Skills Courses Advice (South / Mid Wales / South West)

Psychotext

Hey all. My nephew has come out riding with me a couple of times now but he's badly lacking in confidence and I'm not entirely sure I'm the right person to help him. As much as I can say he's improving etc I get the feeling he just thinks it's his uncle being nice.

So I was thinking of getting him a present of a one to one / one to two (with me along for support) skills course for a couple of days somewhere... except I've got absolutely no idea what's good or what I should be looking for. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Was thinking that a course for absolute beginners would be best so we can make sure he's got the basics sorted and we can work on the other stuff from there.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

Cr3do

I've booked on with theses; http://www.mountainbikeskillscourses.co.uk/index.asp

They have a course in Cwmcarn, South Wales. Mine is the Peak district, I've herd they are really good.

andymc06

I've booked on UKBikeskills with Tony Doyle (Jedi). Comes highly recommended. Have a look at the website as well as various reviews.

Psychotext

Thanks Cr3do, I'll have a look at them.

@andymc06: I actually found that site earlier, Hertford seemed like a bit far away for me. I did notice that they'll come to you... but I'm not entirely sure how well that will work vs their facility. They certainly have a good reputation though.

clamps81

Jedi is excellent. Will be going back at some point this year I think. Me and a mate did it and booked a travelodge nearby so we 'd be fresh for it. It's certainly a pricey option, but it worked for me and I got a hell of a lot out of it - it's about understanding why things happen and why you're doing things (bad and good) as much as getting better at a certain skill.

Psychotext

clamps81 wrote:

Me and a mate did it and booked a travelodge nearby so we 'd be fresh for it.

Did you take your bikes into your rooms? I can't help feeling that if I left mine on top of my car it'd almost certainly be gone by the morning (locking arm or not).

clamps81

nope, but as long as the bikes are clean I can't see how they'd object. I've got a van, so the bikes were left in there with teh van backed against a wall and my mates car up against the side door.