James has been on a session with me before and wanted a session for his son Connor. James agreed to attend the session also so they could share the experience and as always I began with the skills check that showed me the areas I needed to work on. It was great to see that James had really worked hard on his skill set and Connor at aged 14 had natural ability.We began with braking technique followed by applying the mental and physical skill sets to the drop technique and they were sailing through the air from the word go.
they were riding all three drops and recognizing any errors they made too. After a while, we moved onto the skills trail and worked on cornering and applying the skill set in all 14 sections that are present in the trail. Pumping, flat, bermed, off camber and switchback corners were linked to rock gardens, steps, drops and fly out jumps. I worked all the time on line choice and availability of grip in wet conditions. Before long they were riding the trail end to end. I didn't dwell too long before moving onto jumping proper using a 6ft tabletop as I didn't want to mentally tire them too quickly.
The slippy conditions were affecting James's mental skills but Connor was happy sailing into the air. Due to the effect of the conditions, I moved them onto jumping on the pump and jump trail and it was great to see both of them in the air and in control with a smile on their faces.
Our session ended as mental and physical tiredness began to show bringing to a close another great session. High5 !
This session was booked primarily to allow my son (Connor) to esperience Tony's teaching wisdom, but also my chance to see whether or not I have learned anything from the sesion in September.
ReplyDeleteFrom a slightly hesitant start on the skills check Connor, preceded to ride, corner, pump and jump pretty much everything in sight!
I almost wished was a kid again, do that stuff without a brain that analyses everything to death - and worries me in the process.
For me cornering and general bike balance had improved since September, but jumps remain an issue mainly because of my issues with heights!
Tony did a SUPERB job with Connor, in fact towards the end there was no holding him back - even though Tony tried. :-)
In some repsects being ridden off the trail by your own son brought it's own pressure, but we all had a great time.
Did Connor enjoy it? Well did say he could have a real MTB if it was something he enjoyed - well went had the session Saturday, rode again on Sunday....and since then I've had quite a few reminders about the bike.
I have to focus on my peripheral fear of heights as next development area, before my riding will really move on.
Does Tony do a great job - well Connor is hooked, and as for me what higher praise can I give than....
...when I saw Tony in September I was ready to throw my stumpjumper away I hated riding it that much!
Now, my wife constantly reminds me, that am always looking for the next ride! RESULT!!
Without Tony the bike would be somewhere dusty and unloved...now its covered in mud, scratched and abused on a regular basis.
Ha ha, great review.
ReplyDeleteAn abused bike is a happy bike ;)