A fun, easy way to do something rad is to learn how to ride a dirt bike. Sounds easy enough, right? But if you’re a girl sitting at her desk in a cubicle in the Silicon Valley, or a big metropolitan city, you might not know anyone who rides dirt bikes. You might even be thinking, “dirt bike…is that like a mountain bike?”
The men you know, they know how to tweet, and can be called upon to explain the nuances of a pre-money valuation or a convertible note, but they probably don’t ride motorcycles or know how to change a tire, so, you can’t really count on them to take you dirt biking. That’s okay, everyone has their place in life. But you can be different. You can be rad.
Imagine coming into work Monday morning. Everyone goes through the usual “how was your weekend” office nonsense. “Oh, I went to the farmer’s market.” “I went to a baby shower and then a tea party.” See yourself telling them, “I learned how to ride motorcycles in a beautiful mountain town and now I’m pretty sure I’m going to buy one and be rad.”
Step one? Sign up for the MSF Dirt Bike School at national champion Rich Oliver’s beautiful property in Auberry, California. You don’t need gear, or a motorcycle, just the ability to pump in a credit card number online and follow the directions on your Tom Tom. It’s a three hour drive from San Jose, California, located in the beautiful southern Sierra foothills. The school assumes you don’t know how to operate a motorcycle of any kind, and Rich will teach you how to use the throttle, clutch, and brakes, and how to shift and turn.
Lodging can be anything from the rustic, non-luxurious motel rooms above Daddy Joe’s Java Time, a five minute’s drive from Rich’s property and where he likes to meet his classes in the mornings, to one of the top ten boutique hotels in Northern California according to Gayot.com, Chateau du Sereau, located a scenic hour’s drive to the north, near the gateway to Yosemite.
I can already picture a romantic weekend getaway at the Chateau du Sereau. One day spent dirt biking with a national motorcycle racing champion, followed by a day of massages, fine food and seaweed wraps. You’ll need the massage, trust me. If you follow all of Rich’s instructions carefully, and ride within your comfort zone, it is highly unlikely that you will get hurt. But dirt biking will activate all sorts of muscles that not even the toughest Bikram yoga or Pilates class can reach.
I might be a motorcycle racing “champion” too, but not on the level of Rich Oliver. They’ve only had “female” motorcycle roadracing classes for a few years now, and I’m enjoying the benefits of being one of the class’s early adopters. I’m not great, but I’m good enough to get some wins here and there against the other girls out there. Who knows, the real female talent might be YOU. But if you don’t quite know where to start…that’s where Rich can help.
One thing is for certain – I am horrible in the dirt. Being good in the dirt helps you be better on the road, so I said “yes” when my friend Nikki invited me to ride with her and her new man yesterday at Rich’s Off-Road Challenge course, which is more advanced than the MSF Dirt Bike School, but perfect for me.
Glenn, visiting from Cheltenham, England, and the Pretty Blonde Mechanic
I was really nervous.
Sunglasses on, it's a "stars without makeup" day.
It would be my seventh day ever on a dirt bike. Day 1, a dirt biking afternoon at the Freddie Spencer motorcycle roadracing school in Las Vegas, 2007. I did not ride within my comfort zone, or follow instructions, and had back surgery a week later. Day 2, my unbelievably bad ass boyfriend at the time seemed to think I was also unbelievably bad ass, and took me up extremely advanced trails at an extremely advanced dirt biking park. I cried. Then I jumped head first into Rich Oliver’s Four Day Ultra Pro Camp, along with many boy (and girl) roadracers who’d pretty much grown up riding dirt bikes. I tried to keep up, crashed my brains out, and suffered a lot (but didn’t sustain any serious injuries).
I was really happy that this day was geared towards a newer dirt bike rider, Glenn, who’d never ridden dirt before. Nikki and I were both really unhappy that by the end of the day, he was outpacing both of us. I am thinking there is something to be said for those things that boys have that girls don’t have.
ANYway…we started out with some mellow circles and flat dirt track riding techniques.
"Brrrraaap" says the little dirt bike that could.
We did some hill climbs. Those scared me. It can’t possibly be that I’m a chicken, so I think it must be my high center of gravity; I’m tall and skinny, and when you put a dirt bike under me and I’m standing on it and wobbling my way up a steep hill at four miles an hour, the ground is really far away. I always forget how it doesn’t hurt when I fall down, so it keeps scaring me. I fell down a few times, and each time picked my bike back up and kept going. This is one of the many positive things dirt biking can teach a girl. Fall down, pick your bike up, keep going. No Big Deal.
We also learned how to wheelie and climb over small obstacles.
Knowing how to lift your front wheel will help you clear obstacles.
Then, at the end of the day, we did a “stream” crossing. Rich forgot to turn the hose off, so we were actually doing more of a “pond” crossing. I was shy, so I didn’t want to go first. Unfortunately, after Nikki and Glenn took several runs through, it was more slippery and muddy on the bottom. Add to that an already scared girl and you get this:
Oops
I was already wet and mud-encrusted, so I tried again, and made it through.
It’s a really lovely day out at the ranch with Rich. Either his wife Karen or one of the kids will make a healthy lunch; yesterday it was baked chicken with green beans and veggie sticks. It’s really like a spa day, only, you’re riding dirt bikes. At the Pro Camp, we even worked out in the morning, going running and lifting weights.
Riding a motorcycle is more fun than you can possibly imagine. Well, as long as you’re not a person who gets anxious or scared behind the wheel of a car. That’s a pretty good indicator of whether or not you’ll enjoy motorcycling. If you’re relatively coordinated, like the outdoors, and enjoy driving, I know you’ll love it. Add in Rich’s instruction, and who knows, I’ll probably see you on the racetrack in a few years.
