Opinions on mountain bike skills lessons?

J

JoelFitz

Likes Dirt
Hey all, what is the general idea on getting some mountain bike skills lessons?
I've been consistently riding now for close to a year (a lot of on/off prior to that)..

But I still feel quite disjointed on tight switchbacks and corners, I likely come in too fast freak out get all out of sorts and then pedal out.. Can't commit to leaning over and I'd say I remain way too rigid.

I'd love to improve and I am happy to keep at it, but not sure if I am actually improving or not. I'd say I'm maybe getting worse as I start to over analyse it and throw in a couple of stacks to knock the confidence levels down.

So is it worth booking in for some of the lessons? Or it's just practice practice and some more practice?

I bring it up as it does get kinda costly doing the training at $80 odd an hour, and most want to run 4 or so sessions. That'd go along way to some new bike components :)

Cheers
Joel
 
Quintin

Quintin

Eats Squid
what are the guys that you ride with like? if you are riding with people below your level it will be hard to advance because there is no real reason to go faster or learn new tricks.

i have found that for me (and others that i know) the biggest advances i ever made in my riding was when i was riding regularly with people either better than me or at least as good who were also striving to get better. when you can ride and pump each other up and feel pressure to do better it just works and you leap ahead far further than what you would have if you were riding alone.

^ that's one way... i suppose you could get some lessons, there are a few guys doing that nowadays but in my opinion nothing beats time on the trails and a little peer pressure.
 
D

driftking

Wheel size expert
sounds like you need to step back.
You mentioned you come in too fast into switch backs.
The best approach here is to come in slow without brakes and hit the switch backs wait till your comfortable, than come in little bit faster. In a short session or one afternoon you should find that your hitting the corner much faster than you ever have before.

Ultimately you need to make sure though your technique is right, in which case coaching is going to be the best move, you can grab some instructional dvds like fluidride and dirt fundamentals which are probably a great investment too.

I think coaching though is invaluable been in qld I would be hitting up kovarik racing
http://kovarikracing.com/
cant really get any better than two wc riders.

They head over to Canada for the summer over in whistler so if you want to do this make sure you grab the opportunity now while they are here.
 
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mickeytg

mickeytg

Likes Dirt
I ride with guys who are more experienced than me so they give great tips. I also have a kindle version of Mastering Mountain Bike Skills 2nd Edition. I found it helpful plus I watch a heap on Youtube. While practice makes perfect reading and watching vids I have found has helped me. I'm back into the sport after being out for 10 years - wife reckons I'm going through a mid life crisis!:thumb:
 
Q

quin66

Likes Dirt
One of the best and cheapest things you could do, every day if you have time is go to a local park and place a couple of sticks a few meters apart. Start riding around them in a figure of eight pattern. You can have fun playing like this and it will definitely help you learn to corner and lean the bike at different speeds. Good luck.
 
scblack

scblack

Leucocholic
Do some racing.

When I started doing plenty of DH racing years ago before kids came along, thats when I REALLY picked up my skill level. A few reasons for that - watching much better riders, pushing yourself to the clock and general talking to better riders: How do you do this? How do you set up for that? Why are you doing this here? How do you manage that line?

Its an environment where you HAVE to improve yourself to improve times. And I found also having guys watching what you're doing made me harden up more and hit lines/obstacles I probably would have chickened out otherwise.
 
D

DoubleD

Likes Dirt
Join StKilda cycling club and come along to the next skills weekend that Pat Fitzpatrick coaches at. Take what you've learnt and get down to the You Yang's for a couple of seasons of their No Frills Friday racing. You'll improve out of sight

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
 
Jeffgre_6163

Jeffgre_6163

Likes Dirt
I have done a course..

Went to Rotorua in mid January with my son.
I have been riding and racing [XC mainly plus endurance events] for many years. I had my first race in 1989 actually. I do OK, top tens in my age group and a very rare podium once in a blue moon.
My fitness for a 50 year old is pretty good and I'm not too bad technically but I know I was lacking when it came to certain skills such as pumping the terrain for speed, small gap jumps etc.
Basically I lacked the knowledge and timing on the former and confidence on the latter
So while I was in Rotorua I did a 4 hour one on one course with Lisa Horlor from MTB Skills NZ.

