Mountain Bike leader courses

JayKingFunk

I work in a school and we recently got some money to buy mountain bikes.

I work as a technician but the outdoor activities guy asked if I wanted to be involved, obviously I jumped at the chance.

We've got the bikes but now I'm looking for a Leadership/coaching course to go on.

The idea of me having the course is so I'll be qualified to lead small groups of kids aged from 11 to 18 years old.

I say qualified but its more for an insurance type thing but I have been back into riding for the last 2 and a half years so would like to be able to 'coach' them on the basics and the things that can help them become better riders! I already have a first aid course.

I've had a look round on the net but wondered if anybody on here had been on anything like this before or know anything about these type of courses??

I'm based in South Yorkshire just outside Sheffield if that helps!

Thanks in advance, J.

nicklouse

PM Sheepsteeth as IIRC he has done one.

Splottboy

BC Go/Ride courses, were called Get Set before. Skills/Drills courses etc.
MIAS do Mtb Leaders courses, as do BSCA, CTC etc.
There's also a group teaching up here in N.Wales doing Mtb leaders courses.
Finally, the "heaviest" course in terms of commitment, money, time is the Scottish one.

As former BC Development Officer/BSCA Nat Head Coach/Go Ride/Get Set tutor/BC Level 2 club coach tutor/BSCA Mtb Leader and tutor... I'd get some info from ALL the above and compare the courses and see if it's what you want etc.
Some are days, some w/ends and some take months to complete.

You pays yer money and takes yer choice!!

Anonymous

i did an abcc "preliminary cycle coach award (mountain bike leader)" course and im gonna be honest with you, it was absolutely rubbish. the qual allows me to take groups of 6 out on familiar ground but i didnt learn a thing, the guy who taught it was a very decent bloke but was a shocking intructor and the course was run in a shockingly terrible fashion.

stevomcd

Your best bet is probably the Scottish Cycling TCL (Trail Cycle Leader) course. This involves 2 days training and 1 day of assessment (plus a logbook detailing your experience). It allows you to lead anywhere up to 600m altitude and within 30mins WALK of the nearest road (accessible by ambulance) and/or phone. You can ride terrain up to a moderate level of technical difficulty - hard to describe where the line is, but I'd say Glentress Red would be fine.

The TCL also acts as the first stage of the Scottish Mountain Bike Leader Award (a further 2 days training & 1 day assessment, allows you to lead anywhere in the UK, at any level of technical difficulty).

You'll find course providers, dates, prices, etc. on the Scottish Cycling website.

JayKingFunk

Cheers for the replies.

I've been looking at the MIAS one run by a company based near Bolton.

It has accreditation with CTC and a lot of other outdoor/cycle related organisations and according to the site enables me to do what I need to do if I get level 2 + there's a logbook involved with it.

Says that you can lead groups, including people below 18 years old up to 600m above sea level in demanding/rocky terrain which is basically what I need to do it.

As appealing as it is to go to Scotland with my bike and get paid for it by work I don't think they would pay my expenses to go that far!

stevomcd

As appealing as it is to go to Scotland with my bike and get paid for it by work I don't think they would pay my expenses to go that far

You don't have to go to Scotland to do the Scottish scheme, there are lots of providers in England and Wales (e.g. Jonathan Collins in Wales or CycleWise in the Lakes).

mac111051

Hi, try googleing ascent sport mtb bike courses

stumpyjon

I've just been told I'm going to be put through the trail cycle leader course run by Cyclewise