The First Fall: A Rite of Passage for Off-road Adventure Motorcycling?

Following Motorrad Adventures South Africa’s Introduction to Off-Road Adventure Motorcycle Riding course, Dr Edwin T. Smith joined the Karoo is Calling Tour through the vast landscapes of the Karoo. What followed was more than a motorcycle journey, it became a deeply personal reflection on fear, resilience, camaraderie, rider training, and the realities of adventure riding in South Africa. Here is his story...

It had to happen, that moment when a rider in the group has a serious crash which registers that adventure biking is risky, even for the seasoned rider. For newbies like me on my first adventure motorcycle riding trip out in the Karoo, this moment proved a critical “rite of passage” of sorts. The crash ushers you into a space where the adrenaline rush registers its price and your proper training becomes your only recourse for continuing.

However dreaded this moment may be, being properly prepared through training and good support, before and during the ride, makes facing this refining moment something we confront with grace, dignity, empathy, and an understanding of our potential and limitations, which makes for a deep learning experience that money cannot buy. In adventure motorcycle riding, everything is fun, lithe, and exhilarating until that moment.

Even the other falls in-between, like my falls when I come to a stop and forget that I am no longer on my cruiser where, when I come to a stop, I can simply put my feet on the ground without ever worrying about my side stand. My F900 GS Adventure proved slightly taller for me than what I would have preferred and required some intentional positioning on the bike to enable a proper stand in the outdoor terrain, which, more often than not, is never flat but cambers this way or the other.

So, I fell over a few times during our five-day trip in the Karoo. But these were simple falls with more of a “slow-motion” character and feel to them than those serious tumblers that call for considered reflection and moments of apprehensiveness while we wait to determine that nothing serious has happened to our comrade lying in a daze, as if mesmerised by the gods in the sky.

In that moment, the solidarity of the group springs into action as those near or coming up to the incident rally together to give the fallen comrade the necessary support and assurance needed to get up and take stock of what happened and what needs to happen in order for us all to continue.

Having a properly outfitted support vehicle, with trained guides and medical training leading the tour, makes for an even better experience of this ordeal. In our case, our support vehicle was first on the scene and our tour leader jumped into action to assess the rider whilst some of us were busy getting the bike back up and out of the ditch.

Once we had some indication that nothing really terrible had happened and our medic was summoned and on the way, it was left to us to provide our comrade the reassurance and comfort of a safe and comfortable space to wait for proper help and assistance. Our tour guide on site took the lead and directed activities accordingly, even to the point of deploying some of us to guide oncoming traffic, given we were on a public road, something I would never have considered important during such a moment. It was clear we were in professional hands and all was being taken care of as it should.

With our bikes on their side stands, helmets securely stowed on our mirrors, and our gloves off, soon our heartbeats also slowed down, calming our anxiety and concerns. But it was when our medic arrived and did his magic that we were truly reassured of the situation. Relief flooded us like a Karoo rainstorm once we had the assurance that all would be well with our comrade.

As can be expected from a seasoned operator, we were then dispatched to proceed to where the front of the group was waiting to reassure the rest of the team that all was well, notwithstanding the comrade now being ferried in the support vehicle with his bike strapped onto the trailer tailing us along the entire trip.

“Those who do not need to be here, please ride to the team waiting upfront. We will be there soon,” requested the medic as he continued his intervention.

It is clear that standing around watching did not help anyone. Instead, the untrained mind conjures up all manner of fantastic scenarios, usually nothing resembling reality or the picture in front of us as we grapple with our own fears and overwhelming sense of relief that it was not that bad or, worse, it was not you.

But taking off from that moment, back on your bike, registered an initiation into what it really means to ride your bike off-road. There are real hazards out there, many of them unseen and unexpected, which is how the best of them present themselves. Nonetheless, you take off, grateful for your introductory or refresher training as the value of it all is laid bare right before you. The skills that are drilled into you during training, be it on the different surfaces and terrain, mimicking, at best, the real conditions in the natural environment, all of a sudden begin to make very clear and simple sense.

