"Look Ma, no hands..."

The author practices her balancing skills in the classroom.

Ramey "Coach" Stroud

When was the last time you took a motorcycle riding class? If you're anything like me it was quite some time ago, 13 years to be exact. It was a hot Midwest weekend, the sun blistering down on the tarmac, my sunglasses barely keeping my light blue eyes shielded from the glare and my leather jacket half open hoping to catch a hint of breeze while revealing my winter white skin to the penetrating sun. I was young, rebellious and determined. I knew no women that rode motorcycles and I would be the first to do so of my female friends.

            That blazing Chicago weekend became one of the most pivotal points in my life. The consistent drilling from our instructors "keep your heads up, shoulders back, sit up straight, cover the clutch, look confident, be confident" came in handy while experiencing real life riding. Their instruction directly helped me experience many joyous cross-country journeys alone and with friends.

            Though somewhere hidden in my psyche still exists this childlike scared-y-cat voice afraid of gravel, tight U-turns, dragging foot pegs and mistakenly popping a clutch and doing a wheelie. The voice isn't anything rational. It's not like I haven't managed to do all of these successfully over the years (though doing a wheelie on purpose or by accident is not on my list) it's more about getting rid of the underlying fear of them. So, I concluded it was time to extinguish the annoying wispy Gollum-like voice by taking some lessons from the professionals. I began imagining my motorcycle wish list: dirt bike riding school, track racing on my K and maybe a wheelie school where the bikes have a tiny little balance wheel on the back for stability. (Okay, I know it's a training wheel.)

            Once you think it, you materialize it. I received a call from a friend of a friend of a friend who knew I was interested in taking some classes and offered me the chance to take an all women's weekend dirt bike class. Fortunately, it was on the west coast and about six hours south of my home. I pushed around a few of my client obligations and managed to free up three days for travel and training. I was both excited and scared at the same time. I wasn't expecting the universe to materialize the training class so fast. Fortunately it also provided the most experienced, world renown and professional motorcycle guru I could have hoped for; Ramey "Coach" Stroud of the Cascade Endurance Center in Lyons, Oregon.

            A little background on Coach: Some of you might know Coach Ramey and remember his serious indoor MX race injury in 2003 that took the motorcycle community by surprise. This injury would have left any other rider crippled, depressed and paralyzed for life but Coach was determined to prove his doctors and everyone else wrong. He is a walking miracle and snubbed the devil himself by getting back on two wheels in 2007 to complete the last portion of his 2003 MX race. This man is simply amazing. He rode America's historic longest high speed off road race, the Nevada 2000 alone when it's usually done with three riders. In order to accomplish something like that you really have to know motorcycle physics, ground dynamics, physical rejuvenation techniques, required nutrition plus hydration and the power of one's own mind. So when Coach was injured, his injury didn't have a chance of keeping him down. It's done nothing but ignite his determination to teach riders everything he's learned on the track, in his races, through his worldwide travels and from his recovery. This man is someone you listen to and learn from.

            I ended up driving down to Oregon with a late start. The phrase "please arrive on time, it's tricky to find in the dark" kept running through my head from Coach's email. I knew I could make up the time on the road so I wasn't too worried until I came upon a few hundred cars and trucks moving at a snails pace on I-5. I edged off the highway onto some remote farm road to find a hand drawn detour sign from some local thoughtful resident, which I and a few other people followed. It ended up being our blessing around what ended up being a seventeen car accident that crossed both sides of I-5 20 miles away. I was now going to be two hours late and arrive in the dark.

            The Cascade Endurance Center is located on the top of a huge hill/mountain outside Lyons. Coach was right, in the dark one would miss the entrance without explicit directions, "turn left when you see a green metal gate right before the bend in the road." The steep gravel riddled one-lane driveway gave way to my beaming headlights as it began to slowly reveal the complex from the woodsy darkness. A rustic wooden fence line led my eyes to horse paddocks, a huge blue metal riding barn and as I finally turned the corner, a warm glowing log cabin radiating with happy female laughter in a well lit kitchen. I parked and entered through the garage. A yellow BMW 650 was up on its center stand; a few helmets lay on the back table with boots underneath in perfect soldier order and heavy motorcycle jackets following suit hanging on the wood clad walls. The door in the garage swung open to a jovial Southern-hospitality-type man beaming at me with a huge smile, "Yah made it!" I was pleased to instantly know this was Coach-it was definitely going to be a great weekend.

            Inside, there were three other women who would be attending the class, a fourth canceled at the last minute due to the impending doom of heavy rain the whole weekend. It didn't seem to matter to Coach, "we ride in the rain or shine" and that we did! I actually think I learned more having to deal with the wet grass, mud and slick conditions.  If I was going to fall at all this would be the best place to do so.

            Day one of our "Slow Speed Off-Road Class" began with torrential rain. (For once, the weatherman was right.) Coach decided to change a few things around and started us off in the classroom rather than the field. I appreciated this change since I knew my gear would have been completely soaked in less than five minutes.

