RawHyde Adventures Opens Second Training Facility Here
Monday, December 16th, 2013
The dirt is calling me.
My introduction to RawHyde Adventures was excitement followed by disappointment. Back a few years ago when being the National Motorcycle Examiner was a viable gig I was contacted by someone asking if I’d be interested in participating in a media event at their then only facility out in California. This was to be–I don’t remember–a four or five day session where they would put us up and feed us and give us several days of off-road training. All I would have to do would be get myself there and get home. Of course I said yes instantly.
It didn’t pan out. This was a short-notice event and while I was totally flexible and able to leap in an instant, apparently the folks working for the more traditional magazines and such could not drop everything and go. It got canceled. I was bummed.
Well, just Sunday I discovered that as of June RawHyde has opened a Colorado facility. I can’t tell from their website just where exactly they are; all it says is “Located high in the Rocky Mountains on the Continental Divide Trail, in the heart of the best Adventure Riding in America.” So it’s somewhere up there in the hills.
If you’re looking to get some training for adventure riding–this is not just riding dirt, it’s more ambitious–RawHyde seems to have a pretty good program. The classes or whatever they call them are:
- Intro to Adventure Training Camp
- The Next Step Training Camp
- Rocky Mountain Adventure Ride
- High Rockies Adventure Ride
- The Continental Divide Ride
And they say coming soon, the Triple Nickel Test Ride Program. Not sure what that is.
It looks good. The intro unit is described as, “For experienced street riders wanting to get comfortable in the dirt.” Here’s what they say it will include:
- An introduction to dirt riding techniques and the top mistakes people make
- Body position for effective off-road riding
- Throttle, brake and clutch techniques
- Weight-shift techniques for steering
- Balance techniques
- Turning technique using counterbalancing
- Obstacle avoidance
- How to control front and rear wheel skids
- Hard Acceleration technique on dirt and gravel
- Hill Climbing
- Descending steep hills in a controlled manner
- How to ride in Sand and Gravel
- How to recover from a stall on a steep hill
- How to turn around, fully loaded on a steep hill
That sounds like that would about do it. Where do I sign up? And how much does it cost?
Oh yeah, cost. Get out your wallet, cause it ain’t cheap. If you ride your own bike (they do have rentals) the sign-up is $1,395. Ouch. Some people obviously have more money than I do. Maybe you.
What you get for that money is a two and one-half day program, food and beverages, three nights lodging, and a T-shirt. And not just any food. “All meals prepared by Cordon Bleu trained Chefs.”
So, wow. Wow, I’d really like to do this. Wow, I really don’t have that kind of money. Hey RawHyde, if you want to do a media event to help publicize the fact that you’ve got this new operation running, give me a call. I’ll say yes in a heartbeat once again. I’ll even bring my own bike.
Biker Quote for Today
That hill doesn’t look too hard…..you go first!
