Wendy gets the prize for best cornering form in our August Clinic recap. Note her body position in the photo above; she’s got elbows out, her head up with her center of gravity low. She’s looking down the trail, ready for anything, and looking fast!
It can take some time before we begin to adopt new body movements to our repertoire, but with practice it comes to all of us. Wendy here is a former ski instructor and took to it quite quickly- Kudos to Wendy!
We had a nice sized group for July’s mountain bike skills clinic at Tamarancho, and as usual, we all had a great time working to get everyone dialed in. We recorded everyone’s neutral position and looking at our gallery below, it is interesting to see how the different cockpit configurations effect where one’s neutral point would be. Note that these were taken at the beginning of the day, as we often move steerer spacers to dial in the handlebar height of riders on the trail.
Have you heard about our series of clinics at Camp Tamarancho? We’ve been having a great time sharing new skills with some great folks.
There’s nothing better for improving your form and technique than viewing one’s riding, whether it is in video or still form. We often think we’re lower than we actually are, or leaning the bike further based on feel, but the camera doesn’t lie. (other than adding a few pounds here and there at least) Once we’re able to dial in our riding position and associate it with the way it is supposed to feel, the progression truly begins. Because it helps so much to see how we look when we’re riding, we’ve been toting an SLR camera along with us so that riders can view their form as they practice. They also serve as a great bench mark for where one’s currently at, and where you want to end up. (Ideally as low and dialed as our Bikeskills coach Ian Massey, pictured below!)
Did you know that Bikeskills offers clinics for small groups in addition to our regular trail riding clinics? All you need is yourself and three friends in order to get a personalized clinic that caters to the skills you want to focus and hone in on. In fact, this month’s NorCal clinic was limited to ladies only, and these ladies took advantage of the personalized coaching from our team to work on their skills.
We started off checking everyone’s suspension and cockpit set-up to verify sag was set correctly, tire pressures were set, brake lever placement was good, and riding positions optimized for handling on the trail.
We then moved across the street to focus on dialing our riding positions. Mastering the neutral attack position is a key building block for progression!
Moving on, the group worked on some drills that emphasized working their range of motion, and unweighting their front and rear wheels.
We covered a wide range of skills, both on and off the trail including how to climb and descend switchback turns.
All the ladies were climbing and cleaning the numerous technical switchback turns on the climb up after the drill- success is sweet!
Everyone in the group showed remarkable progression over the course of the day. And the most important part is that everyone had a great time improving their riding safely.
Thanks to Inga Beck for taking all the photos and organizing the clinic for the ladies. See you all on the trail soon!
Bikeskills instructor and former World Champion, Joe Lawwill is working hard to shape and expand one of the most exciting forms of mountain biking events… maybe ever: Super D. Stay tuned for more on what Joe is up to. In the mean time, watch this video and pass it on!
Going the Distance is a film that chronicles the lives of four Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) survivors. A collaboration between three-time Emmy Award winning filmmaker David L Brown and Epic Way Sports (Bikeskills, Skiskills, Surfskills) Going the Distance’s goal is to raise awareness and critical funding to help those who have survived what is the leading killer and disabling injury affecting those of us 5-45 years of age. You can help by donating and as passing on the URL of the Going the Distance trailer to your friends, family, and colleagues: help us help them.
It seems that there’s always a rideable break in the winter. Some of the guys and gals at Trek Bicycles even rode on New Year’s Day… in Wisconsin! And breaks in winter weather often bring the best conditions to capture a great “point of view” video with your GoPro or other wearable camera. Check out Mt Tam’s only legal single track, the Coastal Trail, on Superbowl Sunday.
Join Bikeskills’ JP Sickler to learn the basics of Bike Park riding skills and techniques, including: dirt jumping, pump track fundamentals, raised stunts and more. Fresno’s Woodward bike park has an amazing array of riding opportunities – and JP has skills and instructional experience to get you up to speed… fast! For more information on dates and times, click on the schedule icon above.
From all of us at BIKESKILLS, all the best for 2011!
Just because it’s wet out doesn’t mean you can’t ride, be in control, or miss out on the fun of mountain biking. What you need is a BIKESKILLS clinic! So join the team at BIKESKILLS NW and learn to deal with slippery roots, loose terrain, as well as load up on an array of tips covering foul weather bike and rider set-up even how to make clean up a snap. The clinic takes place at McDonald Park in Redmond WA on February 19th. Start the New Year off right and sign up now!
