Ride enduro like a champ

Only limited slots are available for some classes in Chris Birch's riding clinic.

Four lucky TNPS readers will get to attend the course for free. Just e-mail tnpcontest@sph.com.sg with the subject heading "Chris Birch Clinic" and tell us the name of Chris Birch's hardest race.

Include your IC and contact numbers and which class you want to attend (see course dates on Braap Brothers' Facebook page).

Deadline for entries is midnight tonight.

Those chosen are required to bring protective gear and take your own motorcycle to the dirt track in Ulu Choh.

The Novice and Advanced Enduro classes are designed for dirtbikes between 125cc and 600cc. Riders with adventure motorcycles above 500cc may be more suited to the Big Trallie clinic.

Ever dreamt of tackling menacing obstacles like steep slopes, rocky terrain and fat logs, but don't know how to?

Well, you're in luck.

For the next seven days, extreme enduro champ Chris Birch is in town to coach riders of varying skills to be better and safer off-road riders.

The Kiwi is a three-time winner of the Roof of Africa (said to be the world's toughest extreme enduro race) and the 2010 winner of Red Bull Romaniacs - a torture course consisting of man-made obstacles and treacherous hilly terrain.

Mr Birch - who turns 34 on Thursday - says that learning is a never-ending process: "Enduro is a sport with so many different aspects and skills that the learning process never stops.

"I'm always researching new techniques to pass on to students at the schools (where I teach)."

The clinic, which starts tomorrow, will be held at Ulu Choh Dirt Park in Gelang Patah, Johor - a 20-minute ride from the Tuas Second Link.

Three categories will taught - Enduro novice, Enduro advance and Big Trallie - but having fun is at the top of the itinerary.

Participants will get to learn about balance, traction and control, as well as how to set up a dirt bike correctly.

These must-have skills can be seen in online clips that show Mr Birch overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles like riding over slippery boulders using only the back wheel of his motorbike.

Mr Birch also has the unique talent of being able to ride a heavy 1,195cc adventure bike on difficult terrain as though he is manoeuvring a 125cc motorcycle.

But on the competitive enduro stage, no trophy is won with ease.

He says: "I'm proud to say that I won the hardest race I ever did!

"It was the Red Bull Romaniacs. And it was a really tough course over some very long days. It also rained heavily, making it even harder."

The organiser of the off-road riding clinic is Braap Brothers - a riding adventure and riding clinic group based in Singapore.

Having a coach of Mr Birch's calibre offers local riders "a very rare opportunity to learn to make the most of their riding experience and their bike", says one of Braap Brothers' co-founders, Mr Peter Grinsted.

PICTURE COURTESY OF CHRIS BIRCH

Want to meet him?

Only limited slots are available for some classes in Chris Birch’s riding clinic.

Four lucky TNPS readers will get to attend the course for free. Just e-mail tnpcontest@sph.com.sg with the subject heading “Chris Birch Clinic” and tell us the name of Chris Birch’s hardest
race.

Include your IC and contact numbers and which class you want to attend (see course dates on Braap Brothers’ Facebook page).

Deadline for entries is midnight tonight.

Those chosen are required to bring protective gear and take your own motorcycle to the dirt track in Ulu Choh.

The Novice and Advanced Enduro classes are designed for dirtbikes between 125cc and 600cc. Riders with adventure motorcycles above 500cc may be more suited to the Big Trallie clinic.