Going round the bend...

nonnac85

...albeit fairly slowly.

I'm looking for a skills course that specifically targets cornering / flow etc. I have googled mtb cornering courses but it just turns up lots of course descriptions that include cornering as part of the day. I am a fairly experienced rider so a general course is not really what I am looking for.

A while ago, I saw a course aimed at improving cornering techniques advertised - I thought with chase skills - but they don't seem to have it on their website. Just wondering if anyone has been on / knows of a company that can offer such a course (not on a 1-2-1 basis). Doesn't really matter where in the UK as I can travel (and make a holiday out if it if needed)! Thanks :-)

cooldad

Google UK Bike Skills - Jedi (Tony Doyle). He'll teach you anything you want.

Angus Young

http://www.bikeparkwales.com/Carving-Corners

And BPW is a great place to ride into the bargain.

paul.skibum

No coach is going to limit a skills course to one specific thing because to learn to corner well you need to be positioned on your bike properly. Sometimes you need to take things back to the beginning to help someone achieve a goal.

Just like sometimes the snow plough on skis teaches parallel skiers some thing that benefits them, so doing something basic with body position on a bike can develop a riders skills more than any number of attempts to teach better cornering to someone who is simply in the wrong position. Same goes for people who say "I want to learn to jump" - only the most irresponsible of coaches will chuck someone over a table top before establishing base line skills.

If you go for coaching go with an open mind and be prepared to change!

Angus Young

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19669962#p19669962]paul.skibum[/url] wrote:

No coach is going to limit a skills course to one specific thing because to learn to corner well you need to be positioned on your bike properly.

http://www.bikeparkwales.com/Carving-Corners

paul.skibum

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19669988#p19669988]Angus Young[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19669962#p19669962]paul.skibum[/url] wrote:

No coach is going to limit a skills course to one specific thing because to learn to corner well you need to be positioned on your bike properly.

http://www.bikeparkwales.com/Carving-Corners

Perhaps I should have said no decent coach.....

OK so it says easy for a beginner rider but a beginner ain't going to learn to carve corners. Speed control, body positioning, leaning the bike might feature. I coached for Whistler Bike Park and if someone turned up and said "I want to learn to do the Dwayne Johnson drop", we'd start off with something smaller to make sure any sort of drop was in their wheelhouse and build up from there adjusting what needs adjusting to hopefully finish with a couple of attempts at The Rock.

nonnac85

Thanks for the link to the BPW site - just the sort of thing I am looking for. Does anyone have the link to the chase skills course as an alternative as I didn't manage to find anything specific when I looked...

Thanks

Angus Young

http://www.chaseskills.co.uk

Jedi

thanks for the recommend dude

step83

I'm with Paul. A good skills course will cover more than just cornering, and to be fair it shouldn't just be on corners because you need to look at how you come into the and out of them as well as how to position the bike.
A more general course would beneficial on the whole, a corners specific course would be more for someone who's done a normal course and is looking for specific areas to improve.

Angus Young

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19670799#p19670799]Step83[/url] wrote:

I'm with Paul. A good skills course will cover more than just cornering, and to be fair it shouldn't just be on corners because you need to look at how you come into the and out of them as well as how to position the bike.
A more general course would beneficial on the whole, a corners specific course would be more for someone who's done a normal course and is looking for specific areas to improve.

Do you really think all the cover is the part in the middle of the bend and not entry and exit? Really?

step83

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19670922#p19670922]Angus Young[/url] wrote:

Do you really think all the cover is the part in the middle of the bend and not entry and exit? Really?

No, my point was they will cover all bases rather than focus on one area

Snakebite the 2nd

I know I'm old and things may have moved on a bit, but I used to practice my cornering on a BMX track.

Coming from an 80's BMX background I found it useful to learn the positioning on the bike, the limit of your tyres and the limit of yourself.

Next stage was to take it to the trails where you could use these techniques, start slow and build it up again.


I guess you young 'uns do it differently now.

lostboysaint

I've just done another day with these guys. http://www.b1ke.com/

It was my first for around three years and focussed on specific stuff but only having had the "basics" drilled in whilst riding around the Surrey Hills with them when I first started. Tuition is brilliant, trails are incredibly varied and there are always enough for you to keep practicing your new skills on without being bored of carving the same lines. The video feedback is instant and helps you recognise how to enhance your technique. I'd recommend them wholeheartedly.