The Nuts & Bolts

My philosophy has always been skills before performance. As someone once told me, You can never be too skilled!

Okay, so maybe I am a little biased, but you will be amazed at how many people assume that because they spend hours and hours in the saddle training, they have mastered the craft and have nothing more to learn. One can spend hours training to go fast or finish their first stage race, but if you can’t negotiate trail obstacles safely and confidently, you could be losing heaps of time or, worse, crash and break something.

Relying on blind experience, nerve and subconscious decisions to get you through obstacles is not very efficient or safe! You need to learn the correct techniques, understand them and practice them. There is a difference between speed and momentum.

A skills clinic will give you an understanding of the fundamentals required to go fast, be more confident, efficient and be a safer rider.

Going back to school. Mountain bike school.

Yes, you can ask your friends to help you and consult YouTube (and some very good ones, I might add), but there is no substitute for the presence of a real, trained instructor on the trails to help with your progression. Someone to position you correctly, to demo for you, to correct your mistakes and to celebrate your successes!

Breaking bad habits and giving you the knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals will allow you to unlock confidence you thought you never had. It will allow you to be able to go back to the trail and figure out what your mistakes were so you have the confidence to try it again. There are other benefits too such as getting to know more about your bike and gear as we look at your setup for optimum performance.

Personalised instructing

Of course, there are many more benefits of attending a skills clinic. In just a few short hours of participation, it’s my experience that almost any rider can benefit from a little outside observation and evaluation. By providing real-time personalised feedback in a safe and structured process you will be sending it in no time.

What. When How.

Lessons are normally a minimum of 90 minutes – up to 2.5/3 hours, depending on your time constraints. There is no time limit to your lesson.

Week mornings are best if you can; otherwise, Saturday mornings are available. I normally recommend doing 5 sessions; it means we are not rushing through everything in 1 or 2 lessons, and 5 lessons is not a massive commitment, i.e., once a week for 5 weeks on a chosen day, we will do a skills lesson.

My classes are based on a skills progression programme which has been refined over the years, but I must stress, however, that there is no magic potion and the more you are able to come to lessons (this forces you to practice), the quicker you will learn!

I will work on specific manoeuvres like cornering, negotiating a bridge or rocky surface etc, etc, but mostly, I work on getting one’s fundamentals right. Building your confidence up, which, together with understanding fundamental skills and correct technique, makes you a safer and faster rider.

Things I will cover are:

Specific Skills: The physics of biking, Cornering, Steep up and downs, Bridges, Step-downs, Roots & rocks, Soft sand and mud, General single track, Gearing, Climbing, and Descending.

Group Rates Available on request.

costs

Below is my standard rate PER PERSON/PER LESSON

1 x session (1off) – R800
3 x Sessions – R675
5 x sessions – R550
10 x sessions – R450

All bookings and payments are made upfront for all sessions.
I do not do refunds. Should a clinic be postponed due to severe weather or other unexpected factors, I will reschedule your booking to a new date.

Great, that’s the intro done.

If you are ready to schedule a skills lesson, then make a booking below using my online booking system. If you still need more information, then get in contact with me, and I will happily answer any of your questions or see the FAQ page.

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