General Chat

[Frankie-boy]

Here here, well said Mat,
Please don't misunderstand what I'm about to say, I'm not having a go at anybody..........Lately there has been experience rides put on, the way I see it experience is about how long you've ridden for, in my case I've ridden & raced for bikes for 42 years, not counting my younger years riding road bikes, yes UN licensed    anyway I class myself as a experienced rider, having said that I have to admit to my self that my age stops me from doing things that in my younger day I wouldn't think twice about, I don't mind the hard stuff, but I like the social rides, that's why I joined the club, so far I'm very happy I have.

With all the forum clubs around, it makes it harder for the club to attract new members, stop & think about it, why should ppl pay to be a member when they can meet heaps of ppl on the forums, that's why I reckon it's very important to stick together & make this club of ours the best it can be.

Looking forward to the HTFU ride on Saturday, we did my hill last weekend, I only needed a hand once, for the rest I picked out some good lines  see ya's there on Saturday.

[Frankie-boy]

hey Frankie you better show the good lines

Bill

  No worries mate, I'll show ya the good lines, buuuuuuut do you trust me

[menace]

well said boys.

im on the fence on this one as i have lead many a ride through other clubs and have heard it all.

for instance, i reckon i could conquer anything that Al's experienced fumina ride could throw at me...
but its the level if fitness i lack and that would make Al's ride a killer for me. i reckon i would want to bury him by the 100km mark
and thats why i wont do one...yet

( sorry to use you as an example Al... what i mean is a ride full of skinny tracks and constant challenges )


its like the Pom says, learn your place and have fun

then if you want, set youe sights on a challenge and try to better yourself


my inspiration is that one day i will smash an experienced ride and i actually thank Al for giving me that vision.


just my 2 bobs...

cheers,

Menace

[Willbar]

We have a very clear ride level system in this club, please remember we are a trail bike riding club not a Enduro or racing club, yes some of us love different challenges , some love special stages or sections of track which can be very technical, but are they trails ? I know that the up and coming HTFU ride has lots of these special tests in it, and I know my level of fitness or should I say lack of fitness is what stops me doing Als rides, I have no problems with most river crossings or slippery stuff or steep stuff up and down, or even overgrown tracks, but I do run out of puff so I would not go on Als ride in the fear of holding the other riders up. But I am happy to tackle what we class as clubman tracks and trails on other rides.
As long as the ride leader can understand and comprehend what is written in our grading system and they set there ride level accordingly there should be no confusion, and as Mat has said you should have an idea once you have been on a few different rides were your level of fitness and how low your kahoonas sit to be able to work out which rides suit you best.
There are days when I just want to ride, and there are days when I want to ride and have plenty of social interaction with my mates and fellow club members. If you do not appreciate poo stirring and having lots of laughs then do not come on my rides, cause no matter what level the ride I run there is always lots of laughs and poo stirring, which is why I tell ya to bring your sense of humor and smile along.   
Please do not get hung up on the grading system guys, if used as it's was designed to be used it is perfect for a Trail riding club. And if you feel that you are to good for our system then you should probably move onto a racing club or perhaps Warragul Club as there level 1 rides are like our average clubman ride, and if all you want to be is the best rider in AMTRA then shut your mouth and get on with it. just my 2 roberts worth. Will

[seano]

purely out of curiosity , those of you who rode my rawson ,in your own opinion what would you class the ride level at , for future referance- seano

[DanJ]

I'm not sure if the understanding of the ride levels appears to be so much of a problem anymore, most of us know what each ride leader is about, and if it gets too tough then show us the car park and we'll head home.  I think more the issue now is the lack of spread of diffrent ride levels, 12 months ago everyone was complaining that the club had gone soft and none of the rides were hard or challenging, now it's the other way round and those of us who just want a cruisy weekend out exploring with mates are left looking elsewhere for rides..

The level 1 and 2 rides are almost a thing of the past, with there being only around 3 L1 rides this year.  I and many others joined AMTRA for the L1 & 2 rides as I'm not yet in a position to ride often enough to improve to L2+ or Clubman, these were cruisy rides and you get a chance to meet simular people who aren't interested in riding like a bat out of hell, or climb Mt Everest all the time :-)

Anyway if AMTRA want to increase the member base then I believe this could be an area that needs attention as from what i've seen, new members are typically beginers or people revisiting this great pasttime and as such look for cruisier rides with less Hardening Up....

[Willbar]

I'm not sure if the understanding of the ride levels appears to be so much of a problem anymore, most of us know what each ride leader is about, and if it gets too tough then show us the car park and we'll head home.  I think more the issue now is the lack of spread of diffrent ride levels, 12 months ago everyone was complaining that the club had gone soft and none of the rides were hard or challenging, now it's the other way round and those of us who just want a cruisy weekend out exploring with mates are left looking elsewhere for rides..

The level 1 and 2 rides are almost a thing of the past, with there being only around 3 L1 rides this year.  I and many others joined AMTRA for the L1 & 2 rides as I'm not yet in a position to ride often enough to improve to L2+ or Clubman, these were cruisy rides and you get a chance to meet simular people who aren't interested in riding like a bat out of hell, or climb Mt Everest all the time :-)

Anyway if AMTRA want to increase the member base then I believe this could be an area that needs attention as from what i've seen, new members are typically beginers or people revisiting this great pasttime and as such look for cruisier rides with less Hardening Up....

Hate to inform you Dan, but you have passed level 1 and are already a level 2 rider.