Best tip is don’t push her, Buy her a basic, well fitting bike (which you already have done) and invite her on any ride you go out on, be honest about what your doing and how tough you think she’ll find it, be prepared for her not to share your level of enthusiasm for bikes…

If she comes out with you be extra patient, encouraging and don’t assume that the stuff you find simple will be the same for her, calmly talk her through stuff before tackling it, take regular breaks and talk about how she’s getting on, if she feels harassed, bullied or like she’s holding you up then she’ll probably just jack it in, Oh and you carry all the kit, shoving a pack full of spares, tools, food, water and waterproofs on her back will not aid her confidence…

My missus loves tow path bumbling between pubs in nice weather, but she hasn’t got the confidence or skills to do trail centres or anything at all technical, she got very upset with me when I took her to Swinley as I said it was “flat”, which it is relatively speaking, but as she hadn’t been on a bike for the best part of 20 years it was a touch beyond her.

She’s since done a couple of charity bike rides and some more adventurous pub trips but to be honest I doubt she’ll ever progress much beyond that, she’s keen to do family rides with the nipper once she’s old enough but “proper” mountain biking just isn’t her bag, she’s tried but it’s not for her, and that’s fine…

I find going at her pace not mine, or going on a bit and then looping back, and finding routes with really good views and stopping points helps, for sure.

However, we have been slowly building up the technicality/ difficulty of the routes and I am finding that no matter how gradual the transitions are, there are a lot of technical or down bits my other half will simply not even attempt and I don't know how to help build her confidence further. It seems once she's told herself she can;t do a section of down, for eg, simply no amount of gentle 'coaching' helps to get her feet back on the pedals, even if she just did a steeper bit without noticing!!

Not sure how to get round that!

Don't know if a xmas pressie of the Dirtschool DVD might help – great instruction, no pressure, & done in an amiable way. Female patience for recorded hobby-fare tends towards zero in our flat though!

I found that making sure her bike/equipment were of a similar standard to mine was a big help. I went down the route of a cheap bike at the beginning and she did not like it. There were a few mechanical issues and she said it always felt like she was pulling a trailer!

When she had one ride on my bike at the time which was lighter, beteer spec'd etc she loved it and wanted to go again the next day! She now has a bike which is probably lighter, faster, basically better than mine….

Perhaps try riding with a mixed (ability and sex) group so theres less pressure on her to keep up and others to chat with / learn skills from. I ride with Newforce in the New Forest, we have at least two groups each ride and regularly ride out of the Forest including trail centres.

Some of the ladies went on a (ladies only) skills weekend this year and are planning to again next year.

Also as many pub stops as we can justify (which is quite a lot really!)