Why Mountain Bike Lessons are Essential
Most of us get into mountain biking because someone we know loves it and wants us to get involved. Whether it’s a spouse, buddy or family member.
Unfortunately, while our trusted riding companion often has our best interests at heart – there’s a lot to know when it comes to mountain biking confidently and giving us a long list of commands and sending us up the mountain is a great way to overwhelm us and make us regret our decision in tagging along.
Mountain biking is supposed to be fun, and when you break down each little bit into bite sized chunks it’s going to help you feel more confident and progress faster than getting defeated and swearing it off altogether.
Personal Experience with Mountain Bike Lessons
For me, my trusted companion was my husband. I thought he knew EVERYTHING about mountain biking. He had spent a few summers as a kid riding at Panorama Mountain Resort with his dad and it was a memory he cherished – so he wanted me to get involved in this sport with him. Of course because he looked confident on a bike – I thought, he can teach me, right?
Well let’s just say things went terribly.
He started by giving me a list of orders. Stand on your bike, keep your pedals flat, don’t use your front brake in corners and about a million other commands – in about 10 minutes time.
I didn’t know what my front brake was, I was afraid to stand up, and cornering?! What do you mean cornering?!
We then went straight to a mountain bike park, I rented all the safety equipment and away we went.
Well, away we went off the chair lift to my first downhill section and I was immediately engulphed in tears and anxiety.
Call me a wimp, but at 32 years old, minimal athletic ability and no experience with extreme sports- this wasn’t exactly a learning curve I was willing meddle through.
Benefits of Taking Mountain Bike Lessons
For this exact reason – I recommend mountain biking lessons.
Here’s the thing, your husband or buddy probably has a million bad habits, out of date training – or has never taken formal training.
Trying to “do it all” at once is going to leave you feeling overwhelmed and defeated.
Mountain Bike Lessons break each bit into bite sized pieces and you go through safe and effective drills – at your speed – while working your way up slowly and building confidence along the way.
Allowing you to increase your progress, much faster.
If you’ve ever heard the phrase “go slow to go fast” it’s pretty common amongst most sports – and mountain biking is no exception.
Building Confidence and Skills
There’s so many little nuances in biking. From ideal foot position to which part of your body to bend or un bend, to which brake to use and when.
While it sounds complicated, it all comes to muscle memory pretty fast – especially when you learn it in the right order and allow yourself to progress through each step properly.
This is ultimately going to build your confidence and skills which in turn is going to limit your hesitation and crashes.
Avoiding Common Mistakes
I took my first lesson far too late – I thought I needed to learn the basics first and then have a mountain bike lesson to “fix” some of my bad habits. If I could do it again – I’d take a lesson immediately. This is a common mistake a lot of people make.
However, if you’ve already started – it’s not too late. I waited 2 years to take my first lesson and struggled the entire way through. Since taking multiple lessons, my progress has shot up dramatically. I’m definitely not entering any Redbull competitions any time soon but now, as a female in my 30s learning to mountain bike, I feel a lot better learning from real instructors and not my husband, his buddies, or Instagram.
How to Choose the Right Mountain Bike Lessons
There’s a variety of different lessons out there, ranging from beginner to expert – as well as special skills. You can also choose from group or private lessons. Group lessons are generally the most budget friendly – but often times you can opt for private lessons but bring friends along to reduce the overall cost.
Choosing your lesson type is going to take some self reflection, and honesty, as you don’t want to end up in a training situation far outside your comfort zone and end up holding the group back. The good news is, most coaches or coaching companies do this work for you and have you fill out a general questionnaire and give suggestions based on where they think you fit. It’s important you’re honest with your answers. If you’re opting for private lessons, this doesn’t matter as much.
My first lesson was a group lesson for women. It was more budget friendly and I thought it being an all women mountain bike lesson would be a little less aggressive.
My second lesson was a private lesson with a male instructor and I had my friend Sophia, owner of Rocky Tales, join me. Full disclosure, it was no more or less aggressive than the female taught lesson.
I went into both of them nervous thinking that I’d be pushed so far out my comfort zone that I might get hurt – since we were learning new skills. This couldn’t be further from the truth, regardless of male or female instructor.
No instructor is going to push you so far out of your skill level that you are at risk of getting hurt. They are going to provide you the building blocks for you to progress on your own.
Are Mountain Biking Lessons Worth The Investment?
Mountain Biking is already an expensive sport – but investing in the bike, the equipment, the accessories and passes (if you plan to ride bike parks) is kind of like buying a mountain bike but refusing to put pedals on it. You’ve already come this far- you might as well do everything to make sure you’re having fun, and staying safe.
Which makes mountain biking lessons well worth the investment.
Whether you’re a beginner, intermediate or even advanced mountain biker – there’s always room for improvement that is going to help you progress on the bike and ultimately mitigate crashes or other unfortunate events.
Today I do bike parks no problem and I’m thankful to have the opportunity to take lessons to help me feel more confident and comfortable on my mountain bike.
If you happen to be the husband, boyfriend, or partner of someone learning to mountain bike, encourage the lesson! Heck – maybe even surprise them with it. It’s much better than fighting on the mountain and getting blamed for their frustration. 🙂
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