Course Info
£85
Date
Open group dates below. Please get in touch if you want to book this course as a private 1 to 1 or group course.
Location
Gisburn Forest Mountain Bike Trails. 9.30-3.30. Starting at the Hub car park.
Pricing Info
Terms and conditions apply (see tab above)
Course Description
This course is the next level up from the fundamentals of the ‘Stop Crashing’ skills days. It’s ‘advanced’ level and is aimed at confident mountain bikers who are looking to progress with a major skills upgrade. The day focusses on pumping the trail and learning to bunny hop, then moving onto the Hope Line for an introduction to jumping.
If you can’t yet do basic manuals, rear wheel lifts or know how to pump the trail, then do the Stop Crashing level 2 course first. These skills will be reviewed but it will be better if you already have some understanding to get the most from the day.
Riding with flow is about being relaxed and in control of your bike as you go fast on the trail. We’ll review the techniques of effective body position and good timing to ‘pump the trail’ and carry speed through corners and over technical features. We’ll also build on the skills developed in Stop Crashing level 2 of ‘manual’ and ‘rear wheel lift’ and start using a proper ‘bunny hop’ to float and jump on the trail.
Bunny Hop
Bunny hop technique is one of the best feeling and most practical skills for the mountain biker. It’s not just for hopping about in car parks, we’ll learn the technique and put it into practice on real trails. It’s the essential skill you need for bringing the trail alive. Pre-jumping trail features, angling the bike into down slopes, flying off drops and taking off and landing jumps all need the bunny hop skill.
There is an advantage in learning this stuff on a purpose built trail because dips, rollers and berms are smoother and more exaggerated than most natural trails. You will really feel how and where you need to ‘pump’ the trail to improve control and increase speed. This all helps you to really feel the techniques working. When you ride natural trails, (and trail centres obviously) after the day you will be able to apply your flowing skills much more intuitively.
Testimonials
“I went up to fine tune my riding and build confidence in my own ability rather than learn new things… and ended up riding smoother and faster on tricky sections than i thought possible.. as well as riding a few sections I would have otherwise not ridden..”Spacehopper
Get in touch if you want to know more, or if you want to book a private one to one or group mountain bike skills day or 07545 228209.
Comments (4)
04 Mar 21:30
I signed up for “The Flow” because I wanted to progress from battering along the trail. Before I attended the course, I would have described myself as a pretty competent wheels on the ground rider. Following a good day of coaching with Ed, it was apparent that even wheels on the ground is not about riding in just 2 dimensions. I’ve seen the wonder of 3D and it is the future!
Those smiles on the pictures haven’t been Photoshopped in. Highly recommended.
10 May 12:00
I went to do ‘The Flow’ and flew.
Ed upgraded my MTB operating system to the latest and greatest version, then after a reboot the trail looked and felt different, now it’s smoother, faster, easier and makes perfect, flowing sense.
Ed’s a great teacher …if you’re willing to challenge what you think you know and want to improve your riding massively, do this course; you’ll reap the rewards on the singletrack, the steep, the tech and the gnar!
24 Aug 11:51
Having just had a weekend on the flow course at lee and cragg quarry i’ve come away from it with so much more than i ever thought i could. From the first minute Ed was getting the measure of us and pitched the course at the right level for the group in a really laid back and non patronising manner. His style of teaching helped keep a great atmosphere within the group and everyone seemed to take on board his methods quite quickly as the way he explained and demonstrated was spot on.
I was hoping more than anything to improve my cornering from this course but that was only a small part of what i learnt, adjustments to pretty much every aspect of my riding have taken place over the two days making me faster, smoother and more confident, the course has been my best riding investment for quite some time and has made more difference to my riding than any component upgrade could ever do.
Cheers Ed, thanks for a very rewarding weekend.
03 Jul 08:46
Some belated feedback on this course, to give a slightly different perspective. I did it back in May 2012 and enjoyed the weekend enormously at the time: Ed managed a group of riders with broad-ranging abilities very well, working away at the principles with those who took a little longer while adding on bits for those whose skills were more advanced and got the hang of things more quickly. Overall a great experience, and I spent the months afterwards putting it all into practice, however personal circumstances have prevented much – if any – riding during 2013 until this week. It’s testament to Ed that the skills he imparted over a year ago came flooding back straight away, helping me ride a descent I’ve not tackled in nearly two years more quickly and confidently than ever before. Treat yourself: you can’t help but benefit.