Dirt riding skill development with American Supercamp
We had the opportunity to take a 2-day dirt bike skills course. We leapt at it, hoping to be able to gain some skills and confidence in riding off-road.
We headed out Tuesday afternoon, taking the scenic back roads from Norfolk to Quantico. The traffic and weather cooperated; the only delays were (predictably) at the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel.
We stayed at the same hotel Michael used during the previous motorcycle course, and enjoyed a local sushi restaurant for supper before popping into Walmart to purchase supplies for breakfasts and lunches.
Wednesday morning we rode out to the course location. It was a flat dirt patch carved out of a larger grassy field. Hmm, we thought, this isn’t what we were expecting. We were anticipating a course in obstacle management, but this looked like it was going to be a course in dirt racing.
On arrival, we were greeted with a spread of drinks and snacks, the promise of a hot lunch, and were outfitted with all the gear we needed for the next two days.
The first day was a combination of theoretical instruction and practical application. The collection of 15 students with a wide variety of experiences was broken down into three groups so we could run the track in relays. A nice touch was that the instructors had a Go Pro set up to record each relay, so while the other two groups were taking their turns on the track we could review and get feedback on our performance.
It was hot. Oh my word, it was hot. Michael started soaking his jersey down between each track session in an effort to keep cool. Of course, we had forgotten sunscreen, and paid for that oversight later!
American Supercamp is the name of the company that was contracted to offer this course, and the owner and staff have extensive dirt and asphalt track racing experience. The instruction and feedback from Danny Walker and his team allowed us to improve our skills the first day as we ripped around the track on Yamaha TT125s. These bikes are super light, and riding them gave us pause.
We have been considering a pair of new Yamaha Tenere 700s as the bikes to take on our trip. Wrestling Honda Africa Twins around Morocco for a month taught us practically that lighter is easier. We were excited to learn that the Tenere 700 is 450 lbs, 50 lbs lighter than the Africa Twin, a bike we loved until we had to drive slow on rough, technical terrain. But, tossing these 190 lb dirt bikes around, and even picking them up (because yes, we all fell) gave us some food for thought. Michael had just finished reading Home By Seven, a book by Steph Jeavons about her round the world trip on a Honda CRF 250L. We went back to the hotel room after the first day and read up on its replacement for 2021, the CRF 300 Rally, and thought it might be worth considering, as it weighs 310 lbs. After just one day on these dirt bikes, the significant power sacrifice of the single cylinder Hondas seems less of an issue, and we are now on the hunt to find and test ride one of these bikes.
The second day we such a different experience. Overnight, the skies had opened up and the deluge turned our dirt track into a slick, wet mud pit. With the hope that the track would dry out by noon, we approached the first runs of the day gingerly and with greatly reduced speeds, as both front and rear wheels would slide at the slightest provocation, and riders tumbled routinely throughout the morning. Michael loved this – he was hoping to get some experience in lower traction environments, and today provided just that.
As the day progressed, the combination of a blazing sun and skillful employment of earth moving equipment resulted in a drier track, and over the lunch hour it was reshaped to include a small mound in a turn to negotiate. Finally, an obstacle!
Up and over, round and round! We had a lot of fun, and became more comfortable breaking traction and sliding the rear wheel, suffering only a few bruises in the process. Overall, those who want to learn to ride faster with greater skill and confidence on dirt would definitely benefit from this course, as we did. And, these skills are not just for the dirt – they have improved our road riding abilities as well. On that basis, we would both recommend American Supercamp.
Here is a short video summarizing our time on the course.
But, this trip’s adventure isn’t over! We are continuing on to Washington DC to participate in the Rolling to Remember motorcycle event, but more on that later.
