I bumped into Chris Lamb half way up Horse Gulch Canyon near Durango, sheltering under a tree from the 30 degree heat after one of the most awesome day's riding you can imagine - 30 miles across the roof of America on the Continental Divide Trail in Colorado. Chris rides a Yeti (of course) and we have kept in touch since returning home to Sussex. A chance conversation provided some inspiration for another little project.
I subsequently enrolled on the Trail Cycle Leaders course with Cyclewise (www.cyclewise.co.uk and 01768 898775) and rocked up in Whinlatter on a damp February morning to meet the rest of the course, plus our tutor, mentor (and, as it turns out, thoroughly good chap) Richard Martin. On this occasion, I travelled with my good buddy, Adrian, with whom I have shared some of life's greatest moments.
Fellow Course members Adrian, Dave and Mike with our leader Rich.TCL is a nationally recognised qualification that allows you to take out groups of children on bikes to have fun. There are some limitations, but they don't matter for the sake of the story. The course is run over two or three days and covers riding skills, leadership, map reading, bike maintenance and risk assessment. It is the first rung on the MBLA ladder. Mountain Bike Leader follows this, along with further qualifications for riding at night, in winter or on multi-day, self supported trips.
What a life-enhancing experience this was. We all came from different backgrounds, with different requirements and skillsets, but all leaned a little something from each other and a lot from Rich. The course was informative and well delivered and, even if there is no intention to use such a qualification in anger, I would recommend it to anyone who rides regularly. It has taught me to appreciate the world of Mountain Biking even more and re-inforces the need to get involved, at some level, with other aspects of the sport. It's the classic 'you get out what you put in' scenario. It has made me a bit better already ...
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I would also thoroughly recommend Cyclewise to anyone, just as Chris did to me. They are a great bunch of real-world mountain bikers with awesome skills, excellent facilities and are located in a stunning part of the world. Everything about the experience was fabulous, even the local digs. Adrian and I stayed with Jenny at Braithwaite Farm (http://www.braithwaitefarm.co.uk/ and 01768 778411) and were spoiled rotten. I will be back there any chance I get ...
Mike leads Adrian, Dave and Rich down the hill at speed, I hold the gate open like a good Leader !
Since returning, the riding has consisted of equal portions of fitness and skills and I try and fit in some skills work during or at the end of each outing now. I have had one outing with Adrian and Brian over the Surrey Hills, during which we went through the lesson plan for teaching power-assisted front wheel lifts - yup, we've caught the bug big time. I am just a little nervous about being a 53 year old man hanging around the local skate park practicing track-stands ...
A few days later, I'm on the Mountain First Course at Calshot Activity Centre in Hampshire (www.hants.gov.uk/calshott and 023 8089 2077) and, after a couple of days of blood, trauma and rubber gloves I have that qualification under the belt. Another tick in the box.
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I have also been fine-tuning my kit to enable me to ride easy. Old age has rendered my close vision a little less effective than it was, so I always use OS Landranger 1:25000 maps to enable me to navigate without specs (most of the time). Glasses aren't a real issue, but not not being able to read the computer while I ride is. My map-reading is pretty good, so most of the time I can get there with map to ground quite quickly, but when bad visibility or woodland disguises recognisable features it could be a different story, so I really need to know how far I have travelled. So, the very expensive Garmin Edge drifts off in the direction of E-Bay and in comes a cheap, simple gadget with big numbers. The Niterider works really well so far and I appear to have calibrated it spot-on but just need to work out the margin of error induced by more technical terrain. So, the current jigsaw comes together and the final piece is the TCL Assessment day, booked for next month. The date approaches fast and even though I have fitted in almost 5 hours of skills practice since the course, there is more to do. I am determined to get it right though and will be as well prepared as possible before I arrive back in the Lake District for exam day.
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Just as some things slot into place, other bits inevitably go wrong. I have just heard that I have to work the weekend of Checkendon and, at best, will only be back home late Saturday night. Not the best preparation, but I will probably be last unless someone has a mechanical, so I may as well just smile and get on with it.
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I'll let you know how I get on.