It was like a religious awakening, an epiphany. I truly cant rate it high enough. I almost had tears in my eyes
Riding with faster riders is all well and good and they can and do push you along but when you have a professionally trained coach beside you while you session areas you want to get better on is another thing entirely.
Those 4 hours in January transformed my riding. I went from tentatively squashing and never clearing moderate table tops [E.G. Challenge roadside for those who have been to Rotorua] to hitting and clearing all but the steepest kickers.
The pump track I dawdled through not knowing any of the body positioning to build up speed previously went from slow to clearing the small double at the end with more speed generated than I would have though possible.
It not only made me faster and more confident but completely refreshed my love for riding as I now have a completely new set of skills to build on.

Lisa said it would take 2 - 3 months of solid work and talking myself through the drills she taught me before it becomes 2nd nature, she was right, every ride I work at it and every ride it gets better.

Learn from a girl!!!!! I hear you say.
Well for the record Lisa was Canadian national DH champ and finished the world cup in 6th place [cant recall what year though, sorry]
Listen to her, that girl can ride!

Don't spend your next spare couple of hundred on a new fork, brakes, flash helmet etc, spend it on a riding course
You will never regret it.
And remember no matter how good you think you are even Tiger Woods and Raphael Nadal have coaches
 
D

Dougy

Likes Dirt
DoubleD said:
Join StKilda cycling club and come along to the next skills weekend that Pat Fitzpatrick coaches at. Take what you've learnt and get down to the You Yang's for a couple of seasons of their No Frills Friday racing. You'll improve out of sight

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I think it might be a little too far for a weekend trip but joining a club is a great idea. From memory there are one or two around Brisbane that would suit your needs.

That said, If you don't mind traveling get some mates together and hit the road for Thredbo. There are some great instructors down there and guys like Danny, Luke, or Timmy would be able to sort out where you are lacking confidence and how you can improve. Once you've got a handle on it you can then put it to use on the Flow trail and work up to the DH. The biggest problem with most people is confidence both in themselves and in what their bike can do. Most casual riders never really push the limits of either. Riding more challenging trails like Thredbo will help give you the confidence and make your home trails seem much easier as you will have a better idea of what you can actually do.
 
B

BP1

Squid
mickeytg said:
I ride with guys who are more experienced than me so they give great tips. I also have a kindle version of Mastering Mountain Bike Skills 2nd Edition. I found it helpful plus I watch a heap on Youtube. While practice makes perfect reading and watching vids I have found has helped me. I'm back into the sport after being out for 10 years - wife reckons I'm going through a mid life crisis!:thumb:
Click to expand...
Ditto everything he said!!

Hard copy can be had for $30 on eBay and is well worth a read: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Masterin...443?pt=AU_Books_Textbooks&hash=item485e7c7a83

There is so much you can learn by watching Youtube, and Richard Kelly's tutorials in the free online issues of IMB at http://www.imbikemag.com are long-winded but contain a lot of valuable information on development of fundamental skills.

Practice specific skills such as bunny-hop, manual, pump, off the trail in a park, backyard, driveway or at one of the pump tracks that are popping up at mtb parks such as the ones here in Vic at YY and Lysty.

Unless I wanted to rapidly increase my skills, I wouldn't bother with lessons. Not saying they're a waste, it's just that you can save your dollars for other stuff and spend your time just riding. Ride with other people, join a club or a Facebook mtb group.

But most of all, relax and enjoy!
 
J

JoelFitz

Likes Dirt
Cheers all some good advice in here.. I did get that book Mastering Mtb, but I actually found it made me worse in that I started to overthink everything once I read it.. Prior to that it all felt a bit more natural.. Now i'm my own worst enemy haha.
I usually ride solo which doesn't help.
Sometimes get out on a shop ride though the guys are so fast compared to me I don't really get to take notice of their lines etc and if I do try and keep up i'm more just hanging on hoping to survive haha.

I might do a 2hr session with Chris Kovarik and see how that goes. If I benefit from it can look at doing more, and if not then no huge lose.

