Big Rock Motopark – The must-attend dirt riding school

The basics

I have spent some time riding off-road, but once our training started, I realised that the so-called knowledge I possessed was half-baked and quite frankly, pointless. And thus began the process of ‘unlearning’ my usual riding style. 

In the first session, Nilesh Dhumal, our instructor, taught us the basics of body positioning and the tricks to hold on to the bike. Sitting in the front with your elbows raised, while gripping the bike with your knees, foot and lower leg was the key. Weighing up the handlebar and sitting up front improves traction for the front wheel while gripping the bike is necessary to ensure control over it. While turning, you also have to put your inside leg out at the front as you tip the handlebar. Apart from weighing the forks, it allows you to kick the bike up in case the front end washes out. 

Having tried these out on parked motorcycles, we set out to practise the body positioning on an oval track. I struggled to get these right throughout the first session, as my brain tried to process all the information while getting accustomed to the bike at the same time. Bengaluru’s sweltering heat didn’t help. While I did manage to get a good grip on the bike by the end of the session, raising my elbows was going to take some time. 

Standing up

We were back in the garage for our next lesson - standing and riding. The principles were the same; weigh the front end and grip the bike with your lower legs. Those who spend time in the gym might be familiar with the routine called ‘deadlift’, and the posture for standing up and riding a dirt bike is quite similar. Your elbows again need to be raised, head over the handlebar, back flat and the foot and lower leg gripping the bike. With the balls of your feet taking the entire weight, this position ensures minimum stress for the rest of your body, reducing fatigue. While short riders can grip the seat with their knees, taller riders need to put extra effort to ensure your lower legs are doing the job without the knee support. Your knees and elbows are supposed to absorb bumps and prevent the jolts being transferred to your torso.

However, this was easier said than done.Back on the oval track, I was struggling to get my elbows up. When you are getting used to standing up and riding, it is necessary to focus on maintaining form. Only after you get accustomed to this posture can you turn your attention on the other aspects (like manoeuvring and throttling). While my throttle control was improving steadily, I wasn’t able to weigh the front end which made me lose traction a couple of times. It was clearly going to take me more than a couple of hours of riding to get used to this. 

Standing up and manoeuvring

Our next drill focussed on improving control over the clutch and brakes. We were to go through a slalom at crawling speeds with just two fingers over the clutch lever and front brake at all times. The aim was to have us feather the clutch and the brakes without stalling the bike, while tipping the handlebar to make through tight turns. Using the rear brake in city traffic might sound like a piece of cake. However, trying to feel its bite with the heavy motocross boots while standing up was an arduous task. A few laps later though, I did manage to get a decent feel of the clutch lever and the brakes, finishing the course without losing my composure.

 

The jumps

Once Nilesh felt that we had come to grips with the basics, he gave us a tour of the academy’s motocross track, but the small loop. This course featured tabletop jumps, whoops, sharp banked turns and a roller. Before heading out on our own, Nilesh gave a brief about how to tackle the jumps.

The key is to maintain a steady throttle to ensure a ‘safe’ trajectory of the bike, one which doesn’t throw you off. All this while you need to weigh the front end and maintain a grip on the bike so that it doesn’t escape from between your legs. Within a few laps, I started to get the front wheel in the air. This one is quite easy as long as you have a grasp of the basics. 

Trail riding

Trail riding involves riding outdoors on dirt tracks, stony paths, forest roads and through ditches; basically anything except public roads. While you can memorise the turns and obstacles on a dirt track, trail riding requires a lot more focus and attention to your surroundings. Nilesh put us through a few drills to improve our control over the bikes, which would eventually improve our reflexes and ability to tackle the obstacles on trails.

These involved feathering the brakes and clutch down a steep slope as slow as possible without stalling the bike, riding in circles in a natural ‘wall of death’  and techniques to get the bike to safety in case you drop it on a slope. After finishing these drills, we rode through a forest trail around the academy.  

Wrap up

After two days of intense riding, there was a sense of mild satisfaction among all of us. I even received a pat on the back from Nilesh for finally improving my body position right and getting some serious air time. I was definitely better at riding off-road than when I first walked through the gates, but was it enough? Not exactly.

I unlearned many things and picked up new techniques, but Rome was not built in a day (or two, for that matter). The job at hand is to apply the new techniques I have learnt and keep practicing over and over again. Besides, off-roading is a physically taxing sport which demands you to be in good shape, so improving my overall fitness is also in order. I think it is time to step up my search for a used Hero Impulse.

Photography by Kapil Angane