Review: Feel Like A Pro DIRT

[NoneMoreBlack]

Just did the two day camp, and thought BARF might want to hear about it.


About the program: We did the Dirt Track Training, which is available for one day or two, at $300 per day and includes everything from bike to gear. It runs from 10AM - 4PM, minus a lunch break and any breaks you want to take. And if you are anything like us, you are going to want those breaks.

We chose FLAP-D because they are much closer to us than Mystery School, and also have a class on the schedule basically every weekend, making it easier to find a time to go.

We also inquired with Shezracing which is also very conveniently located to SF. Unfortunately they only have a couple co-ed events per year, and if you want to book them for a private training you need a minimum of five people. We were not able to get enough actual commitments and decided to strike off on our own.


youtu.be/DVMGSUckClI

About the experience: My GF and I are both street bike riders with zero dirt experience. I have about 10 years in the saddle, she has about 3. I have done the Alameda County Sheriff introductory course, she has done MSF; otherwise we have no experience with professional instruction.

Our instructor was Nick. He is great, both professional and friendly. We had similarities in our riding career; he also did ten years on the street before starting out with FLAP-D, and now is almost exclusively a dirt rider and racer. So he was very empathetic and kept coaching us on classic mistakes a street rider makes when first venturing onto dirt since he had firsthand experience of these issues.

Our first day was a bit atypical, as there were a few no shows and we were the only two students, which gave us plenty of close instruction from Nick. There were a few more students on day two with a somewhat broader range of skills, which was probably closer to the normal experience.

There were also a couple kids buzzing around who were somewhere in between students and instructors. Be prepared to feel extremely humble in comparison to a 12 year old semi-pro flat track racer.

Both days start with drills that are basically akin to MSF training, on dirt. Start-stops, u-turns, slalom. Don't worry if this sounds too basic, I fell down during this phase at least 3 times.

After this you transition to gradually more open practice on a variety of different courses, often run forwards and backwards. Lunch break, then repeat through the afternoon.

Complaints: Very few. Nick was pretty hands-off, which worked well most of the time, but occasionally I might have like closer direction, especially as we got into more complex course layouts later in the day. I could always find him to ask a question, but would have preferred for example some follow the leader laps or to have him trail me to give critique.

There were also some dirt veterans in our second day as well as the flat track kids who started getting very aggressive with their passing. We let it go but would have appreciated an instructor reminding everybody that this is in fact a drill, not a race.

If you do the two day camp, you're just doing a single day camp, twice. I completely understand the rationale here, since they are balancing against the realities of people actually enrolling and showing up for classes. In my ideal world I would have preferred an actual two-day structure to the curriculum, where we gradually built up from basics day one to more advanced stuff on day two.

If you have never done this before (and are over 30), be prepared for pain. This also made the second day a bit tough, as we had to take more frequent breaks, and ended up calling it quits about an hour early.

Also I do not recommend the Kelseyville Motel. It is worth it to stay a little further away or pay a little more.

Not complaints/TL;DR: This was an amazing experience and I definitely want to do it again. Getting practice and training on dirt is a BARF mantra and all I can say is, you were all right all along. I can't compare FLAP to the other similar training programs, but I would say it was 100% worth the money.

If I were to do it again, I would stick with a single day camp, but go a couple times, ideally closely together to reinforce the learning. So if Lake County is a convenient destination for you, I strongly recommend this.

So....if you, are a street, rider, You don't know,...Anything, until...you Ride dirt trails in, Oregon, With a scotts,,,,and ditch those clipons

Bonus pic of their trophy room/clubhouse

[gixxerjeff]

Nice write up.
Thanks.

[budman]

Now that is a garage..

Thanks for the write up.

Love the barf mantra part.

[HadesOmega]

KLX140!

[fubar929]

Originally Posted by NoneMoreBlack

If you do the two day camp, you're just doing a single day camp, twice. I completely understand the rationale here, since they are balancing against the realities of people actually enrolling and showing up for classes. In my ideal world I would have preferred an actual two-day structure to the curriculum, where we gradually built up from basics day one to more advanced stuff on day two.

FWIW, this sounds like one of the biggest differences when FLAP-D is compared to Rich Oliver's Mystery School. The Mystery School's 2-day Fun Camp focuses on basic skills for the first day then builds on those skills during the second day. Rich has you do a couple of different drills near the beginning of Day 1, then you repeat them toward the end of Day 2 so you can see your progress.

[NoneMoreBlack]

Originally Posted by fubar929

FWIW, this sounds like one of the biggest differences when FLAP-D is compared to Rich Oliver's Mystery School. The Mystery School's 2-day Fun Camp focuses on basic skills for the first day then builds on those skills during the second day. Rich has you do a couple of different drills near the beginning of Day 1, then you repeat them toward the end of Day 2 so you can see your progress.

That makes sense. The tradeoff FLAP is making is that riders can sign up for whatever they want either day, theoretically making it easier for them to fill the classes. I suspect if our classes had been a bit more full, they would have divided up the groups and we would have had a bit more of a "two-day" experience.

[Junkie]

American Supercamp is also distinct day 1 vs day 2.

[GPzPop]

Brian Bartlow is also a mean break dancer, just so you know!

[scotinexcile]

Go do the real one at the Mystery School their 2 day curriculum is tried and tested