The seventh edition of the Suzuki V-Strom Off-Road Academy took place at the Castello di Luzzano estate, immersed in the green hills of Val Tidone, the driving course designed and organized by Suzuki to allow anyone to drive safely in off road.
The day was divided into two main activities: an in-depth theoretical part in the morning, where the coaches Daniele Madrigali and Andrea Beconi, both former Enduro riders, explained to us techniques and secrets of off-road driving, and a practice where we were able to experience how learned in the morning, with a ride of almost 100 km on asphalt and different types of dirt roads: soft earth, gravel, slightly rocky mule tracks.
The heavy rains of the previous days unfortunately made the driving range unusable, where we were supposed to do some exercises on the bikes in the morning. This activity was replaced by an in-depth theory lesson, where Andrea and Daniele explained to us the basics of off-road riding, the correct position on the footrests, the inclination of the torso, the handlebar grip. There was a lot of heterogeneity among those present: from the touring motorcyclist who owns a V-Strom 1050 to the new enduro rider fresh from purchasing an 800DE, but also the track enthusiast, the road fundamentalist who has never put a “wheel” on an off-road vehicle in his entire life, until to the “big guy” almost two meters tall who just can't handle riding standing on the footrests, to those who instead have the opposite problem, that is, managing motorbikes from a high seat.
