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…)

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

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.

Andy use to mountain bike but after a break from the trails he decided to start again.  He has been back riding for the past year with a group of work colleagues.

The specific things he wished to learn to do better was cornering and also find out what “pumping” was all about.

So with my brief done we headed for the trails.

We started with the fundamentals of mountain biking…the body position on the bike…..”control” or “ready for anything”  stance.  By just adjusting his body position and a tweak of his brake levers Andy could feel the difference and the confidence this brought, especially when it came to braking.

Moving on to cornering we started with a simple one just to get the basics correct. To begin with Andy stayed fairly straight on his bike with not much movement. However, after a few tips he started to lean the bike and shift his bodyweight around which he felt made a huge difference.

The picture on the left shows no body movement or weight shift so struggling to corner.

Picture on right, so much better!

Moving on to the four corners it gave Andy 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.

Andy 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.

Along Tank Traps I set Andy a challenge which was to stop pedalling and see how far along the trail we could get before we came to a halt.  With me in front and using the dark art of “pumping” I started moving away and Andy could see the advantage I was gaining.  We headed to the pump track so I could share my knowledge of pumping with him.  Andy did struggle with getting the movement through his bike but was progressing all the time. This skill required a bit more practice to be able to gain flow and momentum while on the trail and save energy.

Time flies when you’re having fun and the session was whizzing by so we headed towardsSurrey hill to do a bit of coaching on a few drop offs.

Andy is happy to do drop offs but wanted me to assess his technique and make sure he was doing them properly.  With this in mind we covered body position, foot position and where to look which helps you to relax and build confidence.

The big learning points for Andy were under rotating the wrists/heels as he had always been very upright.  Also leaning the bike over with the foot down when cornering.

Hope to see you enjoying the trails

A lovely morning in Swinley  Forest for the Forest Rider Course with Steve and Ben.  Ben had taken up mountain biking 6 months ago having not been on a bike for 15 years.  He had never been taught and wanted to learn the basics to become more confident.  Steve didn’t learn to ride a bike till later on in life and had just started venturing off road and wanted to know the techniques of off road riding to become more assured riding the trails.

After a safety check on our bikes and making a few adjustments to brake levers so the wrists could be dropped when in the “control” position we rode out into Swinley  Forest along one of the fire tracks.

Firstly we covered gear changing and the basic technique to climbing.  After a few minutes playing with gear changing and pedal stroke ie: spinning cranks in a circle rather than a square, we rode a small climb. They both found that gear changing and a smooth pedal action gave a real benefit to mastering climbs.

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.

Ben picked this up quickly and looked more flexible and relaxed on his bike.  Steve initially found it difficult to feel comfortable standing on the pedals, out of the saddle as he was use to sitting down most of the time. However with practice his confidence grew.

Following on from this we did a little exercise with braking to show how important it was to have your body weight in the right place when braking.  With the brake lever adjustments already made both Ben and Steve were quite surprised that knowing a few basic skills made them feel more confident.

Next we moved on to basic cornering.  This highlighted the issue that both Ben and Steve were staying in contact with their saddles for most of the cornering, which was restricting their cone of movement. We spent time focusing on getting the outside foot down and moving bodyweight to increase the grip and control throughout the corner.

Steve did find this a bit unnatural and challenging but had progressed by the end of this session.  Ben felt confident leaning the bike over and was cornering smoothly in control.

Moving on and to put the skills learnt into to practice on a basic bit of  Singletrack we headed to the Seagull Run.  We stopped at the drainage dip along the trail to practice being in the “control” position when such trail features appear, and how to ride them with confidence and control.   The first few attempts they were quite tight in the shoulders but soon started relaxing which made a smoother transition.

Both gents said the biggest learning points for them was body position and brake adjustments.

A very enjoyable morning.  Hope to see you out on the trails soon.  Have fun

On a beautiful September afternoon I was coach for a family of four.  Virginia and Dave (Mum and Dad), 6 year old Ellen and 5 year old Dan.  Dan had just turned 5 and this was a birthday treat for him as he loves mountain biking.   All of them had mountain biked many times before and also knew Swinley Forest.

After we had carried out the “M” check on our bikes to make sure they were safe to ride and adjusted our helmets we were ready to hit the trails.  The first bit of trail was a hill which Ellen and Dan climbed really well considering they only have small wheels and little legs.

After a quick stop at the top to get our breath back we covered the body position that should be adopted when mountain biking…… ”ready for anything” position.  The family practiced this and got the hang of it straight away.

As we descended along the trail it was fantastic to see them all up in the “ready for anything” position in total control.  Riding to the next part of the forest was along a very undulating trail with quite a long steady climb.  With Ellen and Dan full of beans and the reward of a yummy chocolate biscuit at the top they were off.

