25th August 2013 Review

The first Gisburn Skills day couldn’t have gone better. When Sunday 25th August 2013 rolled around, the weather was more than good, it was bloody fantastic! As I drove to Gisburn Forest it was just a blue sky and sunshine, couldn’t have asked for better.

The morning sessions were near enough fully booked so after everyone had paid their £10 and given me their disclaimer forms, I handed over to Ant from Trail Motions, Nige and Nick from Sublime Rides and Craig from Trail Smith to start the skills sessions.

The sessions were split into two groups with Ant and Nick taking one group and Nige and Nick with the remaining riders. The first steps were to give the bikes a quick safety check where small adjustments were made to a few of the bikes before moving onto the correct stances used when riding and tackling obstacles.

We got through quite a lot in just over 2 hours but it still didn’t feel as though we were rushed through things.

Both groups went in different directions to find flat fire road to make sure each group had plenty of space to practice mountain bike essentials, such as front and rear wheel lifts before progressing onto bunny hops. The skills coaches made sure that each individual got the correct coaching based on their skill level due to the mix of competence between the riders.

I felt that it really helped me, my front and rear manuals are smoother and whilst I need more practice, I think my corner speed is going to improve a lot as well.

Ant and Craig took their group to the 27 Berms section on the lower half of the Eight whilst Nige and Nick heading to the berms on the Skills Loop. Each rider were shown the correct way to approach and execute a berm to ensure that they used them to carry their speed and composure through the corners.

All of the riders were fantastic listeners and weren’t afraid to ask for further pointers as well as ask for more in-depth instructions which all of the coaches were more than happy to explain. Having two coaches in each group meant that everyone was able to gain from a bit of one-on-one time during the session.

It was very good and well structured, you all did a great job.

The session ended with both groups on the Skills Loop having a big of a play on the jumps and the other features that the skills section has to offer. When the session ended everyone headed back to the Forest Den Cafe for refreshments and to soak up the rays. Due to the weather, Gisburn Forest and the cafe were enjoying their busiest day of the year. After lunch and the afternoon session riders were booked in it was pretty much a re-run of the morning session.

Everyone we met was friendly, chatty and obviously very knowledgeable.

Everyone that attended the sessions seemed to really enjoy themselves and we received some fantastic feedback with plenty of praise going towards the 4 skills coaches. We managed to raise over £350 after combining the £10 session fee and the donations from Nick Moor who was there throughout the day taking photos of the riders which were sold via his website.

Thanks for doing it and organising it, brilliant!

On behalf of myself and the skills coaches, we want to say a massive thank you to everyone that attended the sessions, the money raised will really help with all of the exciting new trails that we have planned for Gisburn Forest.

Thanks again,
Dan.