Bring your daughter…

… to the KTM MX Experience

My 15-year-old daughter Lily is fixated on getting a roadbike on her 16th birthday, which is why we are booked on the KTM MX Experience on the South Downs (ktmexperience. co.uk). Lil had recently sent me a video of her razzing down a Spanish lane on an unidentified off-roader. When she returned from that holiday, she announced she could ride better than me. Now here comes the revelation. As we’re inspecting the 250cc bikes, I mention they will all have standard gearchange patterns – one down, the rest up. ‘What are gears?’ She asks. Turns out the bike she’d ridden was some forrin twist-and-go thing. Suddenly her learning curve looks like a brick wall. Barry Johnson, top ex-racer and chief instructor, looks unlikely to brook such ignorance. His introductory lecture style is pure Black-country Windsor Davies – admonishing us for mistakes we’ve not yet had a chance to make… It turns out Johnson’s far more bark than bite, and he’s all about keeping our brains fixated on safety, safety, safety. I’m cheering the girl as she takes to the raceway with the shaky confidence of a newborn deer. There’s one horrid 180-degree downhill right-hander leading into a sharp climb and huge pothole. It’s catching a lot of the guys, and initially time, learning fast and looking better with every six-lap session. Me? I was hoping the day would cure my severe off-road collywobbles. I take to the track for a sighting lap and decide the whole plot’s set up to kill me. A few laps later, my confidence has grown and I’m starting to push. By the closing sessions, I’m getting into dices with the two fastest guys. At the end I’m still in one piece and Lily has become an evangelical convert. She’s saving her Saturday-job money to buy her own off-roader. £185 for the course was just the start of it.