Mountain Bike Tuition Skills Courses

Adam used to do a lot of road riding but with the roads being quite unpleasant to ride on due to too many dangerous and impatient car drivers he decided to start riding off road.  Like many of us once you have tried mountain biking you love it.

Adam booked up a skills session as he had started competing in a few mountain bike endurance races and wanted to learn a few tips to get faster and more efficient on the trails.

We started back to basics to iron out any bad habits he may have picked up.

The first skill we worked on was his body position on the bike…..”control” or “ready for anything” stance and how to adapt this to get round corners.  Straight away Adam found it much easier to move the bike around by being out of the saddle and shifting his body weight. By adjusting the position of his brake levers also helped with braking.

We covered cornering next, starting simple to get the technique correct. Adam was pretty smooth cornering to the left but needed to work harder on the right hand corner as he tended to dip his shoulder and not shift his body weight over enough.

The 4 corners gave Adam the opportunity to practice making the quick transition from a left hand corner to a right hand corner whilst controlling speed. Adam worked well through the corners and looked confident moving away from the saddle and leaning the bike over more as the trail tightened so he could get the best grip.

Once the 4 corners were mastered it was on to “Stickler” with the many singletrack corners to work through where you need smooth pedal strokes to transition between each corner and focus ahead.  Here we also introduced a bit of pumping so we could gain free speed just by using the energy we put into our bikes.

Adam was using his footwork well to corner but did start going back to his saddle whilst in the corners so we worked on getting out of that habit before we moved on to a bermed tight s-bend to put all the earlier work on cornering into practice.

To manage these corners well and to keep a good flow and momentum it was important to be focused, looking for your exit, footwork and leaning the bike.

Adam’s first attempt took him a bit high on the first exit because he was not looking far enough around the corner for his exit which made it more difficult to keep momentum and tackle the second corner. He needed to scan all the way round the corner to the exit, turning his hips (steering with his belly button) and leaning his bike over.

Whilst coaching we watched a few other riders come labouring through these corners having to pedal and waste energy. One rider fell off purely from the fact of being sat in his saddle, entering the corner too fast, not in the correct body position and not looking. Luckily he didn’t hurt himself but it gave us a good example of how not to corner!

So with a few more coaching points Adam was coasting around these corners with ease whilst conserving energy but not losing any speed.

To practice pumping the trail a bit more we rode a section of “Tank Traps” without pumping, then re-rode it pumping. Adam was getting more efficient at this skill and could feel the free energy and acceleration he was getting.

On the way back to the car park we looked at how reading the trail ahead can help build up a picture of what may be ahead.

At the end of the coaching Adam was much more relaxed in his shoulders/elbows, his footwork was good and he felt he was gaining speed and cornering far more efficiently.

Good luck, practice and enjoy

The Ladies Beginners Mountain bike course held on dry dusty trails….hooray!

The ladies who signed up for this weeks new recruits mountain bike course were both in the same boat.  They both have young children who have just got into mountain biking and as the kids are getting faster and more confident Mum was being left behind so they signed up for a lesson.

Kerry had been riding a bike casually for sometime but since the new trails had opened at Swinley she was a little nervous at the prospect of riding the Blue trail with her children without having some coaching to build her confidence and technique.

Penny on the other hand had not been on a bike since she was 9 and had only learnt how to ride again the week before! She was obviously very nervous.

After a safety check on our bikes making sure they were in good working order and making a few adjustments to brake levers so they were easy to reach we headed out.

First we covered the most fundamental skill to off road riding…….. the body position.   Sometimes its referred to as the “attack” position”, I prefer “ready for anything/control” position which does what it says………you are in control and ready for anything that you may encounter on the trails.

It took a few minutes for Kerry to feel at ease in the “ready for anything” stance as she had been use to sitting on the saddle when riding but she soon was looking confident, more flexible and relaxed on her bike.

Penny was struggling to begin with as just riding a bike was new to her.  However, as she became more used to riding her bike she started to get off the saddle and into the “ready for anything position” and steadily got a bit more confident.

Building on their confidence we rode down an undulating fire road where they could practice this new skill. (more…)

For a more civilised Stag Do, Paddy, the Best Man decided it would be fun to sign everyone up for a mountain bike skills session.  As the group got out of the mini bus it wasn’t difficult to spot Mark “the Stag” as they had kindly dressed him up as Luke Skywalker, Hoth Pilot, from the Empire Strikes Back.

We covered the basic safety checks and briefing before heading out to the trails.

We spent a short while just focusing on the control position, braking and bike set-up; adjusting the brake levers to enable easier reach.

