@Roman, sorry man… Thanks for clearing that up though. Yeah dgaddis wrote a pretty lengthy blog post about the whole debacle: http://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-trails/advocacy-alert-three-ga-state-parks-to-target-mountain-bikers-with-a-trail-fee/

Also, if you guys ever want to get ahold of me or are ever passing through Dahlonega, feel free to shoot me a line at greg AT singletracks DOT com

Sorry for an offtopic here but don’t have your email so posting here. I was wrong about Fort Yargo park. They do charge 2 bucks ON TOP of 5 for general entry. Screw them… Unfair and pointless. I was wrong. Found the truth this weekend.

Eric checking in from the class. Thanks for pointing out i clipped a tree. Great article! You really articulated the value of Gene’s curriculum and well trained coaching staff. Coach Chris Skolnick was awesome. For anyone on the fence…you should sign up now. Save the airfare/gas money and pedal to the clinic.

One quick note to potential students…you won’t come out of a 3 day clinic ripping the trails. BetterRide will arm you with the knowledge and tools, but my feeling is that it will take lots of work to master the skills. So really when you consider the clinic actually lasts far longer than the 3 days you are there in person, the tutition is a bargain.

@Jared13 You are welcome too. Everything is easier to explain with a coach in person but not everyone can make it to our camps, glad to help.

Fun times!

Loved every moment of the camp and it was worth every penny.

Bought my flat pedals and a drop post (found a deal at $200 of Specialized Command Post). Very different expericne now! Now I go in the middle of the week to practice on the trail. Riding is for weekend.

A couple of quick comments from the founder of BetterRide.

Greg, thanks for the great write up and tirelessly answering a lot of
questions from your readers.

Jared, I never liked the belly button advice as your belly button is
above your hips. When you ride a mtb correctly you are hinged forward
at the hips, which means if you focus on just having your belly button
pointed where you are going it is easy for the entire upper half of
your body to be turned into the turn too. This leaves your upper body
leaned into the turn taking down force (weight) off your tires. Think
of a headlight on each hip bone lighting your way around the turn and
decouple your hips from your upper body so you keep weight over the
tires (you belly button will still point through the turn but your
chest and head will stay above the bike).

Great to see an intelligent discussion on mtb skills!

Thanks,

Gene Hamilton

I can’t wait for July! (My tentative return to the bike.)

Glad you enjoyed it!

Q: The shorter stem ….are you referring to a ‘lower’ stem in vertical height ? or Shorter ‘reach’ to the Reigns ? (Horizontal length) ?

Cheers again!

Paul

1. Check out the first-ever article I wrote for Singletracks.com: http://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-training/transitioning-ski-board-skills-to-the-mtb-trail/

2. No this is strictly a skills camp. The fitness required is very minimal. Most of the day we would listen to theory and do drills in the parking lot, and towards the end of the day we’d do a trail ride and put our skills into practice. We only did about 3-4 miles of trail time each day, but because of all the stops along the way and just practicing on specific sections each ride took 1-2 hours.

So basically, no, you don’t need to be very fit to do this camp. It’s great for beginners in that way!

1. What skill cross-overs with DH skiing? New to MTB, but used to race downhill on
the HS team.

2. Would you suggest a basic fitness level before embarking on the 3-day course? Intimidated at being out of shape…

Like Greg, I also came to mountain biking with a strong background in downhill skiing (should be no surprise given my moniker). It’s amazing how the same principles of learning apply to such different activities. If you try to learn mogul skiing by combining all the motions at once (absorbtion, extension, edging, pivoting, pole plant, etc) you will fail miserably and learn nothing but frustration. If you work on one motion until it becomes second nature and then incorporate the next and so on, you have a chance. And so it is with mountain biking.

Probably the greatest thing the camp taught me was economy of motion. I was a classic bull-in-a-china-shop; all power and now finesse. So when I failed, I failed spectacularly, usually with an accompanying trip to the ER. I also became fatigued quickly by expending all that energy unnecessarily. After the camp, I could ride longer with far less energy expenditure.

What’s really interesting is you’re not really sure just how valuable it was as you leave the camp. Then, when you get out on your old trails and face your old nemesis (whatever obstacle(s) stymied you), then you know just how worth it it was. There were about a half dozen obstacles that I thought I should be able to clean, but never could–that’s what drove me to attend the camp in the first place. Upon my return, I cleaned every one on the first attemt and did so easily. The best part was I then cleaned some obstacles I had previously thought out of my reach forever. Big smiles!

http://mountaingoatadventures.com/coaching

I won’t be able to take any because she is offering them on Saturdays I work. I am going to contact her tonight and see about scheduling a group class on a weekend I am off. Maybe I can get a couple more singletrack members to join me.

Watch for a review on the blog.

@topjimmy, if you take the class be sure to report back and tell us what you thought! How many hours is that “one-day” class?

@Jared13, “read that if you have a flashlight on your bellybutton, you’re trying shine the light through the corner.” Yes, exactly. And to do that, you have to pivot your butt/hips off the bike to the outside of the turn so that your belly button, the core of your mass and momentum, is pointing through the turn. Just kind of different ways to explain the same thing. This all happens while you’re doing other things like leaning the bike independently, pushing on the inside grip, shoving your outside elbow out, and dropping your outside foot. I’m still working on putting all the parts together, but our coach made a really good point: in addition to doing drills off the trail, when you’re on the trail approach each ride with a purpose. When you’re riding, focus on doing one thing, like sticking your elbow out. Next ride, focus on something else, like pivoting the hips.

You mean turning your hips through the turn, right? I think they’re the same thing, just two different ways to say it. I read that if you have a flashlight on your bellybutton, you’re trying shine the light through the corner.

And excellent point about the bike cost. IMO, it’s easy to justify the cost of the class when consider the cost of the bike, helmet, gear, gadgets, etc, etc.

We have discussed attending another camp in the future to further hone our skills. It’s probably going to happen.