Adventure Riding

“So last weekend my partner and I went on an Adventure 101 training course, with 2 Drive Safe. It popped up last minute on his Facebook feed and we thought we would give it a go. If you are brand new to riding on gravel or you have a partner who is looking to start adventure riding I highly recommend this course if it pops up again.

It was a little bit like a gravel road version of a ride forever course. It was the first time they had tried offering this type of training, so they were still trying to figure out course content and duration, so it will probably evolve a little bit as they do more courses. The idea being that the 101 would be straight-up beginner, new to riding adventure bikes on gravel, then 102 etc picking up more advanced concepts. There really isn’t much out there in terms of training, apart from the Chris Birch stuff and some trail riding clinics. So something like this is really good to be adding IMO.

The course started out by covering some bike setup, rider position, and a few other topics in a parking lot, then moved on to some gravel to demonstrate and practice turns, and going up and down gentle hills, then how to turn around if you get stuck on a steeper hill. Moved on to practicing some riding technique on gravel, crossing between wheel tracks, picking a line, curves and bends.

Then it was on to a ride through Lees Valley. We were given helmet coms which was incredibly useful. The instructor rode for a bit in front, identifying things we should be looking out for, focusing on how to read the road ahead, conditions, stock, etc. Then rode behind us individually providing feedback on how we were riding and giving pointers and advice.
We would have crossed the Okuku, but levels were too high, so had to settle for some theoretical instruction instead, including what to do if it all goes wrong.

All in all a useful experience. Some of the tips would have been really handy to know when we had just started riding instead of having to figure it out by trial and error over time.”