{"id":51,"date":"2016-12-01T07:20:04","date_gmt":"2016-12-01T07:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jonbrion.com\/?p=51"},"modified":"2016-12-01T07:20:40","modified_gmt":"2016-12-01T07:20:40","slug":"falling-in-love-with-the-dirt-bike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jonbrion.com\/dirt-biking-fort-beginners","title":{"rendered":"Falling in love with the dirt bike"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I believe that trying out new things is the best way to stay young at heart while growing older. I started feeling the desire to learn how to ride a dirt bike earlier this year, but it wasn&#8217;t until a month ago when I decided to take the risk. So far, the learning curve has been steep for me, but I\u2019ve hit a few milestones.<\/p>\n<h2>My Dirtbike<\/h2>\n<p>As a starter, I wasn\u2019t quite sure on which bike would work out best for me, but after a few consultations, I decided to go for a small-wheeled <a href=\"http:\/\/powersports.honda.com\/2016\/crf150r.aspx\">Honda CRF150R<\/a>. I bought my dirt bike from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.magicbike.net\/dirt-bikes-for-sale\/\">http:\/\/www.magicbike.net\/dirt-bikes-for-sale\/<\/a> if you&#8217;re interested in one yourself.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-53\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jonbrion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Learning-how-to-ride-a-dirt-bike-1024x512.jpg\" alt=\"learning-how-to-ride-a-dirt-bike\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jonbrion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Learning-how-to-ride-a-dirt-bike-1024x512.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.jonbrion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Learning-how-to-ride-a-dirt-bike-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.jonbrion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Learning-how-to-ride-a-dirt-bike-768x384.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.jonbrion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Learning-how-to-ride-a-dirt-bike-750x375.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.jonbrion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Learning-how-to-ride-a-dirt-bike.jpg 1100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Getting started<\/h2>\n<p>Everything for me was trial and error on the first day; learning to load and unload the bike seemed like something I would never master on the first attempt but which I eventually did.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>After that big success, I rode around in big circles in the first gear for what seemed like ages. Whenever I tried to go for the second gear, I would miss it miserably, and kept missing time and again. Most of the time I would stall and couldn\u2019t restart the bike; I had to get my brother to do it for me every time. This became my biggest challenge. I would also say that it was the beginning of my dirt biking education. Here are a few takeaways I came away with at this stage:<\/li>\n<li>You have to get your body position right<\/li>\n<li>I realized that the only way to navigate bumps and obstacles involve standing, and I rode my bike in this position about 90% of the time .You will probably need to crouch a little rather than stand and then spread your body out for balance while keeping your hands free and elbows strictly out of the way.<\/li>\n<li>Plant your feet in the ground when the need arises<\/li>\n<li>Use your two natural wheels from time to time, and while that knee will blow out along the way, a few weeks of practice will make this kind of action almost flawlessly instinctive. I had better hold when I kicked my leg directly out and twirled the toes upwards.<\/li>\n<li>Learning the jumps requires strength, brains, and agility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I used to marvel at the spectacle of scrawny riders launching 250-pound beasts into the air and landing them as sleekly as can possibly get, and this might actually have been a pull factor for me joining the sport. However, you will need to know that these maneuvers require plenty of effort, practice, and technique.<\/p>\n<p>Dirt Biking as a sport goes back many years but the first official dirt bike competition went down only in 1952,after which hundreds of similarly structured events sprouted up. Today ,this is more than a sport; it is a way to the top for some, a hobby for others and a health regime for an even bigger lot. The right dirt bike for any competition, as I came to realize, depends on the terrain involved, so take a good look at your riding zone before splashing the cash. While at it, avoid using your dirt bike on highways and streets. It&#8217;s expressly prohibited.<\/p>\n<p>My adventure with the dirt bike may be a little more enjoyable now than when I started out, but it&#8217;s far from over. I have learned that the key to getting it right lies in daredevilry and practice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I believe that trying out new things is the best way to stay young at heart while growing older. I started feeling the desire to learn how to ride a dirt bike earlier this year, but it wasn&#8217;t until a month ago when I decided to take the risk. So far, the learning curve has [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jonbrion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jonbrion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jonbrion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jonbrion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jonbrion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jonbrion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jonbrion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jonbrion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jonbrion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jonbrion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}