Embedded Files
Over the last half-decade or so, Jen (my wife) and I have developed a travel bug. As a result, we have spent a pretty fair amount of time in the saddle. We have some big bike two-up off road experience, but we have really been looking for some more training (not just the school of hard knocks-type education). Real two-up education. Try to find that? And try to mix it with travel?
We looked for a two-up off road tour. No luck. We looked for two-up off road training … enter the Dragoo. Bill Dragoo that is, and Dragoo Adventure Rider Training (DART) -- who’s “mission is to provide quality off-road training at a fair price for all who wish to learn.” There it was on the DART website: “Two-up training available upon request.” It’s hard to find, indeed it’s practically just a footnote on the DART website, but it was there, clear as day.
“Two-up training available upon request.”
We had to investigate.
So I called Bill and asked if this was for real? Two-up, both standing, off road? Yup. Yup. Yup. So Jen and I excitedly made arrangements to meet Bill and get some off road training. As it turned out, Bill Dragoo was going to lead MotoDiscovery’s Moab Adventure Training tour several months hence. We signed up. We also arranged to meet Bill for a one-day private lesson a couple of days in advance of the tour.
Jen and I are from Florida, so we decided to ship Sally -- our 2013 BMW R1200 GS -- to Las Vegas, and ride to Moab (on road, via Escalante National Monument, Zion National Park and Capitol Reef National Park). We also planned to ride on from Moab after the tour, going to Denver, by way of Aspen. We promptly made arrangements to ship Sally to Las Vegas.
Sally is a good steed, but was definitely in need of off road pillion pegs for Jen. We have been considering such a purchase for a long time, but this was it: we were preparing for an adventure ride in Moab. As you may know, in their wisdom, BMW decided to make the motorcycle’s passenger and driver footpeg attachments different, so you can’t just use any set of pegs for the R1200, you need passenger pegs. And more specifically, off road passenger pegs -- for two up, two standing. Touratech has advertised a set of off road passenger pegs for many years, but they were on perpetual backorder (i.e., for about two years) with no fulfillment date.
We needed them now (or at least soon)! Several hours of Internet searching later, I found the Puig enduro pegs, with an adapter for the passenger peg mounts on an R1200GS. Puig has somewhat ingeniously decided to separate the adapter and the footpeg into separate assemblies that screw together. It seems as though you can order any of their pegs as long as they make an adapter for your bike’s peg mount. I promptly ordered them, and installed them as soon as they arrived. So far, so good, now for other gear.
I ride in a BMW Rallye suit which keeps me comfortable in just about all of the conditions in which we ride. Jen, however, is about 5’1” and petite, which may make for a great pillion, but also makes it really hard for her to find good gear. Fortunately, BMW has over the years made several different gear lines in her size so she has a GS Dry Suit and a Venting jacket, the former being abominable when the temperature climbs over 80 and the latter quite insufficient when the temps drop below 70. They don’t make a woman’s Rallye suit. Thus, we had to hunt down some new gear. Easier said than done.
Eurocycles, our local BMW dealer, was very helpful. They had a wide variety of Klim and BMW wear, albeit not all in Jen’s petite size. You may know that Klim has recently introduced several lines of motorcycle gear designed by ladies for ladies. Unfortunately, it appeared to us that the ladies who designed it must be tall, very tall. It just wasn’t going to work for Jen.
Eurocycles ordered, and in a few days, got an EnduroGuard jacket in Jen’s petite size. Although it seemed really “stiff” out of the box, it fit well so we bought it. Jen was now ready. Jen combined the new EnduroGuard jacket with her existing Airflow pants and her Fox Racing motocross boots (the only protective boots we could find for her size 4.5 feet). Jen’s gear; check.
Previously, when Jen stood during our two-up off road riding, she has held on to the open side vents in my Rallye jacket. It has always seemed like a less than ideal grip. We have often thought of somehow attaching handles in strategic locations for her to grab. I looked all over on the Internet with only mild success. It seemed the grab-handles that were available were either to allow small children to hang on when sitting, or to let a sport-bike pillion prevent rearward disembarkation during rapid acceleration. I ordered a few products but returned each one because they turned out not to seem to work for our purpose. Nonetheless, two up training had me excited, so I ordered heavy duty aluminum side release buckles, 1.5” webbing and some plastic handles from Strapworks and got to work. Prototype 1 looked great. As we would later find out, however, we put the handles too far back for level or uphill riding, so I ended out wearing the harness backwards, and having Jen help me in and out of it, for our entire trip.
Here's prototype 1:
(Because the rear handles did have some benefits for downhill riding, the Prototype 2 harness -- with four handles, two front, two rear -- is now in the works.)
After trying on the harness, I became concerned that the Rallye’s built-in water bladder may not be compatible, so I also bought a bike-mountable CamelBak 3 liter UnBottle reservoir to supplement our water supply.
