In this time of uncertainty, one constant is our community’s shared love of mountain biking and desire to progress. Although we weren’t able to jump into our 2020 season as soon as we’d hoped to, our crew is working hard on and off site to be ready to roll as soon as we are able to open safely. For our Camps staff, that means meeting remotely to dive into training and preparation for Summer Ride and Ayr Academy. In one of our brainstorming sessions, we started to look at ways to get new campers prepared and excited for camp this year. The first idea that came to mind was creating a video series to connect with our campers at home.
We are excited to share the first group of videos we have developed with you over the next couple of weeks. This three-part series will introduce some of the core fundamental skills that we focus on at the start of camp: Riding Position, Effective Braking, and Terrain Awareness. Our Camps Program Manager Jeff Juneau will walk you through the basics and provide a few exercises that are easy to practice at home. Refining and reinforcing these fundamental skills is beneficial all riders, but especially critical for riders coming to their first ever session of camp.
While we developed these segments with our summer campers in mind, they are a great resource for all riders looking to develop their skills. These are the same fundamental skills we use in all of our Highland Training sessions, including Find Your Ride programs for new riders, private lessons for all ages and abilities, single-day Kids Camp sessions, Adult Ayr Academy, and women’s programs.
The Riding Fundamentals video series is designed to work on simple concepts and practice exercises in a small area at home, preparing you to then take your skills to the trail. As we move forward, we will be creating and sharing more skills videos that build on these fundamentals and work into progressively more challenging skills that lead to jumps, drops, wheelies, bunny hops, and more. Make sure to keep an eye out for some “at home” equipment and fitness how-to videos, dropping next.
We hope you enjoy the videos, and please share them with friends and family that want to work on developing skills. Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay connected and stoked on all the content we are building for the Highland family. Looking forward to seeing you all on the mountain soon!
-Highland Camps
