Looking good with Jon.

Jon has been riding for 10+ years and I could tell he was very comfortable riding. After the skills check I identified that his footwork in corners is totally natural to him but he doesn't look into the "next" on the trail. I went through the skills and onto the pumping technique and un-weighting of the bike. This led into the dis-connected bunny hop technique. After negotiating the fallen tree, we moved onto the drop technique then onto a trail. We worked on his cornering and focussed on his looking and started to adapt his body positioning. After a short while, we stitched the sections of corners,roll downs and drops on the trail together and Jon was riding very fluidly. We then rode to a tight natural trail , where footwork and looking would be tested fully and here is where we ended after breaking the trail into coachable sections and then finally riding the whole trail seamlessly.
Great riding Jon!

A Foxy Day With Paul.

Paul had been riding nearly 20 years and when we went through the skills health check I could tell he can ride a bit. The big issue was that he rode in the "now" and not the "next".
I set to work going through pumping, un-weighting the front and rear and that led into the disconnected bunny hop technique. I showed how this can be used for negotiating fallen trees etc. We moved throught jumping and the drop technique before working on his cornering. Paul's footwork in corners was perfect . I could tell that in a short time I could introduce body positioning into the mix and did so. We then rode a trail end to end and Paul stitched each section together with flow and demonstrated trail energy management. We ended the day riding a tight trail where footwork and looking into the "next" is paramount and Paul got that trail too. Then off to the pub for the all important social side of riding and chatted over a beer and some chips.
Thanks Paul .

Trail center skill session, 27th March

All the riders attending had been to or were going to be riding at trail centres. I took them all throught the skills checks and we began pumping,unweighting and bunny hops. Ross tookthe technique to riding over fallen trees.
Tam had the unweighting of the front wheel down and now needs to work on holding it longer to form the manual.

We worked on bermed corners and Bradley started hitting them faster and faster!


Lawerence soon began dealing with over-lapping sections with confidence and commitment.
Stu found that once the physical skills are there. the sections actually just fly beneath you no matter what they are.

Overall, everyone progressed with their new skill set very well and were demonstarting trail energy managment. As always, the clients all have my on going commitment to them and will be keeping me informed on their progress with their new skills.

Another day with derby Al

Al returned to me for further tweaks to his already large toolbox of riding experience. We worked on body positioning and footwork in his jumping and drop technique.
I slowly moved Al's body positioning into the cockpit more and made him more upright as opposed to sticking his bum out the back .
We worked further on his already good cornering technique on loose technical corners.

We had to work on his timing as the sections were overlapping and braking zones were identified.

Al's work load recently led him to tire mentally faster than previously but we ended the day on a high and of course a pint and some chips!

Ruth's confidence booster.

,After studying the pictures of her riding that Ruth sent prior to attending, I knew her looking into the next was an issue. After correcting it mentally during the skills check, we moved onto pumping and unweighting the bike.
The drop technique followed and in a very short period of time Ruth was confidently riding the drop.
We then moved onto the cornering technique and we worked on footwork and looking.
Ruth was now starting to really flow through sections without worrying what they specifically were and this root drop was no exeption.
Rolling down into this corner proved no problem now as Ruth's confidence and commitment grew as the day progressed. We ended the day riding top to bottom on the trail and stitching everything together seamlessly. A great end to a great day!

Polishing Marks' skills

Mark contacted me feeling that there's a couple of things he isn't quite doing right. After identifying the missing skills we set about working through pumping and applying the skills to the techniques .
Mark was amazed that when applied to riding over logs, the new skills made it way easier!
Drops became something that is fun and no longer a confidence sapper!
We stictched the coached trail together seamlessly and the drop section at the end disappeared behind as Mark whizzed by.
Cornering was worked on and Marks' looking into the next section really came into itself.
Fantastic improvements with a little polishing of what was already a very experienced rider.

Alex and friends.

We met in the car park as arranged and I gave my commitment to them as to the content of the day. We then moved through the skills health check and onto pumping and unweighting the front and rear of the bike.
I demonstrated how the unwieghting turns into a bunny hop and the boys took to it. Dave got it down!
We moved onto the drop technique and everyone got it dialled 1st go as Brian demonstrates.
We worked on the looking into the next section and here's Alex cornering into the next.
Everyone showed great progress and stiched the trail together seamlessly . The drop section at the end was just another section. Nigel was having fun nailing it. Overall the day went brilliantly, the boys all showed new skills both mentally and physically. The day ended as usual when the fatigue was about to show.
Great day guys!

Cheltenham posse

When the riders arrived I explained the outline for the day and that as always it is a re-active day and that the direction of the day depends on the individuals.
After the skills health check , we went onto the pumping technique and then onto the drop technique. John was a natural.
One of Simon's skills we needed to work on in cornering was "looking next"
Dan was really starting to flow down the trail, stitching the setions together.
Stu was really showing amazing progress, especially as he has only been riding 3 months!

Mark was flying down the trails. His footwork and looking next was really prevalent!
Barnaby was a previous attendant on agroup course and came back to cement his cornering and was really getting to grips with it all. We ended the day in the pub talking about the days events over chips and a pint.
Overall, everyone progressed loads in their "own" riding and left with a new skill set and ethos to riding.

Today went with a stir!

Steve booked a one to one session with me a few weeks back, We met and went through the skills check and onto pumping, a corner stone technique. I demonstrated unwieghting the front and rear of the bike.
Steve took to the technique quickly and soon was bunny hopping logs!
I then showed how it relates to the drop technique.
Oh , and jumping!
We worked on cornering and his footwork in particular needed work.
Bigger sections were no problem now so instead of building on the euphoria of airtime, I took him to a tight trail were his skill set will have to be in place and Steve took to it fast.


His looking into the next section was getting really good and natural.
Every section was flowed through as he used the trails energy more than his own.
Tight flat corners were worked on and after a while we had them sorted too!

We ended the day by riding to the rollercoaster section of trail and Steve showed how much his mental skills had developed by rolling down this rooty chute!
A fantastic day of solid progress !