I loaded Sally with our pants, helmets, rain gear, med kit, reservoir, tools and other necessities all locked in our combination of Vario and Zega Pro cases, and shipped her out for Las Vegas. We planned to carry our jackets, clothing and sundries on the plane.
So Sally, gets all loaded up and put on her shipping pallet.
We flew to Las Vegas, picked up Sally, and headed out of town the following morning, a hot summer morning. The days ambient temps averaged 92 degrees and hit a high of 105 degrees. We eased into our road trip and experienced the peace that falls like rain upon you when you head out on the first day of a long-anticipated ride. Sally safely transported us to Escalante where we stayed overnight.
That evening, Sally perched outside our cabin.
We headed out early the next morning finally destined for Moab! It started out at 62 degrees, but while the morning was nice, most of the day it was hot and sweltering. I am not sure why we didn’t anticipate the heat, but we were both unpleasantly surprised.
Along the way, we made numerous roadside stops to hydrate .
We finally made it to Moab in the late afternoon, settled into an AirBnB we rented, and found dinner and a beer at the Spoke on Central.
One-on-one Training
Finally, the day had come for our two up training to begin. We arranged to meet Bill Dragoo for a quick breakfast and briefing. Bill is a kind and unassuming character in his early 60s. He was on time, friendly and seemed genuinely happy to be taking us out for the day. We spoke a bit about our experience level, and he told us a bit about his training style. We didn’t really make a plan, but after a quick breakfast, we headed out of town. In hindsight, I suppose Bill didn’t make a plan because he wanted to see us ride first.
A few miles out of town we stopped off at a large dirt and sand parking lot on the banks of the Colorado river to do a bunch of drills and discuss adventure riding. Bill wanted to see tight successive left turns, tight successive right turns, some with Jen, and some without Jen. I must admit that whenever I go off road for the first time in a while, even in a parking lot, there is some tension. Add to that some sand and an instructor (and your wife) watching and evaluating your riding and it can be downright intimidating. You can’t help but thinking that if keep making smaller and smaller circles, going slower and slower, sooner or later you will have to drop your bike. Obviously, if you are thinking that, you will. And I did.
More than once.
Bill was a good mentor and coach. He focused on what you do right and got you to do more of it. He was able to help me quickly shed the rust that covered my off road riding and see my strengths (and I suppose, my weaknesses). He would ride Sally to demonstrate with Jen’s sub 50kg on pillion and with my more than 100kg on pillion.
Bill demonstrating tight left turns with Jen on pillion.
Bill demonstrating right turns with Adam on pillion.
We practiced two up turning and two up braking. We discussed energy conservation and the teamwork required for two up adventure riding. He even showed Jen how to help me lift Sally which is something I had never considered having her do. Bill observed to us that if Jen can reduce my lifting load (even a little bit) it would preserve my energy and keep us both safer through our journey. He showed Jen a technique to help lift Sally that allowed her to use her weight as a counter-balance which noticeably lightened Sally when righting her. Finally, Bill started to introduce me to a concept he called “bike in tension,” something that despite having taken several adventure riding classes before, no other instructor or coach taught me. More on this later but Bill has really changed my riding as a result of this concept.
We left the parking lot, harness on, and headed toward Hurrah Pass. Sally, Jen and I took the lead. The terrain, which started as a dirt road, got progressively more difficult. We stopped occasionally to discuss the challenges and so that Bill could remind me to keep the bike “in tension.”
As we approached Hurrah Pass there was an imposing rock climb. Jen dismounted for the climb. Although I get disappointed when Jen gets off the bike, we agreed long ago that letting her off when she doesn’t like the terrain is always the right decision. On the first try, Sally and I made it to the top, … well, almost to the top. After we got Sally back up on her wheels, Bill gave me some advice and then had me make the descent and the climb again, and again, and then again. Each time we made it! Each time, Sally was more “in tension.”
After my successes on the climb, we continued quite a way down the ever-degrading road past Hurrah Pass until we found a special cave where we stopped for some shade and a well-deserved lunch.
38°27'01.5"N 109°39'57.3"W
Despite the heat, Bill, Jen and I shared our thoughts on motorcycles, motorcycle gear, riding and more importantly, on life in general. We shared our common passions for travel. Jen and I expressed our gratitude for Bill’s coaching which would be destined to improve our ability to use our chosen mode of transportation, while Bill expressed his gratitude for students “like us.”
After lunch, we headed back in the direction of Moab. Jen and I started really working together on making Sally do what we wanted. And Sally traveled far slower and more deliberately on the way back than she had on the way out. She behaved differently as we began experimenting with our new-found team style and with keeping Sally “in tension.” Jen noticed it too and I recall her commenting on how she was feeling more confident about my riding and our new skills. We climbed back up Hurrah Pass to a spectacular view and welcome breeze. The day topped out at 104 degrees.
38°28'55.6"N 109°37'30.7"W
After we arrived back in Moab, to top off a successful day of riding, we again had dinner and a beer at the Spoke on Central.
Google Sites
Report abuse