Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Forums

women's skills clinics

Jump to Latest
1K views 23 replies 14 participants last post by  SuperKat  
N
#1 ·
Has anyone ever attended a women's skills clinic run by mtbchick ? (www.mtbchick.com)
They have one at Mtn Creek in NJ in Aug and its pretty much the only clinic in this area that I have found (women specific) and I'm wondering if anyone has any feedback before I drop $200.
Thanks~ :D
 
#2 ·
UMMM check the website...it is 150 dollars for 2 days (you figure lunch is 10 bucks so 20 for 2 days...breakfast-don't know what you get and some snacks and drinks...lets say 10 dollars more a day....110 bucks for 2 days....that seems like a deal).

I don't know anything about that clinic, but I would still do it.....It will give you the opportunity to meet other female riders in your area. Then you can ride with them instead of the guys all the time....If any of the other women's clinics are an indication, then you will learn some great tips and have a great time.
 
I
#3 ·
I've looked into their clinics myself...it seems as though they would have a lot to offer you, no matter what level of rider you are...if it's close to you, affordable for you, and there aren't any other clinics in the area you would prefer to go to...than I would say why not give it a shot...I myself would rather learn from the group of guys I ride with, solo rides and things like going to the park/urban and practicing/learning skills like manualing, bunnyhopping, jayhawking and stuff like that...if the clinics were closer to me I would maybe consider it more...and actually just being able to ride with another female, would probably lure me in...the distance is just too great for me to bother tho...guess I would say try it and have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!! :p :p
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
B
#5 ·
Are you looking for a downhill skills camp (since you posted on the dh/fr forum) or just a mtb skills camp? I have a downhill skills camp with Marla streb as the guest coach at the Mount snow Norba National in August. You can read what other mtbr members have said about my camps here; http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=65655 and I have more info on the Marla streb camp here; http://betterride.net/downhillmountainbikeclinicsandcamps.html

Please do take a camp with one of us, you will learn a lot. There are actual core skills to mountain bike riding and once you learn these skills you will be able to reach your potential. Without the core skills you are surviving on athleticism and cannot reach your potential (or have as much fun) as you will once you learn the core skills.

Good luck and have fun.
 
I
#6 ·
BetterRide said:
Are you looking for a downhill skills camp (since you posted on the dh/fr forum) or just a mtb skills camp? I have a downhill skills camp with Marla streb as the guest coach at the Mount snow Norba National in August. You can read what other mtbr members have said about my camps here; http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=65655 and I have more info on the Marla streb camp here; http://betterride.net/downhillmountainbikeclinicsandcamps.html

Please do take a camp with one of us, you will learn a lot. There are actual core skills to mountain bike riding and once you learn these skills you will be able to reach your potential. Without the core skills you are surviving on athleticism and cannot reach your potential (or have as much fun) as you will once you learn the core skills.

Good luck and have fun.
Click to expand...
don't wanna hijack this thread, but do you know of any good west coast camps...yours are all too far east for my broke arse... :D although the freeride camp looks interesting...care to give any more details on it??
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
B
#8 ·
irieness said:
don't wanna hijack this thread, but do you know of any good west coast camps...yours are all too far east for my broke arse... :D although the freeride camp looks interesting...care to give any more details on it??
Click to expand...
The Freeride camp should be a lot of fun. Lance Canfield and friends are putting the Rampage Freeride Fest on the weekend of Oct 1 & 2 and this camp will go on during the fest. Lance will be my assistant coach and the camp is a structured 3 day camp. The camp will focus on core riding skills, descending skills, steeps and drops.

Here is some more information on the camp and a little about my coaching philosophy.

I start with the basic, fundamental skills of mountain biking and really get the rider to master these techniques with drills and then on trail riding.

Many mountain bike racers feel that all they need to go faster is bigger balls and that the only thing keeping them from turning pro is letting off the brakes more.
Years ago as a snowboard coach I learned that to win at the world cup level and for even a recreational rider to improve the rider must master the fundamentals of the sport to continue to improve. This concept was really driven home as a downhill mountain bike racer when I first turned pro. I was really fit and fearless but was consistently getting beat by what I felt were lesser athletes (in fitness and fearlessness). What did these athletes have that I didn't have? They had a better skills foundation than me.

