BMW Off Road Skills Instructor Tamsin Jones, has managed to fight her way to the finish of the 2010 Dakar Rallye. As the latest instructor from the ORS to claim a Dakar Rallye finish, it brings the total number of ORS Team Dakar’s to an extremely impressive 14! Tamsin has every right to become part of that list too, with some impressive tales and adventures to go alongside her finishers medal. Fellow Off Road Skills Instructor Craig Bounds was somewhat less lucky in his attempts. Craig’s second Dakar was going rather to plan, with some very impressive top 30 results including a fantastic 18th place on stage 2. But as the finish loomed, Craig’s KTM 690 Rallye gave up the ghost 25km into stage 13. After some desperate attempts to restart his bike in the sand dunes, with the aid of a pair of horses, Craig managed to get back to the liason through 12km of sand, his bike running purely on tick-over. All of this was done in some particularly extreme weather, so hot his petrol had started to boil in the fuel tank!

And only two weeks prior to Dakar’s start, both riders were at ORS HQ with the rest of the team taking part in the Instructor training, a weekend where all the Instructors come together to re-iterate and share their methods for teaching and demonstrating off-road techniques. As usual the Off Road Skills Team are always striving to be the best that they can.

The Off Road Skills season starts up again soon with the ORS Team heading to Portugal for two weeks of tours at the beginning of February. The School starts proper on the 18th of March with our very popular Day in the Dirt, followed immediately by a Level 1/2/3 GS and a Level 2 Enduro on the 19/20th.

Tamsin Jones will also be heading up the ORS Women’s Only School on the 27/28th March and the 28/29th of June.

To book you ORS experience click here.

Images by Llewelyn Pavey – www.thatcamerakid.com

Off Road Skills is proud to announce that all 2010 events

(except Portuguese Paradise) can now be booked from the comfort of your computer desktop. On-line booking is officially live. From this site you can view live

availability of all our dates and bike choices, book your course and manage your account. If you have booked via telephone you can still use the system to log in using your email address and manage your booking.

So have a look around here, choose your course and then -

Just click book now in the bar on the right on any page or click on the logo above to go straight to the booking system.

Ride Portuguese Paradise in February

While most Brits are suffering the bitterly cold winter days, Off Road Skills Chief Instructor Simon Pavey is offering motorcycle enthusiasts a chance to join him on a unique week-long holiday in southern Portugal in February.

Simon and his team will be running two tours on BMW GSs for customers to enjoy a fantastic guided motorcycle holiday that will explore the beautiful mountain trails and roads near the spectacular coastal town of Vilamoura. Dates are 7-12 February and 14-19 February 2010.

“The tour encompasses a mixture of riding. From twisty mountain roads, fire roads, water crossings to beautiful forest trails. It’s a dream tour for any rider that loves GS-style riding – both road and off-road,” explained Dakar rider Pavey.

“It has been inspired by the international press launch for the F 800 GS, in which I took part and had such an amazing experience that I wanted to share it with other riders.”

“The group will be based at a luxury hotel near the stunning Vilamoura marina for six nights. Then over five days participants will be led by myself and Off Road Skills staff along some of the best flowing roads and off road trails I have ever ridden. It’s a chance to enjoy five days of brilliant riding and then relax in the great accommodation in the evening.”

Participants will have the benefit of flying directly into Faro Airport (cheap flights are available via EasyJet). Customers will be collected and taken to the hotel where they will stay for the duration of the tour.

Riding will start on the Monday where participants will have a choice of riding a supplied BMW F800 GS, G 650 XChallenge or G 650 XCountry. Over the five days of the tour, the group will be led along scenic roads and breathtaking trails by the Off Road Skills team and each day will return to the hotel in Vilamoura.

The tour costs just £1,500 per person, which includes motorcycle hire, fuel, six nights shared hotel accommodation, breakfasts, lunches, Off Road Skills guide, back-up vehicle, as well as return airport to hotel transfer. It does not include evening meals, drinks or flights. Single accommodation is available for a fee. Participants must have confidently completed the Off Road Skills Level One course or equivalent.

For more information or to book, call the World of BMW on 08000 131 282

We are very pleased to announce our new Programme and Dates for 2010.

All the information can be found by checking out the links to your right.

The tried and trusted Level 1 Off Road Skills is back, while Level 2 and 3 have seen a re-vamp.

Level 2 has a GS version and an Enduro version and while both courses are about the same in technical difficulty they will be very different depending on the style of bike you want to try and the type of riding you aim to improve in.

Level 3 also has a GS and an Enduro version and they too will be similar from a technical perspective. However, at this Level there will be different skills suitable to the different bikes, so why not try both.

Off course the ideal way to move between the Levels is by taking in a Day in the Dirt, and for your first real trip we have the Brecon Beacons Adventure.

So start looking here – Off Road Skills 2010

All our 2010 Dates can be seen here – 2010 Calendar

And of course if your ready to book just pick up the phone to World of BMW on 08000 131 282.