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I notice that there have been quite a few beginner L1 rides
On at the moment, which is great, and was thinking.
Is there interest in running another?
If so what format/style of ride are learner interested in?
What issues of riding are beginners having trouble with?
Do they want to practice on one type of terrain or go riding and have help getting thru certain situations?
John T
 
 

Staying on the bike seems to be a problem for a lot of people. Fix that and you will be a legend!! ;D

John from the level 1 and first time level 2's the main thing people seem to like and find helpfull is to have a more experinced rider at the base of a hill or challedge to point out how they would tackle it. And helpers along or around an obsticle to assist or grab them. Which i helps reasure them that if they fail or drop the bike they will stop rolling before they land in Bendigo. And reasure them that there is no preasure or time constraint. Also not to under estimate what they may find troublesome. I find i do over look things that i now take for granted? Also have found riding a hill or what ever for them to see, before they tackle it seems to put a better picture in their mind of what is involved. Just my veiws John, Al

If you are talking about real beginners I reckon one on one is the way to go...If there's say 3 beginners, then you need 3 older riders, & each group will meet at the same place, but then go off in pairs, then meet back at the cars for lunch, then swap around, I'm quite happy to spend a day out with a beginner, low k's, but heaps learnt.

My 2 bobs worth.

ill partner you Frankie and show you how to tackle hills

You left yourself wide open for that Frankie boy, you did say you'd be happy to go out with a beginner.

You've shown me a few times now Mat ;D I'm now ready to pass on what I've learnt ;D

I have done a bit of research on this by attending a few beginner rides. Not just in AMTRA either. I have found the following.

Shorter rides seem popular. About 5 hours.

Way too many level 2 and up riders go. I think if you have about 15 beginners, have 5 to 6 experienced riders to help.

2 tailmen is good.

Make it easy, most beginners just want a ride to suit them, not a heap of challenges thrown in.

Just my opinion. I think a private property day with a course marked out and experts positioned on obsticles to help would be good thing. Repition and one on one, but this works better on a private property setting, not on a day ride.

I went on a beginner ride recently and there were 5 genuine beginners, the rest were about level 2 and up. All beginners except one went home after lunch.

Thamkyou for your input,
This is what I am after, this is not unlike what we did last year.
But as you said a fair few L2 riders attend biginner ride's
If you could list some of the things that you think are important to beginner riders
We can work on a course,
Thinking a BBQ lunch
With say log crossing, Water crossing, hill climb, hill decent are we getting close?.
John T

Supa Glue

yep, happy to come and help and can organise AMTRA barby lunch if committee aprove. Will

I think Pat has pretty much nailed it....

I have run three level 1 rides so far and what i have observed and the feedback from the genuine begineers is ,

4-5 Hours pulls them up

A shortish defined loop with mild obsticles included is very popular becasue the guys can re ride obsitles and practice their skills as they loop the course. ( The experienced guys stationed around the course to help out and watch for oncoming bikes , 4WD's etc )

Minimize Level 2 plus people to only the number you need.

Keep it as close to melbourne as possible , its a tough call to drive a total of 5 + hours for a 3-4 hour ride.

Include a trail ride at the end.

All of the above are the reasons that the Bunyip ride is so popular , I find bunyip boring but for the level one guys its the perfect challenge.

These rides need to be regular at least monthly , 12 rides per annum - If you are a new guy and just got back on a bike would you want to wait 6-8 weeks between rides of course not so what do you do - YOU LOOK ELSE WHERE -

Great question John , the club wants to grow and I have no boubt it dose then catering for beginers properly has to be part of the stratergy , lets face it without new riders we stagnate . shrink and disapear .

 

Hi All,
I am a newbie to dirt bike riding and loving the challenge of it.  Missed out on doing the last level 1 ride that you ran and hoping that I may be able to try the club out and attend a level 1 ride soon.
I know there is so much that I need to learn about riding dirt and have been getting out and slowly building confidence on my bike - a DRZ250.
Being able to have an interesting shortish track where you can go over an obstacle or through a pinch a few times is a great way of building confidence.  As is having someone who is happy to share their greater experience and knowledge.
One thing I'm a bit too nervous to even try yet is the "simple" skill of getting a front wheel off the ground to hop over a log.  Some hand holding while learning this sort of skill would be marvellous. 
Another thing that I have found to be overly intimidating as a newbie is getting into an obstacle from a dead stop.  I have found that if I stop at the top of a hill and then have to ride down it the fear factor can kick in, but if I ride up to it slowly I can generally get myself to ride down the hill, well as far as my ability will take me anyway.   :)  But once I'm stopped half way down a steepish hill I'm stuck.   :(
The best thing for getting more confidence and skill on the bike is the obvious - more hours on the bike - but not too many in a straight row to begin with as I find I start getting tired and will make stupid mistakes if I am at it for too extended a stretch at the moment.  It takes a lot of concentration for me at the moment to ride even the simple tracks. 

