It’s easy to forget the challenges facing a beginner rider: remembering every step while starting a motorcycle; struggling with smooth gear shifts; braking without stalling; and maintaining focus on ever-changing terrain. Whether facing heavy traffic on the road or climbing a steep hill off-road, beginners encounter overwhelming situations that seasoned riders take for granted. We often overlook how much effort it takes to learn the basics.

This summer, I attended a community weekend ride in Kamloops, B.C., organized through the GKMA dirtbike association. I was there to run a clinic for beginner riders. We worked on basic foundational skills such as clutch control, emergency braking, and riding positioning while standing and sitting. I was reminded of how much is going on for a beginner motorcyclist, when even something as simple as finding neutral can be a challenging situation, as can the understanding that your clutch is the most valuable mechanism on your motorcycle, and integral to every skill needed on your bike. 

As I watched the riders progress throughout the morning with specific drills dedicated to the foundation of riding, I was reminded just how much time it takes to refine basic riding skills.

More recently, my father, Glenn, purchased a street-legal dirtbike to zero in on his off-road skills. I grew up dirtbiking with my dad and have many fond memories of riding with him. My perception growing up was that he was a phenomenal dirtbiker, and far better than me. I realized I still had that image in my head of him as I watched him struggle on a loose, rocky uphill. 

He hasn’t ridden dirtbikes on tough trails for maybe 10 years, and although he is an extremely competent rider in all facets of motorcycling, his dirtbiking skills could use some refinement. Although my dad knows how to ride a bike, the trails and terrain of B.C. are completely new to him. The issue, it would seem, isn’t teaching skills; it’s that I’m just not quite sure how to teach my dad.

I remember when I was six, my dad tried to teach me to ride a Yamaha GT80 he had purchased for me; there were a lot of tears and tantrums (on my end, not his). He soon took me to Clinton Smout’s off-road school to learn from a professional. It worked great, and in a few years’ time, I had started working with Clinton, teaching other children to ride. 

Clinton had built an “opposite bike” where all the controls on the motorcycle had been reversed. The purpose: to remind us how difficult it is for a first-time rider to use the controls and operate a motorcycle. 

As you progress in any sport, your boundaries of comfort expand — let’s call it the “comfort bubble.” My dad’s comfort bubble in the dirt has diminished, and to safely grow that bubble, we had to approach riding with easier riding to instill confidence, while mixing in tidbits of instruction. It helped that Clinton was riding with us this particular time, as he was in B.C. for another event. 

I hadn’t thought much of the trail until Clinton mentioned to me that it was pretty tough. “It was the easiest one in the area,” I said. It dawned on me just how hard this was to ride for someone new, or returning, to dirtbiking. In most areas in B.C., you have the option of gravel roads or ATV and dirtbike trails, but the issue is that there is a large skill gap between the two, making it difficult to progress and grow your comfort level without fear or risk of injury from riding over your head. 

The day ended successfully, but I realized how difficult it is to learn something new, or get back into off-road riding after not riding dirt for many years. Dad levelled up in his riding that day with only a minor sore wrist, and I’m sure his comfort bubble grew — even though he didn’t realize it.

As you become more competent, the fears that once held you back fade away and are replaced with skills and instinct from experience. To a beginner, every corner, intersection, root, and rock on the trail can become an obstacle for them to tackle. But you adapt, and as you gain seat time, the fear that you first had for simple techniques and manoeuvres fades away and these skills become second nature. 

Remind yourself of a beginner’s perspective. This can be hard to do if you’ve ridden for years. Be patient, and recommend that any beginners you know take a riding clinic if one is available in the area of specific instruction that they could use some help in. I will be continuing to retrain my dad at his dirtbiking skills, but next time I’ll choose some easier trails and work on riding drills to help expand his comfort bubble properly instead of throwing him into the challenging B.C. trails right away.