Saturday 4th March Go Ride & Youth Ride

Go Ride - I had a slight feeling of deja vu as I loaded the van on Friday night with all the equipment for the session I'd planned for a few weeks earlier; one that I had to cancel due to extremely low temperatures, but hey, it's a good core workout moving those planks ;-) and I knew Calvin would be pleased to see all his favourite props.

Super low riding from Jacob

Ewan needs to get a bit lower!

Calvin has this under control..........

Super out of the saddle riding from Ewan

Obstacles are not problem for Joel

The focus of the session was riding over varied terrain and trying to get riders to get out of their saddles to gain better balance and handling over obstacles.  We started with some gliding practise, leading onto superman poses.  Several of the riders really embraced the idea of getting off their saddles and getting their backs low and flat, it's not easy so every little improvement is a big achievement.  Next we split into two groups, with the older riders working on Post Office Queue with Calvin and the younger riders using the lumps and bumps and the end of the field with a limbo thrown in to encourage them to move around a bit.  When we'd got the hang of that we swapped over and I took the older riders up to the end of the site to practise rolling off the stage, and getting the feel of the effect of moving their body weight when tackling drop offs.

Everyone lending a hand on the obstacles

Concentration...........

Izzy Looking perfectly balanced

During the biscuit break an impromptu limbo competition materialised, with a perfectly orderly queue forming around the playground, it was quite a sight!  It gave Calvin and Luke a chance to set up some wooden obstacles on the main playground.  Once that was done we set the riders off on a giant circuit taking in natural lumps and bumps of the site, the Post Office Queue and of course the planks, ramps and see-saws.  It was all hands on deck as our youngest riders approached the obstacles with a total lack of fear.

All in all a good session; lots of progress made on confidence and handling and plenty of good riding on show throughout the session.  Thanks to all our riders, coaches and volunteers for contributing to a fun morning.

Youth Ride - Luke, Dan and Nico all joined me for a 30k ride,  a shortened version of one of our favourite routes; Castle Chaos.  It was a smooth ride, with no complications, so well done boys excellent riding.

Next Week Saturday 11th March: Go Ride at Stocks Green School. Sign on from 9.15am
Youth Ride 11.30am Please contact me to sign on - road bikes only