BRET TKACS
Ride The Terrain You've Been Avoiding
Spend two (or three) days exploring the high desert of SW Idaho. Learn on real terrain with physics-based instruction that changes how you ride everywhere after this.
LOCATION
Nampa, ID
INSTRUCTOR(S)
BRET TKACS
PAUL SOLOMONSON
SKILL LEVEL
All levels
IDAHO COURSE PRICING
$1,395
Tuition includes 2.5 days of on-motorcycle training. Optional third day is available.
Duration
2 Days (+ Optional 3rd)
Dates
June 3 – 5, 2027
WHY IDAHO
Terrain That Teaches You
Something New Every Time
The high desert of southwest Idaho is not a controlled training range. It is real ADV terrain: deep sand, loose hills, rocky washes, and elevation change that shifts by the hour as temperatures climb. It is the same kind of terrain you will encounter on any serious backcountry ride, and it does not offer second chances to riders who have not built the right foundation.
Bret does not design his training environments to be easy. He designs them to expose exactly where your current technique breaks down so you can fix it before those same conditions catch you somewhere with no backup plan. In Idaho, that exposure happens across the Owyhee Mountains, where you will relocate to a new backcountry destination each day rather than working a single fixed course. One day you’ll work on managing traction on hot desert sand, climbing and descending steep, loose hills; and another, navigating long gravel roads and washboard that mirror many sections of the western Backcountry Discovery Routes. No other locations moves around like this, and that constant variation is the point: sand and rock do not behave the same way twice, and neither should your training.
Students who train in Idaho consistently report that the skills they build here transfer directly to every other riding environment they encounter afterward, including pavement. Traction management, balance, and throttle precision learned in sand and loose rock do not unlearn themselves when conditions improve.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
Skills Built Here Can Be Applied Everywhere
Every technique taught in Idaho is grounded in the physics of what your motorcycle is actually doing underneath you. Riders who understand why a technique works can adapt it to conditions no instructor has ever described. Riders who have memorized a checklist cannot.
TRACTION MANAGEMENT
Discover how traction is distributed between front and rear contact patches, what changes it, and how to feel the threshold before you reach it, rather than discovering it after you’ve already passed its limits.
WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION & BODY POSITION
Where your weight is on an adventure motorcycle determines what the bike can do. You will understand the variables well enough to adjust them intentionally rather than reactively.
VISION & EARLY DECISION-MAKING
Off-pavement riding rewards decisions made early and punishes decisions made in the moment. The strategies behind using your vision strategy is the foundation for everything else.
CLUTCH & THROTTLE PRECISION
The difference between maintaining momentum and losing it on a loose climb is measured in fractions of a second. These skills are practiced until they stop requiring your conscious attention.
BRAKE MANAGEMENT
Adventure motorcycles brake differently, especially when loaded. You will learn the differences on varying surfaces and with varying amounts of traction control.
ENERGY CONSERVATION
Riding a 500-pound motorcycle efficiently means the bikes does the work, not your body. Students who understand this ride longer days faster, with significantly less fatigue.
WHO ATTENDS
The Question Everyone Asks
Before every course, at least one person contacts Bret with a version of the same message: “I want to come but I’m not sure I’m at the right level for your course.”
The short answer is: this training is structured specifically to prevent that from being a real concern.
Idaho attracts a wide range of riders. Some have tens of thousands of off-pavement miles and come because they have hit a ceiling in their self-taught technique. Others have no dirt experience and come because they want to build the foundation correctly from the start. Both groups train simultaneously on the same principles: clutch management, brake management, traction, balance, throttle precision – all of it is applied to terrain difficulty matched to each rider’s current ability.
In Bret’s courses, there are very few lines. Nobody is waiting for someone else to catch up. Nobody is held back from attempting a challenge they are ready for. What everyone shares is that they leave with a deeper understanding of how their motorcycle works than they arrived with.
Bret has trained riders with physical limitations, riders returning to motorcycles after decades away, and professional riders who wanted a framework for what they already knew intuitively. The common thread is not experience level. It is a willingness to ride thoughtfully.
ALL SKILL LEVELS - WHAT THAT ACTUALLY MEANS
Bret’s courses do not separate riders into beginner and advanced categories because the underlying principles are the same at every level. What changes is the terrain difficulty and the precision with which those principles are applied.
