Saturday 19 May 2012

Beginners course 180512

It was lovely to see a group of quite different people all enjoying the same course and all progressing exceptionally well with learning new skills and increasing their confidence. Tony was a complete beginner only having been mountain biking for a few weeks, while Rebecca had a few months of experience but still had never ventured on to difficult terrain. Shirley on the other hand had mountain biked quite a lot in the past but only recently taken the sport up again.

As usual we started with easy terrain putting into place concepts such as gear changes and body positioning but within about an hour we had moved on to riding steps and drops starting off small and gradually making it harder through out the day. My job was easy as all the participants not only were delightful, but  trusted me and not at least themselves enough to feel they could  ride things well and they didn't disappoint. There were only minor tweaks here and there to make them find the optimal techniques.


After a lunch at the local pub where we were lucky enough to be able to sit outside despite the threatening rain, we finished off the curriculum with technical climbing, manual front-wheel lifts and singletrack before the day ended with exposing the riders to some properly technical terrain. Again they did remarkably well with Rebecca and Tony even riding the Devils Drop!
Hi Emmy,
Thank you for the photos, they look great!
I really enjoyed the whole day, even my crashes!!! I learned so much, and feel really confident now, as we did lot of stuff I would of never attempted before the course. I cant wait to get back out, although I will have to wait until I get my back wheel back from the LBS as it has a slight buckle and bent spoke now. Never mind the day was worth it, I think once I build my fitness and lose some weight I will improve and enjoy things even more!
I'll see you in a few months on the intermediate course.
Thanks and God bless,
Tony.


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