The next fun game was a slalom course round cones to introduce a bit of cornering.  The birthday boy showed us how it was done as he whizzed through the starting gate, in and out of the cones to the finish.Ellen was next and did really well moving her weight around the bike to get around the cones without running over them.It was Mum and Dad’s turn now.  To start with they were both on their saddles but with a few coaching tips they started developing the skill of leaning the bike away from them to make tighter turns around the cones.

With a high five from the children it was time to move on to a bit of singletrack to practice what they had learnt.  The trail I chose was a short circuit that had a few corners as well as some roll in’s so it was possible to ride again and again to really get the skills mastered.

Dan loved it with lots of ‘whoops’ of joy; Ellen rode the circuit a few times before helping me take action photos of Mum and Dad’s mountain bike skills.

After a quick snack and drink we headed to the four corners to finish cornering technique for the day and to give Virginia and Dave some more tips to enable them to corner smoothly and efficiently.

All buzzing from this it was time to start heading back to the Look Out. We took the scenic route back and rode some lovely single track with some lumps, bumps and rooty sections in it so they could all try out their new skills.  Despite tired legs Dan and Ellen rode all the way back with great confidence.

A big thumbs up for an enjoyable afternoon.  Have fun practicing your new skills. May see you on the trails soon

A slightly overcast morning in SwinleyForest for the Ladies Beginners Course but the sun did make an appearance!

Catherine had ridden at Swinley before but is fairly new to mountain biking. She wanted to learn the basics to enable her to go mountain biking with her husband.  Louise and her daughter Tasmin where new to Swinley and mountain biking and wanted to learn how to ride safely 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 cycled out into Swinley Forest along one of the fire tracks.

Firstly we covered gear changing and the basic technique to climbing.  After a few minutes playing with gear changing and pedal stroke we rode a small climb using our gears as we went. All of the ladies used their gears effectively to make it to the top of the climb. They all found that gear changing and a smooth pedal action is a good thing to master to make hills easier. (more…)

Polly booked up a 1-1 mountain bike skills session keen to learn all the techniques for safe off road riding.

After a bike and equipment check where we discussed bike set up ie: seat height, brake levers, tyre pressures we headed off to the trails.

The first fundamental skill we covered was the ideal “body position” for biking off road.  Being up out of the saddle helps manage the lumps and bumps that are on the trails.  Polly adopted this well and could feel an improvement straight away.

Polly was quickly moving confidently around on her bike so we then covered braking.  After spending a few minutes practicing she could really feel the benefits of dropping the wrists which makes braking more efficient and safe.  From here we moved on to cornering.

Starting with a simple flat wide corner it enabled me to slightly adjust her cornering technique before moving onto some linked corners.  Before Polly rode the corners we discussed the rooty entrance section and how best to tackle such trail features.  Polly rode this section several times and at first looked tense in her upper body and she was also dipping her shoulder into the corner. With this feedback and some coaching points she was soon relaxing her shoulders, moving her bodyweight to gain the most grip and was riding far more smoothly.

With her confidence increasing with every go we headed across the forest to Stickler 3 where we used a switchback corner to work on her “looking” and challenge her cornering technique further.  On her first attempt she froze and popped out the top of the corner. However it didn’t take Polly long to use the building blocks already learnt to start nailing the corner. She really started moving her bodyweight around the bike to maintain grip.  Her transitions between the corners became smooth and flowing and her confidence at a high.

With time pushing on we worked on how to get the front wheel over trail obstacles with ease.  Polly sussed this technique very quickly and was enjoying popping her wheel over the various sized trunks laid out on the trail.  We also covered the technique for lifting the back wheel over obstacles to finish off the session.

It was great to meet you and I had a great morning.   Have fun practicing the techniques you picked up today and may see you out on the trails soon   Sarah

John is a regular rider at Queen Elizabeth Country Park, where they have recently upgraded the trails. So there are now switch backs and bermed corners to contend with, rather than the natural trails. He’s also recently purchased a new bike, so decided to give a skills session a go.

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. We focused on the heel position to help over come a dominant right foot while working on the figure of 8 exercise. As the foot work was causing a few unbalanced corners.  

After a short downpour in the weather, 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 Three”. 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.  Berm on Stickler

As we headed back towards the centre, we did a few exercises on pumping, and how you can use this to gain flow and momentum while on the trail, as well as using the pump to control your bike over obstacles, drops and steps. 

Final debrief at the car park and it was time to head for home.  It was a pleasure doing the coaching session and I hope to see you out on the trails soon, you never know – I may just take a trip down to QE Park to sample the new trails.