The 2008 Roof is now upon us and it certainly seems that this years race is waiting to challenge us. Apparently baboons pass may be included in the race this year and Ashley Thorn seems to have found a new pass called “WelcomePass.” I found this interesting quote on thewww.roof-of-africa.comwebsite.
Ashley’s report on Welcome Pass
“Previous weekend my local team of riders failed to conquer the WelcomePass , so we had to call in the extremely fit and technically skilled reserves from outside the country. Welcome Pass , approximately 4km , was conquered in 1 hr and 23 min by one man who shall remain anonymous and he did it blind folded in order not to leak the position of the pass. Bike boiled 3 times. The message is “ Make sure you are 100% fit” otherwise the WelcomePass on the Saturday route will be, GoodbyePass.”
If the Roof route is going to be as tough as the organizers are implying, then it would be advisable to carry two camel backs and spare clutch plates during the race.
On the 3rd and 5th of October I had the pleasure of joining the Enduro World tour group in Lesotho on behalf of Yamaha. There where about 45 riders who joined the tour, from seasoned pro’s to first timers.
Techniques essential for a successful Roof.
On the Enduro World Tour some riders really struggled by not implementing the following techniques and used excessive energy by not weighting their foot pegs , maintaining clutch control , not looking ahead and accelerating to late when riding obstacles. By not implementing basic techniques riders will struggle to maintain momentum.
One very important point when riding the tough single track off cambers on the side of the hills , with long drop-offs on the side of the single track is to make sure that your vision and line of sight is focused directly ahead of you and not on the bikes front fender. When you are looking ahead you can plan your next move and maintain momentum on obstacles. Many riders freeze when they look down on the side of large mountains , that is why it is important to look ahead. To ensure that you don’t slip off the path down large drop-offs you need to always weight your outside foot peg but keep your weight leaned in towards the slope of the hill. You can also dab your inside leg and maintain clutch control to avoid high siding. If you do happen to look down the high side of a off cambered mountain with a large drop-off your weight will automatically be pulled towards the high sided drop-off. If you are scared of heights or you are tired rather walk your bike along a narrow path on the side of a mountain.
If you are stuck on the rocks, take a deep breath and do a quick check to see why you are stuck in that particular position , it is no use revving your bike without going forward. You will 9 times out of 10 have to move the bike an inch either side to be able to go forward again. If you rev your bike in one spot repeatedly on a climb you will put strain on your clutch and eventually boil the bike. If you are stuck on a rocky pass with your front wheel turned, it’s the same as trying to pull off with your front brake on.
When you have an obstacle in front of you make sure you accelerate and get your momentum going before the obstacle to prevent wheel spin and to maintain your momentum you have built up. It is very important to look ahead and read the terrain to keep your riding flowing.
During the tour many riders improved and started carrying momentum up to and over obstacles but let their bikes get away from them once on the top of the obstacles. Remember the easiest way to slow your bike down and bring it back under your control is to pull the clutch in. Once you have brought the bike back under your control you can use the clutch and throttle together with weighting your foot peg to ride forward again. The clutch lever is the heartbeat of controlling your motorcycle, too many riders don’t use their clutches enough and their bikes start to ride them.
Basic bike maintenance and set up.
On the tour I rode some bikes over technical sections when the riders where fatigued and some bikes certainly lacked some set up and maintenance.
Setyour suspensions sag, if your sag is set up correctly your bike will handle much better and will be able to drive forward on the rocks.
Make sure your grips are glued and wired , I rode a bike with a loose left hand grip and it felt like it had two throttles.
Get a cable lubber and make sure you lube your clutch cable on a regular basis if you do not have a hydraulic clutch.
Make sure you tighten your spokes and fit locktite on your rear sprocket bolts.
If you have a hydraulic clutch make sure the fluid is topped up.
If you are using tubes fit two rim-locks on your rear wheel and carry insulation tape. If you get a puncture you can wrap the insulation tape around your wheel a few times, at several points and together with the two rim-locks in your wheel you should be able to make it to your DSP. The insulation tape flexes with the movement of the flat tyre.
By the time you read this edition of the magazine there will only be a week or two left before the Roof begins. Good luck during the race and never surrender.
