MBL

After attending the excellent Trail Cycle Leaders course last year, it was a natural progression to want to take things a bit further and attend the Mountain Bike Leader course. After the quality of TCL and the high standards of tuition, booking with Cyclewise again was a no-brainer.

There is always a plan and I had tried to get Adrian, Dave and myself (from the TCL course) and my good mate Chris on the same course. We all booked, we all paid but, at the last minute, work got in the way and only Dave and I made it. We joined Rob and Anne at Hawkshead YHA for an excellent two days of bike-related topics including leadership, coaching, map reading, mechanics, route planning, emergency procedures and (most importantly) riding your bike with new friends.

Rich Martin (Cyclewise), Anne, Rob and Dave wait for me patiently at the top of the warm-up climb, day one.

The first day comprises a good-value session on wheels. Hubs explained and dissected, pawls poked, freehubs twirled, teeth admired and spokes tweaked. Craig Scott ran the mechanical portion of the day, ably assisted with some nuggets from Dave (Workshop Manager at MSteel Cycles). As usual I learnt lots and took away a few bits of homework, plus a list of new tools that I didn't know existed.

We had a spin across Claife Heights after lunch and were treated to a skills display by Craig, Rich and (Bouncing) Rob (the Bunny-Hop king). Practice is the key - I know this, but I feel less comfortable in Safeways car-park or the local skate park than Rob does and I am more likely to be arrested for loitering at my age. I have my secret practice spots at home and have visited them already, brushing up on some skills I should have learnt thirty years ago - If I was actually riding a bike back then.

Back to the classroom for some lesson planning and route cards for the following day. Rob put his feet up with a glass of wine and Dave and I went out to the car park down the road to try and work out why we bunny hop using 'willpower' rather than weight shifting. Work in progress ... 

Day two and we are off into Grizedale for a mix of follow-the-dots trail centre riding on sections of the excellent North Face trail and some brilliant off-piste trails 'hidden' away; and generally only a few yards away from the groomed routes followed by the majority. These little gems are embedded in my memory for the next time I up there with an evening to spare and my lights charged.

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You sure Rob ? That looks like a supermarket car park ...

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We conducted a one-to-one coaching session on cornering at speed / berms and came away with a few more ideas to to help us all deliver things more effectively. Not surprising  that practice is also the key here and the ability to have plan B ready at all times. I guess it is easier with a raw talent that manages to simply 'do' exactly as you ask, but with normal riders, who already ride in a certain way, there are things to unpick before you can build - as Anne found out when she asked me to stop riding like a plank. Credit to Anne that she spotted the fact I am comfortable with the direct approach and that I resemble a bit of 'four by two' on a bike !

It's over all too soon and the sun sets on another great trip to the Lakes, we leave with a list of skills to practice, tools to buy, things to fettle, books to read, things to teach and much pedalling to do before we can contemplate assessment. The aim is to be ready for later in the summer.

There are lots of changes afoot in our great sport with the continued discussions about a single governing body to represent both the Scottish Mountain Bike Leaders Association and British Cycling with a single set of qualifications and a single focused, well-organised team to help develop and administer all disciplines within our sport. My dealings with BC have been fantastic thus far and they are a very professional bunch. I am very pleased that Craig and Rich are at the centre of this and can think of nobody better to represent Mountain Biking as we take the sport forward. 

Not been a bad Winter

I've been relatively good over the winter and managed to fit in one long ride nearly every week. These were supposed to be 'base-training' rides and would give me more chance to be stronger and fitter this coming 'season'. Running out of time always happens at the most inconvenient time though, so just when I should have been drifting into the 'speed' phase of my master plan, it all went a bit astray. So, a couple of months on I am in good shape - strong, comfortable on the bike for long periods, climbing pretty well and still slow. Three out of four aint bad though, I'll take it.

We had planned to go to Wales at Easter, quite a group of us, and perhaps ride the Chain Reaction Marathon at Builth. The best laid plans and all that .. not everyone's winter was as full of riding as mine and plans for a family ride on the Mini marathon course were shelved for another time.

Brother Paul, daughter Elly and wife Sara cruising down Bonk towards the dam. Lucy was at the front with Uncle Dick.

We had a good couple of chilled days, took the kids out riding off-road and up a few more hills than they are used to, ate out, wandered the Elan valley and saw a brace or Peregrine, watched the RSPB kite-feeding and had pretty good weather considering the snow of the previous week. All is never lost when you spend quality time with nice folk.

The other guys decided to make tracks after breakfast on Sunday, so Molly suggested I do the marathon anyway. I didn't fancy having her hanging around for hours so decided to do the mini marathon - 30km.

This isn't a race as such, some people are racing, but many just ride. Previous years have taught me that hanging at the back of field does cause issues once you get on some of the singletrack so, having started by the 'Fat Nobs queue here' sign, I passed a few people on the first road section whilst we were (all) cycling behind the pace car. Consequently, I ended up in a comfortable place once we ended up on the sections of the course where the effort to overtake isn't worth the reward.  With hindsight I should have lined up along the 'Done one of these before' sign because I would have been comfortable going a bit quicker. There was one chap just ahead of me as we came off the moor and back onto the road for the last few km back to the finish. I didn't worry about chasing him, It didn't matter - I was very happy with the ride.

The results came out and to my surprise I was sixth and only four minutes behind the winner. Ok, it's all a bit arbitary, because your position when the pace car pulls off and you leave the road does dictate how many people you can get past and how fast you can go. So there were probably quite a few others who could have been sixth. But they weren't, I was :-)

The Southern XC racing scene is on the back burner but I hope to have another bash next year. 2012 will see me doing less, but better.  

MBL course is next and I prepare to identify more shortcomings in my fitness level and riding skills. As usual, I look forward to learning lots and upping my game, helped by the very talented guys at Cyclewise, later this month.