Riding rutted tracks.... going where @$%# 4x4s have been before...

[gav24]

Just to add my 0.000002 cents worth:-
1. look ahead where you want to go - target fixation again!
2. If you have a choice between 2 ruts, the one on the uphill side (furthest from the drop, closest to the hill) is usually the shallowest when they get shitty. Theory is that water runs downhill and collects in the rut nearest the hill and it gets wetter and hence dug out more by 4wds and other bikes. Sometimes this can put you on the right side instead of the left, and can be a problem if stuff is coming the other way - so not always an option, but seems a good rule of thumb.

[junkmanjoe]

Mate go hard bro,,,hang on like a hairy chicken on heat...........................yea...Ha..
about then i fall off.................

JMJ

[monchopper]

Try to keep relaxed, tense arms are no good.
Also a fork brace on bikes with conventional forks helps when you need to get out of a rut as it makes the front stiffer with less flex and the front is more likely to go where you point it.
When you need to get out of a rut and the front wheel is out but you've got the back wheel stuck in the rut pull the clutch momentarily in to free wheel out of it (if that makes sense)

[thepom]

woodsman spot on...I followed alane through some parts of the serpentine and I just followed him,you can,t beat years of skill and experience...cheers alane ....

[cooneyr]

...If you look further ahead and not at the rut in front of you, you will find that you are more stable and it will be easyier to stay on the top. it is the old saying "you go where you look".
if you look at the rut you will end up in it but there are times when the rut is the best choice (safer).

And stand up for better balance if you aren't already.

+1 on both of these but I'd add one thing further - when you stand up learn how to lean the bike to recentre the bike in the rut if you get a bit too one side. I dont use the bars to control direction but rather lean the bike. The best way to do this is when standing with the knees not clamping the bike tight.

The other way to do this for short sections of ruts is to sit with one foot off its peg and hanging out the side of the bike for the duration. Simply by lifting or dropping your foot rapidly you can control the lean of the bike and hence the position in the rut.

A way to pratice the stand up but lean the bike technique is to try and ride as tight a figure 8 as possible as slowly as possible. Put two stones/cones etc about 5m appart to start off and ride around them as slowly as possble. Do this on a hard surface first i.e. concrete/hotmix etc. You should be able to get the cones to within about 3m of each other eventualluy. Slip the clutch for speed control. This is extremly good for learning how to balance the bike. This is the sort of thing that Charlie and Ewan were praticing when they were in Wales at the start of the Long Way Around.

Cheers R

[pampa]

...This is the sort of thing that Charlie and Ewan were praticing when they were in Wales at the start of the Long Way Around.

Cheers R

Note that you can do this alone without the two 4wd with 3 people each following you

[cooneyr]

Note that you can do this alone without the two 4wd with 3 people each following you

Ha ha - good call.

[Box'a'bits]

Note that you can do this alone without the two 4wd with 3 people each following you

But how am I going to fund my trips if I don't have the film crew along?

[cromagnon]

But how am I going to fund my trips if I don't have the film crew along?

Start writing books about every trip!

[tri boy]

What are ruts??

Two rats rooting.

[Woodman]

woodsman spot on...I followed alane through some parts of the serpentine and I just followed him,you can,t beat years of skill and experience...cheers alane ....

Actually he said it was from years of riding the farm bike round the farm.