Intro to Mountain biking - REI outdoor school, Nov 1st

[michelem]

I did one of these REI Outdoor School things (Intro to Road Biking --yes, we used road bikes, but we didn't do any biking on roads, just a paved off-road trail) and it was a total waste of time and money. The main focus was promoting the Novara line of bikes in hopes of making a sale. Hopefully this one is better than the one I went to. They had us stay in the same gear so we didn't even learn shifting expect through lecture and we didn't ride on roads, so we didn't get to learn how to ride with traffic or negotiate stop signs or traffic lights. And, yes, I did voice my disappointment to the instructors (they said I should put my concerns in my evaluation), submitted a detailed evaluation, but never received a response from REI . . .

[Kalidurga]

Aaarrrgh! Another cool thing that I'd be interested in doing that I found out about after already making plans for that day. I'll be in Philly this Saturday.

I guess I need to be proactive and spend more time searching the intarwebs for this stuff.

[7rider]

Aaarrrgh! Another cool thing that I'd be interested in doing that I found out about after already making plans for that day. I'll be in Philly this Saturday.

I guess I need to be proactive and spend more time searching the intarwebs for this stuff.

What about the 11th - Veteran's Day - at College Park?

Oooooo....that reminds me....Federal Holiday....dot gov ride at Schaeffer anyone??

[Kalidurga]

Hmmm. On second glance, that actually appears to 1/11, as in January. That I could do. Thanks for the notice, Catriona!

Oooooo....that reminds me....Federal Holiday....dot gov ride at Schaeffer anyone??

Blah. Not only do I work in retail, so don't get that holiday off unless I make up for it another day, but I'll be in Florida that week. I'm never gonna get to ride Schaeffer unless I buck up and go do it alone

[7rider]

Hmmm. On second glance, that actually appears to 1/11, as in January. That I could do. Thanks for the notice, Catriona!

Oops. Right you are.

And, Xeney...I think DivingBiker's mtb-class was an REI one (locally, for you D.C./MD/VA ladies), and she had a similar experience - but I suspect she can fill you in on her experience better than I!

[Cataboo]

I'm debating whether to try to go this Saturday - I suspect I'll hear all about it from the bf - something to the extent of how girls make it through childhood without learning any bike handling skills at all and have to take classes, while boys just naturally play and pick it all up...

Of course, I've been listening to that all summer, and have developed the ability to bike faster than him which seems to have shut him up

But I've decided he's not very good at teaching me to do anything.

[7rider]

- something to the extent of how girls make it through childhood without learning any bike handling skills at all and have to take classes, while boys just naturally play and pick it all up...

Aye. Boys learn with frequent trips to the hospital emergency room. Girls are smarter than that!

How's your cardio?? Schaeffer isn't so technical that you can't get by without some good cardio skills and work around the technical stuff. Besides. We'd wait at intersections.

[divingbiker]

And, Xeney...I think DivingBiker's mtb-class was an REI one (locally, for you D.C./MD/VA ladies), and she had a similar experience - but I suspect she can fill you in on her experience better than I!

Actually, mine was put on by the Bike Lane, a shop in Burke, VA. It was good, and no sales pitch at all!

I'm up for the Veterans Day ride at Schaeffer. But how are we going to find our way out of the park, since we're directionally challenged???

[7rider]

I'm up for the Veterans Day ride at Schaeffer. But how are we going to find our way out of the park, since we're directionally challenged???

DH may be with me (us)....thus the comment on the cardio!
I'd love to get a group together...we have a friend who just bought a mtb, and to the best of my knowledge has not taken it in the woods yet. I might even see if I can get some of the newbie 'cross racers from the LBS to join us - a little off-road bike handling and obstacle jumping skills session for them. That should be entertaining!

[Cataboo]

Actually, mine was put on by the Bike Lane, a shop in Burke, VA. It was good, and no sales pitch at all!

I'm up for the Veterans Day ride at Schaeffer. But how are we going to find our way out of the park, since we're directionally challenged???

I'll bring a GPS and then we can be GPS and directionally challenged.

We can do what my bf did when we went backpacking Columbus day weekend - didn't put in a waypoint at the car, and the GPS coordinates he'd gotten off the internet were wrong - making the GPS marginally useful.

[stephanie1129]

I guess the fact that the outdoor school classes can be tailored to the needs of each specific class can be a good and bad thing. The motto is "no rider left behind" so sometime instructors have to make the choice not to take the class on the roads with traffic, or not to complete the trail for the mountain bike class.

It would be really surprising to me that the instructors would try to be sales people on the outing. Even on the sales floor the specialists are not pushed to up-sell or sell anything that the customer doesn't need. They don't get commission or have any incentive to sell Novara (REI brand) bikes. However, many students are interested in buying a bike of their own and ask what to look for, or want to know details about the equipment they are using in the class. I think most instructors give their honest opinion, rather than just over promoting REI products.

[Cataboo]

Oooooo....that reminds me....Federal Holiday....dot gov ride at Schaeffer anyone??

I could make it, but I think my current skill level would slow you guys down.

[HillSlugger]

Oooooo....that reminds me....Federal Holiday....dot gov ride at Schaeffer anyone??

Is this going to happen? Do we need a separate planning thread?

[Cataboo]

Is the holiday actually on the Tuesday and not the Monday?

[HillSlugger]

Yes, Tuesday.