mountain biking classes?

[Becky]

There's been a lot of discussion here about mountain biking camps and classes and their benefits. DH is a good rider and a good instructor, but I think I need instruction that's less "personal". I've been riding for awhile, but my descending skills are atrocious (ok, non-existent) and I balk at obstacles that I really want to be able to ride.

Has anyone ever tried the REI intro and intermediate MTB classes? Any good? They seem to be the only thing near me (Philly area). Traveling to Colorado or Arizona for camp just isn't in the budget.

Catriona- as I recall (?), you were looking at doing one of the REI classes. How was it?

Thanks in advance for opinions/advice/etc!

[Irulan]

Hi, I don't know anything about REI but what is important is who is teaching it and what they are teaching. I have a list of skills and miscellaneous comments about coaching and classes here... ( i pasted this from my own website http://www.specialtyoutdoors.com/penny/biking/camp.asp there's a few more comments that I didn't copy...)

Also, contact your local mountain biking club/IMBA affiliate to see what else is going on for skills camps. Sometimes they run them through ski areas that do biking, or regional club events.

What to look for in a camp:

* Coaching - are the coaches volunteers, racers or professionally trained coaches? What is their background? Are they trained to teach, or is it a case of good riders who are going to show you what to do? Do they understand different learning styles and know how to break skills down into their sum parts? Or is it, "watch me now you do it" kind of teaching. Does every coach teach the same skills progression? Or are you going to get conflicting information? Ask about the student to coach ratio. Canada has certified mountain biking coaches; there is not an equivalent program in the USA.

* Skills - What exactly will they teach you? Will they give you a list of skills that they teach? How are different ability levels grouped? Look at how the riders that come out of a camp you are interested in ride. Did they learn good form? I'm thinking of one camp where they were teaching roadie technique for mountain biking descents... grip the saddle with your thighs and point your butt in the air, instead of dynamic riding ( moving behind the saddle)Talk about not very effective! It doesn't speak well of a camp when technique needs to retaught correctly after the fact!! Also, read the literature carefully.... "we watched (the coach) skid down, it only made me want to try it more" is a direct quote off another camp's web site. Is a camp that thinks skidding is cool or teaches useless/bad technique one you want to go to?

* Atmosphere - some camps are race oriented, some cater to skilled riders, some to beginners, some are really mellow; some offer gourmet food and massage as part of the program. You might want to talk to women who have been to the camp you are thinking of attending to see if it's the right camp for you.
Tips for having a great camp or clinic experience:

* Make sure your bike is is good working order
* Be prepared- if your camp requires that you bring pads, or have flat pedals, be ready to go
* Bring a friend - it's really fun to have a pal, and then you'll have a riding partner with the same experience as you. When you go home you can coach each other!
* Attitude - make sure you are going for the right reasons: to have fun and learn to be a better rider.


Skills Here's a list of skills taught at Devine Ride, the camp I go to. I wouldn't expect a list like this from every camp, but they should at least be able to tell you what they will be teaching.

* Basics: attack/neutral position; dynamic riding, where to look
* Downhill techniques: body position, "descend and bail" dismounts off the rear of the bike;
* Front brake: feathering, one finger control, modulation, descending *very* slowly with NO skidding;
* Skinnies: balance work, teeter totters, "west coast dismount" for skinnies
* Jumps: manuals, wheelie drops, progressions
* Descending stairs; ratcheting; handling transition zones.
* Unweighting skills: front wheel lifts, rear wheel lifts, manual wheel lifts, level wheel lifts; quarter pedal pushes, rear tail whips, bunny hops
* Climbing skills: crouch climb; standing push/pull pedal climb, soft pedal shifting;
* Turns: slalom style turns, foot out( outrigger) turns, high speed cornering with countersteering, switchbacks and tight corners; racheting

[ivorygorgon]

DH and I recently took the REI beginner MTB class. It was good and very fun, but it was also very beginner. We really didn't do too much. Basically rode the bikes around a lake. I enjoyed it, but if you have any experience you probably could go with the intermediate.

[PscyclePath]

What the LCI handbook says the "need-to-know" skills are if we should put together a class on mountains bikes are:

Handling skillls
Braking, and shifting gears
Trail etiquette, specifically the IMBA rules of the trail
Climbing
Descending
Suspension systems
Lights at night
Mtn bike lingo/terminology


IMBA does this annual event called "Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day," and our advocacy group is planning to host a couple of these events this summer and fall. We have a very nice little "gateway" singletrack trail at the foot of the Big Dam Bridge in North Little Rock, which will be a good place to hold it, and it's only maybe 10-15 minutes' pedaling away from the nicer stacked loop system over in Burns Park. State Parks & Tourism is also hosting an "Arkansas Trails Day" at one of the Forest Service recreation areas next weekend, so that's probably going to be my trial run at it. We'll see how it goes...

Tom

[Irulan]

What is "LCI"

just curious

[PscyclePath]

What is "LCI"

just curious

"League Cycling Instructor..." from the League of American Bicyclists. The curriculum focuses heavily on road and traffic cycling, but mountain bikers ride bikes, too ;-)

And in my experience over the past couple of years, mountain bikers do much, much better in the bike handling drills.

Tom

[Cataboo]

There's been a lot of discussion here about mountain biking camps and classes and their benefits. DH is a good rider and a good instructor, but I think I need instruction that's less "personal". I've been riding for awhile, but my descending skills are atrocious (ok, non-existent) and I balk at obstacles that I really want to be able to ride.

Has anyone ever tried the REI intro and intermediate MTB classes? Any good? They seem to be the only thing near me (Philly area). Traveling to Colorado or Arizona for camp just isn't in the budget.

Catriona- as I recall (?), you were looking at doing one of the REI classes. How was it?

Thanks in advance for opinions/advice/etc!

Hey Becky,

I think there's a Ride Like a girl ride (check out the WABA forums and you can probably find more details ) at Schaeffer farms this weekend... I'm probably not going, but I think 7rider is.

that's going to be a slow paced ride...

I never actually took one of the REI classes...

I've gone once with MdHill slug, 7rider & her dh which was fairly comfortable... Otherwise I go with the BF, and I'm making "slow" progress. I still like my brakes waaaaay too much. And mostly if I refuse to do a downhill that I should be able to, the BF just makes me climb back up the hill and do it over and over again till I get it. It's annoying, but eventually effective just because I hate biking back up the hill.

There's this one really steep downhill near his house that you end up dodging 6 trees and then you gotta jag right to go over a wood bridge over a creek... and it completely freaks me out dodging the 6 trees, then having to get on the bridge before either falling down a steep creek bed or screwing up and slamming into the steel railings of the bridge.

It's a fairly short downhill, but for whatever reason those steel trestle things freak me out, so I can't tell you how many times I sat and did that one section over and over again....