Need to Know

Trail Skills Group

The Trail Skills is for 9-13 year old enthusiastic mountain bikers, wanting to learn level 2-4 challenging skills. 

Trail Skills prerequisites – 10km blue grade ride off road, Can do all L1 skills with ease, has ridden a longer blue trail.

Age Range is as a guide, I do make exceptions at this level, but bear in mind for younger ones fitness is a limiting factor to be able to keep up with kids around 13 years old.

Ability wise… if you are new, inbetween groups and unsure which session to book, its usually best to go for a group below your ability level as a confidence boost and to learn the format, then you can move up full of confidence next time. Moving up groups too soon, often can be damaging to confidence and enjoyment, we can find jobs for slightly more advanced kids to be an assistant coach, to maintain their love of mountain biking and develop their understanding further.

This is not an introduction to mountain biking level, kids will be working on challenging red grade terrain and trying to learn skills which are difficult for many adults, for an introductory level, please check out the fundamentals group.

Kids should be able to do at least 50% of these skills to attend the trail skills group.

Techniques

  • Heavy/Light; from the ready position, dropping weight into the pedals or springing up in order to maintain momentum or even generate speed through a 50m section of undulating trail or pump track.
  • Drop and roll; learning and applying the push drop technique to be able to roll medium sized drops in control, with no bounce, rotation or harsh impact.
  • No hands!; riding a section of forest road no handed for at least a bus length, ability to clap 3 times consecutively.
  • Flight club; achieve airborne abilities by making both wheels leave the ground on a tabletop style jump, for at least a wheels distance.
  • 10km ride; riding on off road blue/red terrain for 10km, with at least 100m of ascent.
  • Mountain goat; tackle a technical climb of more than 100m, with no feet touching down.

Skills

  • M check and fix; perform a detailed bike check on a sabotaged bike, identify 2 faults and make safe.
  • Trail hero; perform maintenance on a trail using hand tools to remove branches, resurface, sweep, tamp or drain a section of trail.
  • Ambassador; be an ambassador for mountain bikers, say hi to other trail users, thank you to those who give way and give shout outs to the group where there are dogs, children and horses.
  • Safety Superstar; making the scene of a crash safe, blocking the trail above with an upside down bike, managing a group and checking on the casualty.
  • Nutrition nut; be able to explain which snacks are best for a ride, why and what you might carry for longer rides. name 3 good sources of energy for during, and 3 good meals for after a ride.

Techniques

  • Seated Pedal Wheelie; for a car length or longer.
  • English bunny hop; make both wheels leave the ground and clear a small stick without touching it.
  • Trackstand; balance on the spot in the ready position by feathering the lead foots pedal pressure. 10 seconds.
  • Gap jump; clearing a wheel sized gap between takeoff and landing. In control, with limited speed to encourage hopping technique.
  • Endo; stopping and dynamically lifting the rear wheel by shifting weight forwards. complete when rear wheel achieves half wheel height.
  • 20km ride; offroad red grade trail, carrying own equipment and fuelling during the ride.
  • Step up; riding up a step feature of 20cm achieving full clearance with front wheel and unweighting to allow back wheel to roll up. Limited speed to jogging pace to encourage technique.

Skills

  • Puncture repair; successfully removing a wheel, tyre and tube, before identifying cause of puncture and repairing using patches or if needed replacing the tube and refitting.
  • Chain champ; refitting a dropped chain onto a front chainring in less than 15 seconds.
  • Bike Fit; using allen keys to adjust bike cockpit to an ergonomic fit.
  • Demonstrator; Be used to demonstrate correct technique to the group and follow coaches instructions.
  • First Aid; Be aware of 3 common injuries which could happen whilst mountain biking and how best to manage cuts and scrapes, sprained or broken limbs and hypothermia.

Techniques

  • Manual front wheel lift; using correct dynamic weight shift backwards, without flexing arms, dragging bike backwards and achieving a wheel lift for a distance of 2 car lengths.
  • American bunny hop; using a manual as a starting point, manage to achieve a sequenced hop with front wheel first then rear wheel second. complete once applied over a log 3 times successively.
  • Pump manual; achieve a manual between 2 rollers with the front wheel taking off on the first and landing on the backside of the second.
  • Front wheel pivot; from an endo, application of a weight shift to turn the rear wheel to the side. complete once an angle of 45 degrees is achieved on both sides.
  • Standing wheelie; achieving a pedalling front wheel lift whilst out of the saddle for a distance of 1 car length.
  • Bike Mountaineer; Riding without uplift above 500m above sea level; suitable days out include; jacobs ladder, cut gate, nan bield pass, gunnerside gill, ingleborough, buckden pike, great shunner fell.
  • 30km ride; riding a big ride on natural trails in a wild upland area of the UK such as the peak district or dales.

Skills

  • All the gear; be able to adjust gears whilst on a ride, identify all drivetrain components in detail and set limit screws on deraileur(s)
  • Navigator; be able to relocate on a map 3 times, be able to follow a route and develop plans for a big ride using bridleways.
  • Mechanic; ability to replace a chain, identify if a chain might be worn as well as check brake pad wear.
  • Photographer; Get some cool riding pics of the group and use images to analyse technique.
  • Apprentice coach; plan and deliver a skill coaching segment of 10 minutes for the group, demonstrate and give feedback.

Kids should be independent for the session,wearing a helmet and appropriate clothing for the weather. Gloves and additional protection are recommended but optional. Lightweight flexible knee pads work best, as opposed to hard shell versions. Kids should carry water and snacks in a backpack/bumbag.
Level 3+ to carry basic bike repair tools and spares; a multi-tool, inner tube and/or puncture repair kit and a pump.

Higher quality mountain bikes will be needed as the kids move up the groups. 

Bikes should be in sound mechanical condition, including lubed chains and correct tyre pressures, please dont leave getting the bike out of the shed post winter until the morning of the session. Minor failures do happen and can be looked at on the day, however inadequately prepared bikes will not be repaired on the day, and if deemed unfit for use, we cannot offer refunds. The less time we spend fiddling with bikes the more riding we can do – please prepare bikes before coming to the session.

For Trail Skills, its all relative to childs size, you will want some kind of front suspension, again air models are typically lighter, and often have better damping, if you did go down the full suspension route, try and keep the travel short, you wont need any more than 120mm travel for your 13 year old, not being “overbiked” will help them to understand how to absorb bumps using their bodies suspension. Good brakes certainly help, and 1x chainring will help keep things simple with the gears.

Parents typically do not accompany the ride except in pre-arranged circumstances, often keeping a distance behind the group, get in touch if you have any queries about more nervous kids.

Often parents can be a distraction to their child and a barrier to them mixing, even having fun with the group during the session, you can always book a private session for your family in order to make an introduction, or make arrangements to meet earlier on the day.