Become an offroad expert. Take a ride in the city.

Well, there’s one small detail in that picture that I haven’t yet painted with the ol’ word brush: Greaser was in his car, and both of us were buried in traffic. Bumper-to-bumper bullshit, one step above a parking lot. We’d both just taken off from RevZilla to head home after work, and we were stuck in this massive traffic jam. It was then that I did what I normally do: I started working on my off-road techniques.

I’ll get to that in one second, but let me finish explainin’ the scenario. I watched several of my colleagues split lanes past me. I felt happy for them, but also a little bummed out for me. You see, I prooooobably could have split and done it somewhat safely, but that Africa Twin’s not mine, and I have to keep it safe for Honda. And Joe Zito put those Givi Trekker Outback side cases on it that I love so much. The only problem is that they’re pretty wide… even wider than the AT’s mirrors. No, I decided, I better tough this one out.

So I did what I always do in this situation: working on my trail techniques. I get so bored in traffic, so some simple exercises are a great way to kill time, keep myself amused, and become a better rider. Depending on the speed of traffic, I will usually challenge myself to ride as far as I can without putting a foot down.

Some of you will think I sound like a mental case. “Lem, I can go through a whole tank of gas before I put my foot down.” Yep. If you got open road ahead of you. If you don’t, though, it’s a real challenge. And you can waste that challenge, or put it to good use. Not putting a foot down forces you to do a few things: First, it forces you to adjust your speed and plan when you’ll arrive at an obstacle. That’s helpful for the times you want to loft the front wheel over an object. You need to be able to plan to have your wheel arrive at a preset point at a given speed so you can either gas it or clutch the front end up.

It also forces good clutch and throttle control. You can try feeding both at once, and getting your “seesawing” in better shape, or you can also work on either individually. Try keeping the bike rolling in first gear only by feathering the clutch. Conversely, you can dump it in first, and try and use the rear brake and the throttle to keep the bike moving smoothly without stalling out or allowing the power pulses of the cylinder(s) to make you lurchy.

Greaser knew what I was doing. We chatted the next morning, and he remarked that he saw my feet up. I suppose my jumping up and down in and out of the saddle had a lot to do with him noticing, too. I do this to work on balance, as well. Sticking an appendage out changes how you’re weighting the bike. Same goes for cranking the handlebar to one side or the other. And standing on the pegs counterintuitively lowers your center of gravity, because your weight is transferred from (primarily) your crotch on the seat down to the footpegs, usually about a foot and a half lower or so.

Granted, this is probably not going to be the greatest practice in the world for someone running motocross, but especially for those of you who ride tight, technical trails or dabble in trials-like riding, this is a great way to work on mastering your controls and inputs with time that’s otherwise wasted.

The opportunities to excel on a motorcycle are seemingly endless. Avail yourself of them if you can.