What this means is, athletic ability can only take an athlete so far. If an athlete doesn't have the basics wired they will stop progressing well before they reach their potential. This can often be seen in the expert and in the semi-pro downhill class. Riders that seem to have no fear and haul butt on the straights and medium sized hits but never even make it into the top 5 because they don�t have the basic skills mastered. As these riders move up in class they start to realize that all of the top pros have great athletic ability so their athletic ability is no longer an advantage. In ski and snowboard racing the competencies are so important that the US SKI and Snowboard development team chooses their athletes purely on their mastery of the competencies (a set of drills that if you can complete show that you have the basics wired), not their racing results. I know many athletes who can mountain bike, ski and/or snowboard and get down the mountain quickly but, they have bad habits and are surviving on athletic ability and daring. These riders will (or already have) reach their plateau and stop progressing. Once you master the fundamentals your potential for growth will be unlimited.

Dan Milkman (World Champion Gymnast, coach and author of "The Inner athlete",
"Body Mind Mastery" and The "Peaceful Warrior Series") states, "Athletes'
problems with learning or improving their skills are tied to weak fundamentals.
To raise athletes' potential you need to rebuild their foundation for success".
With this in mind I work on what I consider to be the key competencies (fundamentals) of mountain bike riding. These are the core skills that many riders from beginners to quite a few pros have not mastered.

Each day will start with 3 hours of skills instruction and drills followed by 2-3 hours of on trail practice and riding.

I hope this has been a help to you, if you have anymore questions feel free
to ask.

Thank you,

Gene
 
B
#12 ·
dream4est said:
hey gene next time your over here you should stop by my place. i want to show you my new freeride trail. i think you will like it.
Click to expand...
I have been wanting to check out your trails. I have been too frickin' busy to think this year so far. hopefully next month I will have time.
 
K
#15 ·
Stoked!

BetterRide said:
The Freeride camp should be a lot of fun. Lance Canfield and friends are putting the Rampage Freeride Fest on the weekend of Oct 1 & 2 and this camp will go on during the fest. Lance will be my assistant coach and the camp is a structured 3 day camp. The camp will focus on core riding skills, descending skills, steeps and drops.

Here is some more information on the camp and a little about my coaching philosophy.

I start with the basic, fundamental skills of mountain biking and really get the rider to master these techniques with drills and then on trail riding.

Many mountain bike racers feel that all they need to go faster is bigger balls and that the only thing keeping them from turning pro is letting off the brakes more.
Years ago as a snowboard coach I learned that to win at the world cup level and for even a recreational rider to improve the rider must master the fundamentals of the sport to continue to improve. This concept was really driven home as a downhill mountain bike racer when I first turned pro. I was really fit and fearless but was consistently getting beat by what I felt were lesser athletes (in fitness and fearlessness). What did these athletes have that I didn't have? They had a better skills foundation than me.

What this means is, athletic ability can only take an athlete so far. If an athlete doesn't have the basics wired they will stop progressing well before they reach their potential. This can often be seen in the expert and in the semi-pro downhill class. Riders that seem to have no fear and haul butt on the straights and medium sized hits but never even make it into the top 5 because they don�t have the basic skills mastered. As these riders move up in class they start to realize that all of the top pros have great athletic ability so their athletic ability is no longer an advantage. In ski and snowboard racing the competencies are so important that the US SKI and Snowboard development team chooses their athletes purely on their mastery of the competencies (a set of drills that if you can complete show that you have the basics wired), not their racing results. I know many athletes who can mountain bike, ski and/or snowboard and get down the mountain quickly but, they have bad habits and are surviving on athletic ability and daring. These riders will (or already have) reach their plateau and stop progressing. Once you master the fundamentals your potential for growth will be unlimited.

Dan Milkman (World Champion Gymnast, coach and author of "The Inner athlete",
"Body Mind Mastery" and The "Peaceful Warrior Series") states, "Athletes'
problems with learning or improving their skills are tied to weak fundamentals.
To raise athletes' potential you need to rebuild their foundation for success".
With this in mind I work on what I consider to be the key competencies (fundamentals) of mountain bike riding. These are the core skills that many riders from beginners to quite a few pros have not mastered.

Each day will start with 3 hours of skills instruction and drills followed by 2-3 hours of on trail practice and riding.

I hope this has been a help to you, if you have anymore questions feel free
to ask.

Thank you,

Gene
Click to expand...
This is great info Gene- I live in central TX where we don't have much DH or MX terrain to ride & build skills on, so I'd love to come to one of your clinics at some point (like Irieness, when I get the cash flow). Wish I lived closer!
 
B
#18 ·
Kdogg said:
This is great info Gene- I live in central TX where we don't have much DH or MX terrain to ride & build skills on, so I'd love to come to one of your clinics at some point (like Irieness, when I get the cash flow). Wish I lived closer!
Click to expand...
I usually put on a couple of fall/winter camps in Austin, TX. I should be there the first or second week of Dec. and in mid feburary. If you can't make one of my camps this summer I will come to you.
 
