Skills courses in the North – any recommendations?

Hi all

I have been off the bike since the start of December with a dislocated, fractured and chipped knee cap caused by a short dabble in downhill skiing! In my boredum I have watched hours of bike videos, bought a Nicolai Helius CC and done much physio! This is slowly paying off and I am now on a mission to loose the injury belly so that in a couple of months I can hopefully be back to singletrack! My other half had bought me a session at the snowdome for a birthday present, but I am a bit off snow at the moment so he suggested maybe I should swap it for a bike skills day when I am back up to fitness and with a few good rides under my belt.

I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions of where to go? When I do ride, I am relatively comfortabe on red trails and will give the black routes a go, but its my jumps and drops that really let me down; partially as however hard the other half tries to teach me, I cant wheelie/manual! I see that Tony @ UK Bike Skills is highly recommended and that might be an option (bit of a drive from Newcastle, but sounds like it might be worth it. Also, the other half comfortably rides black, so I would need to see if I could twist the arm of a mate who lives in Wales to come with me to keep the cost down a bit). However, I was wondering if anyone recommended anywhere else, within about 2-3 hours of Newcastle. Anyone any experience of the courses at Glentress? I am pretty open to suggestions – dosen’t have to be girls only, but that might be a bit less scary!

Cheers

Just inside you’re range and in wales.Ally qualified in 3rd at the Ae Enduro downhill yesterday so ain’t too shabby.
http://www.campbellcoaching.eu/Campbell_Coaching/Courses/Entries/2011/5/28_Ladies_only_courses.html

Get in touch with Ed Oxley of Great rock. He does most of his coaching in the north of England, so considerably closer than Jedi. Ed’s an excellent coach, a top bloke and comes highly recommended by me.

http://www.great-rock.co.uk/blog/

Ed O worked wonders for my riding but I’m sure others are good too

Hummmm…..10 weeks until Ed’s girly drops and jumps course! That would be perfect – and very handy for friends in Kirby Longsdale! I’m going to have a think whether I will be up to strenght by then! Im working hard on my recovery and I havent ridden since the snow in November so I damn well hope so!

http://www.mtbskills.co.uk/mtbskills/home.html
http://www.dirtschool.co.uk/
http://www.mb7.com/MTB_skillscourses.htm
http://www.cyclewise.co.uk/

All get good refs.

but its my jumps and drops that really let me down; partially as however hard the other half tries to teach me, I cant wheelie/manual!

Niether can I and it has not held me back or been an issue for more than 20 odd yrs of riding 😳
Just get out and ride, enjoy for a while rather than potentially injuring yourself again 🙄
I am struggling with a dodgy knee and a few other aches and pains which come with old age + injuries and have enough trouble standing up on the pedals without considering whether I can even contemplate a jump etc 🙄
Will not stop me doing the Walna Scar next sat though, seated and wheels on ground 😆

Home Page

andy used to run MB7, and has a vast knowledge, and is a great coach/tutour. Highly recommended

Will not stop me doing the Walna Scar next sat though, seated and wheels on ground

Couldnt agree more…got to the end, with my bottom firmly planted on the saddle and a big smile!

Me on my old Trek a couple of years ago on Walna Scar Road!

Just get out and ride, enjoy for a while rather than potentially injuring yourself again

Yes, this is the most important thing!

Thanks for the links though. Dirt school is relatively near my grandparents and have considered that one in the past.

Emma and Tracy at Glentress would be my recommendation, from personal experience and that of friends.

And ride more.

Me on my old Trek a couple of years ago on Walna Scar Road!

That Trek = cheating 🙄
I will be on my Blue Pig 😉 Will post a pic if I can find my camera which seems to have gone awol ❗
I would suggest doing your course with as few people as possible. Did one recently with 14 riders and it is way too many to gain much from 🙄 We had a laugh tho 😆

No_discerning_taste off here does skills courses in the Peak District, I’ve not done a course with her but from what i’ve heard she’s very good. Also runs a B+B so accomodation isn’t an issue. And makes nice cake 😀

How abou Stu at the Dales Bike Centre? Only about 11/2 hours from the toon!

Dales Skills[/url]

+1 For cyclewise, Did me loads of good

http://www.flattyres-mtb.co.uk/
excellent coach and guide based in North Wales and North England.

Heard good things about

http://prorideguides.com/pages/home

I’ve not been on a course with them but have seen them riding at stainburn – if only I was half as good….

