't know what's good for him). We arrive at Klipbokkop on Thursday evening. Jan and Gerhard (the advanced course instructors) are down from Mpumalanga to run this inaugural training, and they introduce themselves to each new arrival. Rumours abound that the course will start with a night ride, and this is fuelled by Jan's instructions for us to report for supper in full kit. The air is somewhat apprehensive as we remove screens and mirrors in preparation for the inevitable learning experiences and ''sidestand issues''. Klipbokkop Conference Centre Arrival: Spectacular scenery greeted our arrival at Klipbokkop I am nursing a sore knee after Mr. Badger had a fit of narcolepsy stopped at a traffic light on the way home the night before - so Ruan de Lange lends me his right knee brace because he only needs the left one. After supper the training kicks off with a lecture on the rules of the course. We are to be evaluated on * completion of certain exercises, * fitness, * safety consciousness, * alertness, * conservation consciousness, * camaraderie and helpfulness towards others, * not having an inbred culture of destruction! We are also warned that not everybody will complete the course successfully - the word 'successfully' will be struck through on our certificates if we don't succeed. Let me break the suspense right now and tell you that although Mr. Badger may have passed the course had Jan been riding him, I was not able to succeed. However, I am in good company as a number of other riders (I know of 7) also belong to the ''strikethrough'' gang. Now it is dark, chilly, and we are nervous. We muster outside for the night ride: Muster for night ride parade Rendezvous briefing: We are to ride one-by-one along a forest path, out of site of one-another, to learn navigation in the dark Forest Single Track: So far so good Night track After negotiating a water obstacle around a sandy corner, we regroup and continue the exercise in pairs riding side by side. I end up, in the dark, with my roommate - André. We ride beautifully until the steep descent where his bike suddenly gets tired and lies down. In the spirit of camaraderie I dismount to help him and soon he is on his way again. The night ride puts everybody at ease (sort of), and the ice is broken. There is much excited chatter when we get back to our lodgings. ===Friday=== The sunrise at Klipbokkop is incredible... Sunrise Preparing for the day A cup of coffee and some rusks will tide us over until breakfast. The day starts with a ride. Bones, my neighbour: was often doing work on his or on someone else's bike. He introduced me to offroad riding two years ago. Follow the leader We muster behind Jan who takes our group to the main quarry. Gerhard's group goes to the dirt racetrack. We do cones in the quarry, and some steep inclines and descents. Jan stops us all and asks us whether we feel comfortable with our front wheels - whether there is anything wrong with them. ''"Not that I have noticed"'' I say. '''''"Then why are you looking down at your front wheel instead of looking up?"''''' he replies. Jan demonstrates:: How to climb a steep narrow incline with no traction, without spinning your back wheel, after turning right over rough terrain Mr. Badger loves to demonstrate as much as anybody, and took it on himself to give his own demonstration of what badgers like to do best... Badger Demonstration: Is everybody watching? That's the way you do it How to dig a Badger Burrow: using only your right paw(t) and your rider's ankle Shaking his fur: Mr. Badger explains the finer points of burrow digging to the interested crowd, and how it is in his nature to seek shelter underground during the daylight hours. If at first you don't succeed By the end of that little exercise, Mr. Badger was unharmed but I had a bruised swollen right ankle, and a bruised left elbow. Charles 0, Klipbokkop 2... Jan finds a muddy puddle just before a long steep incline, and explains the need to wheelie over the puddle. He then demonstrates on his X-Challenge. Feeling in a bit of a challenging mood myself (and having had a lot of difficulty getting Mr. Badger to run on his hind legs only), I asked Jan to show us the same exercise on Mr. Badger. I could just imaging Mr. Badger getting all excited about having a real offroad adventurer riding him. But that bubble soon popped when Jan got on the bike. He immediately remarked that it was no wonder Mr. Badger was trying to hide underground at every opportunity - his front dampers need refurbishing. My joy to discover that the bike is (at least partly) to blame for my apparent lack of riding ability was canceled when Jan observed that without damping in the front shocks the bike should wheelie more easily! Cheese: Jan puts Mr. Badger through his paces Chalk: Mr. Badger ignores Charles... Lourens, Chris and Ruan: controlled descent Ruan on the wall Braking Slides: Robin Rathbone practising braking slides Towards the end of the day, in a showdown reminiscent of ''West Side Story'', the two groups meet on a deserted dirt road at dusk. We line up about 50m apart, and Jan and Gerhard put up cones in front of each group. We are to race each other around the cones - and the only way to turn quickly on the narrow road is to do a braking slide and turn, then powerslide around the cone. This was going to be a bit tricky for some of us in Jan's group, since we had not gotten to practice the technique as much as the other group, but this was our handicap since we were meant to be the ''manne wat hierdie naweek die pap gaan dikmaak''. How I wished I had chosen to not be a manne... When Jakobus was nominated by the other side, I couldn't stand the tension anymore and volunteered to represent our side against him. Jan thought it was a good idea since we were both not youngsters. I really must shave this salt-and-pepper beard of mine (or dye it). Well, it was (fairly) close... Jakobus Races: using his head - Jakobus knew this was more about attrition than speed