Offroading: Adventure beyond asphalt
I have been offroading on my 200cc bike for the last 5 years. I have learned a few tricks on my own, and learned a few techniques from my fellow riders as well. And like that I got used to riding on sand and trails. But to take my off-road riding skills further, I actually needed to learn from expert trainers and the opportunity came in the form of an invite for the Honda True Adventure Camp. But keep in mind that I’ve never attended any such specialized schools which teach adventure riding, that too on 500cc and 750cc bikes.
I was confident enough because I thought I knew how to handle bikes on dirt. I just have to learn how to manage the weight of the big bikes we were about to ride. On the other hand I was eager to learn those techniques which I was missing on till now.
The adventure camp was held at 19 Degree North Adventure Park in Aamby Valley, Maharashtra. The first interaction with our coaches turned out to be very informative. It was just a theory session and they gave detailed explanations about the posture, riding positions for different situations, where our vision should be, and other small yet useful tips. They made offroading sound so easy, which further boosted my confidence. After getting theoretical knowledge, it was time to try it practically. We had the choice of the Honda NX500 and the XL750 Transalp. I went straight to the Transalp because of my confidence and since it is more offroad-oriented than the NX500.
Later, we were given two exercises: First was climbing and then descending a hill in a controlled manner. Here we practiced how to climb a slope while maintaining momentum and then stopping on top of it to analyse the descent. After that, we had to steadily go about our descent while tapping brakes. It was taught to us so that the riders stay vigilant and have throttle control while climbing because there could be a 100-feet drop, a ditch or any unknown obstacle on the other side. The first try was not exactly great because I was figuring out the Transalp but its traction control was spot on and made it easy to climb without any rear wheel spin. But I got better with practice.
Next was vision and braking exercise on a tight grit patch. We were given around 50 meters of straight trail where we had to accelerate our bike while keeping our eyes on a cone that was kept about a 100 meters ahead. It’s called a vision cone to train riders to always keep looking ahead on the trail to be prepared for what’s coming. After 50 meters of acceleration, we had to brake hard to stop the bike instantly, like how we would do in case of a panic situation on a trail. We had to do this exercise multiple times with different braking combinations. This helped us understand bikes behaviour in each combination. But the major take away from this exercise was to look where we wanted to go.
We had a short break before heading to the trails. We were introduced to 2 trails. The first one was fairly simple with decent obstacles like gradual incline, descent, rocks and hills. I switched my ride from Transalp to the NX500 and took it to that trail. I was riding the NX500 for the first time, a bike which is categorized as road-biased adventure tourer. After riding the Transalp, the suspension of the NX500 felt a bit on the stiffer side. But 2 things which were bothering me were non-switchable ABS and throttle calibration. At certain instances, it felt like not having ABS here would have been better on this bike. And throttle calibration felt a little off. It didn’t accelerate as smoothly as I was opening the throttle. The response was low in the beginning and then there was a sudden acceleration. Thanks to traction control for saving the rear tyre from unnecessary spins and me from possible falls.
After exploring the trail for a few hours, it was time to go on the second trail and our instructors told us that it was going to be a bit more typical with added obstacles like a dried stream with round, slippery rocks and tight hairpin inclines. And we had to switch out bikes again and I was back on the Transalp and hence I was confident enough. My delusion of being the best offroad rider broke when I got stuck in that water stream. I approached that section with almost no momentum and got stuck. The rocks were slippery and hence I wasn’t getting traction on the rear tire nor on my feet . Thanks to the other riders around me who helped push my bike out. There I realized that I actually need to learn so much more about this sport.
Comparing myself from where I started and how I ended at Honda’s true Adventure Camp made me feel that I actually got a little better. I realised that I needed expert guidance to overcome the problems which I was facing earlier. At the end my posture improved, my braking and handling got better and now the only thing I need to work on is my stamina because riding offroad is extremely energy consuming. While one day is not sufficient to learn everything about the sport but it helped polish my skills further.
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