Singletrack skills session

 Today's session only had two riders as four had re booked onto a later course short notice, so I continued with Paul and Stephen. I worked on footwork, looking and body positioning to correct their skills sets and work on the four mental skills questions also. We applied the skills to the techniques required on singletrack and trail center trails. Pumping, cornering, drop offs, riding small rock gardens, absorbing and gaining speed through sections and I also taught them why their skills made air time easier too.

The four hours flew by but at the end they were both absolutely drained and smiling as they now had a new way to ride.

High5!

Danny's day

 

 Danny has tried to have a skills session with myself for years and due to injury and bike issues it never came off but today was the day, which ironically ended with a bike issue. The day began with my skills check and I could see Danny really needed work on his cornering and it was here that I focuses on body positioning, looking and footwork. We began with the drop technique followed by the 6ft tabletop and Danny was surprised at how effortless it all was. I worked on his mental skills as  when approaching gap jumps he backed away but soon he was sailing the 6ft gap jump.

 Onto cornering and pumping and we used a trail with multiple features including two linked berms for this and worked on carrying speed and control the trails energy. It wasn't long before Danny ride the ladder gap jump with ease that came after the to berms. A break for coffee and we resumed with linking drops into corners and worked on braking areas and line choice and Danny got smoother and faster and the whole singletrack line got faster and smoother as his new cornering technique enabled him to carry speed easier.

We worked on steeper terrain and different ways of riding steep drop offs. We moved on to work on bigger gap jumps but a split in his rear Tyre and no sealant present meant the session came to an abrupt end.

Amazing progression Danny and I'll see you soon

High5!

Ruth and Andy get their skills tuned

 Ruth and Andy arrived as arranged and we chatted of their expectations and hopes for the session before beginning with the all important skills check. I found looking and body positioning were the main areas to correct physically , then it came down the the mental skills. Ruth felt one sided in cornering and her right turns were in need of a footwork correction and then it all began to slowly click together. We applied the skills to the techniques required in mountain biking and began with the drop technique, where they both were landing smoothly almost right away. I corrected Andy's braking and his control amplified as  then he could control the loose conditions he feared. 

We moved to the one thing they both hoped to be able to do, jump tabletops with control. They were amazed at how simple it felt as they used the techniques I teach and then they both rode the 6ft gap jump side too and the smiles never left their faces as they rode it over and over again.

  We took a break and resumed with cornering and carrying speed through linked berms before finally getting to ride the skills trail. This has 14 sections contained within it and I broke it all down before piecing it together using identified control areas and line choice. Bermed, off camber, switchback and flat turns were linked to pumping, jumping, drops, rock gardens , steps and drop offs. When they linked it together it was smoother than before and faster as a result. Any errors were self diagnosed too as they now knew why it was right or wrong.

We rode steeper terrain and worked on body positioning here too as the video shows before moving to the final application of the skills by linking techniques to ride over logs/fallen trees. What a brilliant session that was and i cannot wait to see them both again.

High5!

Jez discovers the depth of his skills

 I coached Jez 18 months ago and he wanted to return to regain confidence and maybe push his riding on as he'd not ridden much since the session due to other commitments. 

 We began with pumping and cornering through 2 berms as a warm up and i corrected his footwork. We moved to a 6ft tabletop and gap jump and worked on clearing it at different speeds and judging effort. This followed one of many tea breaks as we chatted loads :)  . We moved a trail to work on pumping, jumping and manuals and why either suited any given section on the jump trail. From there we worked on Jez's mental skills and we began work on riding the herts shore ladders, bit by bit we added sections of the trail before long he was linking 200 meters of woodwork and dropping from the end smoothly and the adrenaline really took hold of him and the shakes began. Another tea break followed linking a 7ft gap jump that comes after the 2 berms we began on and then linked the ladder drop that followed and even the 9ft step down gap jump. I know the write ups don't do the sessions justice and this one definitely doesn't either.

Amazing progress Jez
High5!