CycleActive[/url]

Based in the Lakes. I had a bad couple of falls a few years ago from not having jumps and drops skills and my confidence needed sorting out too. A couple of days with Rich and I was dropping off 2-footers and generally flowing better than I ever had before.
Not well known on here but highly recommended

Just got home from Gisburn Forest, I’ve done the level 2 course with Ed O , a great tutor and very, very patient.
A well organised day, with good food at the Dog and Partridge, and the Pheasant Plucker is a really good beer.
All in , highly recommended.
HTH.

Another vote for cyclewise here. Nice chaps too.

Jedi is well worth the distance. His ability as a coach is second to none, also a top bloke.

Another +1 for Cyclewise. Just done 2 day skills course and it was great, learned loads of stuff and course leader Rich was a top bloke.
Those trails in Whinlatter help abit too 😀

Ed Oxley +1

I’d 2nd the recommendation for Ridelines
http://www.ridelines.co.uk

Great teaching, great trails

Hmmm, think I might be giving Ed O some business before long…

I hired Ed Oxley to do one on one training with me at Lee Quarry in March, was awesome day and I’m pleased I paid slightly more than I would to be part of a ‘class’ training course. I had specific elements I wanted to learn and Ed put them across flawlessly and being in an environment where we weren’t pushed for time to get everyone to ‘tick the box’ to say that a certain element/discipline/task had been completed.

I’d be interested in doing some again and if anyone is interested in sharing the cost of hiring Ed for the day then email me (address in my profile), it’s money well spent.

What are you doing?

http://www.mountainbikeskillscourses.co.uk

http://www.forestfreeride.co.uk

Wow, thanks all – as ever the stw massive comes up trumps with loads of great suggestions. I am tempted by one2one training as I find myself wanting bits of each course I have read about! Anyway, loads of things to look up and aim for as my strength builds back up – a nice little plan on the horizon helps the physio – at the moment its the thought of actually being about to ride my Nicolai. Even if I cant do a skills course this year, I certainly will next.

Another recommendation for getting 1 to 1 tuition or at least a small group. Large groups are fun but I’m not convinced the value for money is there in terms of learning lots.

Did a day with Joe and Alex from Pro Ride Guides two weeks ago at Gisburn. Search YouTube for their latest video.

Excellent riders but more importantly great teachers. Good pace, lots of attention, good focus on us to deal with the bits we were / weren’t getting, broke things down into elements where necessary and drilled each to bring things together. Just all round a great experience.

Join SingletrAction and they’ll give you 15% off, which is very nearly a saving equivalent to our subs. Then you’ve supported local trail building without spending anything extra (plus umpteen other discounts).

thanks for the recommend timpol. a journey of a thousands trails starts with the first pedal stroke

Not been to the other guys but I went to Ed last winter and had a great time. Really enjoyable day and I don’t hesitate to recommend him. He’s out with us this summer but that all came about after my visit to him so the review on my site is completely unbiased.

Skills week with Ed Oxley and Nigel Page[/url]

Thanks everyone for your recommendations.

I recently had a day coaching with Joe from Pro Ride Guides at Stainburn after seeing their video on Pinkbike. The day was absolutely awesome; lots of information broken down well, nice simple terms to remember, and pitched at a level that really pushed me as a rider, giving me the confidence to become a better rider. I can safely say from that day I went from what I would determine an ‘average’ rider to a ‘good’ rider which is an amazing improvement. I can now ride trails with a lot more confidence, speed, and skill!!

If you are looking for the next level in your riding and you’re finding hard to reach, I would really recommend a day with Pro Ride Guides….. probably the best use of my money since I have been biking!!

Paul

Go south and see Jedi. You wont regret it. He has a purpose built skills track, and can do great things.

Forgot to put a link on to the above post, check it out……… Pro Ride Guides

Paul

Clive Forth works the Borders region and is ace: http://www.mtbskills.co.uk/

Another vote for Ed O here!

My mate and I had a days instruction with Joe from Pro Ride Guides on Monday past. It was a minging day weather wise but it didn’t matter and we had a great day. Joe was great all day and we both felt that we really improved from the day. I genuinely feel that we are better riders now with a lot more confidence and we can progress even further – all thanks to Joe and Pro Ride Guides who I cannot recommend highly enough. Brilliant. Jonny

Just seen some of these updates – cheers all. I have just started getting out on the bike in the last week, so going to sort something out for ~3 months time.