Black Desert Training, off road training school.
 

I thought I would post a review on my recent experience with Black Desert training.
I am planning a trip next year which may well involve some gravel & occasional 'interesting' sections of road, I have absolutely zero experience with this type of riding & as I am going on my Strom I would like to have a little first hand experience before I leave....I contacted Black Desert who said they would recommend some 1-1 training & I could use my own bike.
So I found myself in south Wales on the edge of the Brecon Beacons meeting Craig of Black Desert training. After a run through of my riding kit to make sure it was up to the job we headed off to start the training.
First off we covered good balance which meant getting on & off the bike without a stand & walking around the bike holding it upright, then we practised picking the bike up correctly. Next came correct positioning of controls & 'the stance', how to be properly positioned while standing. Then we practiced this along a reasonably rough track.
The next section was how to brake smoothly without washing out or skidding on loose surfaces which we did on gravel. More practice along a track with a mixture of grass, bumps, rocks & finally ruts, a (to me) very large & muddy section of rutted ground, which Craig had me going back & forth through.
Later I was introduced to some steeper ground & practiced hill recovery which involved stalling on a slope & then being able to turn the bike around in a controlled manner, next was practicing smooth down hill braking & uphill climbs.
I was also taught about balancing with the bike moving around beneath me, correct cornering on loose surfaces & riding over loose rocks, dust & wet very bumpy/corrugated grass.
Craig also gave advice on kit, tools & bike prep. All the advice was specific to being on a larger bike & how to keep yourself as safe as possible whilst tackling some stuff that I was amazed that both I & the bike could cope with.
I had 2 days training with Craig & had a blast, I learnt lots, gained valuable experience & had great fun doing so...... Thoroughly recommended! :thumbup1:

I can second this good reveiw,

Liz and I spent a day with black desert both 1 to 1 (Me with Craig, liz with Tamsin).

We met at their home and went out on to the mountain side riding Roxy and Lola (our CCM SR40s that we're using on our trip).

I know liz felt more confident after the day and I really felt that with craigs help I was really able to improve my riding.

I would like to go and do more training with craig in the future but may be after the big trip.