Falling: we both fell a few times, but Mr. Badger led in that department Got It: Once or twice I got the turn right, but it was not enough Johan de Jager: the racing was long and hard, and the competition was fierce Jakobus goes on to win: proving that older men have more stamina and brains. By the end of the competition, the dusk air was thick with dust, and the road was a war zone of skid marks and two big berms at either end where the bikes turned. Jakobus had gone on to win after beating me in the early rounds, so I felt just a bit better about having been knocked out so early. But I was disappointed that I had not mastered the braking turn / powerslide combination. The stunning sunset on the way back seemed to reflect the gigantic tussle that had taken place with man and machine pitted against each other. Struggle Sunset Back at the rooms I tell André that I am taking my kidney belt back for a refund - it is meant to prevent excessive tiredness when riding, but didn't seem to be working... ===Saturday=== Again we are off at first light for some riding before a late breakfast... Bones Hewitt: controlled descent Gerhard demonstrates: how to bunnyhop over a log East Side: Gerhard's team poses for a nicer photo than ours... Braking Slide Practice: At last we practice what we needed yesterday. Here Chris Potgieter takes it to the limit After breakfast we have the hardest, most exhausting session of the entire course. It started innocently enough with bunny-hop practice... Jan Demonstrates Andre gets it right: my room mate gets his back wheel to fly over the log Then we move to the sand oval track. This diabolical course is where we learn to turn in thick sand, and also to do an emergency stop, pullaway and even a controlled stop. It seemed that we mostly practised picking up our bikes. Sand Oval Emergency Stop: Barry comes to a flying halt Tired Roomy By the time we had been around the oval a few times, done our emergency braking and pullaway, and picked up each others bikes, we were exhausted. The next exercise was the bane of our course. It also became the one that was used to measure our successful completion of the course requirement. The premise is that you are riding a sandy track in a game reserve, when an elephant walks into the road in front of you. You escape trampling by doing an emergency braking turn, put your foot down and do a half-doughnut to spin the bike around and ride back the way you came. This was the dreaded '''''Elephant Turn'''''. Elephant Turn 1Elephant Turn 2: Chris sprays sand as he executes a doughnutElephant Turn 3: Johan de Jager sneaks in inside the cone that marks the triangle within which the exercise must be done I really battled with the big bike. In order to cause the bike to swing around when you spin the back wheel, you need to lean it over. But my little pins for legs really cannot hold the bike up for long, so I either fell over, or failed to lean the bike and thus failed to turn. In hindsight I should have used more speed to get more out of the braking slide. Anyway, I ended up being the guy who just could not get it right. After everybody was sitting watching me go again and again, I was shattered. Finally, drawing on the last strength and resolve, I did it. Then, we did the whole thing again from the other side - turning right. On our way back to lunch, hot, tired and shaken, Jan had us ride over the jumping ramp a few times. This was to be in preparation for some jumping in the afternoon, but we never got to doing it. Luckily, some of us cooked the practice runs, and even more lucky for me, the photographer was watching... Badgers can jump Wayne jumped with me Well, inspired by the jumping success, Wayne and I rode side-by-side back to lunch along a long straight road with speed bumps. Of course we jumped the bumps. Whooping. The last bump is just before a sharp curve. We had ridden the road about 12 times already, but in the excitement of the jump I clean forgot about the curve... All my training went out the window. Instead of braking, or turning, I braked '''and''' turned. Then Mr. Badger and I were sliding along the gravel at 70km/hr, on our side. I was totally unhurt, as was Mr. Badger. Lourens and Ruan arrived and checked that I was OK. When I got going again, Wayne was just ahead on the side of the road and gave me a high five. It was then I realized his bike was stuck in the fynbos on the side of the road. Had he also wiped out? He relates how he saw in his mirror the underside of my bike as I slid down the road. He did an emergency stop, and in spite of consistently failing to execute the elephant turn during practice, he decides that now, in a crisis, he was going to be able to do it in anger. So he turned his head to look back down the road where he want to go, and gunned the engine. His bike did not go where he was looking - it shot straight ahead into the fynbos and the fence at the side of the road... We put it all down to loss of concentration due to exhaustion. Jan must have realised this because the afternoon was designed to allow us to recover sufficiently for the races at dusk... We went to the quarry for some more exercises, including the one I had been dreading ever since Leon mentioned it at the intermediate course. We were to bunnyhop, in first gear, over the hole we jumped at speed in third gear on the intermediate course! Now, speed can carry you over a hole, but at low speed you need skill (something I was beginning to think I was particularly short of). One of the exercises was a controlled steep descent, with a sharp turn in the middle that required controlled sliding of the rear wheel... Jaco descending: to make this, you have to unleash some controlled sliding of the back wheel Russel descending: with Ruan waiting. If you 'lost' it, your escape was straight down through the cones. There were several falls here. Barry at the holeBarry makes itRussell flies: over the hole convincinglyRuan taunts the back wheel And yes, Mr. Badger cleared the