Encourage your children to make new friends and improve their bike handling skills in a safe yet fun outdoor environment. Starting on our purpose-built Mountain Bike Park in Peaslake, and then, as their skills develop, progressing on to the vast network of trails across the Surrey Hills, such as ‘Summer Lightning’, ‘Barry Knows Best’ and ‘Super Nova’.
We have the following mountain bike courses available to kids and teens:
Green skills Session
3 HOUR SESSION
This is where we introduce and develop key skills, core techniques and good habits that ensure safe riding. It caters for those new to riding through to those who have potentially had a few sessions prior but are still building riding confidence. The coaches know that the riders may require prompts and support to master level pedals, a neutral body position, standing whilst riding and keeping the head up to ensure bike control.
The children are guided to start and stop off-road journeys with support, pedalling over a specified distance with no support. They learn to stop the bike when commanded, with control, using brakes. They will be introduced to how to corner on flat terrain without putting a foot down and to recognise basic obstacles, such as slightly undulating terrain, branches on the ground, and shown how to negotiate around them or over them.
The session will include riding for short distances, up to a mile, and takes place entirely on the Trail Academy’s private trails and pump track.
Blue Skills Session
3 HOUR SESSION
These sessions are designed for individuals that have already secured secure basic skills on a bike and therefore are ready to develop further techniques such as cornering, steeper terrain, small drops and small jumps in addition to riding longer trails.
The coaches will look to teach the participants how to: stop with control using back, front and combined brakes; maintain a suitable riding positions to deal with low obstacles overhead, obstacles on the ground and undulating terrain; move the body on the bike to deal with sharp bumps and simple trail features such as inclines, corners and sequential changes in directions; remain stable and neutralise bumps and undulations on the trail.
The session will include riding for short distances, up to 5 miles depending on the group, and take place on the Trail Academy’s private trails and pump track as well as in the woods immediately surrounding the school.
Red Skills Session
3 HOUR SESSION
These sessions are designed for competent advanced riders that already have experience riding mountain bikes. The participants are expected to have a good understanding of body positioning, cornering and control on a variety of trail types. The group learns how to maintain suitable riding positions for large obstacles overhead, large obstacles on the ground and varied undulating terrain and how to move the body on the bike to deal with sharp bumps and a range of trail features such as steep inclines, corners and sudden changes in directions.
Coaches model how to lift the front wheel off the ground and use the legs to find grip, balance and speed, ensuring that the rider remains stable and neutralises bumps and undulations on the trail.
Riders are taken on trails that require confidence, often with corners you would find on a red graded trail including other features such as, tight switchbacks, berms, off camber roots, flat corners, drops and jumps.
The groups can discover how movement in corners can allows the rider to find more grip and how to read the trail ahead whilst maintaining flow.
Riders can discover how to turn with the hips and keep their upper body neutral, using dynamic movement in corners to allow more grip to be found.
The session will include riding for distances up to 10 miles and take place on the Trail Academy’s private trails and pump track as well as in the surrounding hills including Holmbury and Pitch.
PLEASE NOTE - This session is physically demanding from the start and requires a good level of fitness for the duration of the 3 hour session.
