Alpine skills

Just back from the south of France where I’ve been running a 3 day Alpine skills course with Ash Smith the organiser of the Trans Provence race. We started by looking at how to develop a better body position on the bike and improve cornering technique and the skill of pumping the trail. Day 1 was spent on flowy trails with plenty of corners as well as some techy rock sections.

Cornering

On Day 2 we upped the game and went to Special Stage 25 of the Trans Provence race, out by the coast near Monaco. The trails here are rocky, steep, sometimes with exposure and really quite technical. This is big mountain riding for sure. After a full day in the mountains we descended all the way down to the beach in Monaco for beers and a look at how the super rich do things.

Flow

Day 3 we rode a fantastic loop which had it all: flowy hard packed trail, rocky tech and balcony singletrack. The skills part of the day saw us tackling difficult switchback turns like you will find when you go riding in any alpine area. The trip finished with a return to the fast flowing trails of Day 1 where the group could really get a sense of how far their riding had progressed.

There are lots more photos on Flickr. Just click here.

The next course is on 13-15th March. See the Trans Provence Skills tab under Courses above.