: Get them on track!

By: g | No Comments » |

Remember what it was like when you started mtb riding? Stuff you wouldn’t think twice about riding these days seemed unrideable, and those techie sections were never going to happen. But time passes, experience and practice skills you up, your balance improves, and now you take on your former bogies with aplomb.

Weeeeeeeeeee!

Now think back to what happened last time you and some mates decided to take some newbies riding. Maybe it was your partner you finally convinced to come along. Did you take it easy, showing them the best lines, all the while patient with their slow speeds? Or did you ride like you usually do, leaving the newbie behind, no doubt greatly impressed with your skills at handling the terrain, but less than happy with your lack of social graces?

If you left them behind, did they bother coming again? It seems pretty obvious really, show newbies a good time and they’ll come back, treat them badly and you’ll keep on riding alone. It’s just so hard to put into practice.

I took a newbie out recently, and realised just how much I’d forgotten.

Like most kids, Jann rode everywhere, but typically, drifted away in her teens, finding cars and boys more appealing. We’d ridden the bike paths of Canberra a few times, but never on dirt together – I couldn’t get her interested no matter how much I raved about having fun.

Eventually though, persistent badgering worked and I won reluctant agreement from her to come on a ride.

Jann rode our old Mongoose duallie, which was set up softly for comfort, and came with a nice range of gears and decent V brakes. Downside was the old Indy forks, but at the low speeds newbies travel, flex wasn’t going to be a problem. I adjusted the bike to suit, and we were away. To make things easier, I carried everything but her water bottle, so she didn’t even need a pack.

The first surprise was she had too many confusing gears – if you’ve been riding for years, you know whether to shift front or back, push up or flick down, but for the newbie, Rabidfire gets a bit confusing – pushing one side makes it harder, while pushing on the other side makes it easier? WTF? And what’s with these other levers?

Oddly enough, my yelling garbled instructions didn’t help at all, so Jann mostly left the front in middle ring, riding it as an eight speed. Unsurprisingly, the hills proved tough. We walked all the big hills, and some of the smaller ones, Jann choosing to walk down the steepest and roughest downhills, graciously telling me to hurtle down at my usual breakneck speed. This was another surprise. I didn’t expect her to ride down as fast as I did, but had forgotten how timid newbies can be.

To keep up her interest, I showed her some aboriginal sites, engravings and old ceremonial grounds, and we talked of the European history of the area. We stopped at some good lookouts, sniffed flowers, had some munchies and generally took it easy.

Around halfway, we met up with a couple on rigids, the woman also enjoying her first mtb ride. We chatted for a bit and told them about the singletrack to come. At last we began the easy downhill stretch, where I thought Jann would relax and go faster, but she still wasn’t confident enough. We just cruised at a slow steady pace, although we did pass the other couple.

Unfortunately the hard seat took its toll on Jann’s rather more delicate bum, and she was soon sitting oddly to reduce the pressure, which didn’t help control, balance, or, most importantly, comfort. A comfy seat will be essential if I’m to get her out riding again!

I let Jann lead in the singletrack to set the pace. After getting the feel of the track, it was obvious she was enjoying herself much more than she had been on the firetrail – because she wasn’t constantly on the brakes, worried about excess speed, she could concentrate on having fun. She actually rode faster on the singletrack than the firetrail. Even before the big red belly black snake slithered across the track right in front of her…

By the time we hit the end of the main singletrack, the hard seat had become too much, so we bailed for the road, and were caught by the other couple while we had a breather. Both Jann and the other woman commented on how they enjoyed the singletrack the most – another surprise, as I expected newbies to enjoy the easy riding of the firetrail more.

Come the end of the ride, and Jann was justifiably pleased with how she’d gone, and so was I. I learnt it’s very easy to forget how hard it was when we started riding, but we really need to remember when taking newbies along. Introduce them gently, get them interested, and you’ve got them hooked. Don’t go for anything too hard, but avoid the bland and boring – try to keep the riding and the environment interesting. Do it right, and It won’t be too long before they’re bringing along their first newbie…

Take a newbie out, but make allowances for them, make it fun. It’s hard, but worth it. You’ll still enjoy yourself – they’ll love it.

 

Tags:newbie


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