classroom. While the afternoon’s video was downloaded the café supplied us with coffee and cake. Even
though the cakes came in big wedges they didn’t last long. In fact they were finished long before Bob and
Jim realised the projector wasn’t working because they hadn’t plugged it into the laptop. It had obviously
been a long day for all of us.
It had definitely been a day well spent. While I only learnt a few techniques to add to what I already knew
they made a big difference to my riding. Having two instructors to give feed back and a full day to practise
allowed me to improve much faster than I would ever have done on my own. Our group contained a large
spread of experience and ability, which Bob and Jim coped with easily. I never felt held back while the less
experienced never seemed to be out of their depth.
I would highly recommend this course as a friendly and relaxed way to improve your riding. Yes, I am
involved with Oneplanet Adventure, I run the Shop Rides for them, but I have my own reputation to uphold
and wouldn’t recommend it if it wasn’t any good. If you do decide to go on the Core Skills course after
reading this review please mention this website.
Thanks to Bob, Jim and everyone else on the course for letting me use the pictures and video footage.
though the cakes came in big wedges they didn’t last long. In fact they were finished long before Bob and
Jim realised the projector wasn’t working because they hadn’t plugged it into the laptop. It had obviously
been a long day for all of us.
It had definitely been a day well spent. While I only learnt a few techniques to add to what I already knew
they made a big difference to my riding. Having two instructors to give feed back and a full day to practise
allowed me to improve much faster than I would ever have done on my own. Our group contained a large
spread of experience and ability, which Bob and Jim coped with easily. I never felt held back while the less
experienced never seemed to be out of their depth.
I would highly recommend this course as a friendly and relaxed way to improve your riding. Yes, I am
involved with Oneplanet Adventure, I run the Shop Rides for them, but I have my own reputation to uphold
and wouldn’t recommend it if it wasn’t any good. If you do decide to go on the Core Skills course after
reading this review please mention this website.
Thanks to Bob, Jim and everyone else on the course for letting me use the pictures and video footage.
| |||||||||
It was just before 9am on a Saturday when I arrived at Llandegla Mountain Bike Centre for my Core Skills
course with Oneplanet Adventure. Instead of the usual blast round the Red and Black routes I would be
spending the day brushing up my riding skills. I’m a good rider but plan to become an instructor and need
to iron out my self-taught quirks. Also, as I’m no Steve Peat there is always of room for improvement.
In the classroom I met the seven other ‘students’ I’d be spending the day with. Bob and Jim, our
instructors, were the last to arrive. They were running slightly late after an early morning stint as
lumberjacks, clearing the trails of trees that had been brought down in the recent high winds.
With introductions made and lunch orders taken we got straight into the course. A brief run down of the
day was followed by a bike check and then it was off up the firetrack to the skills area. On the way up I had
a chat with Bob. He had been making his living in the outdoors for some time, having been a kayak
instructor before moving to bikes. It would be a good chance for me to learn some training techniques as
well as improving my riding.
course with Oneplanet Adventure. Instead of the usual blast round the Red and Black routes I would be
spending the day brushing up my riding skills. I’m a good rider but plan to become an instructor and need
to iron out my self-taught quirks. Also, as I’m no Steve Peat there is always of room for improvement.
In the classroom I met the seven other ‘students’ I’d be spending the day with. Bob and Jim, our
instructors, were the last to arrive. They were running slightly late after an early morning stint as
lumberjacks, clearing the trails of trees that had been brought down in the recent high winds.
With introductions made and lunch orders taken we got straight into the course. A brief run down of the
day was followed by a bike check and then it was off up the firetrack to the skills area. On the way up I had
a chat with Bob. He had been making his living in the outdoors for some time, having been a kayak
instructor before moving to bikes. It would be a good chance for me to learn some training techniques as
well as improving my riding.
We started with a session on braking. On the loose gravel we first had
to stop using the rear brake only, then the front, getting used to the
feel of each one before using both together. Feathering was the name
of the game and as the skid marks reduced so did the stopping
distances.
The front wheel lift was next (Video). I learnt something new straight
away, it was a front wheel scoop, not a lift. With Bob describing the
technique and Jim demonstrating I learnt a bit more. It wasn’t much
different from how I already performed the manoeuvre but by refining
my technique I made a noticeable improvement. When we could all get
to stop using the rear brake only, then the front, getting used to the
feel of each one before using both together. Feathering was the name
of the game and as the skid marks reduced so did the stopping
distances.
