Got home Tuesday night after two days of training. It was fun, challenging, and certainly pushed my comfort zone. I found this go around more difficult, probably a combination of the heat/sun and my much heavier GSA.
Day 1 was a bunch of static or slow speed drills next to a motocross track. The challenging bits of the first day was mostly clutch/brake/throttle control. I kept stalling my bike and it certainly got worse as the day went on due to exhaustion. Multiple drops were had. Most challenging for me was walking the bike up a little slope and hill stop recovery. It didn't help that the gas tank was quite full.
Day 2 was on a private trials property 20 minutes south of my hotel. For those that know me, I usually say I'm scared of sand (since I've crashed every single time I go over it). Well, this property is next to a river so it's mostly sandy with some sand pits. Talk about a way to start the day. We practiced braking, loose hill starts, ruts, incline riding and towing. Most challenging for me was loose hill starts (once again that clutch/throttle control) and incline riding simply because of the scary thought of a 600 lbs bike falling on top of me. At the end of the day we did a ride around the property. Good news was that I didn't drop the bike to any of the sandy terrain! That ride took me along some deep sandy pits (maybe not that deep to some) and although plucker moments happened I was able to keep the bike in relative control and throttled out when necessary. In fact there was a section were the rider in front of me crashed on a deep sand pit, I was able to slowly maneuver out of the way and up a slope to get to firm terrain.
How it compared to the Houston event: Houston had better weather but the day 1 drills were on a slope and somewhat muddy. In terms of class content, it was almost a replicate of the drills, maybe one or two extra things we covered this time around. I'm definitely glad I took the course again on a the GSA, and I most certainly want to take Level 3 now.
Areas of opportunity: I feel like Bill should emphasize a little more about the proper accelerate/decelerate body position with a quick drill, maybe before the braking drills. I enjoyed this approach when I took the 1 day BMW class in SA.
Surprise success of my trip: maybe no longer scared of sand?
Some action photos (courtesy of Susan Dragoo):