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Rawhyde Adventures
January 21st - 25th Howard Rantz and I had the pleasure of attending Rawhyde Adventure's Introduction to Adventure and Base Camp Alpha . My quick recommendation is if you ride motorcycles, you should take this class. I've been riding since '81, I've taken the MSF course, and been to the track, but the skills I learned at Rawhyde improved the way I will ride on or off road. To clarify, Rawhyde Adventures "Off Road Academy" is an Official Training Center for BMW Motorrad USA. It would take this whole newsletter to tell the history of Rawhyde Adventures and Jim Hyde its owner so for that I'll direct you to to Rawhyde's own website. For now, let me share my experience with you.
A specific event led me to attend Rawhyde, which you may have read about in our October 2010 Newsletter, Jim Hyde also read that newsletter and called me to have a laugh and to convince me that he could help me. After a little hemming and hawing, Howard and I signed up for the January 2011 class.
Atendees have the option of bringing and riding personal bikes or taking advantage of Rawhyde's fleet of BMW's that are available for rent. We chose to use our own, Howard on his 2010 R12GS and me on my 2010 R12GSA. We wondered early on what tires should we have on our bikes for the class? I spoke with Shawn Thomas, a coach at Rawhyde, at the IMS Show in Long Beach. He advised me to use whatever tires I normally have on my bike, so Anakee's for me and TKC-80's for Howard. Rawhyde emailed some important information about 45 days before the class, which included a brief introduction, what to expect on arrival, start times and a packing list.
Rawhyde is about an hour away from BMWVC. Leaving early in anticipation we hit Grimes Cyn, and then the 126 to the 5 and up just North of Castaic. Arriving 40 minutes early for the "don't show up before this time" time, we waited at the street for the clock to tick away, then headed up the 'first challenge' as the sign reads, the driveway to the ranch.
Jim's daughter, Jamie Lee, waved a greeting as we rode onto the gravel compound and parked. The atmosphere was relaxed with an underlying sense of expectation. At sign-in we were surprised to find Jim registering fellow students. We didn't expect to see him because he'd just completed his Dakar tour in South America. Well, he'd arrived stateside the night before and was here ready to host our class. Jim gave us a quick tour and directed us to the bunkhouse to pick out our quarters for the two days we would be at the ranch.
Ok, so now the experience really begins. Frankie, the Rawhyde chef, prepared incredible menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Salmon on roasted cauliflower and potatoes, fresh made bolognese, filet mignon, and by far the best meatballs I've ever tasted! Even after all the work, riding my bike for 4 days straight, I managed to gain 3 pounds.
Dinner the first night gave us the opportunity to get acquainted with the other students and the coaches. Jim gave a brief introduction followed by an overview of the schedule. The pace is steady but not hurried. Our class was divided into two groups of 9, with 3 coaches per group. Capacity is 24 students per session, giving a maximum ratio of 1 coach per 4 students. The coaches for our group were Kevan Harder, Wil Stillens, and Shawn Thomas. The following morning began with prepping personal bikes by stripping fragile pieces and making adjustments to the handlebars. You spend nearly all your ride time standing up. Adjusting the bars makes it easier to ride standing up. One bit of advice was "if you want it for the ride home, take it off the bike now."
Rawhyde's training is organized in a step by step process, basic techniques are taught first and then build upon and combined. Repetitive drills teach muscle memory, much like Mr. Myagi teaching the Karate Kid, "Wax on, Wax off" or in our case "Turn to the left, weight on the right." The coaches were great to work with, patient and funny. Keeping it light for me was great, after all I was there to have fun!
A couple of personal experiences had the greatest impact. During a drill where we were doing figure eights around two cones about 15 feet apart, in the dirt, I was having difficulty getting the bike to turn as tight as I needed and Kevan, as I was struggling with the bike tells me that I am using the wrong end of the friction zone of the clutch. All of a sudden my brain and body clicked together, and I got it! On the second day, while doing 180 degree turns while on a slope, I suddenly realized that my R1200 GS Adventure, felt small. I was finally in the dirt and in control!
Howard and I had decided to do the optional Base Camp Alpha trip immediately following the training. I'm glad we did. The basic skill set provided durring training is put to practical aplication in the Mojave Desert. Jim and his crew explain that it's a great way to cement all the skills you have learned while they are still fresh on your muscles and in your mind, and after experiencing it first hand, I agree. If you'd like to hear more, come on by and we'd be happy to gush about the experience, in the mean time I'll share some pictures.
For those of you who read Oct 2010 newsletter you know that I've had issues with deep sand. But after two days of skill training and two days in the desert, I can say with confidence that I could complete the ride that we started in September, and this time on Anakee dual sport tires instead of nobbies. I am not saying that I won't fall down, but I will say that it won't be as often and I will not be turning around.
To Jim, his familly and crew, thanks for the Adventure!
Michael
Some photos courtesy of Adam Stephens
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