Intermediate Skills course Rivington 16th July.

Believe it or not on the morning of their course Jess, Clive and myself were discussing a severe weather warning that had been issued for the North West.  Flash floods and gale force winds were making driving conditions hazardous so we decided to meet a little later than planned. What a great decision that turned out to be, the rain was all but stopped by the time we were riding at eleven  and the weather continued to improve throughout the afternoon. Jess and Clive worked hard on new techniques and improving on existing skills.  By the afternoon the sun was out skies were blue and both riders completed the rock steps off the Pike. More Pics at Mountain Bike Skills Face Book.

 Well done guys, look forward to seeing you up in the lakes for the next instalment.

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YMCA moment at the end of first skills course of 2009.

Y= you might well ask. Paul Coogan from Leigh turned up for his skills course in a builders hard hat. New to mountain biking he was as keen as mustard but forgot his helmet. Paul chomping at the bit to get going donned his work hard hat, looking like a gay icon from 1980′s  wasn’t going to stop him. I have got to say he took the jokes (which kept coming all day) square on the chin.  Luckily i had a spare helmet, i also fixed him up with some decent layers and pads.

The other guy on the course was James Eddleston fom Bolton. James is interested in becoming a mountain bike leader and hopefully working with disadvantaged kids in the area. I have put him in-touch with Ray Mazey at www.mountainbikeinstruction.co.uk  Ray runs mountain bike leader courses and is currently providing courses for various organisations including the Police, Army, Navy and RAF.

Both chaps did excellently on the day improving skills across the board. Have got to hand it to Paul, for someone with very little experience he did really well and excelled on the drop offs. James took the single track riding crown, using a drag braking technique he completed a long section of raised muddy single-track without fault despite strong winds, well done!

I look forward to seeing you both on an intermediate course soon!

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Rivington Pike 1-2-1 tuition.

Well done to Kevin Skillin seen here demonstrating perfect form for a half meter drop off at Rivington. Kevin riding a Whyte carbon made huge impovements throught the day. Hope you give your mates a run for their money!

Cheers Kevin.

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Intermediate skills course 6th April 08

Pictured above are Ruth, Lara and Alison in a freak snow blizzard up near the Pigeon Tower Rivington.

It was freezing all day but spirits were high and improvements were made all round. The afternoon climb kept us warm but when the snow arrived we had to get out of the strong winds, sheltering behind a wall. Hard day all round but they kept going, the freezing wind and snow showers prevented a climb up to the Pike and it was a quick return to the car park for a quick change into warm clothes.

A ride to remember on a summers day when “It’s just too hot”

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Gale force winds battered 14 riders from the Woollybacks mountain bike club Sat and Sun 19th+20th April. The riders all members of the St Helens based bike club had signed up for our beginners and intermediate skills courses after the club recieved lottery funding.

Beginners course

Above from left to right are Andy, Tracy, Steve, Lee, and Ric. Although some were experienced riders they had chosen the beginners course to get back to basics with instruction to improve their skills. Lots of drills, thrills and just one or two spills made for a great day all round. With huge improvements on drop offs climbing slow speed turns and log lifts. Well done guys.  

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Beginners course Sat 8th March Lever Park Rivington, from left to right, Russ a professional stunt man from Colne in East Lancashire, Scotty still at school but hoping to become a space man (good luck Scotty), Jan (if you look closley she’s biting her tongue) originally from Plymouth but banished by the posh southerners because of her constant Terrets outbursts, now lives in the Northwest where her language goes all but un-noticed and last but by no means least, Big Pete (in the photo he’s actulay kneeling down) at seven feet eleven and a quarter inches tall is the UK’s tallest mountain-biker.The day went well dispite a bit of Northern weather (gale force winds and horizontal rain) with all riders making huge proggress on drop off’s, log lifts, steep climbs to mention but a few.

Jan the Terrets sufferer, spiced up the day with her regular outbursts of ”Oh F**k, S**t, B****cks, and everyones favorite Wwwwww*****kerrr!

Russ had a bit of a slip on his pedals landing rather heavily on the old crown jewels, i heard the pop from several meters away (ouch) “All in a days work for a proffessional stuntman”. He squeaked his way through the rest of the day without complaint. (now thats tough)

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Nicky
from Stafford pictured left, attended a 1-2-1 skills course on Sunday 2nd March,
super keen and raring to launch herself into the biking world. With only a
handful of rides and two hand fulls of falls she broached the subject of pedals,
as most of her falls were slow speed stumbles still clipped in.The pedals she
had chosen for her brand new steed ( a very nice Gary Fisher Caliber) were
a Shimano single sided pedal, normal (flat) on one side and a single SPD (cleat)
on the other.

The main problem with these pedals, when trying out new skills, is that its
hard to get clipped in, sometimes the cleat side will turn down and you will
try to clip in with 0% chance of clicking in, until you look down to check
if your pedal is the right way round. Conversely you might want to ride a section
without being clipped in, if that’s the case you might hear and feel the click
of cleat just when you don’t want to.

Here lies the problem, single sided pedals introduce an extra option, something else to be thinking about before that step or drop off, the one with a limited run up to it. To click or not to click is a huge distraction, especially if your knees and elbows still smart from your last comedy stops.

My advice to Nicky was to swap her shinny bling pedals for a set of dog rough flats, i keep for just such occasions in my car, it took 2 mins to switch them and it meant she could focus on the day ahead without the worry of slow speed falls, still clipped in. The result was fantastic progressive riding, standing up (where before she had sat), lifting the front wheel over sticks and logs, reducing her turning circle from that of a small bus to one of a nimble agile cat. She was soon riding drop off’s and descents the likes she had only dreamed of before.

What Nicky lacked in skill, she made up for in determination and arrived back
at the car park a different rider than when she left.
Parting advice was to ditch the bling, get on ebay for a set of used Shimano
or Wellgo double cleated pedals (cleats both sides) with a full cage see picture
below. If you can get your hands on a set of second hand ones they will be
much easier to get in and out of while you make the change from flats. Apart
from that choose your first clipped in rides with care, go for some softer
options, and always take some friends just for comedy value because everyone
takes a few tumbles first time out.

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