Want to learn adventure biking skills? You can find a lot of different options out there—but what if you want to start out easy, learning proper techniques on small machines before you are attempting log hops on your GS? Traction eRag can help you, in the backwoods of Beautiful British Columbia.
You might remember Traction eRag from their PDF magazine days. Now, they’re not really into that so much; the crew at Traction does send out newsletters still, but they focus on events. Mostly, they do enduro tours, but they also offer training sessions. This year, at summer’s end, they’re working on a new event called XTADV. It’s aimed at giving adventure bike riders the training they need to survive and even thrive off-road.

XTADV is a sort of cross-training event, using small dirt bikes to teach off-road skills that can then be translated to large dual-sport and adventure bikes. Here’s what Traction eRag says you’ll practice, aboard 250cc machines:
- Bike setup for off-road use
- Default body position
- Weight distribution
- Energy conservation techniques
- Static balance
- Lifting your motorcycle properly
- Full lock turns
- Head position
- Braking techniques (basic and advanced)
- Turn initiation
- Basic and advanced cornering
- Weight/deweight
- Unloading the front wheel
- Basic obstacle crossing techniques
- 180 turns in small spaces
- Hill climbs and descents
- Trail riding
- Skill based games and challenges!
These are intended to be five-day clinic-style events; you fly to Vancouver (you pay for that ticket yourself) and from there you connect to an airport near Traction’s HQ (they pay for this ticket out of your entry fees). They put you up for six nights and feed you breakfast, lunch (on the trail) and supper). And this training happens out in the woods, not in a corral behind a barn, like so many training programs. As per their write-up: “This adventure has thick Canadian forest, pristine lakes, staggering vistas and incredible camaraderie. Ride ribbony trails through majestic Douglas Fir forests while encountering jaw dropping vistas all connected by an unrivalled network of transit roads.” Sounds fun to us! Might as well enjoy our country’s beautiful scenery at the same time you’re doing your training.
You will have to save your nickels if you want to attend. The cost is $4,475—and that’s probably a USD number, although their website doesn’t say.
However, their website does say that you must apply to be considered for this—they’re careful about who they let in. Traction’s events have a great reputation and are very highly rated by those who go to them, so they can be fussy about who’s allowed to ride with them. For more info, and maybe apply, see here.