Course Description

Starting Out is for riders new to mountain biking. It also makes a good refresher for those who really want to go back to basics. Maybe you’re worried about crashing, confused about the brakes and gears or unsure about what all the mountain biking lingo means! This is the course for you.

The aim of the day is to get riders feeling comfortable, smooth and safe on their bikes. There is often well meaning but bad advice given to new mountain bikers by friends and other riders. This course will clearly explain through demonstration and practice how to ride off road and will bust the common myths about how you should be riding. Ed is an experienced mountain biker who has helped hundreds of riders and has a great reputation.

We will use blue grade trails at Gisburn Forest because it’s much better to learn on an easy trail. The video below  shows how an easy trail can also be really fun for skilled riders moving at a faster pace!

Blue grade trails are perfect for learning and developing skills because you can really focus on riding well without worrying about getting overloaded by technical features. The skills you learn will apply to harder level trails.

Nearly everyone can ride a bike, but riding off road requires a lot more technique and can be loads more fun than just riding round the park!

During the day we look at good body position and where to look, when to sit and when to stand, as well as how best to move with the bike for confidence, control and speed. Going round corners is one of the most fun parts of mountain biking and we will spend a good amount of time getting comfortable with this. Good braking technique is essential to survival and we’ll look at when and how to use the brakes in different situations. Steep slopes and loose surfaces can be scary for the beginner but with good technique they are fun.

There will also be time to look at how best to set your bike up for you and you can ask all those questions you’ve got about mountain biking kit.

Not everyone wants to go fast, but with all the skills covered you will have the control to start carrying more speed if you want.

Those who want to develop their mountain biking skills further can move on to the Stop Crashing courses after the Starter course. Stop Crashing levels 1 and 2 are run at Gisburn Forest trail centre.