.png)
The Scottish Cross Country Mountain Bike Association (SXC) are delighted to have launched the second year of women’s coaching sessions; aimed at increasing skill level, confidence and event participation.
Teaming up with experienced coach Diane Clayton Chisholm, the SXC will be able to deliver three sessions which are encouraging, develop skills and get riders ready to join the start line.
Thanks to a successful “Awards for All” funding application as part of the Scottish Cycling Women on 2Wheels project, the SXC are able to offer the sessions for only £5 each.
Diane said:
“I'm super pleased to be back again this year to coach with SXC. The aim is to support more women to take the first step into racing their MTBs. We've seen a huge increase in the popularity of cycling as a leisure activity and I hope that with a little support some will make the leap into cycling as a sport. This initiative is not about finding the next gold medallist; it’s about helping people to find another aspect to the sport which they might just love.
The sessions are designed to take a recreational mountain biker and get them ready for their first race. Groups will be small (max of 8 riders) and will be held on Cross Country Mountain Bike race circuits used by SXC. This will give riders an idea for what sort of technical trail features to expect. We will examine the difference between riding for fun and racing.”
Graeme McLean, Project Manager of Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland and also the lead on the Women on 2Wheels programme said:
“Mountain bike racing is a really great place to start if you want to get into racing. We have some exciting courses with fun technical sections, a great team of supportive event organisers and a Taster category to allow riders to dip their pedal into racing. We want to give women the confidence and opportunities to get into cycle sport and the SXC have always been great at making this happen. I am pleased that they are going to do another year of sessions.”
The coaching sessions will take place on the race course itself, to allow riders the opportunity to ask question about what to expect on race day.
Each session will be a standalone session and will prepare a recreational mountain biker for the start line the following day. Over the 3 coaching sessions we will look at starts, cornering, climbing, descending, race tactics, sprints and finishes.
Spaces are available for any female rider.
In order to facilitate this there will be 3 coaching sessions in 2016, with more to follow in 2017. The sessions are:
Fife 14th August 2pm-4pm – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sxc-womens-coaching-fife-tickets-26750136378
Cathkin 3rd September 10am-1pm - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sxc-womens-coaching-cathkin-tickets-26750190540
Forfar 17th September 2pm-4pm - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sxc-womens-coaching-forfar-tickets-26750179507