K
#20 ·
Great! I live in Austin, TX!

BetterRide said:
I usually put on a couple of fall/winter camps in Austin, TX. I should be there the first or second week of Dec. and in mid feburary. If you can't make one of my camps this summer I will come to you.
Click to expand...
Great! I live in Austin, TX! I'd definitely like to attend. Should I just keep checking your website for updated & registration info? Or, I could PM you my email address if you have time to email me about it closer to the date? Will the ATX clinic be geared towards XC, DH, FR, or a combo of all 3? Hope you bring Marla Stroeb w/you!
 
#22 ·
Bike clinic thoughts

Neen said:
Has anyone ever attended a women's skills clinic run by mtbchick ? (www.mtbchick.com)
They have one at Mtn Creek in NJ in Aug and its pretty much the only clinic in this area that I have found (women specific) and I'm wondering if anyone has any feedback before I drop $200.
Thanks~ :D
Click to expand...
Hey Neen,
Good for you for looking into clinics, and welcome to the DH forum!

I have attended 2 different clinics in the past year:
1. Women's Only Weekend at Big Bear (Advanced DH)
2. Eric Carter/Rich Houseman's DH clinic at Fontana

It is a personal preference whether you (as a female) learn better from women or men. I have found that I prefer being in a class with men, perhaps because I am so competitive and do not have such a sense of competition with men as with women.

Women's Clinic (June 2004)
I was not around at the women's clinic long enough to give a fair assessment. About mid-day the first day I bulldogged my way twice (!) through a "waterfall" section, crashed both times, and the second time suffered an A/C separation. :eek: But up to that point, it was a great clinic... :D
I was probably in the wrong class though - I should have been in Beginner DH, because my skills were not strong, I was simply bullheaded, tenacious, and tough. Putting yourself in the right class is important.

Carter/Houseman clinic
I took this in Feb 2005, and I am STILL benefitting from what I learned. More than anything else, I learned how to master my anxiety, how to approach a race course and prepare for a race, how to read a course for the terrain, proper mental preparation and post-race assessment.

At one point when I couldn't seem to hit the right line, EC fished out a bag of 2" washers from his camelbak and lined them up on the trail in pairs."Put your tire between these washers," he told me. And he's so encouraging and good natured that even though I was the only one who had to have the remedial "use-the-washers-to-hit-the-right-line" trick, I never felt foolish, but rather, like he was doing whatever it took as an instructor to ensure that I got the results I was looking for.

At another point, we were coming around a sweeping 150-degree turn. We all went through individually and EC and Rich would give us feedback. I went through the corner as I usually did, lightly dragging my back brake. EC tells me with a smile, "Your form looked good. Go do it again." I hike it back up the hill and start again. But this time, just before I hit the apex, Eric calls out, "Good, now let go! Let go!" I had such trust in him, I did this instantly, not really knowing what would happen. But when Eric Carter is watching you and tells you to let go the brake, you do it. I shot out of the corner and onto the straightaway, smooth as buttuh. My eyeballs must have been like saucers when I turned around, because he started laughing, "How was that?" he asked. "Wow..." was all I could say. I just learned how to take a corner.

FYI, EC and Rich Houseman are doing their race clinics (for MTX) at the NORBA Nationals. I think clinics will be run on Thursdays before the madness begins on Friday. I recommend this clinic to ANYONE, regardless of category or age.
http://www.raceclinic.com/

Depending on what your goal is, there is definitely a clinic for you. I wanted DH race-specific coaching, and I found that best from Eric Carter and Rich Houseman.

Things to consider:
1. What are my goals?
BASIC: feel more comfortable on the bike, going over obstacles, balance and proper positioning on the bike for descending over loose shale...
or
INTERMEDIATE: making peace with steep descents, bunny-hopping, cornering, proper braking technique...
or
ADVANCED: 4-foot drops, rocky descents, high-speed cornering, manualing...

2. Do I learn better with men or women?

3. Can I find individual instruction for a friend, or would I learn better in a clinic/class/coaching setting?

Hope this helps! Good luck!
-sunny :cool:
 
Mountain Bike Reviews Forum
posts
16M
members
534K
Since
1990
A forum community dedicated to Mountain Bike owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about bike parts, components, deals, performance, modifications, classifieds, trails, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
General Discussion Downhill - Freeride California - Norcal Shocks and Suspension Passion