How to tackle obstacles encountered in the Maluti Mountains.
Quote “ To ride the Roof and succeed you have to be fit and have technical skills. Above all you need confidence , if you do not ride aggressively , you will end up pulling and pushing your bike more and more. The more you push the worse it gets. You need to ride every obstacle once and once only.” -Gavin Fell
The above quote is from the Rooster of technical riding himself , none other than Gavin Fell , one of the few finishers from the 2007 Roof. Gavin sums up the way we should ride obstacles, once and only once.
How to tackle the Maluti Mountains.
I can’t remember the passes names we had to ride on the Saturday in last years Roof, but they were certainly difficult to tackle and were similar to a few tough trails we use to train on from the Hilton Off Road Club. The Roof climbs were way longer and were also wet from Friday night and Saturday’s rain. This is how I tackled the passes.
In the lowlands and easier trails I made sure I saved energy and rode smooth.
When I arrived at the bottom of a technical pass, I paused and scoped the terrain ahead while sipping on one of my hydrate pipes.
I found it best to tackle the passes in stages.
I would ride 20 – 30 meters at a time until I couldn’t push myself anymore and then stop, or from switchback to switchback.
Make sure you stop in an area where it’s easy to pull off again.
Every time you stop, sip your camel-back and as soon as your breathing and arms recover, push on again for as long as you can until you have to repeat the process.
Buy using this method I passed a lot of riders on the passes. I used less energy and only tackled obstacles once.
Your bike will also not overheat every time you get stuck and you will have less chance of breaking your bike every time you fall over.
Your clutch will take less abuse if you tackle the passes in stages.
Try and maintain a straight line, if you start swerving you will loose momentum and a rock might roll your front wheel out.
If there are large rocks, Ride them. By riding them you keep momentum and on most occasions it is easier to go over rocks than between them. Every time you squeeze through gaps between rocks you run the risk of de-railing your chain, bending your disk or knocking a hole in your engine side casings.
If there are riders blocking your path it is best to only pass them if there is a line available that is not going to sap all your energy. The Roof is a long race and sometimes it is worth waiting a minute or two and scope the terrain out while you hydrate.
Make sure you have money on you. The locals will help you out before other riders when you are stuck on the passes if you flash your cash.
Use your clutch to bring your bike back under your control. Keep one finger on your clutch lever at all times while tackling climbs. If your bike starts getting away from you it is way easier to simply pull in the clutch and slow down than to try hang onto a bike that’s out of control. It’s simple when things start getting out of control all you have to do is pull in your clutch and you will be in control. Some international riders where so mad that when they fell over they called out “ swinehound”. I’m not sure if these riders were shouting these remarks to their bikes or the terrain, if I could have spoken German maybe I could have explained the importance of correct clutch usage.
If you are stuck on a pass with wet clay try and put your bike into second gear, it usually helps to get going and gain momentum. Sometimes riding in second gear can help maintain momentum as you have less chance of breaking traction from overpowered first gear ratios.
Look ahead on climbs so that you can choose the best line in a split second.
When you get stuck try and push off a large rock with one leg, similar to the way a trials rider takes a solid dab. Taddy Blazusiak uses this technique with great effect to maintain momentum.
Please remember while practicing these tips for the Roof it’s very important to train on un-seen terrain from time to time. It is good that you are training on your regular routes, but it is important to test yourself against unfamiliar terrain. Make sure you ride in Lesotho at least once before the Roof and try and ride on the same type of bike that you will be using at the Roof. When you are in
Lesotho make sure you test which suspension settings and jetting set ups are going to be used on your Roof machine.
WILD WILL
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2008 Roof of Africa Preparation
Just over ninety days to go until the adrenalin in your forearms can be let loose as the flag drops for Round the Houses at the 2008 Roof of Africa. Apparently this years race is going to be a real test of man and machine ( as if 2007 wasn’t). Rumor has it that there are even more euros entering than before and there may even be some factory euro riders coming to challenge for victory. This year I am competing on my YZ 125 as my TTR 230 now has farm duties to carry out and will not be available for the Roof 2008.
