Day two of Level 2 at BMW today. I was a bit stiff when I first got up, but it soon cleared. This is a good sign. A lot of the other guys are complaining about being sore and stiff - I am in pretty good shape, especially considering some of the tumbles I took yesterday.

It turns out that we are two men down this morning - "Mr Motocross" and his riding partner apparently decided that they weren't learning anything and left after day 1. It's not surprising that they didn't learn anything - they didn't listen. Last time I checked, you had to listen to what people were saying, and pay attention to what they were showing you, before you cold learn from then. Of course, a pre-requisite of this is a little bit of turning down the arrogance dial a few notches.

This completely changed the dynamic of our group. Whereas yesterday we were like a bunch of guys on a picnic who kept on being buzzed by a couple of persistent wasps, today we were a cohesive group of guys putting their skills into practice, and helping eachother along. When somebody fell off their bike - and there was a few of us - people immediately jumped off their bike to help.

It's not just altruistic either. You get off your bike to help somebody who's fallen off. He gets his bike upright quicker, gets back on it quicker, you get to move on sooner. Everybody wins. Plus, you know they'll do the same for you when it's your turn.

We spent some time trail riding, and geting settled into the bikes. Plus brake turns. Lots of brake turns. Brake turns like this one:


Yes, that's me power-sliding a 150kg BMW round a corner. The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that I haven't yet finished the turn and in another few degrees I will be pointing straight at the photographer. Regular readers will know what happened next.

The morning's first lesson was momentum. This invlolves riding towards a steep uphill slope, the pulling in the clutch as you hit to the bottom of it. If you've done it right, you'll have just enough speed to get to the top, where you gracefully stop for a second and have a look around. It's a great defence against riding over cliffs at the top of blind summits but, apart from that, it looks really cool. A bunch of BMW corporate people were flitting to and fro all day, wanting to see "how the course works". Luckily for me, they turned up right at my third attempt at momentum, just in time to witness a perfect coast to the top of the slope - eminently poseable.

Whether or not Simon Pavey, who they were with, told them that I only did my first off road ride six weeks ago or not, I don't know. I hope so - it's the best possible advert he could have got for the brilliant tuition they do at BMW.

Lots more trail riding, much faster now. Lots of brake turns and power slides. Then, after stopping for a brief rest, Gary's face lit up with the same manic glee you see in a Bond villain.

"OK guys, now we're going to do ruts"

There was a collective groan. One of the guys claimed that he had a note from his mum, another one said that he had left his gym kit at home. We looked up the track where Gary was pointing. It looked harmless enough - mud, shale and a bit of gravel. Nice and straight, about quarter of a mile long, with a sharp right-hander at the end. A perfect surface, glistening in the sunlight with the stream that was running down the, em, ruts. Two perfectly formed ruts on either side of the track. Each of them about a foot deep, and about two feet apart.

Just as we thought that things couldn't get any worse, up pulls Simon with the BMW important people in tow.

"Ahh, ruts! Everybody loves ruts!

Brilliant. Not only are we about to be traumatised, we get to do it with an audience. Then up pulls Simon's son, complete with his camera. Even better. An audience, and it gets recorded for posterity. It couldn't get worse.

Except it could. Gary explained that he wanted us to ride up the trail a few times, then back round to do it again, until we got used to it. Then he would block one of the ruts and we'd have to - somehow - get into the other rut. Without stopping, or putting a foot down.

This is my payback for running Simon's son over yesterday. Karma was absolutely beside herself with laughter as it dawned on me.

Gary demonstrated the technique, then explained it. The way to deal with ruts is to:

1. Steer with your feet - weight the pegs to move the bike from side to side
   
   
2. Look ahead - not at the front wheel. Trust the bike to ride the rut
   
   
3. When changing ruts, rock the bike from side to side, ad then pick a point to jump over
   
   
4. Pray
   
   
5. Curse and say rather a lot of swear words

OK, so I knew that (4) and (5) were going to be fairly easy. That's 40% of the problem solved, I tell myself. "Nobody does this without falling off" - my own words are ringing in my ears as I power over the ditch and into the left-hand rut. I can vaguely make out Simon, his son, Gary, Big Al and a couple of BMW people standing at the side of the track watching me. So no pressure then.

"Steer with the feet" I keep telling myself. "Trust the bike". For those of you who have seen Star Wars, this will be a bit familiar. A young Luke Skywalker is blasting through a trench on the death star, with a very echo-ey Alec Guinness telling him to "use the force". I look as far up the track as I dare to, and just treat every wobble of the bike as normal wobble.

To my amazement, I make it up to the right hander at the end of the track without any incidents. Plenty of moments, but no incidents. Even sweeter still, there is a lovely berm round the outside of the turn - perfect for power-sliding a bike round. There's a huge puddle right before the corner, all muddy and nasty - but after what I just rode up then it's no worries. Karma's jaw hit the floor when I railed that berm - she was hoping for a little bit more in the way of payback.

Interestingly enough, this is something I noticed in the last couple of days - today in particular. My basic techniques are sort of there - I am more concerned now with picing the right line, looking for grip, avoiding obstacles. I am no longer paralysed by the sheer shock of being on an off-road bike - I am starting to become consciously competent.

Gary took off up this really mucky path through the trees. About a foot wide, it was just a foot-deep snaking rut all the way up the hill. There was a big ditch to cross before you even got there. One of the guys plain refused to go up it, and was given the alternative directions to the top of the hill. I was third in line. The second guy, ahead of me, gave it a crack and fell off at the ditch - it was that slippery. I got off my bike to help him, and the guy behind me had a go. More trauma. The other guy in our group took the alternative route. I went to do the same, but Big Al stopped me and said "you're going nowhere mate, unless it's up there". he then explained to me the line I should take, and where to apply the power.

I gave it a go. Over the ditch, plenty of power, and let momentum carry me over the nasty bits at the bottom of the hill. Then I snaked and (yes, I am ashamed to say) paddled my way up the hill. The guys at the top gave me a big round of applause - I was the only one who had made it. I was well chuffed. I am getting better. I am now ready to race. I won't win races, but I won't be making a fool of myself either.

Something else I noticed is how much stamina I have. I seem to get better as I get more tired. This will serve me well when enduro racing - other guys will tire themselves out early on, and I will keep on going. Reminds me of Mohammed Ali - I'll say more about this in the future.

On the way home, in the car, I saw the unmistakeable shape of a BMW twin in my rear view mirror. As he passed, I say the name plastered on the back of the helmet - it was Gary Taylor, who had been instructing me for the last few days. We overtook him and, as we did so, he looked over and saw us. I started pointing at him, and then pointing upwards, shouting "STAND UP!". He then proceeded to do this - at 85mph. I can barely stay stood up at 60mph - the wind force is so strong - but he did it for about 10 miles. And that was after two days throwing a bike round a mountain. He is doing Dakar in 2010. He'll need the energy.

We followed Gary for another 40 miles or so, then turned off the motorway. As we did so, he turned round and gave us a big wave. He didn't have to do this, but it was really nice.

Home now, looking forward to racing on Saturday. if the weather holds, it'll be gorgeous. If the weather doesn't hold, it'll be trauma. Either way, I am racing Saturday. Bring on the ruts ...

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