highwaybloggery Sheila Kiggins: exploring off-road
Once again I sit down to write this column with a huge bruise on my arse and a set of swollen knuckles.
Some people will try and convince you that riding motorcycles is dangerous, but the most hazardous things I’ve done this year have been attempting to change the bed sheets and making a donation to the charity shop. But I digress.
“I just love finding new places to wear diamonds,” declares Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, after encountering Lady Beekman’s tiara for the first time. I feel much the same about finding new places to ride motorcycles. I’ve been road riding for 15 years and I’m sure it will always remain my comfort zone, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that the road doesn’t stop just because the tarmac runs out. So in pursuit of next year’s adventures I set off to pastures new – Stoneleigh Park, in Warwickshire, home of the Dirt Bike Show.
My original plan was to meet up with one of my new Twitter friends, Harold Olaf Cecil, who has invented a new style of tailpack for adventure riding, the Giant Loop bag. But he’d already left for EICMA, Italy’s equivalent of the NEC Show. It’s a hard life! Fortunately he’d left a handful of immensely capable Yorkshiremen to demonstrate handy ways with tie-down straps. I don’t need to buy one immediately as I have decided to rent a GS while I’m Down Under rather than risk traumatising my brother’s immaculate Ducati by attaching a Giant Loop bag to it and taking it on an adventure, but I was impressed by the thoughtful design. Not convinced there’s quite enough room for shoes, though. I am not normally a big fan of children, especially not the ones next door, who are capable of creating noise in huge disproportion to their tiny size. But it was lovely to see so many small people at a bike show, climbing on the bikes, having a go at the quad course and failing to master the U- turn on a BMX bike. I thought I’d better not tell him that it doesn’t get any easier when they give you an engine. And despite the slight Empire title of the British Schoolboy Motocross Association, the little girls were giving no quarter. A KTM is exactly what a 6- year old in a purple party dress and pink sparkly sandals needs to complete her outfit, and she wasn’t getting off it until someone promised to buy her one. Large parts of the show were dedicated to racing. Trying to go fast always ends in disaster, so that’s not going to be for me. Unless it’s Moto Gymkhana. As a long-standing devotee of the Thundersprint, I’m in favour of motorcycle events which can be held in car parks. Andrew Freeman, the man responsible for
Iʼd love to own a KTM, because then I could buy some of their incredibly witty non-bike items, of which my absolute favourite remains the orange toaster which burns the KTM logo into every slice.
bringing this over from Japan, took time out to explain it to me. It looks like a Part 1 Test on steroids. Cones mark out the competition course on a stretch of tarmac and mad Japanese blokes charge round them as fast as possible. The techniques for doing well at Moto Gymkhana also keep you safe on the road; throttle control, balance, braking and quick turns. So I’ll be putting on my novice bib for that in the New Year. Massive fun it may look, but becoming Queen of Car Park Racing won’t help me in my mission to leave the tarmac behind. So I asked lots more questions.
A very nice man at KTM suggested that what I really needed was the Freeride 350 which the company was about to launch at EICMA. I’d love to own a KTM, because then I could buy some of their incredibly witty non-bike items, of which my absolute favourite remains the orange toaster which burns the KTM logo into every slice. But I think I might be better starting with something a little scabbier. And, in all honesty, I’m perfectly capable of burning my own toast.
And lurking behind the Michelin stand was the man with the perfect reason for me to conquer my dirt demons. Austin Vince, of Mondo Enduro fame, runs an off-road navigation challenge in the Pyrenees in September. And you know how much I love my navigation rallies. All I need is a small, light dirt bike, at least one other person to make up a team, and two hundred quid. No problem! Ebay here I come....
The Thundersprint:
www.thundersprint.com Car park racing:
www.motogymkhana.org Giant Loop in Yorkshire:
www.adventure-spec.com Austin Vince:
www.mondoenduro.com
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