In this article we will briefly run through a few riding gear tips and bike tips to help you prepare for this years Roof of Africa.
Riding Gear
Start collecting and testing out all your riding gear in the months leading up to the race. It is important that your gear is well prepared as it will give you peace of mind and up your confidence. This is a list of what I took to the Roof of Africa 2007.
2 to 3 x Riding Gear Bags – 1 Bag of gear for the time trail and Day two. The second bag of gear for Day three. The third gear bag is for all your dirty gear from day one and two, TIME and ENERGY is limited after day two, so you don’t want to be scratching around like a chicken with dirty and clean gear mixed up in one bag.
3 x Riding Socks.
3 x Tights or cycling shorts and nappy cream to soothe your chaffed butt.
1 x Knee Braces.
3 x Riding Pants and 3x Riding Shirts.
2 x Sets of Riding Boots. Last year one of my “ fairly new’ boot soles started coming off on day two.
2 x Helmets. Incase you fall and break your helmet or peak.
As many pairs of gloves as possible, incase it rains. If it’s raining I use my Yamaha GYTR Enduro Gloves which are made of Neoprene.
2 x Bum bags, incase you lose or break one.
Chest Protector and elbow guards. I battle to wear elbow guards but I make sure that I wear elbow guards for Round the Houses.
3 x Under shirts – For under your chest protector to prevent chaffing and to keep you warm if it rains ( NYLON TYPE )
1 x Neck Brace
2 to 3 x Camelback Bags , that can take 2 x 2litres camelback inners. I mix one 2litres with Enduro Hydrate and one 2l with just water or a recovery drink. At previous Roof’s I have passed many riders who have run out of water to drink and who need water for their bikes radiators. During testing this year I filled my bikes radiator with my Enduro Hydrate mix and rode for a few weeks with no problems.
Note the Yamaha Camelback has 2 compartments which enables you to fit 2 x 2litres inners.
1 to 2 x Goggle Bags. My Goggle bags contain 5 pairs of Yamaha Goggles each. I use vented goggle lenses which help with air flow, anti-fog and maintaining better vision in rainy conditions. Another name for vented lenses is a ‘ Turbo Lens ’
If you can't see you can't race.
Heart Rate Monitor. ( As a watch ) The time is always available to you before the race and during the race, you can make sure you are on time at the de- control pit areas. ( As a monitor) Most importantly you can see how hard your body is working and how many calories you have burned during the day.
Garmin GPS. Without the GPS you could take a wrong valley and end up way off the route.
A few bike set-up tips that I use.
1. Trim that seat!! Bikes are much taller than what they used to be in the past. Unless you are as tall as Gavin Fell , loose your ego and trim down your seat. When I was training for the 07’ Roof with a TTR 230 I realized how much easier it is to maneuver your bike through technical sections when it’s lower and you can touch the ground.
2. I use Metzler MC 4 tyres as I prefer a softer tyre that will hook up in wet areas and if it rains. The less wheel spin I have , the less chance there is of over-heating your bike and abusing your clutch.
3. Fit a new clutch to your bike and take your old clutch along as a spare unit. ( steel and fiber clutch plates must be replaced) I carry a few fiber plates in my Camelback bag.
4. Fit radiator braces. When you are fatigued all it takes is one fall to squash your radiator and end your race.
5. Fit a complete Disc Guard. If you don’t your disc will take a hammering and you may end up with no brakes.
6. If you ride a bike with a hydraulic clutch carry spare fluid and fit an Enduro Engineering housing, incase your chain derails and slams into the housing.
7. Fit a teflon chain guide and test it’s capabilities on training rides.
I am sure most of these riding gear and bike tips will be beneficial to everyone, so please start your Roof preparations as soon as possible. Remember with good preparation comes confidence in yourself and your bike set-up. Don’t panic if you don’t have all the riding gear mentioned as it is a lot of money to layout. Last year I borrowed extra riding gear from my brother “ Michael “ and my good friend Justin. On the bike side try and loan a spare set of wheels. Check with your local bike dealer if either the dealer or the brand of the bike will be at the Roof for technical advice and spares back-up.
Next month we move onto how to tackle obstacles encountered in the Maluti Mountains.
