Off-Roading with Superior Motorcycle Experiences

Straight off the back of the Living Lens post-processing course, we rode down to Dorset to attend a bespoke off road training program with Superior Motorcycle Experiences.

We stayed at North Buckham Farm in a shepherd's hut. There were just two huts and with no-one staying in the other one we had the very well appointed and clean facilities all to ourselves.

*Our shepherd’s hut accommodation. Photo - Carl Abrams.*

The farm is part of the Chedington Estate and the course was run from a neighbouring farm just a mile away.

Having broken my ankle exactly a year ago my fear of riding off road has been crippling to the point of not riding the bike at all. It's not falling off. I know that will happen from time to time, it's the fear of breaking myself again. Coupled with other health issues and anxieties, my mind goes into overdrive at times.

We booked this course before the pandemic. Covid cancelled it once and then my accident cancelled it a second time. Were we actually, finally here? We were and it was quite a moment to realise it.

Anxiety reasonably high, we arrived the following morning and met James, our instructor and guide. We chatted over breakfast about our plans, our fears and what we wanted from the next three days.

Superior Motorcycle Experiences specialise in Royal Himalayans and for the first two days we would be riding those and learning the basic off road skills. The third day would be transferring those skills to our T7s.

Day 1 - We started with riding round the field, getting to know the bikes and learning slow control, riding with one hand and steering with your feet. An essential skill that was needed to save a fall later in the course.

Then out onto the road. The Himalayans are reasonably heavy bikes, probably around the same weight as the T7, but the weight is lower down and the bike is a lot lower too. Being able to plant your feet so securely on the floor made all the difference with confidence, especially knowing that whatever the terrain, we would easily be able to get a foot down.

We started with a nice easy gravel trail. No problem. In fact all the trails James took us on were so well graded to us. He is very intuitive and gently pushed us without taking us so far out of our comfort zones that we would have panicked. We did some water (ok, just big, long puddles), a little bit of mud and lots of rocky, stony trails.

By mid afternoon I was tired. I could feel my battery draining and everything felt more difficult. We pulled into a farm yard and all I could see ahead of me was a steep, muddy climb on the next trail. I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to say no, but I knew I had to. No problem said James. Just stay there and they would do the trail and then return the same way. I will admit I felt a little like a failure but I knew in my heart it was the right decision. I sat on the bike and watched the cows come home for milking.

We called it a day after that and returned for tea and coffee. A great first day and we'd accomplished a lot.

Day 2 - We went straight out onto the road and did a couple of easy warm up trails before stopping for breakfast.

Today we had to build on yesterday, gently raising the difficulty. We did some quite steep, stony trails and some downhills as well. I don't like downhill. So much harder than up to feel confident!

One thing I wanted to do was my nemesis from the previous day. I had to get up the steep lane from the farm. Carl reassured me that I would be fine. I was nervous at the bottom but James gave me a pep talk and off we went, me trying desperately to follow his exact line as I knew he was taking the easiest route.

Up, up we went, although it was a little slippy with cow slurry, but by the top I was yahoo-ing! Not only had I done it but the trail, although rocky in places, carried on over the hills surrounded by stunning scenery. It was magical. I was chuffed to bits with myself. We had a lovely lunch at The Manor House, West Bexington after riding up over the cliffs to enjoy the panoramic vistas of Chesil Beach, Weymouth and Portland Bill.

*After the steep incline the track meandered over the hills.*

A few more trails successfully completed and we returned to our shepherd's hut with more achy muscles, tired but buzzing with happiness at what we'd achieved.

Day 3 - A gorgeous morning with mist sitting in the valley as we sat with our cup of tea, breathing it all in.

So today was the day. We would be riding the trails on our T7s. My anxiety was trying to poke its ugly head up and ruin things and I even muttered about maybe we just stay on the Himalayans. Carl and James would have none of it. Ok, let's do this then.

We were joined by James' sister, Emily, also an instructor and very experienced trail rider. We again started in the field. If we felt secure on the grass then we would have more confidence on the trails. I needn't have worried. We both found everything we'd done on the Himalayans much easier on the T7s. Riding round one handed was much more relaxed. The bike felt far more balanced.

We covered many of the lanes that we'd done in the first two days. I didn't want mud so we avoided those but the T7 just made mincemeat of the rocky, stony trails. It was awesome. On a rutted, stony section uphill, Carl gave it too many beans and the back end swung out but he dealt with it fine and stayed upright. On the same trail, I lost the back end after getting the line wrong and ending up in the rutted bit. The back wheel jumped about sideways but I didn't panic (well ok, I may have slightly). I just leant on the correct peg with my foot, kept the power on and the bike hopped, slipped and jumped a bit and then we were back on the flatter bit. Neither of us lost our nerve though - changed up a gear and belted to the end of the trail! We were all laughing when we reached the road. We were on fire with the adrenalin.

In the back of my mind I had a definite thing I wanted to achieve on this last day. I wanted to go and do the farm track again that I refused on the first day. I wanted to prove to myself that I could ride my own bike up there. So back we went. I stopped at the bottom, turned the video camera on, collected myself and went for it.

We both had a cracking run up the track and it was fabulous.

*We got the T7s up the farm track. So chuffed. Photo - James Page.*

Carl has been a superstar this week and has taken it all in his stride. We've ridden trails on our T7s that we didn't think we would and we're feeling a lot more confident. It's been brilliant.

James and Emily at Superior Motorcycle Experiences are brilliant and I can't recommend them enough. They did us a bespoke package based on our needs for preparing ourselves for our round the world trip and it's been spot on.

Dorset is a beautiful county. We travelled for miles without going on a main road. So many pretty lanes, quaint villages and cul de sacs. It really is very picturesque.

We're still aching in places we didn't know we had, we're still tired, but we're very happy!

Off-Roading with Superior Motorcycle Experiences

Not again!!!

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