Mike Irving and I pulled up outside the BMW off road skills unit which is opposite the Tourtech showroom in South Wales.
Ther were to be 13 of us on the course 10 on GS1200s,1 on a GS800,and 2 on 650s,the instructors all rode GS1200 Adventures and they were
Simon Pavey,6 times competitor in the Dakar which he completed 4 times,also he helped prepare Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman for their Long Way Round Long Way Down adventures.
Gwyn Barraclough who runs Trellesport and imports Trellborge and Mitas off road tyres.
Gary Taylor who works for the motorcycle charity Riders for Life.
BMW insist that all the instructors have held international competition licences.
After introductions we all rode to the nearby 4,500 acre off road park which also holds a stage of the world Rally Series,is used by Jaguar LandRover for product testing,its also the venue for the Dawn till Dusk Enduro.
The level one course is designed to be suitable for all riders from those that have never riden on dirt upwards,you cant take level 2 or 3 untill level 1 has been completed.The course kicks off with some basic excercises walking alongside your bike,locking the back wheel from 25 mph,locking the front wheel whilst keeping the power on,turning in a small circle marked with cones,completing an ever tightening salom course.
Just before an excellent lunch at the Sarn Helen Community Centre we were spilt into 2 groups depending on ability,Simon took the less experenced riders and Mike and I were with Gwyn and Garry.
The afternoon was spent riding the 4,500 acre site including some steep declines.
Five Oclock came and we rode back to the business park and then drove back to our hotel bathed and changed we then made our way to the Abercave Inn where Simon and the Instructors hosted a dinner.
Saturday day 2 began with some heavy duty trail riding using some of the Dawn to Dusk Enduro course,we were shown how to turn around a stalled bike on a steep climb.
After another good lunch at the community centre we completed some momentum excersises which involved completing a steep climb up a bank stopping at the exact top for a couple of seconds then doing a tight turn going back down to do another tight turn and repeating the climb.
Mike and I had a fabulous 2 days and we will certainly return next year to do the level 2 course on the new water cooled 1250s.