Intermediate course 23/06/2012

It was lovely to see Matt again 4 months after him having done the beginners course and to see he had thoroughly got to grips with all the things he learned on the previous course. He was joined on the intermediate course by Nigel and Anthony, both with a lot of mountain biking experience. For all three the core skills required only minor tweaks and we were able to progress to intermediate level straight away. This consists mainly of stretching the skills to cover situations when the terrain present with many things happening at once or when relying on speed is impossible. For both situations track standing is invaluable as it gives the rider the ability to control the bike even when at a standstill instead of freezing up and dismounting.

The rest of the day was spent putting the frills on the riding by introducing bunny hopping and pumping the bike allowing for much more control over the front and back wheel separately. This was naturally followed by getting the wheels off the ground by doing jumps off a smallish drop. Up until the last descent we had had two punctures which by normal standard is a lot but compared to Thursday's puncture fest (5 punctures!!) wasn't too bad, but I spoke too soon as by the bottom of the hill I was the once with a flat rear tyre! All in all a great day with plenty of laughs and despite the really wet trails (some were like cycling through rivers!!) we ended up not too worse for wear back a the cafe.

Hi Emmy, Thanks very much for the photos and the reminder of the fun and enjoyment we all had on Saturday! Cheered me up following the depressing football last night. From my perspective, the day more than exceeded my expectations and the clarity and openness of your instructions and advice was very much appreciated. Thanks to you, I came home with a whole host of new ideas and techniques to put into practice on my local trails here in Sheffield and in the Peaks which I will be doing so, starting this evening as I tear up my rear lawn trying to get my rear wheel bunnies up!!! Thanks again for a very rewarding and very enjoyable course, made all the more pleasurable by the company of Nigel and Matt. Guys, if you are ever in my neck of the woods and fancy a day on the Peak District trails, please let don't hesitate to let me know. Kind regards all - and safe riding! Anthony

Intermediate course 21/06/2012

Grey, drizzly and clammy would be one way of describing the day, but the participants more than made the day an absolute treat! I have always thought mountain bikers as being nicer than the average people based on my experience running the courses and today proved no exception. Toby and Chris turned out to be superb company and very quick learners. We were speeding along ticking one thing off after the next, until Toby got his first puncture. Thankfully the rain had eased off and it was nice having a leisurely chat while sorting the wheel out. It was only 10 minutes until his next puncture and we starting to think it was a bit funny! Add to that one more puncture from Toby and two for me and we had used up all the available inner tubes! Thankfully by this time we had accomplished a lot. By the end both Toby and Chris had evolved from being good bikers to being excellent bikers and not just being passengers on their bikes, but using the bike, pumping the trails and jumping off things to make riding more exciting and engaging! To top the good finish off even the sun came out and it started to feel like a proper summers day!

Beginners course 190612

What a lovely day! Fiona was what I would describe as a proper beginner without any kind of off road riding experience having just bought herself a mountain bike. It is always interesting to have people without any experience as it is impossible to tell in advance how well they will do on the course. Not only do they have to get to grips with being on a new bike, but also simple things such as setting off and stopping still demands concentration and combined with being on very unfamiliar ground makes for a very steep learning curve. The reward is massive though, as they suddenly realize they can actually ride quite difficult stuff and slowly (or quite quickly in Fiona's case who mastered power-assisted front wheel lifts pretty much straight away!) getting to grips with the different techniques that are required for different situations.

We started with the very basics and made sure the positioning was right from top to toe and (while Fiona tried to keep it all in her head!) added more and more stuff as we went along! At one point in the afternoon Fiona let me know there was no more room for new things so we began the route back towards the cafe making full use of her new skills and confidence. I am absolutely certain it won't take Fiona many rides to absorb and perfect the things we practiced and for her to confidently ride all the superb trails near her home in Hayfield!

Intermediate course 100612

We were so lucky with the weather! It was sunny and warm and despite 3 days of solid rain even the state of the trails wasn't too bad! It was a pleasure to meet Anna again who came for the beginners course before Christmas and also to meet Ian. Both were keen bikers wanting to put the little extra touches to their mountain biking skills and give themselves a confidence boost.

As always the intemediate course started with a steady long climb, interspersed with power assisted front wheel lifts training, wheelies and trackstanding to break it up a little. Once up at the top we had a play around in the quarry which is ideal for demonstrating the need to look in the right places as well as having to cope with very narrow and steep descents.

Just before lunch we started breaching the topic of "pumping" the bike and to demonstrate the extra boost (and to force them to stay away from the breaks) they rode a 500 m undulating section without breaking or pedaling and found the advantage (and fun!) of pumping the bike instead.

After a lovely pub lunch in the sunshine it was back on the bike (and I'd be lying if I didn't say my legs felt somewhat tired on the first climb!) and off to do bunny hopping and jumping as further illustration of what you can do by pumping the bike and both participants were very quick learners. As usual we finished with the Vertical Drop of Doom where Ian decided to give a complete demonstration of the different body positions that can be used (two of which didn't work very well but didn't put him off in the slightest!)

Thanks Emmy. I'm so pleased I went on the course. With a lot of practice I'll hopefully master some of my nemis' of riding! Whilst the prospect of some obstacles was scary you had a way that made it seem possible. You're very clear at explaining things and bring great fun into the course as well. I'll be recommending you to my friends again!

Ian's big crash at the end still has me laughing... ;)

Thanks and all the best, Anna

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.

Beginners course 100512

The key to building up confidence is to gradually ride harder and harder things and doing a skills course is a way of fast tracking the whole process and this is exactly what this group demonstrated. From being quite a nervous looking bunch in the morning freely admitting that anything pointing downhill was not on the top of the list of their preferences to turning into very competent riders with far better skills than the average biker in just a day!

Emma announced in the car park that she detested any size of drop off and it was difficult to believe that this was the same lady who relished at having a go at the "Devil's Drop" just hours later. Same with Phil and Ben who several times said they would never have thought they would ride the stuff they now rode with confidence.

The key change they all made was to look further ahead, which not only made them anticipate what was coming but most of all allowed them to relax so they could move with the bike instead of being rigid. Once being able to move around on the bike we explored shifting the weight around for different situations. As usual we added special tricks such as power assisted front wheel lifts, tight turns, setting off on a hill etc.

A really great day apart from the fact I managed to completely and utterly mangle my rear derailleur, but that is a suppose an occupational hazard and a small price to pay to see the happy and excited participants while they proved to themselves that they were far better riders than they had ever imagined!

Hi Emmy,
Thanks for the photos its great to see what we achieved!!
Phil and I thoroughly enjoyed the day.
Your tuition is very clear and easy to understand and your riding tips are invaluable.
It is amazing how even the smallest of changes in thinking and riding can make such a big difference to ability and confidence.
We will keep practicing I promise ;0)
Thanks again for a great day
Emma & Phil

Beginners course 040512

Another quite nice day where we pretty much managed to escape the rain! Mark had booked on the course after seeing  a feature article about it in a magazine and thought it ticked all the boxes. He basically wished to make sure that he knew the techniques for riding technical terrain instead of just guessing especially since it was a few years since he regularly rode trails off road.

As usual we made sure every core skill was in place and Mark was very quick to pick up the little tweaks that were required to make sure he stayed balanced and was looking far enough ahead. We quickly progressed on to harder terrain and also since it was only him on the course managed to put in place a few extra things as a base for the techniques that are covered on the intermediate course. It was great to see him pick up some speed and confidently riding some of the tricky sections at the end and also riding the big rooty drop!