May 2007
Adventure Sidecar S/TEP Class Photos
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Many, many hours of preparation go into setting up for the new season of classes. After about 12 hours of riding in circles on this thing, compacting the driving range so we will have a nice, hard, flat surface to practice on, my butt was so numb I could barely walk!
I spent 7 hours measuring and laying out the marks for the driving exercises.
The weather has been beautiful with Mt.Hood and Mt.Adams both standing proud in a bright blue sky!
Jack hooked up a chain to his loader and hauled some old farm equipment out of
harms reach...
Friday evening we met at the Coe Building to start the class. The group studied hard...
Bright and early Saturday morning found us at the field ready to start driving .
Monica explained the first exercises to the class
Graham & Julie Meyer are from Australia, over here on holiday. They just bought a new Ural Patrol from Ural NW in Bellingham, Washington and drove it to Hood River to take the Adventure Sidecar Class! You can follow their travels through their website, http://www.thesunshineteam.com.au/
Saturday afternoon it was back to the school for more book learning
Sunday morning we warmed up with a few simple exercises, before moving on to the advanced driving skills, done without passenger or ballast in the sidecar
We practiced hard braking, learning to control "yaw"
The exercises where we practice "flying"the sidecar were the highpoint of the day. Looked forward to by the students with a certain amount of apprehension, they found it a real confidence builder when they discovered just how much the rig resists being airborne and how controllable it is even with the sidecar off the ground.
The lovely Amy fed us home baked goodies and kept us on track and going strong all weekend!
Before we knew it it was time to do the driving test and this class was finished. Once again I was blessed with a fine group of people in the class and was very pleased with the progress everyone displayed over the weekend!
All photos and articles Copyright© Vernon Wade 2007 unless otherwise noted
