Yamaha Off Road Experience

[ogden]

Spent most of yesterday throwing a WR250F race bike around a forest in Wales.

Great fun, a mate's already done a write-up so I don't need to:

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk....67e8e295979e6#

Highly recommended.

Top timing - I'm booked in for Wednesday...

[ogden]

I got the impression they were expecting today to be the last dry day, with weather looking pretty ropey from Monday onwards.

Good luck!

Sounds fun! Knackers your muscles though I found, hope you are not too seized up.

[ogden]

Nah, felt surprisingly OK the next day, just slightly aching shoulders and a wonky knee from my big off.

I hobbled across the road to the chemists opposite the pub we were staying at when we got back and picked up a knee support and a pack of ibuprofen. I'm sure it'll be fine in a week or two.

Bloody hell, that was good fun. Beer and a curry are calling.

[ogden]

How many times did you stack it and did you go in the easy group or take the grown-up option?

If you see this before you go for a curry, make sure you try and take the bill when you pay, rather than let them take it back. They go nuts! Dodgy scamming sods.

I took the girlie option and stayed in the noddy group. The grown-up group were 6 mates, 5 of whom had been twice before. I asked the guy who hadn't been before if he'd done any off-road: "a bit". I realised he'd been modest when he wheelied the entire length of the field out of the farm. Turns out he was some sort of MX trick rider. I should have guessed really, given the number of times he said 'radical'.

I managed 2 reasonable offs (and a few flops in gullies). I first went down just after our first go on the little MX course. We'd just been shown the proper way to corner (with a short welsh bloke holding my leg up while trying to talk my ass crack into the right place). I thought I was getting the hang of it so bolted out at the head of the group. On the third turn (the flat one at the far right as you looked out of the cow shed thing) I lost the front and lowsided in a heap. So much for doing it properly - that corner had been my favourite before I tried doing it right, but I never managed to get comfortable on it after that. Sliding the rear out of corners is such a great feeling

My second was almost the end of the day. The two groups had rejoined and were lapping a track through the woods. One section had 3 bumps in quick succession, and I hit a loose boulder on the way up the second one which flicked the steering left. I think I over-corrected, and bounced way off to the right off the 3rd bump, straight at a tree. I decided it was time to get off the bike, so jumped up, clipping the bars with my shins. No damage, but it took an age to get the bike out of the bushes it got caught in.

It turns out Wednesday is discount night at the curry house: starter, main, side + rice/naan for £9.95, so the bill was so small it was completely uninteresting, but thanks for the heads up.

A great day and well worth the money. I can't wait to go back.

[ogden]

That sweeping flat corner on the MX track was my nemesis before they taught us how to corner. After the lesson I was whizzing round it like a demon, gravel flying. The rutted one just before the end did me every time though.

Your last off sounds much like one I almost had, possibly even the same place. Heading back up the hill, after the two right-handers, I had the front go skywards over a rock and headed for the trees but just managed to get it back under control before jumping off was required.