Bret starts every class with the very basics of ADV riding, including how to get on and off the bike. Students who arrive with a background in mountain biking, dirt bikes, or other technical outdoor pursuits tend to thrive here because they are accustomed to reading terrain and accepting the discomfort that comes with learning physical skills. The riders who get the most out of Bret’s courses tend to share a particular mindset more than a particular skill level. They approach new challenges with curiosity rather than anxiety. They are comfortable not being good at something yet.
Off-road riding is physically demanding in ways that surprise many people. Concentration for this level of skill development is genuinely tiring. The terrain is unstable, the inputs are unfamiliar, and the learning curve is real. That is not a reason to avoid the training; it is a reason to arrive with an accurate picture of what the full two days will ask of you.
Skill self-assessment is genuinely difficult, and it is worth acknowledging that honestly. Riders sometimes arrive with a picture of their abilities that does not quite match where they are. Many riders have an incomplete sense of their actual baseline.
If you are concerned that your experience level might be a barrier but you do have a baseline comfort riding a motorcycle on pavement, reach out to Bret before booking, describe where you are, and let him tell you honestly whether this course is the right fit for you. He has been doing this for thirty years. He has seen your skill level before, and he has a plan for it.
COURSE DETAILS
Everything You Need to Know Before You Book
COURSE DETAILS
The Owyhee Mountains near eastern Oregon. Specific staging area location is provided upon enrollment. Accessible from Seattle, Portland, Boise, Salt Lake City, and most major PNW cities within a days’ drive.
FORMAT
Two full riding days with structured instruction, terrain progressions, and individual technique feedback. An optional third day is available. Most students attend and find this to be the most valuable day of the course.
INSTRUCTORS
Bret Tkacs and Paul Solomonson. Bret authored three Washington State DOL-authorized motorcycle training curricula, designed the U.S. Army Special Forces Motorcycle Mentor Training program, and has ridden and trained across 49 countries. Paul brings more than twenty years of instructional experience. Learn more here.
YOUR BIKE
Ride what you own. The instruction is designed around adventure motorcycles. Any motorcycle you want to take off-road is likely fine, as long as you understand there may be suspension limitations.
GEAR
Full protective gear is required: Helmet, jacket, pants, gloves, boots with ankle protection. Please look at this page to ensure your gear meets the minimim requirements.
TERRAIN
Each location’s training landscape reflects its natural surroundings. The features listed below are what may be encountered in Idaho, depending on weather, ground conditions, and participant ability and interests:
- Ruts, deep sand, loose gravel, steep/rocky climbs and descents, off-camber terrain, hardpacked dirt, and rocks. The Sunday ride may also include loose gravel and a water crossing.
- Terrain features not typically found at this location are: mud, grass, tight turns, or logs
AM I READY FOR THIS?
Our Idaho courses offer our most demanding and intensive training on unforgiving terrain. Success here is not about bravado, speed, or proving your ability to your fellow riders. Bret’s classes are about self-awareness, adaptability, and a genuine desire to learn.
Some of our best students arrive slightly nervous and uncertain, but motivated to learn something new. These riders tend to thrive.
Conversely, riders who arrive highly confident but with limited real-world experience often struggle. This is not due to lack of ability, but due to their unrealistic self-assessment. When expectations and reality collide together in challenging terrain, frustration quickly replaces learning.
If you find yourself thoughtfully questioning whether you are ready, that is often a positive indicator of maturity and a learning mindset. We can work with curiosity, humility, and effort. What we cannot work with is rigidity, ego, or defensiveness.
If you are uncertain whether your skill level and goals are appropriate for this course, please contact Bret prior to registration. He is happy to discuss your experience and help you determine whether this course, or another option, will best support your growth.
Our goal is not to exclude riders. Our goal is to ensure that every participant has the best possible opportunity to succeed, learn, and enjoy the experience.
- Ruts, deep sand, loose gravel, steep/rocky climbs and descents, off-camber terrain, hardpacked dirt, and rocks. The Sunday ride may also include loose gravel and a water crossing.
- Terrain features not typically found at this location are: mud, grass, tight turns, or logs
FAQs
BEFORE YOU REGISTER
This training adapts to your experience level. By using continuous movement rather than static drills or waiting in line, we create an environment that supports riders ranging from dirt beginners to experienced off-road riders.