The above plus "THROTTLE/CLUTCH/BIKE CONTROL" is the thing i see needs work (even on level 2 rides ). Also basic bike setup, how to ride slippery tracks and basic bike maintence.

Pleaase explain ?

Bike control, the ability to know when to open it up and when not to. Clutch control. On a recent level 1/2 ride i went on it was as slippery as i have seen it for a while. I was on a XR200 and ended up on every second corner. All the power of modern 2 strokes and 4 strokes was useless if you cannot get it on the ground, or dont have the skill to control it. The 200 went up all hills without any problems and could be held wide open in most situations. And in single track it was deadly except the low slung footpegs dragging in the ruts.

So what I think you are saying, is that you where on a L2 ride with L1 riders Skill before speed.

Thanks Will.
It should be a goer, I think the BBQ is a good for beginner to have chat at 1/2 time.

Ok you need to set a suitable date so we can get organized

Looks like I will work on 4 weeks’ notice, mainly weather dependent
 As this week’s general meeting will give me a chance to  see what the  club is prepared to do.

Great idea.

 ;D ;D ;D ;D
What a great topic mate! From a beginner here is what I have found helpful

1. Being able to have a chat with the ride leader, and being reassured by more experienced riders.
2. Regular riding: when I first started, I would only get out once every couple of months, then I poo myself when I did get out as I was out of practice and feeling really uncomfortable
3. Repitition of tricky bits: it's great to nail it the second time round, confidence is everything.
4. Getting help on bike set-up: Sometimes the smallest things are really helpful
5. Having the rides relativly close to Melbourne: Im already pretty stuffed after driving for 3 hours to get to a ride, and cos i drive on my own I'm tentative to go too far incase I have an off and hurt myself and can't get home.
6. Patience: I am a real sook when it comes to the downhills, and sometimes (nearly all the time) I get stuck at the top of the hill thinking I can't do it. A patient sweep is worth there weight in gold :)
7. A BBQ is great - promotes the social side of riding

Thanks for the oppertunity to have my say, I would definatly attend a dalesford day!

Cheers, Nicole   

Just back from a Level 2 ride in Daylesford area - it was a great workout. In places the Clubmen had to work for it and in one place an Expert did a dummy spit. All good fun.

For me, with newbies, you should allow time to go over bike setup and adjust as required, then riding position for different situations including weighting the footpegs, then into the riding, with as above, 2 or 3 goes with assistance and guidance.

See you there.

Thank you for all the reply's, they all have good points
So here is my first draft
1/ Held on private property.
2/ 120 odd km from Melbourne.
3/ 2 x  loops graded green, blue, working on a black.
4/ All loops travelling in the same direction.
5/ Small groups with a ride leader for assistance and info.
6/ The longest loop should take around 20min to 30min  to complete.
7/ 1 set of practice hills which can be accessed from the green or blue loops.
    But not part of either loop.
8/ Riders can progress up the loop levels.
9/ Riders can swap ride leaders and do the same loop or do another loop  with
    a different leader as everyone has their own way of look at the same things.
10/ BBQ  lunch 

Bloody good work John this would be worth paying for .... I for one would gladly come along and help out were ever you need me to help excpet cooking i got married casue i couldnt cook .

Hi Big Bad John.  Great idea.  I have no bike at the moment but am happy to come cook the BBQ if required.

Zeb you could have got a phone instead of getting married - heaps of good take away around.

great plan John - i reckon you've got it spot on with your layouts...

having just done the yammi off road course again i think it would probably be good to also spend a little bit of time at the start going over body postioning for braking and cornering - allthough seemingly being a basic thing it seemed to be the real "lightbulb" moment for most on the course (myself included!!)

i.e. cornering - weighting the outside of the bike
braking - getting your body weight to the back of the bike...

Zeb you so need to HTFU, you can't cook, week as pee

This would be great!
I've just come back from Starglen Lodge and that would be a top venue for something like this. It has just about every type of terrain, rocks, loamy single trails, fire trails, hills, ruts etc.
I rate myself as maybe Level 1+. I had a ball at the place.  ;D

Is there a preference for a Saturday or Sunday ride?

Saturday