MTB Coaching

MaxCap

Hi guys (first post here )

I've just finished Uni where I rowed competitively, so currently I'm in the best shape of my life.

I've done a bit of road-biking before, the highlight being a cross-country trip across the States which we did in 40 days.

I now want to make the switch to cycling completely, specifically XC.

Realistically I'm going to have a lot of time to train and would be looking to get to national standard as quickly as possible. I know the benefit of good coaching to short-cut the learning curve.

So I guess this is my question....

Do any of you have any good experiences / suggestions about which MTB Courses to go on to get me up to speed as quickly as poss? Is there a centre renouned for good coaches and courses? Do you have any personal contacts?

What I want to avoid is getting into bad habits as I am learning, because I know how difficult it is to undo them!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks, Max

artillerydave

coed Llandegela in North Wales run by oneplanetadverture.com do alot of coaching, not participated on one myself but there was a good post from someone on here a little while back who had done and thought it was great and money well spent. may be worth looking into.

sparrowlegs78

I've just been on a course with http://www.mtb-instruction.co.uk/ and i couldn't fault it. Its run up at Rivington in Lancashire.

Chaka Ping

If you're after fitness coaching as well as skills coaching, you might find British Cycling can steer you in the right direction.

delcol

coaching is available across the country,.

i'm sure they are all good as they are all qualified..

i bet a google search would give you what you want..

one coach who features in mbr mag is chris ball coach to ruraidh cunningham, try www.dirtschool.co.uk

hickster5000

A colleague of mine completed a course with Dirt School (http://www.dirtschool.co.uk/) at the weekend and had a great time. The course is very professionally run, and uses video playback to help your riding stance, along with tons of other riding tips and techniques. The course can be altered to your own needs, or you can go the whole hog and get private lessons through them

MaxCap

Thanks for the recommendations so far guys.

Yes, private coaching is high on the list, so specific names would be super-duper :-)

I was tempted to contact British Cycling but figured that it would be useful to get some results under my belt first.

dirtbiker100

Nigel Page is good but he comes more from 4x/DH (ex or current pro - forgotten) where as you could do with technical climbing tips as much as descending.

Sand Crab

I did the beginner and intermediate courses with Mountain Bike Instruction (same as Sparrowlegs) in Feb this year. Instructor was Mike Stafford - can't rate him highly enough, he knows his stuff, puts it across well and the banter is pretty good too!

He uses the XC loop from the Commonwealth Games, lots of ups, downs, small drops etc.

The course did me the world of good, lots of little tips that make a massive difference to my riding.

I know he does one-to-one stuff as well, if that’s what you're after

richard_l

MaxCap wrote:

Hi guys (first post here )

I've just finished Uni where I rowed competitively, so currently I'm in the best shape of my life.

I've done a bit of road-biking before, the highlight being a cross-country trip across the States which we did in 40 days.

I now want to make the switch to cycling completely, specifically XC.

Realistically I'm going to have a lot of time to train and would be looking to get to national standard as quickly as possible. I know the benefit of good coaching to short-cut the learning curve.

So I guess this is my question....

Do any of you have any good experiences / suggestions about which MTB Courses to go on to get me up to speed as quickly as poss? Is there a centre renouned for good coaches and courses? Do you have any personal contacts?

What I want to avoid is getting into bad habits as I am learning, because I know how difficult it is to undo them!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks, Max

Where are you in the country MaxCap? May be able to refer you to best options locally (locations/riders/coaches/etc) if we knew ...

MaxCap

Thanks again guys.

Rich - yes I forgot to mention this, I'm in the Midlands (same as you by the looks of it), but to be honest I'm pretty mobile so location wouldn't be such a huge issue. But maybe you've got some good contacts being in the midlands??

Justinjured

I believe there is a chap called Rob Lee (who races xc very competitively) who also runs xc training courses for those who are serious about putting in the hard training needed for this.

xcracer.com might be a good point of contact.

turbodog

I would recommend former World Cup mountain athletes Emma Guy and Tracy Brunger who are currently offering 3 different level of skill courses at Glentress (the most popular mountain bike centre in Scotland). Even they wrote a book.

Few months ago, I went on Essentials Plus course which they taught me many core technical skills. Since then I am able to go faster uphill and downhill with more control and power. I will be looking at signing up Air course for Sept which I am hoping to do some massive jumps.

Check it out: http://www.thehubintheforest.co.uk/Tuition/index.html

richard_l

MaxCap wrote:

Thanks again guys.

Rich - yes I forgot to mention this, I'm in the Midlands (same as you by the looks of it), but to be honest I'm pretty mobile so location wouldn't be such a huge issue. But maybe you've got some good contacts being in the midlands??

Couple of suggestions then.

Local event coming up soon is here - you will benefit from having soem kind of comparison to other riders at this stage - a benchmark if you like.
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/si ... sultspp=20

Midlands- ish people for you to consider getting in touch with.
Dave Mellor - shrewsbury location - he was previously involved in management for BC and while may not be able to help himself may know who else locally to refer you to.
http://www.cycleweb.co.uk/cntys/mid/mid3.htm

Gary Foord - based near Cannock - great history of MTB competing and now does coaching, incl some GB team riders. Again may not be able to help you intensively himself, but would be a useful starting point.
http://www.mammothlifestyle.co.uk/aboutus.htm

Hope that helps