We discussed the idea of the platform for your feet, and how you adjust this as the terrain become steeper, while still focusing on the “under rotation”

Basic cornering followed the braking exercises; changes to the body position, “dropping your outside foot”, and the use of the hips. To get everyone focused on footwork we practiced balancing on one leg…….doesn’t look silly at all!!

Following this they all tried this when cornering around a simple bend.

After this we headed into the single track to try the four corners, and linking the corners together.

We then headed over to “Stickler” to sample the challenges of the bermed corners on “Stickler”. Here we focused on the body position and bike position, and how it can affect the line around the berm. As well as working hard to get the looking through the corner towards the exit.

After working hard on cornering it was time for a few games to train you to be more stable on the bike.  All the group were up for the slow bike challenge.  We marked out a large coned circle and the aim of the game is to all ride around the area without putting your foot down or running into each other.

To challenge their balancing skills further we kept reducing the area.  The “Stag” was definitely being picked on to get him out the game! 

The track stand challenge.

As we headed back towards the centre, we did a bit of limbo on the bike.Final debrief at the car park and it was time to head for us to head home and the group to head to the pub. It was a pleasure doing the coaching session and great fun.  Enjoy the Wedding.

Ernie booked up a 1:1 skills session as he was off mountain biking in the Quantocks and Peak District.  He has been riding for a few years but as he admits he will give anything a go but sometimes the outcome of tearing down a trail are not always favourable.  A little reminder of the basic techniques would be good.

With my brief done and a bike safety check we headed out.

First thing which was noticeable when covering the “ready for anything” stance was Ernie’s brake levers.  He was finding it tricky to reach the levers with his wrists dropped so a quick adjustment made it much easier to ride in this position.

On our way to the flat corner I got Ernie to start manoeuvring the bike and trying to be a bit more relaxed in his arms and shoulders. Another bad habit that I was going to work on was to get him to get off his saddle more, especially when things get technical.

Ernie rode the flat corners well and looked comfortable leaning the bike over so we proceeded to the four corners to work on the quick transition from left to right hand corners.

First thing that happened when Ernie rode these corners was he reverted back to sitting on top of the saddle.  Trying to corner when sat on the saddle is difficult as you cannot shift your body weight to the right position to gain the best traction and it is more difficult to ease the bike round the corner.  Sat on top of the saddle may get you round some corners but when the corners get tighter and you ride with more speed you can end up having to brake in the corner and therefore losing speed and flow.

We worked on these corners for a while to get more fluidity and smoothness into Ernie’s riding before moving on.

Continuing on the cornering theme we worked on a couple of switchback turns to encourage getting off the saddle even more and looking round the corner.  Ernie’s riding was definitely improving as he was starting to have the confidence to move away from the saddle.

Before the session ended we talked about the most efficient way to climb steep hills and how you should move your bodyweight to get the best grip.

Lastly we worked on some larger banked corners and how to absorb and smoothly ride some of the lumps in the trail.

Over the coaching session Ernie was riding more in control and his cornering was getting much better.  He was getting off the saddle more but needed to go and practice all the techniques covered to get them into the “good habits” of his riding.

Enjoyable afternoon.  Have fun in the Quantocks!

Juliet has been a member of a local mountain bike club for a few years but unfortunately a knee injury has kept her off her bike. The last few weeks she has been back on her bike to try to improve her fitness and get her bike balance back. On a recent ride she had difficulty cycling a tight bend on a steep slope so decided to book a lesson to go back to basics and work on improving switchbacks/cornering and particularly working on the corkscrew trail.

I met Juliet over at the corkscrew and after a quick bike check got straight into the coaching session.

After a refresher on the correct body position for mountain biking we focused on cornering. First we warmed up and practiced dropping the outside leg going round a coned course and encouraged leaning the bike to make the turns.

Juliet was confident with this so the next step was a a couple of flat corners.  We also did a slow manoever exercise to work on balance and turning in a tight spot which is good to practice.

Next we split the Corkscrew trail into sections and walked and talked about the technique to use to ride the trail with momentum and flow.  To begin with Juliet was a little tight on her bike which affected her smoothness and flow round the trail but after a few more coaching points and encouragement she began to ride with more ease.

On one of the sections there is a prominent root which can catch you out so we did a bit of work on un-weighting the front of the bike to be able to cope with such things on a trail.

As the session continued Juliet was looking more relaxed and confident which made her riding flow better.  We then headed to work on a few larger bermed corners on the Seagull Run.  Juliet was moving her bike around better and therefore cornering with more confidence and commitment.

Hope to see you out on the tails soon

This session was with Lucia who was lucky enough to win a skills session through her local mountain bike club’s Christmas Raffle.

In our session Lucia wanted to cover the basic and necessary skills to build her confidence for off road riding.

