Preparing Julian and Rob for their holiday

 Julian and Rob are off to the Alps next month on their annual holiday and wanted to get a skills tune up as they have never got any air before and were not that great in corners either. The skills check showed me why this was the case and I began working on their footwork and looking and then later on ,their body positioning. We began with the drop technique and any worries soon subsided as they began landing perfectly and controlled. Using their mental skills they choose to ride all 3 drops with the same result. Along side the drops is the 6ft tabletop that they said they'd love to one day be able to ride and I smiled as I knew today would be that day, just not yet.

 We worked on cornering and used two berms to carry speed through and the change in them now was obvious to see as they became faster. We moved to the skills trail and began working on their singletrack skills and linking multiple sections of a trail . Flat, berms, off camber and switchback turns were linked to pumping, steps, rock gardens and drops and along with braking control and line choice they began to really shift down the trail.

 After a couple of hours of trail riding it was time to move to their biggest fear and hope, clearing a tabletop. In a few small steps they were over the 6ft tabletop and the smiles were wider than the thames as they rode it over and over again. The sun shone down and was tiring them quickly but not before they both rode theri 1st ever gap jump a few times and the amazement on their faces was a sight to see.

What a session guys.

High5!

Confidence building with Sue

We started the with the skills checks, where i worked on putting in place, and correcting a skills set, and they way it applies to the techniques within. I also changed her set up slightly before moving on. We worked on cornering so she could practice turning without being defiuned by the trail, and get the technique right, and we soon moved over to the trail. Here we worked on half the trail first. Each run was faster and faster and more in control than before. We worked on drops next, and sue applied a mental skills set, and was soon riding off the largest drop and landing perfectly. We looked at the bottom half of the trail, which included a jump, step, drop offs and corners. Each section was linked well and we finished off riding the whole trail top to bottom.

Great work Sue!

Nath (@ukbike_nath)

Tony (@ukbikeskills)

Working on Lewis' mental skills

Lewis had been coached by Tony before, so i took him straight to drops to see what skills where present. I worked here on looking and body position, before moving onto jumping, whefe i used the tabletop to work on the same skills. We went to the pump and jump trail and he was riding top to bottom, including the two berms gap jump that followed. I showed him a larger gap jump, which aftet a quick run up check, sailed over beautifully. I worked on some northshore with him, and had him riding wooden sections as well as small ladder drops. I took him over to the yquarry side, where i showed him the singletrack trail, which included corners, jumps, drops, roll ins and dropping in sideways. After lunch, he linked the whole pump and jump trail, which included then three larger table tops at the end. We rode a few other bits, and we breaked for coffee. Tonys session had just finished so he joined in with us. We took him back to a dirt jump he previously didnt have the skills set to ride, and he was soon enough sailing over it, when we worked on controlling the speed for him. The session came to an end due to tiredness, but i hope to see you again one weekend!

Nice one!

Nath (@ukbike_nath)

Tony (@ukbikeskills)

Adam's skills session

Adam's session began with my skills check and I saw that I needed to work on footwork, body positioning and looking as all techniques are pivotal to these. I made a set up change and then moved on to work on the four mental skills on the drops. I had to stop the weight shift back wards as that made him unstable and soon he was landing perfectly. Onto cornering and first an excersise on the hill and then we worked on linking 2 berms and carrying speed through them. Adam's footwork really paid dividends as he started flying through turns as demonstrated by myself.

 On the skills trail we worked on line choice and braking technique when linking the 14 sections of the trail together. Pumping, steps, rocks, fly out jumps and drops were linked to flat, bermed, off camber and switchback turns. Adam was flowing down the trail with control and confidence and much faster than he could have previously. I moved on to jumping tabletops, and in a few moves Adam was sailing over the jump and I was able to work on him judging distance for speed and effort. He used his mental skills to ride the 6ft gap jump too and the adrenaline shakes started.

I moved us on to another trail to work on jumping, pumping and manuals. Adam linked those sections and carried speed through the 2 berms from earlier and then rode the 7ft ladder gap, something he never thought he'd be able to do and repeated it with no worries a couple more times before mentally, he was drained and our session came to a happy close.

High5!