hole. Several times. How, I don't know. Then we posed for our team photograph: Jan's team: ons het pap dik gemaak We then headed down to the sandy beach along the Brandvlei dam, where we got to ride on wide expanses of sand of varying thickness and difficulty. Follow the leader On one part of the beach, an enormous track had been set up for some kind of event. As we all moved over towards it to start proceedings, Jakobus and the support bakkie collided with a sickening thud. We all ran to help, and bore witness to the skill and professionalism with which the instructors took charge of the situation and ensured that Jakobus was safe and unharmed before removing his helmet. We all got a tremendous fright and many of us were close to tears. Jakobus was mostly just stunned by the impact, and the only harm done was to his toe (and the front fender of the bakkie). It was a freak accident and dismissed as such. Then we proceeded with the tournament. Mr. Badger was to compete with the 3 Adventures. The race starts in the middle of the track, with the four bikes facing outwards in a cross. Four bikes facing outwards The riders need to don helmets and gloves, start their bikes and race to the perimeter of the track, where they turn left. the course is marked with poles and cones, and touching the poles results in elimination. If you catch up to a fellow competitor, hooting eliminates them. Huddle before the start Helmet rush: riding with Geoff Russell makes this part a doddlePower down: Russell takes off I got away fairly cleanly. My objective was not to be eliminated first, since I was annoyed at not having gotten enough practice during the showdown the night before. Luckily for me, Wayne had fallen where he was meant to join the track around the perimeter. I sailed past and hooted him out of the race. A short while later Russell was on my tail trying to get close enough to hoot me out. Badger hunting Eventually, Mr. Badger could no more and Russell overtook us. Then it was between him and Johan de Jager. Johan won. The next races were the 1200s, then the 800s, then XChallenges and HP2s, then the winners of each category against each other. The eventual winner was Ruan on his HP2, but the 800 held him off for a very long time. Even now, there is some contention as to whether Ruan or Barry was the first to commit a fault, because they were on opposite sides of the track when they were both disqualified. We made our way home via the sandy shortcut road that had had me struggling the last time I was here. This time I sailed through with no problems. All that remained (or so I thought) was the outride on Sunday morning, then the certificate award ceremony, and home safe and sound. Ha! ===Sunday=== We start with breakfast - no early outride. Then we follow Jan and Gerhard to the dirt track where he announces that Leon and Lourens have completed their training as advanced course instructors, and he hands the proceedings over to them. Then, we are given a test! We have to do elephant turns. It think we had five turns each. I don't know what the pass mark was - whether getting it right once was enough. What I do know is that I did not pass (and neigher did at least 7 others). On the way back, we turned onto a long sand track that I had never had a chance to ride, but that I knew all about because of what Johan de Jager had told me. For some reason I always end up on at the back, but I don't mind because it makes me a better rider in the long term. Also, because the very best riders (like the instructors and Ruan) generally ride as sweep, there is lots of expert advice around. Ruan shows Mr Badger how to pull away Like this? I managed fine, until somehow I high-sided at speed and flew through the air and landed flat on my back. It knocked the stuffing out of me. When I recovered and crawled to the side of the road I realised I was a good 10m from the bike, and had left a ''sand angel'' imprint of a sprawled body, boots furthest from the bike, in the sand. Jan, Lourens and Ruan came up and helped me onto the bike. Jan explains an approach When I reached the others, Leon was explaining the rules for a slow race. On sand slow is not good and I would have done better to just go fast and count on everybody else putting a foot down trying to go slowly... Slow Race on Sand Next we rode up a technically demanding tweespoor through the fynbos up the mountain. Parts of the track crossed streams in boggy mud and made it quite interesting. I passed Bones Hewitt in such a crossing - his glasses had misted up and he put his bike down in the stream. The two of us tried to get his bike out of a hole and ended up with water-filled boots before others arrived to help. That concluded the course. All that remained was to have lunch, receive our certificates, pack up and ride home. It was a bittersweet departure - on the one hand we were glad to have made it through, and yet we were sad that one of the most fantastic weekends had drawn to a close. ===Conclusion=== # The course is superb. Even now thinking about it brings a smile to my face. # My intention was to have more options available to me when riding off-road, and the course has given me this and more: ## Last weekend I went on Geoff Russell's West Coast Tour, with my son riding pillion. I noticed that I rode good lines, avoided rocks and holes without effort, and when we emerged over a blind rise to find the road blocked by a big muddy puddle, without thinking I did a brake-slide to the right, then powered past without getting wet. # The advanced course is about more than just skill. It is about attitude. # Thanks to all those who helped me pick up poor Mr. Badger so often. Especially Lourens (who seems to want to get the exercise), Ruan (who is always everywhere), and Jan (who was very patient). ===Photo Credits=== Thanks to Louise Botes, Russell Rathbone, Wayne Sheppard, and Jaco from Top Bike for the use of their photographs. All copyright to these pictures vests in those photographers.