Well, what an amazing day that was! Not quite what I was expecting as it was definitely a lot more hard core than I expected. I never released any bike could take that sort of abuse. We were mainly on Yamaha WR250s which have about a foot of travel at each end and will pretty much go over anything! We were basically given some basic coaching on body position etc and then split into groups. Most of the people there had been before, and some had never ridden road bikes at all, and they were the advanced group. I was in the lower group for those with no off road experience, and have to admit I was very nervous. But the bikes were just so forgiving, and after a few sessions I felt like I was flying along over everything at terrifying speeds! Though of course, I probably wasn't in reality. I had expected a bit of trail riding on gravel tracks, but we rode everything, including extremely narrow forrest trails with huge water filled pot holes and jumps that you would have struggled to walk along. The tuition and coaching was first class, and the scenery was amazing. Also we had fantastic weather. Would I do it again? Im not sure, as I feel I was lucky to get away without serious injury, as the speed increased and my confidence started to out strip my skill level. I never actually crashed, though I came damn close on a few occasions. There was even a guy there who had never even sat on a bike or scooter of any description before. After an hour of one to one tuition, he joined the rest of us, and to be honest, by the end of the day, I struggled to keep up with him. They run courses three days a week and are always fully booked up well in advance, with a lot of repeat business. they also have a fleet of XT660s which they run other courses on.
