A RIDER'S TAKE ON THE CAMP OUTS - Take it away, Zali!

“Everyone... meet Zali. Zali is a super rad lady who works for Transmoto. We met while I was doing some volunteer work for the boys early in 2022 and we hit it off. Zali is from the Newcastle area so when I scheduled a Camp Out at Monkerai (just up the road from her), I knew she just had to come along. And it worked out perfectly for Zali to squeeze in some coaching before a mega rad international moto adventure…”

Take it away Zali…

Hi, I’m Zali! I hadn't really had a proper ride for about 10 months (slack I know!) & with a 14-day Colombian Adventure Ride coming up in less than a month, this was the perfect opportunity to dust off the cobwebs with a mate of mine & learn some new skills before the big overseas trip! I have never had any formal coaching or participated in anything like this before so I was really excited (& a little nervous!) to have Jemma coach me for the weekend.

From the moment we pulled into the property on Friday afternoon we knew we were somewhere special! We were greeted by a picturesque green grass track & just up the hill was the most amazing view, all exclusively for us!

We parked up, set up camp & headed over to the campfire area for some cheese & bickies plus a few Young Henrys of course! Here we met with Jemma & some of the other girls who we would be riding with over the weekend. It was a great vibe as we all got to know each other whilst digging through our awesome goody bags and waiting for our dinner to be prepared by the amazing Mia.

Honestly one of the best details of the weekend is that it's fully catered! Snacks, Coffee/Tea/Juice, Young Henrys & all your meals, so grateful to not have to buy, pack or cook food for the entire weekend, just turn up and ride. It just made it sooooo easy.

As night 1 was heading to an end I headed off for a HOT SHOWER (yes hot shower & even the toilet had a view!)

With breakfast and a morning coffee in hand around the fire, Jemma laid out what to expect for the day & we headed off to prep our bikes. As mentioned, I haven't ridden much this year and my fuel cap was as stuck as they come. After trying for about 10 mins, I gave in and called for help! Oliver, who was at our disposal for any heavy lifting, mechanical issues, or general help, came to the rescue and I didn’t feel too red-cheeked as he too wrestled to get the cap off. Finally, I was on my way!

We headed down as a group of 23 to the amazing grass track and completed a couple of laps to warm up & shake off any jitters. Then we all lined up and got stuck into the coaching!

The coaching and riding were all completed in approximately 2-hour blocks all weekend, which was a great length so we weren't overloaded on info, or worn out! I personally learned so much!

Jemma would explain and demonstrate the technique and then we would go off, find some space, and practice. Jemma would come around and help and give further tips if required.

The simplest of techniques make such a difference to your riding, so even if you are a super capable rider there is still so much you can learn here as the techniques are taught in levels of difficulty and can be tailored to your experience level. Or if you are brand new to riding this is the perfect environment to learn those basic skills and build on them in such a supportive environment.

Between coaching, we rode the grass track and an enduro track and were able to put those freshly learned skills into practice. Post-event we received a ‘Practice Me’ sheet with all the skills we learned over the course of the weekend to keep working on, which was really thoughtful as we covered a lot of ground!

This was such an amazingly supportive group of ladies, no one was left behind and everyone helped, cheered, and supported each other as we progressed throughout the weekend. After 2 days I left on a high feeling ready to conquer the hills of Colombia with confidence!

Thanks for the good vibes, confidence boost, and new skills. It was truly a great experience to be a part of and I can’t wait for the next one!