Brian Jones Rawhyde Outing December 2009

Is it possible to take nine brand new R1200GS riders that have never been off-road and turn them into expert off-road riders in one weekend? The answer with the BMW Off-Road Academy is a resounding “YES”.

I had the opportunity to take nine of our clients to the BMW Off-Road Academy on Dec 4-7. On Saturday morning these nine riders had never been off-road on their R1200GS's. By Sunday evening they were ready to ride in extreme conditions such as these.

The training involves two days of intensive training beginning with the fundamentals of balance, muscle memory, and clutch and throttle control. By Sunday evening the trainees are accomplishing off-camber turns in both directions, high speed whoops, long hill ascents and descents, sand washes, and trails with logs, rocks and other obstacles. It is truly “wow” inspiring what these bikes can ride through with trained riders. Your GS has the ability to continually amaze you.

On Monday morning (you remember the Monday- the wet one, the one with the most rain we've had in one day in the last several years...yea, that Monday)...

...a group of us headed out from Castaic to Trona for a 400 mile GS dual-sport ride. After riding two hours in the rain on I-5, Hwy 138 and The Aqueduct Rd we made it to the Mojave Desert near Burro Schmidt's Tunnel for the best part of the day. Riding in the snow. We were slightly concerned about flash floods and riding in the snow, but we all made it safe and sound. And yes, coming down the snow is the only time we had our outriggers (feet) down. The rest of the time we were out of the saddle on the pegs as we learned in the class.

Everyone in the class had a great time and learned valuable riding skills they will have for the rest of their lives. The training and curriculum is coupled with world class trainers and coaches. These guys, under the leadership Jim Hyde, pour their heart and soul into developing novice riders into well prepared and trained GS Adventure riders.

And the food...let me tell you about the food- we ate like kings and queens. The menu included honey glazed salmon, garlic Parmesan chicken, caramel apple cheesecake bars with streusel topping, plus much more.

I've had the opportunity to attend the BMW Off-Road Academy at RawHyde Adventures twice- once in July when it was 115 degrees and this time when it ranged from 27-47 degrees. I'm determined to get up there one of these times when the temperature is realistic. But as we all agreed the temperature and conditions are part of the “Adventure”.

One more thing...just because you know how to sell BMW GS's, it doesn't necessarily mean you know how to ride them.

Uh...I was trying to climb the hill, not come down it.

Thanks to all the San Diego BMW Motorcycle customers that trusted me to take them on a great adventure. I can't wait to do it again.

Gary, Trevor, Brian, Darren, Peter outside Burro Schmidt's Tunnel

San Diego group (Pepe, Chantel, Siggi, Franz) plus others

Craig was there too...