SKILLS COURSES



MOUNTAIN BIKE SKILLS COURSES TO IMPROVE YOUR RIDING

I offer four different mountain bike skills courses, private lessons for groups and individuals and one day intensive workshops. Learn from a pro, in a professional, fun, structured environment where proven teaching methodologies are used to help you progress quickly and safely. I am the only qualified coach in Wellington accredited to teach adults safely.

The four courses described below cater for beginner riders to advanced riders. I love helping beginner riders feel confident on grade 2/3’s AND helping advanced riders to be equipped to deal with the more technical aspects of cornering, jumping, drops and trail speed. Care is taken to explain the ‘why’s’ of mountain biking, helping clients understand the changes to bike geometry, trail design and bike advances in order to understand and improve their riding in a clear and logical way.

The four courses start with the basics and advance through to learning how to jump with a safe jumping progression. Have a read below to see which skills course might be best for you and where you are at with your riding.

Beginner mountain bike skills course Intro to Dirt.

SKILLS COURSE 1: INTRO TO DIRT

Are you new to riding and not sure how to approach obstacles? Do you feel daunted, frustrated or often get off your bike on sections or corners?

Think of this as a Mountain biking 101 course. This group course that will cover all the essentials to get you rolling, or take you right back to basics to learn the foundation techniques.

We will learn a new body position, look at bike setup, basic braking, and entry level uphill and downhill cornering to get you started on the trails and riding with confidence.

This course is also great for those looking to challenge themselves with Grade 1-3 trails around Wellington, and further afield adventure rides in New Zealand like the Timber Trail and the Remutaka Incline.

Maximum of 6 participants in all mountain bike skills courses for best value and safety.

$150/pp. Courses are 3hrs. Location: Miramar Trail Project or Makara Peak MTB Park, Wellington, NZ.

Optional extra: add an online coaching follow up session for $50 (normally $75) at the time of booking to cement your learning and progress.

This is a perfect E-bike starter course (N.B use/familiarisation of E Bike controls essential before attending)

Beginner and intermediate Mountain Bike Skills Course - Intro to Corners

SKILLS COURSE 2: CORNERS

You are a grade 2-4 rider, but perhaps you feel stressed on some of those harder corners downhill or uphill corners. You would love to feel confident on North Face, Peak Flow, Swigg, Ikigai or Tumeke trails in Wellington and really get around them easily.

If you are loosing speed in the corners, can’t maintain speed, or negotiate steeper corners then this is the place to start.

We will refresh the body position, look at bike setup, do a braking refresh, and focus on cornering to get you to a level where you have the techniques to attack any corner and grow your confidence. This is Wellington’s most popular mountain bike skills course.

Maximum of 6 participants in all mountain bike skills courses for best value and safety. $150/pp. Courses are 3hrs. Location: Miramar Trail Project or Makara Peak MTB Park, Wellington, NZ.

Optional extra: add an online coaching follow up session for $50 (normally $75) at the time of booking to cement your learning and progress.

This course is highly recommended as a precursor to Advanced Cornering.

E-bikes welcome (N.B use/familiarisation of E Bike controls essential before attending)

Advanced mountain bike skills course - Advanced Corners

SKILLS COURSE 3: ADVANCED CORNERS

How do I feel more flow? How do I hold more trail speed? You are a solid grade 3/4 rider and potentially can even scramble down a grade 5 at a push, but you want to get faster and more confident and navigate those corners more smoothly.

If these things are on your mind, or feel you have hit your ‘riding ceiling’, Advanced Corners might be your next step.

We will briefly cover a body position refresh and bike setup check. Then straight into braking techniques and exercises before we launch into the nitty gritty. Next up is a refresh on the basics of cornering, then we get stuck into the advanced techniques.  If you want to feel fast and in control then this course is for you.

By the end of this course you will be equipped to set PBs down Peak Flow, Starfish and Jail Brake, launching through Ikigai sections without a second thought and enjoying your new found flow.

Maximum of 6 participants in all mountain bike skills courses for best value and safety. $150/pp. Courses are 3hrs. Location: Miramar Trail Project, Wellington, NZ.

Optional extra: add an online coaching follow up session for $50 (normally $75) at the time of booking to cement your learning and progress.

The corners course above is highly recommended before tackling this one.

No E-Bikes on Advanced Cornering Courses – Private Lessons only

Advanced mountain bike skills course. Intro to Jumps. Con Air Jumps in Miramar, Wellington.

SKILLS COURSE 4: INTRO TO JUMPS

What can I do on the trail when there is a drop or jump? What techniques can I use instead of being thrown over a jump or having to go around it? This is the course to do so you you can feel comfortable attacking small trail jumps, drops and gaps.

Basic body position is refreshed, then we go straight into pumping, compressions, and jump anatomy. We then learn to get our wheels off the ground safely, how to attack drops and how to progress in your own riding.

As a result, by the end of this course you should feel ready and capable to hit Grade 4 and 5 features. You will be able to hit small jumps, launch off drops on Pohatu and Starfish, smile all the way down Vertigo and 491, and do all the features on Jail Brake and Solitary. New trail features you have never discovered on your local trails before and a whole new world of riding fun will be opened up to you.*

*potentially a slight exaggeration but I’m sure you get the idea.

Maximum of 6 participants in all mountain bike skills courses for best value and safety. $150/pp. Courses are 3hrs. Location: Miramar Trail Project, Wellington, NZ.

Optional extra: add an online coaching follow up session for $50 (normally $75) at the time of booking to cement your learning and progress.

Advanced cornering is a highly recommended pre-requisite for this course.

No E-Bikes on Jumping courses – Private Lessons only

Check out the register HERE for all Adventure Activity Accredited coaches in NZ.

If you are new to Wellington trails or need to work out what mountain bike skills courses might be the best fit for you – check out the DOC mountain bike grading system here.