Description
When things don't go your way, are you still the person your riding buddies want beside them? Welcome to Cross Training Adventure, we are into all things dual sport and adventure on the east coast of Australia. Off-road motorcycles manufacture adversity. You get stuck. You crash. Something breaks. And then there's fear. Not that you'd ever admit it. Keen on adventure riding in Australia? Check out our vids. Get far enough outside your comfort zone, and fear becomes your companion. Fear isn't weakness. If you like dual sport riding in Australia then you might like our adventure riding vids. Sometimes you're pulling somebody else's motorcycle out of the mud. Eventually, you're going to be the one in the mud. So maybe the question we started with is worth asking again: When everything goes wrong, am I the person my riding buddies want beside them? It's information. The question is whether you can recognize it before it starts making decisions for you. And let's acknowledge the obvious. Dirt bikes are dangerous. And that's part of the attraction. Danger creates consequence. Decisions matter. Preparation matters. Judgment matters. And the riders beside you matter. Check out our reviews of various adventure bikes and dual sport bikes. After 20 years of riding off-road, I've learned to pay attention to what happens when things don't go our way. Because that's when you start to see how people really respond. You choose the wrong line and bury the motorcycle. Now everybody's standing around, waiting. What happens next? Do you start pointing fingers and blaming others? Or can you own the mistake and get to work. It's easy to recognize poor behaviour in somebody else. It's harder when it's you. Over the course of my life, I've made plenty of mistakes. Can I still make good decisions? Can the people I'm riding with still depend on me? Those aren't really motorcycle questions. They're life questions. Because if I want trustworthy, capable people around me, I should probably be asking whether I'm becoming that kind of person myself and, believe me, I need reminders. And I've held my weight in shame. The question is whether I can own my mistakes and learn from them. Or does frustration take over and now my bad decisions become everybody else's problem? I've watched people get so tired and frustrated their ability to frame a situation correctly slowly erodes. Eventually, if you continue in this sport, that distinction matters. Because character isn't what someone promises. It's the person who says, I'll be there... and is. There's one question I've come to really like: Do I remain useful? Someone can be charismatic, funny and great around the campfire but unreliable when things go wrong.Someone else can be quiet, awkward, maybe even a little difficult. But put me a hundred kilometres from pavement with an injured rider, a motorcycle that won't run and darkness coming and that might be exactly the person I want beside me. On multi-day expeditions, I often tape those words to my handlebar pad. When I'm having a difficult day, that's when the question matters. Their mind starts screaming, I just want to go home. But I've also watched people surprise themselves. And then they keep going.Human beings are extraordinarily capable. But functioning well under adversity takes practice. Character isn't never feeling fear, anger or despair. It's what you do with those emotions once they arrive. And that's something we practise in our education programs.We constantly work on self-awareness.How do my hands and forearms feel?Am I relaxed on the motorcycle or fighting it? Am I feeling pressure to keep up?Am I tired? Am I feeling fear? If I can recognize what's happening to me before it negatively affects my riding, I can do something about it. One of the slightly ridiculous ways we reinforce this is with gold stars. And you would be amazed what a 57-year-old man will do for a gold star. We reward competence, sportsmanship and people who look after others. Good behaviour is contagious. And those are the people you want on your team.Off-road riding is a team sport.When you're heading somewhere remote, you're not just choosing people you enjoy riding with. You're choosing people you will depend on. And that's where personality and character can be very different things.
CREATIVE COMMONS VIDEOS
Thanks to the following channels for their creative commons footage:
Brett ADV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j88wNMG2xVc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcmVALkdM8w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsUO3-kYJMk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6pq2AqF0Ig
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP7nGnoRr7o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpHMKGuMhyE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xs2lgv6pQU
Our website: https://sites.google.com/view/crosstrainingenduro
Our enduro channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/CrossTrainingEnduroSkills
#crosstrainingadventure #adventureriding #adventurebikes #dualsportriding
#dualsportbikes