Fame and Glory Off Road Motorcycle
A day out riding Off road for a member of Wemoto staff at the Trailworld AJP centre
John Newman
I think it was Molière was it not (it was) who said:
“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.”
Here he is in action attaining the summit!
Well, I returned from a marvellous day at the Trailworld Offroad School covered head to foot in glory, dust and woodchips, with a modest but meaningful trophy marking my extraordinary and heroic achievements.
It's not for me to compare myself to the greats of the sport, that burden lies with others, but in one day the instructors converted me from a novice to an enthusiastic novice with the confidence for more dirt riding, a significant change, given my lack of experience away from tarmac..
The trusty steeds champing at the bit
The Trail School (www.trailworld.co.uk, phone: 01582 842244) is situated north of London (they also do amazing looking tours of southern Spain). It is easy to get to from the M1 – and they supply all the bikes and kit, you just turn up at 9am.
Just do it like this....
Feet of clay
My first impression was of the enduro boots, seemingly cast from stone- but they quickly became comfortable. The next was the group of six people taking part – all oldies (ish) and all thankfully lacking serious experience off road, so we were all in the same boat.
Full Knobblies and electric starters
Can you believe he is a novice? I think not!
The bikes supplied were AJP 200 four stroke enduro machines, with full knobblies and electric starters, a great idea for this sort of thing. The bikes were very well maintained, light, and simple to ride – the only problem some might have is the seat height, which requires a bit of technique to get on and off if you are short of leg – however they also have small wheeled versions available so it's not an issue.
As our excellent instructor Gary Horwood said:
“You'll probably spend 80% of your time standing on the pegs”
- lucky really, as the AJP seat was about the width of a brick, though less yielding.
We started around the mile long track pottering along getting used to the bikes, then progressed to trying different sections in detail, with particular advice on negotiating long narrow ruts, berms, loose stones, use of brakes etc. – most of it was very different to how you would naturally ride on the road, and most interesting – I barely used the clutch all day, for example.
Allowing the bike to move around underneath you, and do the work for you, was I think the most useful tip of the day- an alien concept for the road rider, but great fun as soon as you became confident in the bike's ability and began to relax.
Hot baths and long drinks
Mental concentration in the tighter sections was required, and it was easy to drift off message and mess it up – my hat goes off to these long distance enduro riders, who must also be in top physical shape - our gentle introduction was enough, by the end of the day, to make us think of hot baths and long drinks.
Every failure is a step to success...
As far as crashing goes, everyone took a gentle tumble at some point, no harm done, and I cleverly saved my one get off until the end of the day when the camera was pointed at me, showing off.
I believe it was the English polymath William Whewell (it was) who said:
“Every failure is a step to success.”
How true, and now I know to sit down on the seat while powering out of a turn on soft ground...
There he goes again - will nothing stop this man?
A big thanks to our instructor on the day, Gary Horwood, an obviously accomplished trials rider, who got the tone just right all through the day for all of us with our mixed abilities – it was clear we had all gained something valuable from the day, and this with probably 150 years of combined motorcycling experience between us!
I would heartily recommend this school for off road beginners, and I'm already planning my next day out at Trailworld, on their extended tour of the nearby green lanes.
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