[shadepixie]

Originally Posted by gfloyd2002

I did that school, and highly recommend it. Rich Oliver, who runs the school, is a former AMA road race champion and uses dirt tracks to teach street riders how to ride beyond the comforts of traction. It was my favorite day this year. But off-road techniques are VERY different from on road, and I'd wait until you are very comfortable with your on road skills down first. One does lots of things backward off road, and it could mess up otherwise proper riding skills a bit. In off-road riding, you ride with elbows out, not in. Weight forward, not back. Lean away from the corner, not into the corner. Heavy back brake, don't touch the front. Weight the front suspension as much as you can into a corner. Everything is backwards from street riding. You do that stuff on a street bike on the road, and you are going to lose the back tire, then probably high side. What I loved about the course was not only that I spent a bunch of time safely learning about what happens beyond the limits of traction, but also that I was made acutely aware of issues of body position and weighting the suspension by being forced into uncomfortable techniques. BUT . . . that is because I was able to put the new techniques into context. It is very important to be able to know what you shouldn't be doing on the street and not carry bad habits over from the off-roading.

For example, on using the back brake -- your instincts are completely right on pavement. Don't overlearn the lesson about relying on the back brake more -- you really should be using your front brake almost exclusively. Just not, as you learned, if you aren't in a complete straight line on gravel (or loose dirt).

This is great info, thanks so much. I will get more experienced with road riding before doing something like this!