Daughter and dad share a session

Chris has been riding for years and wanted to bring his 12yr old daughter Ellen along to a skills session as she was loving her riding but didn't have the foundation he wanted her to have. Well what can I say, we have uncovered a diamond. Every once in a while a kid with real talent comes along, Nathan, Henry and Otto spring to mind and now i add Ellen to the list. I ran them through my skills check and found footwork, looking and body positioning were in need of work and with help from a set up change i gradually pieced their skills sets back together and then applied them to the techniques required in mountain biking. Chris and Ellen both hoped to eventually learn to get air off drops and jumps but were surprised that i started with drops. Soon they were both riding the largest drop comfortably and with a big grin. We moved to pumping and cornering through berms.Now their skills were really shining through as they railed around their turns.
We took a break and resumed with jumping and used a 6ft tabletop that eventually, when effort and speed matched they both cleared over and over again.
 The final application of the skills sets was linking drop offs and cornering by rolling into the corner then getting air off the largest drop and railing the turn. Amazing session and massive improvements from both Dad and Daughter.
High5!

Jo, Ellie and Sarah's session

All three had been for a coaching session before seperately, and returned as a group to further their skills. I ran them through the skills check to see what skills were in place before moving on. We worked on the drops and i worked on bringing their unweight technique out, so they needed less speed for the same result. We then worked on the tabletop, where they were all jumping, and some chose to ride the gap jump as well. After a break, i took them to the singletrack trail and they were linking steeper roll ins to corners, and jumps. Mental barriers where over come and the sections were rode well. We finished on the pump trail where they were pumping and jumping through sections. Great work ladies!

Nath (@ukbike_nath)

Tony (@ukbikeskills)

A birthday present for Tash.

 I have coached Tash's dad Pete before and he wanted to get his daughter a session for her 18th birthday as they ride together but she lacked confidence. The day arrived and sunshine greeted us as I began with my skills check and found looking and footwork were missing and this is where I began correcting the missing skills and then working on the mental skills. The session proved to be very cool as Tash's uptake was very fast indeed as we moved to the drops to apply her new skill set to the technique required. Soon she was sailing into the air and loving how simple it all felt.
 We worked hard on cornering in many different types of turns, berms, flat, off camber and switchback turns were all ridden with the same result of control and speed of exit. I worked on pumping and carrying speed through two berms before moving to the skills trail and working on each scary section, as Tash put it before linking them all together. Rocks proved no issue, nor did steep up slopes that she felt she'd fall backwards if she rode up it, soon the fears dissipated as her control of the trail grew and grew as did her speed and smile.
 We ended our session on the 6ft tabletop, which in her wildest dreams she never thought she'd ever be able to ride and she was popping into the air beautifully. Mental fatigue soon got the better of her and we ended the session. Amazing improvements Tash and let me know how the riding goes.
High5!

Rosanna and Dan's skills session

 I coached Dan nearly five years ago and he wanted to return to push his riding on  and also help out his partner Rosanna as she was a beginner. I began with the skills check and That showed me what areas they needed work on and then we began. I know Rosana struggled on the blue trail at the forest of Dean so I wanted to work on their cornering and absorbing/pumping sections of trail and basically deal with undulations on a trail. We began however with applying their skills to the technique required in drops. I was able to get Rosanna into the air for her first time ever while moving Dan through the drops and across to the 6ft tabletop and eventually, the 6ft gap jump. Dan was amazed at how simple it felt as he sailed over the jumps time and time again.

 We took a break and resumed by working on their cornering and then applying this technique to riding berms and dealing with multiple undulations on a trail, something Rosanna previous struggled with but now with her new mental and physical skills she was able to manage her speed and control the energy in the trail. Dan was able to choose whether to jump or absorb any section of the trail and they linked 2 berms at the end of the trail together. I could see they were tiring and after a breaking control excersise it soon became apparent they were tired as mistakes really began to show and a wash out by Rosanna proved that correct and they opted to end the session there. Amazing improvements guys.

High5!