The front wheel lift was next (Video). I learnt something new straight
away, it was a front wheel scoop, not a lift. With Bob describing the
technique and Jim demonstrating I learnt a bit more. It wasn’t much
different from how I already performed the manoeuvre but by refining
my technique I made a noticeable improvement. When we could all get
our front wheel off the ground the technique was combined with obstacles. This started by lifting over a
line on the ground (Video) but soon progressed to popping off a wooden ramp (Video). Not that it was
rushed, we just found the explanations given by Bob and Jim, combined with their relaxed coaching style,
inspired confidence.
This led neatly on to the bunny hop. Again Jim showed how it should be done. “OK” said Bob “Do what Jim
did, except for looking down”. Jim’s bad habit was used to show how hard it can be to get things right.
After the sarcasm Bob went on to explain that we might not get to grips with this technique in the allocated
time and would need to practice after the session to get it nailed. I know this from experience. After being
shown the technique a few months previously I had only just started to get it right. Even so, Jim noticed I
was pulling up with my cleats and gave me a few pointers to sort it out (Video).
The wooden ramps were then set up to practice our wheel lifts (Video) and bunny hops (Video) on a
transition. As some people had only just learnt how to lift (er..scoop?) their front wheel properly it was
amazing to see the amount of progress that had been made.
line on the ground (Video) but soon progressed to popping off a wooden ramp (Video). Not that it was
rushed, we just found the explanations given by Bob and Jim, combined with their relaxed coaching style,
inspired confidence.
This led neatly on to the bunny hop. Again Jim showed how it should be done. “OK” said Bob “Do what Jim
did, except for looking down”. Jim’s bad habit was used to show how hard it can be to get things right.
After the sarcasm Bob went on to explain that we might not get to grips with this technique in the allocated
time and would need to practice after the session to get it nailed. I know this from experience. After being
shown the technique a few months previously I had only just started to get it right. Even so, Jim noticed I
was pulling up with my cleats and gave me a few pointers to sort it out (Video).
The wooden ramps were then set up to practice our wheel lifts (Video) and bunny hops (Video) on a
transition. As some people had only just learnt how to lift (er..scoop?) their front wheel properly it was
amazing to see the amount of progress that had been made.
This brought us to lunch and a welcome break to refuel after
expending a lot of energy. The lunch back at the centre was spot on,
with the café supplying big plates of hot tasty food. There was a lot to
pack in so training continued while we ate. Video footage from the
morning’s sessions was downloaded and projected onto a screen.
This unique perspective allowed Bob and Jim to talk us through slo-
mos, pointing out exactly where we’d got things right, or wrong, while
giving tips for improvement.
We were quite stuffed after lunch and heading back up the hill, on the
way to a jump session, a few of us wondered whether eating so much had been such a good idea. At least
there hadn’t been a dessert.
Although I had been practicing jumps over the previous year and worked up to medium sized dirt jumps I
was happy to go back to basics, especially after the improvements of the morning. Using a small tabletop
the skill was broken down. We started by compressing into the upslope and popping the front wheel. As
confidence built it was time to take both wheels off the ground and land on the top. Once the take off and
flight were sorted we were then ready to try and clear the whole jump. Again Jim pointed out I was pulling
up the rear end. His tips soon had me jumping more efficiently and for once I felt the pedals push into my
feet, not dragging them down. (Video)
there hadn’t been a dessert.
Although I had been practicing jumps over the previous year and worked up to medium sized dirt jumps I
was happy to go back to basics, especially after the improvements of the morning. Using a small tabletop
the skill was broken down. We started by compressing into the upslope and popping the front wheel. As
confidence built it was time to take both wheels off the ground and land on the top. Once the take off and
flight were sorted we were then ready to try and clear the whole jump. Again Jim pointed out I was pulling
up the rear end. His tips soon had me jumping more efficiently and for once I felt the pedals push into my
feet, not dragging them down. (Video)
The last session was on berms and for this we relocated to the end of
the Blue route. Here it was all about slingshotting out of the corner. A
bit less speed on the way in allowed us to gain more speed on the way
out. It was a fantastic feeling, instead of just retaining my speed I
found I could put the power down and exit at warp speed. I do have to
hold my hand up to a bit of manic, adrenalin fuelled laughter at this
point.
By the end of the session none of us had much energy left and we
were glad to return to the Log Cabin for our final debrief in the
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