We loved this tale so much that we decided that the only way to do it justice was as a full press release. Check out how one of our recent mountain bike customers described their day out...

"Well, I got round to taking my beginner’s day on a mountain bike.   I thought you might like to share a few impressions of how it went, so you can warn any other age 60+ nuts who want to try it.

 Let’s start with instructor and trail buddy John Hayes.  John is a natural instructor with an easy, confident manner which transfers to his students – even in the most trying circumstances.  He had a clear understanding of my objectives for the day, and structured the activities to meet them.  John obviously has a great practical experience of mountain biking and is able to explain and demonstrate clearly and with ease.  He has almost infinite patience when his skill is not immediately matched by that of the student.

Rule No 1 for the Senior Mountain Bike Student

If this is your first foray from road bike to off-road, then accept that off-road is not on-road with the scenery moved closer.  Everything requires at least 3 times as much effort and 4 times as much concentration.  Just because there are no cars, it doesn’t mean the cows aren’t out to get you.

The weather (well, I am English ) started miserable and damp and got progressively better, so we concentrated for a while on riding through a river-crossing to absorb water from the feet up.  Despite being relatively flat, the trails of the Wareham Forest, combined with the low tyre pressures, made the going quite challenging on occasions. 

Rule No 2 for the SMBS

Brief your instructor on this simple Red, White and Blue Safety Code:

• If my face goes red, I am probably working close to capacity – call a break
• If my face goes white, I am probably suffering incipient heart failure – call an ambulance
• If my face goes blue, I have probably died – call an undertaker

We took the opportunity whilst in the forest to develop some basic handling skills.  (John, even at 63 there are some things I can still do like a bunny:  hopping just isn’t one of them yet).  Then we hauled our way (my way) up to Nine Barrow Down to position for some downhill exercises.

 Rule No 3 for the SMBS

 Remember the Zero-sum Rule: 

If you want to try to do some downhill, you have to put up with the uphill slog beforehand – unless there is a ski-lift.  (Skiers cheat.  They wouldn’t do so much of it if they had to ski up the hill first).

The downhill introduced another general difference between on and off-road biking:   In road biking, you sit down to go downhill and stand up to go uphill; in off-road the opposite applies – unless you want to fall off.

Lunch was taken in the gardens of the Bankes Inn at Studland.  If you are a carbohydrate junkie, there isn’t much in the way of pasta other than spag bol.  Despite carrying an industrial quantity of jelly beans, I probably hadn’t fuelled enough during the ride and felt the consequences.  Lesson learned. 

Rule No 4 for the SMBS

 Use a hydration pack.  During the ride, significant quantities of the scenery will try and hitch a ride on your bike.  This will include some which will target the bottle-carrier on your seat tube.  Wareham Forest is frequented by animals with outsized digestive systems.  Some of their output will inevitably find its way onto your drinking bottle.  This can put more than a twist of lemon on your drink.  Using a hydration pack just gives you a sporting chance of avoiding a dose of the squits and a serious laundry problem if you are wearing padded undershorts.

After liberal applications of Muc-Off and use of the garden hose both bike and I are clean and lubricated and ready to try out some our newly-acquired skills in the local area.

Thanks to John and GO AWOL for a great day out.

Jerry Laker

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