After a quick chat about Swinley Forest we then completed a safety check on our bikes before setting off.

Firstly we covered the ideal body position to adopt when riding off road. To begin with Lucia had very straight rigid arms. We adjusted her handlebar grips and brake levers so she could drop her wrists into a better riding position which made her relax and bend her elbows.

Moving on to cornering we started with a simple coned slalom course to get used to moving our body around on the bike.

Lucia was confidently riding this so we rode two basic corners to put the technique learnt on the coned course into practice.  Lucia found she felt far more comfortable cornering to the left than the right and I could see she was confident leaning the bike out on the left corner than the right.

We then rode part of the Blue Trail to the four corners so Lucia could practice making the quick transition from a left hand corner to a right hand corner whilst controlling speed. Lucia worked well through the corners and could feel straight away if she put the wrong leg down. She was starting to be flowing through the trail much better.

Lucia had a technical corner on part of the Blue Trail that she has had trouble riding so we headed there next. With all the coaching tips she had gained over the morning she rode it with more confidence and commitment which was great to see.

We continued on the Blue back to the Look Out.  I followed Lucia on the final part to see if her riding had improved and I am happy to say she was using the body position well, looking more confident and was noticeably quicker and flowing round the corners.

Great morning. Happy riding

After a few weeks of poor weather it looked like the Ladies Beginners Mountain bike course was going to be rain free! Fingers crossed!

Holly had been given a gift voucher and although had ridden off-road several times before was keen to learn the proper technique to off-road riding. Liz is fairly new to mountain biking and was looking forward to learning the skills necessary to have fun riding off-road.

After a safety check on our bikes making sure they were in good working order and making a few adjustments to brake levers  so they were easy to reach we headed out.  Firstly I followed them riding the Green trail just so I could see how they got on before we headed into the forest.

First thing we covered was braking and the best way to brake efficiently and in control.  We did a little exercise with braking to show how important it was to have your body weight in the right place when braking.  Holly and Liz could feel straight away that knowing a few basic skills made them feel more confident on a bike, especially when braking.

After this we covered the most fundamental skill to off road riding…….. the body position.   Sometimes its referred to as the “attack” position”, I prefer “ready for anything/control” position which does what it says………you are in control and ready  for anything that you may encounter on the trails.

It took a few minutes for them to really feel at ease in the “ready for anything” stance as they had been used to sitting on the saddle when riding.  Before long they  were both looking more flexible and relaxed and I could see their confidence growing.

Next we moved on to cornering. Firstly I got them all to ride a coned slalom course so I could see how they rode before giving them tips to make cornering much smoother and easier. It took a little time to get them both confident getting away from their saddles and leaning the bike away from them.

They both worked hard on this technique around the cones so we then introduced a couple of sweeping corners.  Here we could work further on the technique of speed control, footwork, body position and looking.  Both Holly and Liz were looking far more confident manoeuvring their bikes around and started flowing smoothly round the corners.

Next we covered gear changing and the basic technique to climbing with a smooth pedal stroke. Both ladies used their gears effectively to make it to the top of the climb with ease. With a quick breather we talked about descending and the body position which should be adopted to feel confident going downhill.

With lots of enthusiasm to learn more we headed to another area of the forest and introduced linked cornering. The section we used had a series of  bermed corners on a gravity assisted piece of trail so body position, speed control and looking were all crucial.  At first the ladies struggled a bit with getting their looking and footwork right as the trail took them a little out of their comfort zone.  However, after a few tips and attempts their confidence grew and they started cornering with more flow.

To end the session we rode a small section of the Blue trail to see the improvements in their riding from the mornings Green run.  Straight away it was obvious that they were both more confident. Automatically getting in the “ready for anything” position as they tackled the trail. They both flowed through the trail with good speed and eased around the corners.

A very enjoyable morning and for me as a coach it’s lovely to see the confidence grow in all of the riders as the session progressed.   Hope to see you out on the trails soon.  Have fun

Alan has only recently started riding off road, in fact only about 10 times with one being a mountain bike race! Alan used to be a competitive runner but due to injury he started riding.  With the roads being quite unpleasant to ride on due to too many impatient car drivers he tried a bit of trail riding with some work colleagues and enjoyed it so much entered a race straight away!

With regards to the race he found that he was fit enough but as soon as it came to the singletrack he was left standing. He was braking, losing momentum, not getting round the corners which was very frustrating. He decided that if he was going to be competitive and progress in this sport he needed some coaching.

So with my brief done we headed for the trails.

To start with I got Alan to ride round a little corner circuit so I could see how he was riding already.  This highlighted a number of fundamental skills which were missing so we started back to basics to iron these out.