How to stand nimble and agile on your bike and allow the front wheel to find its way through the terrain becomes not something hard to imagine, but real with material consequences for both rider and bike in adventure biking. That momentum, and not speed, is your constant companion and friend through any terrain or obstacle in the field.

These fundamentals lock into your riding experience in ways you cannot begin to compute until you are in the moment, and you instinctively want to “motor” through a challenge on the road or track.

Easy and steady does it becomes a voice that speaks to you through your muffled ears under the full-face helmet. Easy and steady is what you need more than anything else, regardless of your excited and probably fearful eyes telling you otherwise.

Fighting against what you see immediately in front of you becomes another lesson you remember. Then you apply the teaching that you should look out ahead of you instead of immediately in front of you in order to slow things down, which instantly changes the game and gives you the confidence and control required to negotiate your way through the challenging terrain.

Then you get to the team waiting for you at the junction upfront. Their silent looks cannot hide their inquisitiveness and concern. And the sigh of relief when they learn all is well bursts forth in gasps of laughter and bantering. Everyone speaks about the few kilometres we just traversed and their near misses along the way. It all helps to deflate the pressure and concern developed while waiting to hear what happened and where everyone else was.

When the rest of the group joins, with the abiding and ever-faithful support vehicle in tow, some walk over to see for themselves that our comrade is okay, as if the reports were simply too good to be true. Assured, we all return to mount our bikes for the next patch of dirt road in front of us, better aware, more sober, and ready to apply our skills to the testing terrain that forever holds its secrets hidden until you come up to them.

Having had that first significant fall, the air is lighter, open, and fresh for new intake. The road has registered its challenge, and each rider approaches it with better respect and consideration. The well-prepared, the well-trained, continue like naturals. The not-so-sure are tentative as their confidence grows with each and every kilometre away from the last crash.

Somehow, we are now serious adventure riders, no longer naïve to the challenge and its tricks but stern and firmly grounded in our training and skills.

We came to ride, and ride we do, through the puddles of water no one expected as we were oblivious to the rain the night before. Some mud puddles proved the better of even the seasoned riders as they slid and tumbled into the slop and stubbornly tried to lift their own bikes against the teaching to let the rest of the bikers help while you compose yourself and manage your adrenaline rush.

Riding adventure motorcycles is humbling, if you are interested in learning from the experience and growing as a rider. Only the youthfully exuberant daredevils rush through the defining moments that make adventure riding a growth experience with significant depth and meaning.

Easy and steady gets you through, the lesson is drilled into you during training. Easy and steady gets you through, you discover whilst riding the magnificent terrain in front of you.

With this attitude, even the Karoo opens up and admits you into its ancient secret of the quiet spaces of rugged and lovely terrain that only easy and steady can appreciate, as our training from Motorrad Adventures and their guided tours in the field reveal.

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Abouth the Adventure Motorcycling Author

Dr Edwin T. Smith is a South African academic, historian, and heritage specialist who serves in leadership and lecturing roles within higher education, including the Department of History, Heritage and Cultural Tourism, while also contributing as Reviews Editor for Historia.

After purchasing a BMW F900 GS Adventure, Edwin joined Motorrad Adventures’ Introduction to Off-Road Adventure Motorcycle Riding course before taking part in the Karoo is Calling adventure tour through the heart of the Karoo.

Driven by a deep appreciation for South Africa’s history, diversity, and cultural richness, Edwin is drawn to the roads less travelled and the hidden stories found beyond the beaten path. Adventure motorcycling has opened a new way for him to experience the country, from its vast landscapes to the people and places that give it character and soul.

Edwin approaches both life and adventure riding with curiosity, humility, tenacity, and a spirited can-do attitude that embodies the essence of true exploration.