Tuesday Treats 119: Trailhum

Your once-a-week dose of retail therapy from Singletrack’s Premier Dealers, stockists and advertisers:

Tuesday Treats gives you a quality serving of independent bike retailing and a chance to win big in this week’s prize draw!

This week, we introduce Trailhum.

Today, we’re introducing the guys over at Trailhum. John Kettle and Ewen Turner head up Trailhum – committed mountain bikers who coach, guide and play out in the riding mecca that is the Lake District.

Tell us how you got things off the ground…

Trailhum is a relatively new business (two years young) that brings our combined (twenty years) experience as full-time coaches and instructors and over four decades of riding. We provide both skills coaching and guiding all over the Lakes, specialising in high quality one-to-one skills tuition from beginner to competitive racer in all disciplines.

Not exactly a bad day spent in the office

Does the riding locally provide a perfect base for learning?

Absolutely. Our local riding is enormously varied and often rocky and technical – a great place to up-skill, prepare for alpine riding, enduro events or simply a journey through the stunning mountain scenery. It really has it all.

What’s the hottest product you offer?

Our most popular products are the private 1:1 coaching days – there is simply no faster way to improve. Progressive monthly sessions and gift vouchers are also very much in vogue this month, if you’re looking to find the perfect gift for MTB minded friends and family.

How do you stay on top of MTB trends and developments?

We both love learning new stuff, and are bona fide coaching geeks – our non-work rides regularly degenerate into debates about physics and skill acquisition theories – “imagine the trail is a prism, and you are a beam of light”. Everything we coach is supported by scientific research, plus often hilarious testing on ourselves/long suffering ride partners.

We have already experienced all the embarrassing crashes, so you don’t have to! We’re also lucky to be supported by the good guys at Haglofs and Push Cartel. Don’t just take our word for it, see what our audience say about us here and on Facebook and Twitter.

What methodology do you apply out on the trails?

Our approach is based on improving your riding in a holistic manner – it could be your confidence, mindset or tactical choices that would yield the biggest gains. We don’t work on the assumption it’s technical skill, fitness or (heaven forbid) wheel size that’s holding you back.

What do you feel is your USP?

We’re also professional mountaineering instructors – you won’t find guides with a more detailed knowledge of the Lakeland mountains, local weather, coffee shops and farmers to avoid eye contact with. We’re not part-timers who do this for fun (although of course we do at heart), we’re passionate mountain bikers who are committing our lives to the sport.

‘Top Tip’: If you’d like a little coach, book John. For a large coach, book Ewen.

What have you been up to this summer?

This year we rode the Megavalanche, Trans Savoie and Tweed Valley EWS (see our blog reports) to progress our own riding. Now we’re getting psyched for a winter of greasy rocks, wet feet and loam all over the kitchen floor.