Coaching and training challenges are tailored to each rider, allowing individuals to progress toward their personal goals. This adaptive format ensures that every participant, regardless of age or physical ability, is challenged appropriately and able to achieve meaningful growth in their off-road skills.
Prior off-road or off-pavement experience is not required for ADV training. The course is structured to build skills progressively and focuses on techniques that work specifically on adventure motorcycles (large and small). However, you must be able to ride packed gravel roads at 25+ mph upon arrival and capable of riding at or above posted speed limits, including through corners and on gravel.
No, however you must bring a motorcycle that is capable of accessing the terrain and obstacles encountered during training.
For our adventure training, motorcycle capability requirements are relatively moderate, as terrain and conditions are intentionally progressive and manageable for most motorcycles. This means you can bring any bike you want to take off-pavement.
If you are signing up for an Idaho Challenge Training course, motorcycle capability becomes more critical. The bike must have adequate ground clearance for riding in remote, technical terrain. In this unforgiving environment, motorcycle limitations can directly affect safety and pace.
Not at most locations. However, we do have minimum tire recommendations:
WHAT IS CLASS LIKE?
Class sizes are intentionally kept small to ensure individualized coaching and a safe learning environment. Most courses operate at approximately 8 students per instructor, which allows for meaningful feedback and personalized instruction. Our Idaho courses are typically smaller, averaging around 5 students per instructor, due to the hybrid nature of the training that combines traditional instruction with real-world trail riding.
Training continues unless conditions are truly unsafe (ie. lightning or impassable terrain). Learning to adapt to changing and less-ideal conditions is a key part of adventure riding. We have run classes in snowstorms, pouring rain, and over 100 degree temperatures.
Bret serves as the lead instructor and attends every class. Most sessions (not all) also include instruction from Paul Solomonson and/or in-person support from Christina Tkacs. Read more about our instructors here.
Absolutely. Many experienced off-road riders discover habits or misunderstandings that limit their confidence or speed. This training focuses on why techniques work, allowing riders to adapt to new situations more effectively.
WHAT SHOULD I BRING?
Bring your motorcycle, your protective riding gear (helmet, boots, gloves, jacket, and pants), and any other comfort items you like. There is very limited space in the support truck, so please leave items you don’t plan on using back at your hotel. We do carry tools with us.
Off-road boots are the most important piece of safety gear in this training environment. While high-speed crashes are rare, slow-speed tip-overs and footing errors are common while learning, and these are where foot and ankle injuries occur. Here are our adventure training requirements
Street boots and many “adventure touring” boots lack the structure needed to protect against crushing and twisting forces from a 500–600lb motorcycle. You do not need the most expensive boots available, but you do need a boot designed for off-road impacts. Riders wearing boots that offer little or no off-road crash protection will not be permitted to ride.
We supply morning coffee and a large variety of snacks throughout the day that should accommodate most dietary preferences. Meals are not provided other than an optional graduation dinner. Drinking water is provided throughout the course.
All training locations offer dry camping as part of the tuition, and riders are welcome to bring tents, hammocks, camper vans, trailers, or RVs to camp on public land. This location is near our home so we will not be camping with you. We intentionally select training areas that also have nearby hotels and other lodging options.
Every location also provides ample parking, including space for trailers. Some locations may also offer nearby plug-in options for an additional fee.
Detailed lodging and camping information specific to your training location will be provided in the pre-event information sheet sent after registration.
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
Yes. The techniques and decision-making strategies taught directly apply to backcountry routes, forest roads, sand, gravel, and unpredictable terrain. You will learn how to make decisions in real-world situations, including situations you’ve never encountered before.
Dirt bike schools often teach techniques that work well on lightweight bikes but can be unsafe on large ADV motorcycles. This course focuses on strategies specifically developed for heavier, road-legal adventure bikes.
No. Training is tailored to help you progress at your own pace. This course emphasizes understanding, control, and decision-making, not bravado or peer pressure. Riders are not forced into situations they don’t feel ready for.
The course is technique-focused, not entirely strength-based. Riders of all ages, including those in their seventies, routinely complete the training successfully. We strongly encourage you to come in the best physical condition you can manage. We teach low-energy riding techniques, however learning, by its very nature, is not low-energy.