I’m trying to get my other half into mountain biking, she’s got a fairly decent hardtail with a few hand-me-downs from my upgrades.

General fitness is very good and she is able to ride up hills on the road but I’d appreciate some advice on how to improve her confidence both on and off the road:
– around traffic
– rough / bumpy tracks
– tame descents

I’ve been riding from an early age on country roads and can’t relate it how it must be for a novice so all advice welcome.

I have suggested a beginner’s course but understandably she’d like to develop some confidence first so that she doesn’t feel so intimidated and doesn’t want to be the lowest able rider in a group (this is chicken and egg…)

I find bining it in front of noobs gives them more confidence :/

I recently got my other half into mtbing. The first few pointers i had to give her was to stand up more, keep arms bent to absorb shock, and tips in when and how to brake. she lives it and is getting better. Even afyer a few falls.

Does she know how to use the gears properly? Have you explained braking and moving her weight on the bike for up and steep down hill. One of the things that helped my girlfriend was explaining that although the bike has suspension by getting out the sadle and bending her arms and legs she can absorb lots more of the bumps on the trail than her forks. She even commented that riding down a bumpy bit of fire road it felt better “less like being on a bucking bronco”

On road training
Off road will just take time, do not rush it.
Find some female only skills sessions
Ruth @ bottlegreen
Lots of tutorial stuff on YouTube and bikeradar

Time. Unfortunately there’s no easy fix and you need to work her up to progressively harder things. If it makes you feel better I started riding about a year and a half ago, and can’t believe the stuff I’m riding now so it doesn’t take forever, but pushing it too quickly and having a big off can really knock her confidence. The only thing I feel I’m really lacking now is jumping, and would have probably been doing them if it wasn’t for a fall in which I went over the handlebars twice!

Bit of practical advice is get some kneepads and padded gloves. I certainly feel less vulnerable with them on! Also us females have a problem with confidence on some techy stuff, I like to think it’s that women have a bit more self-preservation but I’m not so sure!

Jedi.

Gears & brakes are pretty well covered (occasionally prompt “right thumb away from you…”) – its only a small thing but it a great feeling when she changes up or down without being prompted to do so.

Body weight has been talked about as have legs and arms being the shocks asborbers – it just getting the confidence so that she hovers above the saddle and to allow the bike gain momentum so that it rolls over rocks / stones etc.

Knee pads & padded gloves – great idea, I’ll throw in elbow pads too!

Bike set up, contact points, good big pedals and appropriate shoes. Spoil her 😉

Not so much mountain biking but general cyclin, some stuff might be useful.

First rides out with my niece (early twenties) were about 10-15k and as flat as i could find and that was plenty hard enough for her. We’ve been going out most weekends since December and generally adding about 10% or just under extra mileage a week to try and keep it challenging but manageable.

There is an awful lot of stuff to learn so I tried just concentrating on one fairly small thing at a time. Started off with trying to maintain good cadence / gear selection. It sounds an odd one but the next thing was all about keeping her hydration and energy levels up. She (we) makes more mistakes when tired so it was important to try and avoid this as much as possible. We’re up to trying to maintain speed around corners at the moment.

The key thing that I’ve learnt from this is to take things slow and try not to move on to the next thing until the one you’ve been working on feels like it sorted, lots of small victories.

I also keep a ride diary which has proved a very useful motivational tool. It allows us to see how far she has progressed in a relatively short space of time. It’s also useful for when she finishes a ride feeling not so great and thinks her progress has stalled. It’s useful to be able to look at the ride and explain that the reason that the average speed dropped was because we did twice the climbing as the week before.

One thing that has surprised me is that teaching someone new to ride is far more interesting and fulfilling than i imagined it would be.

[edit] double post

make sure she has control first. can easily reach and use the brakes. saddle is comfy etc…

It sounds as if she does not feel completely in control of the bike; I remember this feeling, it’s horrible! Riding in non-consequential terrain is the place to start.

Remember that what will seem like bland riding to you will be demanding and unpredictable for her.

On a grassy slope you could practise braking when descending out of the saddle (aiming for a short stop and no skid, weight back), basic cornering technique (outside foot down, looking through, no front braking and feeling how bike lean affects the turn) and riding diagonally across the slope to feel off camber control both up and down hill. This will develop her ‘cone of movement’ and bike handling skills.

The above are simplified coaching exercises that work. She needs to be in control of the learning and if you give her feedback it needs to be linked to what she did right or needs to improve: BE SENSITIVE! Praise the effort and do not give too much corrective feedback.

The confidence on the road will come with time, once she feels in control of the bike. Maybe ride more with her in traffic, it may be worse if you shoot off ahead and she has to catch up and deal with cars. I always ride with my Mrs in front 😉 she sets the pace and doesn’t feel rushed.

This is going to feel like a slow process to start with, finding something difficult when you’re with an experienced person can make it feel more frustrating.

Is her bike the right the colour?