No Longer a Virgin on Sand

[katrina ratcliffMember]

They always say the first time hurts…..

On Saturday I dragged my boyfriend with his Honda XR650 up to Stockton Beach to help me learn to ride on the sand. (I was on my Honda CRF230L)

The objective of the day was:

1. attempt to feel comfortable riding on sand
2. keep the relationship (ie still talk to each other at the end of the day).

I spent time last week while slogging it at work… NOT…. surfed the net for tips – riding in the sand. With all the information collected and discussed on our drive up to Stockton I felt confident that this was going to be a successful day.

Neither of us had been on Stockton Beach before so we didn’t know what to expect.

I was completely thrown into the deep end with the first 30mins of riding I must have lost 1kg of sweat, lost count on how many times I wanted to throw up. Poor boyfriend had to rescue me at one stage because I wanted to faint and I needed him to hold the bike so I could lie down.

mmmm… the reading material didn’t explain how to ride in lots of 4WD rutts…

Happy to report that after a regig of my clothing, drinking lots of water and a kiss of reassurance from the boyfriend we went out and tackled it again. This time with bit more success that caused a victory dance on one of the sand dunes… much to the surprise of passing 4WD’s.

But one thing is for sure…… I need more experience on the sand.

PS… I slept well that night….

[Anonymous]

IF you riding on the beach front then it’s usually harder than a bit further in where you can get some speed up easier. It’s kind of between the the bushy stuff and the bigger dunes.

Letting you rear tyre down a few psi will be a big help too, it makes the difference between not even coming close to getting up a hill and getting up it easily.

Glad to hear you (kinda) had fun. You should check out Tin City and the Sygna wreck now you’re getting the hang of it.

Your boyfriends 650 with a decent tyre will be just the ticket in the sand!

[GregMember]

Well done and great tips from Moto

Practice makes perfect they say

TB

[murph the surfMember]

Sounds like you had a great day KatGirl and Boyfriend
Stockton can be fun when it all comes together
On the other hand it can all turn to sh*t pretty damn quick as I found out after getting more than a little carried away at hitting the huge dunes with too much gusto (Broke my clollar bone in three places from a tad too much air at the top of one of those huge suckers)
Glad you enjoyed yourselves and riding sand like that can only improve your skills
Cheers
Murph the surf

[Anonymous]

You go girl!

Good on you for sticking with it and not giving up. I’m sure you are going to be well prepared for your big ride.

[Mick DMember]

Yes well done,riding in sand is something I still have to come to terms with. My one and only run in the sand dunes on my XR650 turned out a comical affair for onlookers.Much to TB’s amusement. I went so bad I caused other people to crash. :blush:

[Anonymous]

Ah sand – good for you Katgirl for having a crack at it. It has been years since I have ridden proper sand dunes (I dont miss it though)

[PaulMember]

Ahh, sand.
I rekon the Dakar would be fun if they could hold a stage on Fraser Island, that’s where I really learned sand riding. You can do massive donuts on the main beach
I might have to try Stockton someday, are there plenty of flats at low tide?

[LiamMember]

Trailboss wrote:

Quote:

Well done and great tips from Moto

Practice makes perfect they say

TB

Not wrong, Moto does a stand out face plant and I’d say it’s near “perfect”.

Try some blue lenses on the sand.

[Justin WilliamsMember]

Well done Katgirl… Your more experienced than me at sand riding NOW… :dry:

Ps. Wellcome the the site…justo

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