No one needs the services of an expert mountain bike coach, who would pay for that, right!? Well, picture this all too common scene. You save up for your dream bike, hours of overtime, ramen for every meal, skipping nights out with friends – NO BEER – and then finally the day comes – you rush down to the shop to collect it.
It’s so shiny!
Now it’s time to get out and throw some fat whips….but wait a minute, you can’t actually throw fat whips can you? How about regular jumps? Manuals? How’s your cornering skills? Riding tricky rock sections? Drops? You can see where I’m going with this, right?
Spending (make sure your significant other isn’t reading) thousands of dollars on a mountain bike and then not learning how to ride it properly and safely is an entirely pointless endeavor. If you took up skiing, snowboarding, golfing or Crossfit it is unlikely you would attempt to learn the sport without any instruction.
I know what you’re thinking here:
“Sounds great Ronnie, but I don’t think I need any coaching…thanks!”.
Well, I’d love to take you on a quick trip down memory lane. Think back to when you were a kid, learning to play baseball, soccer or basketball. You went to practice, the coach had you run drills and he or she provided instruction and feedback along the way. Pretty standard stuff.
But then you picked up this wonderful new sport, mountain biking. It’s actually one of the most difficult sports to learn to do well and most people’s method for learning the sport is broken – they try and just teach themselves! Motor skills are not learned that way – you need structured guidance from an expert mountain bike coach with on trail feedback.
An expert mountain bike coach will also push you to try things you wouldn’t otherwise attempt on your own. They not only encourage and motivate you in the short term but hold you accountable to your long term goals (i.e., workouts, nutrition, racing).
As an ICP Level 3 Certified Coach – which definitely qualifies me as an expert mountain bike coach – I can guide you through the four steps of skill mastery.
- Unconscious Incompetence – You didn’t even know you had a problem until you read this blog post did you!?
- Conscious Incompetence – Now you know you need coaching and why it’s important.
- Conscious Competence – This is where we do a lot of our work. Drills, skill sessions, trail riding, looking at your off bike life, gym work – this is where the coaching happens.
- Unconscious Competence – Fly my little bird, fly. You got this down and it’s time to send it!
If you think about it, your bike is just one small piece of the puzzle. If you truly want to be the best rider you can be, then working with an expert mountain bike coach on a regular basis is an important step that you should be taking.