Cheers
Joel
 
swaz

swaz

Likes Bikes and Dirt
JoelFitz said:
Cheers all some good advice in here.. I did get that book Mastering Mtb, but I actually found it made me worse in that I started to overthink everything once I read it.. Prior to that it all felt a bit more natural.. Now i'm my own worst enemy haha.
I usually ride solo which doesn't help.
Sometimes get out on a shop ride though the guys are so fast compared to me I don't really get to take notice of their lines etc and if I do try and keep up i'm more just hanging on hoping to survive haha.

I might do a 2hr session with Chris Kovarik and see how that goes. If I benefit from it can look at doing more, and if not then no huge lose.

Cheers
Joel
Click to expand...
I would guess you are not a type of person that can read something, and then go and apply it.

Best thing I ever did, was loose the ego and admit to my more experienced mates that I need some help. I have a mate who is a masters DH champ and he took me out to the local trail and we went through each of the elements I sucked at one by one. He told me exactly what I needed to do and I, like some religious nut, put my total trust in him and did as I was told. He has been 100% correct about everything and I have taken a significant amount of time off the 10km loop and have heaps more confidence. So much so I have had some nice stacks due to my speed not = my skill just yet haha. Another mate I ride with just offers advice when needed. Such as noticing when I take an inside line around a corner instead of keeping wide where the grip is.
I haven't paid them a single cent either haha. So that would be my suggestion. Join a club, ride with some nice people (be picky) and ask nicely for advice and go in without ego. I personally like riding behind someone better than me so I can watch what line they choose.
 
Q

quin66

Likes Dirt
Continue Reading ....


Just use my standard reply: "nah, it's a dud wife crisis." Just make sure you have a comfy couch.

Haha brilliant. Not heard that before. Can't wait to bring that one up.
 
9

99_FGT

Likes Bikes and Dirt
swaz said:
I would guess you are not a type of person that can read something, and then go and apply it.

Best thing I ever did, was loose the ego and admit to my more experienced mates that I need some help. I have a mate who is a masters DH champ and he took me out to the local trail and we went through each of the elements I sucked at one by one. He told me exactly what I needed to do and I, like some religious nut, put my total trust in him and did as I was told. He has been 100% correct about everything and I have taken a significant amount of time off the 10km loop and have heaps more confidence. So much so I have had some nice stacks due to my speed not = my skill just yet haha. Another mate I ride with just offers advice when needed. Such as noticing when I take an inside line around a corner instead of keeping wide where the grip is.
I haven't paid them a single cent either haha. So that would be my suggestion. Join a club, ride with some nice people (be picky) and ask nicely for advice and go in without ego. I personally like riding behind someone better than me so I can watch what line they choose.
Click to expand...
This - ask for help. If you usually ride alone then there is probably not a lot that can be offered, but if you are on good terms with some guys on the shop rides (assuming Castle Hill with the lads) ask them to shadow and critigue - if I get stuck behind someone on a trail (particularly juniors or beginners) I will try and talk them through what is coming up (sorry for the guy who crashed yesterday when I was heckling - be nice to juniors, karma doesn't hurt but the trail does!)
Lessons can be a godsend, getting you set up nice and natural on the bike, position on the bike (balancing weight for climbing and descending), but I would suggest that if you can not do an intensive, try and do them about 4 weeks apart where you have plenty of trail time between them. I think I would benefit from lessons as I have picked up some bad habits along the way, and I've been riding / racing XC and previously DH for 20 years....
As for the suggestions for riding with faster guys, definitely worthwhile, but at the same time can be a backwards step - if you're crashing then that is not going to help you improve unless you (or they) can identify what you are doing wrong, and can knock down the confidence even more.

Al..
 
swaz

swaz

Likes Bikes and Dirt
99_FGT said:
As for the suggestions for riding with faster guys, definitely worthwhile, but at the same time can be a backwards step - if you're crashing then that is not going to help you improve unless you (or they) can identify what you are doing wrong, and can knock down the confidence even more.

Al..
Click to expand...
I second this. Having ridden with a mate who is more experienced and faster than me and also with a massive ego I have found it no help at all to ride with him if I am out to improve, which I always am. Advice of "just do it" and "grow a set" is of zero use to anyone wanting to know how to actually do it. If you can find someone who is a teacher as a day job, I found them to be pretty good at being able to break things down.
 
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