            Coach's training style is unique. He truly believes in mind, body, mechanics, physics and a bit of bluegrass Soul. I was expecting to be thrown onto a bike and forced to figure out what to do while going through exercises that demoralize your ego. Instead, I learned the mechanics and physics of all the aspects of torque, weight, center of gravity, speed, tire circumference relationships and much more. We handled moving BMW engine parts while he described what we were physically going to do with the bike and how it would mechanically act or react. We compared single plate dry clutch and the multi-plate wet clutch used on BMW 650s and 800s. He also mentioned to us why we turn the ABS off in loose traction and why racing bikes don't use ABS. Our lessons moved back and forth between theory and practice designed to foster muscle memory. He showed us proper body mechanics on stationary mounted motorcycles and correct body posture on a special "balance stool" he created himself.

            While seated on the static trainers we each experienced less stress in our upper bodies and more feeling of bike control by pointing our feet forward to promote knee contact with the tank. If we slightly raised our elbows and shifted our hand position to create a V on the handle bars (like on a golf shaft) it would allow us to engage the larger back muscles and also lessen upper body tension.

            His balancing stool gave us an awareness of our body's true center. It allowed us to move our pelvis back and forth, left and right to bring our lower and upper back into alignment. By correcting motorcycle posture, you reduce tension and increase endurance.

            "If you're so busy hanging on to the bike with tons of tension through your hands and upper body, your range of control motion is reduced," he said. "You're not nearly as smooth as you could be. The goal of improved lower body connection with the bike is to give you independent hands."

            If Coach could have stressed only one thing the whole weekend it would be "independent hands." This theme led to our daily balancing exercise: Balance on the bike with the kickstand up, engine off, feet on the pegs and when ready stand on the pegs and raise your hands into the air. (Yeah I know, read that again...) My original reaction, "No way, you've got to be joking!" Coach knew exactly what he was doing and in less than 40 minutes he had us all balancing our bikes seated with no kickstand and our feet on the pegs as the rain fell upon us. I found once you relaxed your neck and shoulders and create a "million mile Zen-like stare" balancing is actually possible. The shocking thing was the power you control in your mind to literally dissipate your stress at will.

            Thanks to a few yoga classes that emphasize balance, I amazed myself on day two and actually stood for over a couple minutes no hands, no kickstand, with the engine running. I have the photo framed in my office just to show myself what I thought was impossible ended up being possible; another pivotal point in my life.

            Once we really connected with our bikes, only then were we allowed to learn to ride them (in the rain of course). We rode in an oval around the uneven, wet, mole-laden field until we could demonstrate that our lower body was actually controlling the balance of the bike and our upper bodies were relaxed. It wasn't until the last circle that it finally clicked for me. I had to squeeze my knees against the tank to get my upper body to relax, then I was able to handle what Coach calls a "stop-n-go exercise." You ride to a full stop, balance, and then take off, all without putting a boot down. Additionally while standing on the balls of our feet, we learned the correct way of turning: elbows up, toes in, head up and back straight. We would later do small bunny hops over a large 4x4 inch plank to get a feel for the relationship between the throttle, our body position and the front tire while getting air. This came in handy on day two.

            That next day we headed out into the field to do our daily balancing exercise and then rode into what I like to call Goldilocks' forest to take our lessons to the next level: navigating small hills while being mindful of the undercarriage; traversing a fifteen feet deep bowl while keeping our bodies center of gravity in balance with the ground; navigating steep incline U-turns with enough power to carry the rear tire upward  and around the turn; cornering and accelerating through gravel; maintaining control on steep gravel descents with a cut engine; slow speed counter balance turns and circumnavigating the three bears. (Okay, so there really weren't any bears just a huge herd of deer!)

            Coach's 60-acre property is literally like visiting the Seven Motorcycle Wonders of the World. He has created motorcycle exercise courses to replicate situations he has actually experienced in countries like Belize, South Africa, the Sahara Desert, Egypt, South America and various places in Mexico. We were all surprised at the literal million pounds of rock Coach has brought in to allow us to train in all sorts of gravel roads and rocky conditions he's experienced. His facility is literally a shrine to the world's terrain! I was thankful this "slow speed-off road class" didn't require a passport or immunization shots just to travel from one motorcycle course to another!

            I could go on and on about what we learned, the techniques, the lessons, the close calls and Coach's wealth of knowledge he demonstrates with every breath he takes. Frankly, a weekend was more than enough, as I felt my brain was going to pop if I had one more day. On my drive home, I was giddy with excitement jabbering to my husband on my cell phone of all I had learned. I knew there was much more to tackle and I knew I had found my Motorcycle Guru. I highly recommend his instruction for anyone looking to take their on-road or off-road to the next level.

            Oh and remember Gollum, the wispy annoying scared-y-cat voice? Well, he got run over a few times with my motorcycle and finally left. Now the next big question is should I take the wheelie class or the track class?

For information about Coach, access http://www.RideCoach.com.

Aliya Nylander is the owner of Motorcycle Lady Company LLC and can be reached at .