Who doesn't like a log challenge?
A lot of riders actually.
Usually you can ride around them.
But today we have four mentally unbalanced riders who love logs...
the bigger the better.
There's the pro rider, Tim Coleman.
His wife, Ina Coleman.
Gold class hard enduro muppet, Ben Gilmore.
And his son, Arch.
Tim Coleman is our first competitor.
This log is harder than it looks.
If you go over too fast, you may go over the handlebars.
The solution is just enough speed to get on top of the log then stop.
On his first run, Tim does not have quite enough speed.
The second run?
Too much speed and the front wheel was too high.
Third run?
Tim goes for a technique that looks impossible.
A great attempt though.
Fourth run?
Tim knows how much throttle is needed now, to get on top of the log.
Stopping on top of big logs provides the opportunity
to see the other side.
Then you can either ride the motorbike down, or 'bulldog' down if it's looks too risky.
See our video about bulldogging.
Tim knows it is safe to ride down the other side.
he has two quick runs with just enough momentum to get over the log in one smooth movement.
He keeps his body to the rear to avoid going over the handlebars.
And finally...
why not do it with a wheelie?
Next, it's Ina Coleman.
She is regularly on the podium at hard enduro events in the women's class.
She is riding a Sherco 125 SE which is incredibly light but naturally has less grunt.
So she is using a small stick as a 'kicker'.
Like Tim, Ina is going slowly at first.
She doesn't want to go over the handlebars.
Third attempt, she is up!
It's always a good idea to have someone 'spotting' for you on big logs.
In our Canadian log training sessions, we often have four people spotting.
It gives beginners a lot of confidence. See our training vid about 'spotting'.
Fourth attempt?
Brilliant!
Well done, Ina.
Next?
It's Ben, our own gold class enduro muppet.
He takes it very easy at first and slowly builds up the attack on the log.
See how Ben doesn't let go of the handlebars and jumps off the motorbike so he doesn't
crash?
It's an important hard enduro technique that has been adopted from trials competition.
Instead of crashing you dismount at the right time and stay in control of the motorbike.
See our training vid about 'dismounting instead of crashing'.
Does it look exhausting attacking the same log so many times?
It is!
But it's how you develop good enduro technique.
Finally, it's fourteen year old Arch, Ben's son.
Ben comes in to 'spot'.
Ben has been to a lot of Tim Coleman's coaching, and he's passed the knowledge on to Arch.
You can see Arch has the same careful approach to building up speed and throttle.
And finally, he's on top of the log.
Well done, Arch.
We have a training series with 10 different techniques to get over logs.
You would be surprised how quickly you can master big logs!
Get into it.