xc coaching | UK Bike Skills

28 Jun 2015

Sticky Post By Tony Doyle Posted in beginner, Coaching, singletrack skills, xc coaching, xc skills Permalink

XC skills

Sticky Post By Tony Doyle On June 28, 2015

Tracey, Steve, Justin and Colin all ride together and wanted to see myself for mountain bike coaching to give them more control in their riding. The skills check showed that I would need to correct body positioning, footwork and also their looking skills as they wanted to get better at cornering. I surprised them by starting with the drop technique as that was something common in most singletrack trails and their new skills sets made a huge difference. We worked on absorbing and pumping as well aslinking one, then two and three berms together before moving to the singletrack trail.

The singletrack trail contains 14 sections and by the end of the session they were all linking them together smoothly and faster than they ever could have previously but most importantly, it was controlled.

Brilliant progress.

High5!

23 Jun 2015

Sticky Post By Tony Doyle Posted in cornering, singletrack skills, xc coaching, xc skills Permalink

Karin’s skills session

Sticky Post By Tony Doyle On June 23, 2015

Karin took a short notice cancellation as she had wanted mountain bike coaching from myself and this was her chance.

We began with the skills check and I found that Karin needed work on looking and body positioning before I could work on her mental skills. When I said I was going to work on getting air from drops she thought I was crazy but in no time at all , Karin was airborne and a big old grin spread across her face and that never left.

We worked hard on body positioning in corners as well as the art of pumping undulations on a trail too. Linking pumping and two corners and a rock garden proved no issue once Karin applied her new Jedi skills.

We worked on carrying speed through berms and after lunch I demonstrated linking three berms together before it was Karin’s turn.

Lastly, we worked on linking jumping, steps , corners and drop offs on a trail and everything felt easier and simpler for Karin and more importantly, less scary. Karin herself ended the session with a big hug.

Brilliant, High5!

02 Jun 2015

Sticky Post By Tony Doyle Posted in mountain bike coaching, singletrack skills, xc coaching, xc skills Permalink

Carl and Mark’s session

Sticky Post By Tony Doyle On June 2, 2015

Carl and Mark came to for mountain bike coaching and a windy day greeted us but didn’t deter us at all. The skills check showed footwork, looking ad body positioning needed work and that would leave the mental skills to work on later. I began with getting air from drops. They looked surprised at this but soon they were riding all three drops with ease, applying their new mental skills along the way.

Onto cornering and they were able to dig into their skiing experiences and that helped them big time. Soon they were linking three berms together smoothly and faster than ever. We took a break and resumed with riding steeper terrain and Carl learned that you cannot force the mental skills and a wash out mid section proved that point. Errors were however self diagnosed and we continued with riding and linking sections of singletrack together. Flat, bermed, off camber and switchback turns were linked with pumping, rocks, steps, drop offs and absorbing sections. Line choices and braking areas were identified and used. They were riding the trail end to end together and were now way faster than ever and smooth too.

We ended the session when tiredness and mental fatigue began to appear but not before they were pumping and absorbing multiple sections of trail and flying through the three berms we began with.

High5!

02 Mar 2015

Sticky Post By Tony Doyle Posted in Coaching, singletrack skills, xc coaching Permalink

Public session 2nd March singletrack skills.

Sticky Post By Tony Doyle On March 2, 2015

Simon, Rich and Dave arrived for the public session after booking in a few weeks ago and securing their spot. The day arrived and I explained what we will be covering in the 4 hour session and I began but checking for their missing skills during my skills check. footwork, looking and body positioning were in need of correcting and then I worked on cornering and controlling in entries not in the corners them selves. We worked on braking technique which really hit home when riding steeper terrain later in the session. We worked on techniques required to ride flat,bermed, off camber and switchback turns. Rocks, steps, drop offs and steep up slopes. I demonstrated everything first and then they had their runs. It wasn’t long before they were linking the 14 sections on the trail easier and faster than before the session and with way more control too. By the end of the session , all Three were knowing why it felt right or wrong in any section and their old riding styles proved non effective or efficient.

Awesome start to the public sessions for 2015.

High5!