Beginners rides

[Sara Haag]

Hey all,

Our local mountain bike club is looking to get more beginners involved with riding the rails. What have others done for beginners rides? I am interested in everything like who leads the rides and how you coordinate that, if you work on specific skills, if its a weekly event, weekdays or weekends, how to reach out to new riders, bike lending ideas. We kinda got the rides going this past summer, but there is room for expanded reach and involvement. We ended up trying to ride at 6pm (since a lot of people work till 5pm 30 miles away) on Tuesday nights and getting a couple of experienced riders to lead and ride behind the groups.

Thanks! 😃

[Devin_P]

Depends on the level of "beginner" you are referring to. I’ve led several beginner rides through a local MeetUp group and have received positive feedback for the way we handled things from both true new riders and "basic" riders. Note: Im not a skills clinic coach (or anything else like that) and don’t consider myself an expert rider by a long shot. Lol

Quick ideas that I have found effective:

Schedule a weekend ride where more beginners are apt to come along.

Have at least two skilled riders, one to lead and another to sweep. If possible (depending on amount of beginners break into groups after an assessment of ability levels. Remember to stay on appropriate trails for the skill levels and ages. Basic psychology trends show that older new riders are more risk averse than younger ones (but not always of course).

Make sure riders are on a halfway decent bike. It’s difficult at best (dangerous at worst) to get new riders excited when they are struggling with a 50lbs "box store special" bike.

Teach basic skills that will enhance their ability and fun factor (ex: pedal placement, proper shifting, weight distribution, safe braking). A lot of what seems like instinct to experienced riders is really a learned skill that we just don’t have to think about as we ride.

Take breaks on the trail often and make sure everybody is keeping up and still good to go. Ask about comfort and mechanical issues so they can be addressed. Many rookies don’t realize what is or isn’t supposed to be making noises or "hurting" and won’t speak up.

Anyway, hope this helps some…

[blundar]

"Devin_P" wrote

Depends on the level of "beginner" you are referring to. I’ve led several beginner rides through a local MeetUp group and have received positive feedback for the way we handled things from both true new riders and "basic" riders. Note: Im not a skills clinic coach (or anything else like that) and don’t consider myself an expert rider by a long shot. Lol

Quick ideas that I have found effective:

Schedule a weekend ride where more beginners are apt to come along.

Have at least two skilled riders, one to lead and another to sweep. If possible (depending on amount of beginners break into groups after an assessment of ability levels. Remember to stay on appropriate trails for the skill levels and ages. Basic psychology trends show that older new riders are more risk averse than younger ones (but not always of course).

Make sure riders are on a halfway decent bike. It’s difficult at best (dangerous at worst) to get new riders excited when they are struggling with a 50lbs "box store special" bike.

Teach basic skills that will enhance their ability and fun factor (ex: pedal placement, proper shifting, weight distribution, safe braking). A lot of what seems like instinct to experienced riders is really a learned skill that we just don’t have to think about as we ride.

Take breaks on the trail often and make sure everybody is keeping up and still good to go. Ask about comfort and mechanical issues so they can be addressed. Many rookies don’t realize what is or isn’t supposed to be making noises or "hurting" and won’t speak up.

Anyway, hope this helps some…

+1 ^^
Good stuff covered here Devin_P!

I have done several beginner rides. The most important thing that I usually do right away is to check all of the bikes to make sure that they all shift properly to all the gears, that they all have properly adjusted brakes, and that the seat height clamps are properly set for each rider. Then after that, I check tire pressures all around and do a general visual inspection of everything else on the bikes. This is all done before we start.

I always tell them to please feel free to speak up, and that they are the only ones that really know what they are capable of handling. There is absolutely nothing wrong with stopping and walking through a section if it is too difficult or steep for them.

After that, I just choose a fire access road that is fairly flat for the first short section of the ride. That way I can go wide and see if anyone is having troubles keeping up because of fitness level or bike problems. I sometimes also offer a bit of basic instructions (braking, leveling pedals and off the seat with knees slightly bent, some shifting, and looking ahead to read the path) without going too much into details. The whole idea is to keep it fun, a bit educational, without injuries or bike troubles, and to give them good positive feedback.

If their fitness levels and skills are OK, then I can choose a short and easy beginner singletrack section to give them a taste of that kind of trail.

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