Women's intermediate off-road FUN DAY feedback
Oh what a lot of fun yesterday's training was - huge thanks to John Carr from Donford for a wonderful day out in the Winelands; to Pete for all his help and to Annie for all her hard work in making the day happen.
We were very lucky in that it never really rained out in Stellenbosch- a bit of a spit and a spot, but nothing serious - believe you me, the calls were flying on Sat afternoon and I think a few of us were watching the weather sites so hard that we simply wished the rain away for the next day!
Before the day, John promised to push us all out of our comfort zones a bit, and he delivered on his promise, especially when it got to the uphills, downhills and verrrrry tight turns 
Amongst others, we practised:
- riding over logs
- riding inbetween (narrow) pipes, logs etc
- jumping a ditch
- emergency braking
- sand (including riding an obstacle course in the sand; Attie had great fun in moving the obstacles after every lap - just when you thought you had it sussed, you had to start thinking again)
- John's Sneaky Foot-Up Section amongst trees which refused to budge, much to the dismay of one or two of the riders
- an - errr, shall we say, "interesting" climb up a dam wall, with really not a lot of stopping room at the top and a tight, off-camber turn to the descent
- an overview of towing a bike
- Gideon showed us how to make popping a wheelie look really easy and impressive, but John declined to add that to the curriculum for the day. Hmmm.
The nice thing about a training day like this is the fact that you can do every exercise as many times as you want to: The first time the log was scary; the 10th time we were trying to see how much air one could get.
A training day gives you the opportunity to play with the bike; experimenting while the terrain stays the same - what happens if you ride a section with more, or less momentum? What happens if you change your position on the bike? What happens if you look in a different place? How does changing your body position affect the handling of the bike? And so on. And the whole time John and Pete were there with encouraging words of wisdom and to help pick up bikes when needed.
Attie's maze was a lot of fun - I think he took a drunk sheep or goat and simply followed it with the tractor and bossiekapper. At one point he dryly commented: So, did you notice that the turns get tighter as you get closer to the exit? Oh yes, I did.
Bridgett, our pro photographer, took some amazing pics, which you can view here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.10150905484580705&type=1
There were a few interesting side-stand and other dismounts; IMO John and Jeanne take the prize for finding new variations of riding the dam wall and the sandpit 
Thanks again to Attie for all the work he put into preparing our training area and for allowing us to play on his farm, and, errrr, for letting me ride his bike when mine's battery died 
Once the 690 taught me how to handle it, life was verrrrry sweet indeed. Thanks also to John for letting me ride a draai with his 1200 - I have new-found admiration for the girls who ride these big bikes with such ease. Dangling the promise of a brand-new battery in front of it, my bike stopped sulking enough to get me home (thanks Pete for helping to jump start it).
Again, well done to all the girls - the size of the smiles at the end of the day says it all.
Some of Attie's pics below...
Jeanne now owns this part of Attie's farm
John's Sneaky Foot-Up section through the trees
Noeline styling it on her Dakar
Errrm (cough cough) Having an a-maze-ing time on a borrowed bike
... to everybody who helped and trained and joined and gave advice!
Dit sukkel maar vandag om in 'n kantoor te sit - moes selfs met die kar eerder werk toe kom anders sou ek dalk grondpad gan soek om op te oefen 
This lady could not keep her hands or behind off this orange monster: - her own bike was sulking in the background, apparently with battery problems
I See - it's just such a nice colour...
Away we go!
Less than 2 metres later -: away we don't go
Although this bike is supposedly lighter (at least that's what she said): it takes 2 to pick it up!
Noeline doing her stuff
Peter shows us how to "open the gate" the right way with the wrong colour
Jinx made John do some fitness training
Jeanne shows us how to distribute weight & manouvre the bike
Francis creeping around the tree: on her 1200GS
Magda & Francis rode out from Piketberg on their bikes, and Jinx rode out from Montague! Impressive ladies.
Look right, stomp left, bum left: ag pragtig man!
Ok, Now ladies, now that you've learnt to go around a tree and a bend: please follow me so I can explain what I need you to do next
Is he daft?: Does he want us to ride up the dam wall?
Big Chief John - he smoke um pipe: which say we um must go up and then um down. Got it?
Attie reiterates that too much gas at the top of the hill will land you in the drink for sure: I think I will smoke um pieces-pipe because I'm going to pieces now.
Be sure to lift your left leg when you get to this bend: it helps with the aerodynamics just before the downhill leg
Noeline on that rather sharp descent: looks like she's got a propeller on her camelbak
Jacky ran out of revs too soon (for fear of the water on the other side)
Jeanne does a perfect ascent
Then - Whoopsi daisy - pointing in the wrong direction
With a loud screech she ended in the reeds below: then bulldozed her way through to the other side
Thanks Jeanne, that was simply fantastic - you've created a new maze for us!
Sjoe maar dis 'n bietjie van 'n steil afdraand
Jacky gets it right this time
Magda on her pink 1150GS
Sorry, ek het nie meer revs nie!
I say old chap - you do look good on the pink horse!
Water break with rain clouds looming: Francis & Noeline
Now for some sand ladies
Attie kept moving the sand course guides and created obstacles for us: the only consistent about the sand was that the obstacles were consistently moving
and Attie is now known as the Tyrerobics Instructor!
Now this little lady, Karin, has only been on her bike 2 months: a very determined person she is
Tired and dusty at the end of the road and the day
We all learnt a huge amount.
But somehow KP seems to stubbornly think that this orange baby is going to perform wonders for her: Siestog!
A HUGE thanks to John, Peter, Attie and Gideon for taking us through our paces and letting us have FUN at the same time!! Thank you to my partner in grime, Karin for the initiative and ideas!
We'll definitely do it again!
Hey Annie! Keep the pics in the correct sequence! There were only 2 dismounts 'cos I was riding too slowly
Jaaaaaa, nê, I knew I was in for it!
LOL
Without a doubt one of the most challenging and enjoyable training days I've had yet!! Thank you so much Annie and Karin for organising. I would do this course again and again if I had the chance... I only need about 2 months inbetween for my body to recouperate... My arms, all the way from my shoulders to the tips of my fingernails, ache today...
Thanks John and sidekicks for your instruction, hints, support, and sneaky photographs (nothing like being snapped while helplessly being stuck under your bike).
Also thought all the ladies rode brilliantly!!! Well done to everyone!!! It really was a fun day! I loved every minute of it, whether it was on the bike, off the bike or lying next to the bike... Can't wait for the next one... Thanks again...
Thanks soo much for an awesome time!! I learned a ton of stuff and felt amazingly accomplished after seeing all the daunting tasks we had to get through - and managed to do it!
Would not have been able to do it without the help of John, Pete and co - for great teachers they were!
Looking forward to the "maintenance course"! Thanks Annie and Karin for making this possible and to Bridgitte for some stunning pics!
Jinx
Peter in the maze
The maze
OneLast trip through the maze
And so the strip show begins......
Lunch time
More Info
After a long day!
Nice pics....
Nice pics....
Thanks to Bridgette from Donford for braving the weather to take them.
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