Ride it! - Information

For 1 - 8 riders

Building the fundamental skills needed to progress as far as you wish, from a solid foundation of good practice

Who are you?

You may have just started riding off-road, or you may have spent some time on trail centre trails riding green and blue trails. You've maybe ridden red trails, but felt you surviv ed them more than rode them.You're interested in riding Blue and Red trails and developing your ability to drive the bike rather than just hang on.

what are you riding?

You're riding a dedicated mountain bike suitable for cross country riding, although you may have a more burly bike or even a full-suss bike, which are suitable. A good quality hard-tail bike will be equally at ease on the day, and some might say better.

where will we be riding?

We'll be based at a trail centre, riding mostly blue trails, and riding them well. We may spend some time in the car park practicing skills in a safe and comfortable environment, and there may be some work done on a skills track if available.

how physical will it be?

The day will utilise several parts of the area you are in, and so there will be some riding between these spots. You will be encouraged to practice skills continually throughout the day. The total distance travelled can be less than 10km in the day, but you will work hard.

Having said that, the semi-static nature of the day allows riders to have a break whenever they need one, so you can make it more or less physical for yourself.

how technical will the riding be?

Run on terrain from car park to blue with only small sections of red if suitable for group members to practice individual skills. This is aimed to build your confidence as well as develop good practice in your riding.

what do you need to bring?

  • Helmet- in good condition under 3 years old
  • Bike - in good repair - (get in touch if you need to hire a bike) ideally with flat pedals
  • Small personal first aid kit
  • Lunch and Water
  • Appropriate clothing for the weather forecast
  • Very Small repair kit:
    • Pump
    • Spare tube (even if you are tubeless)
    • Small multi-tool

session specific content

We'll start with a brief kit check, and then go into a bike check, then look at the following skills:

  • Body Position - this is key to all levels of riding
  • Pumping for free speed and efficiency - this builds on and develops body position
  • Efficient braking - where and when to brake to stay as efficient as possible
  • Cornering - taking flat corners and berms, gaining confidence and developing efficiency and exit speed
  • Front and rear manual wheel lifting - to gain route choices when there are obstacles around us
  • Basics of route choice so we can ride our best given the terrain we ride
  • Creating flow - putting it all together

By the end of the session, riders should have better balance on the bike resulting in more confidence and therefore more speed (or less braking) for efficiency. They should understand more about reading the trail and taking some of the bumps out of it for both comfort and efficiency, and overall should be smiling wider by the end of the day.