The first skill we worked on was his body position on the bike…..”control” or “ready for anything” stance and how to adapt this to get round corners.  Straight away Alan found it so much easier to move the bike around by being out of the saddle and shifting his body weight. By lowering his saddle a tad and adjusting the position of his brake levers also helped.

After a quick demo and practice of the best and most efficient way to use your brakes we headed to the 4 corners.  This trail gave Alan the opportunity to practice making the quick transition from a left hand corner to a right hand corner whilst controlling speed. Alan worked well through the corners and looked confident moving away from the saddle and leaning the bike over more as the trail tightened so he could get the best grip.

Once the 4 corners were mastered it was on to stickler with the many singletrack corners to work through.

After working on a few of the sections I then followed Alan whilst we rode the whole trail.  I could see how his riding had improved just after a couple of hours coaching and believed with practice he could finely tune his riding to flow more freely and be able to improve his race times/position.

So a week after Alan’s coaching session he entered his second ever mountain bike race, the Gorrick Fun Race.  He came 1^st out of 25……..not bad for a Rooky, in fact pretty awesome!

Good luck and enjoy

Spring was definitely not on its way for this mornings tuition!!  Instead, a lot of cold showers, however it didn’t put Rachael off turning up for her booked mountain bike skills session.

Rachael had been on a mountain bike holiday to Sardinia which was great. It was a little more extreme than she was expecting so decided to book a coaching session with me to get back to basics and build her confidence to be able to tackle more difficult terrain in the future.

We began the session with a quick briefing about SwinleyForest followed by talking about the bike set up and completing a  safety check before setting off.

We had a bit of a warm up cycle to start with as it was so cold and wet before we stopped to go through the ideal body position which is best adopted when riding off road trails.  Rachael grasped this well so we moved on to gear changing.  Sounds simple but it is so easy to be in the wrong gear at crucial times. We rode a slight incline working on our pedal stroke and changing gears at the right time to keep the traction going through the tyres and keeping it nice and smooth.  Rachaels’ poor hands were freezing so she found it a little tricky manoevering the gear lever.

Before reaching our introductory corners we went through how to use your brakes safely and confidently.  We then started moving our weight around the bike to introduce where our body position should be to gain the best traction from our tyres. With Rachael having skied before she had no trouble understanding where she needed to shift her weight.  Riding the corners several times started to build her confidence which was great so we headed onto Stickler 3 to work on linking some corners together.  Rachael was keen to work on some switch back corners so we used some tighter bermed corners which challenged the whole cornering technique ie: speed control/looking/footwork/body position.

After working on the swithback a few times we carried on and rode more singletrack to put all the basic skills learnt into practice.

It was a very cold and wet morning but Rachael was starting to flow down the trails looking more confident.

Hope to see you out on the trails  :-)

Elaine is a lover of the great outdoors. She runs, cycles, does adventure races and triathlons. With an injury keeping her from running she was out on her mountain bike more and decided she wanted to learn the necessary skills to build her confidence for off road riding.

We began the session with a quick briefing about SwinleyForest followed by talking about the bike set up and completing a  safety check before setting off.

Firstly we briefly covered how to change gears smoothly whilst using an efficient pedalling technique for going up hills off road efficiently.  At the top of the climb it was time to explain the ideal body position to adopt when riding off road.  Elaine picked this up really quickly which was great as this meant we could move on to the core skills to cornering.

On the way to the introductory corners we went through how to use your brakes safely and confidently and adjusted Elaine’s brake levers so they are easier to reach when in the control position.  We then started moving our weight around the bike to introduce where her body position should be to gain the best traction from our tyres.

Moving on to cornering we started with a simple one just to get the basics correct. To begin with Elaine stayed fairly straight on her bike with not much movement.  However, after a few tips she started to lean the bike and shift her bodyweight around which was great.

Moving on to the four corners it gave Elaine the opportunity to practice making the quick transition from a left hand corner to a right hand corner whilst controlling speed. We also looked at line choices and visual irritations on a trail that may affect your confidence and commitment and spoke about how best to tackle them.

Elaine worked well through the corners and looked more confident moving away from the saddle and leaning the bike over as the trail tightened so she could get the best grip. With her confidence growing we moved onto Stickler to work on linking some corners and using tighter bermed corners to challenge her “looking” and “footwork”technique.

Another aspect of off road riding Elaine wanted to learn was to get over obstacles such as roots/logs/step ups on the trails so we spent a bit of time running through the technique for this.

With time running short we headed to Seagull and covered the “cone of movement” going over a mound in the trail and followed the trail to the green gate before heading back to the Look Out.

See you on the trails soon.