Cyclocross Skills to Get the Edge

Place: Valmont Bike Park
Day: Aug. 1 and 6
Time: 5 to 8 p.m.
Cost: $125

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Find free time on the course where others struggle

Cyclocross season is coming. You’ve worked hard to get fit, but are your skills slowing you down?

‘Cross courses favor riders who can balance speed in long stretches, finesse through obstacles and carry speed out of turns – and they punish those who can’t. Learn with professional cycling coach Lee McCormack how to turn the ‘cross course into your new bestie.

In this 3-hour intensive course, you’ll learn bike handling skills that will put you ahead of the competition.

Cornering safer and faster

What if you could save .5-1 second in every CX course turn? In a typical cross’ race with 20 turns per lap and nine laps per race, you’re looking at dropping 1-3 minutes just with improved cornering alone. How many places is that worth?

Plus, you’ll be using less energy coming out of every turn so you can save that power for your last lap punch. And now that you’re corning faster and safer, let’s not forget how much time you save when you don’t crash. (Win-win!)

Working the terrain

See opportunities where others see obstacles. Learn how to spy the fastest lines, pump the terrain for increased speed and find flow on the course. Work the course instead of getting worked by it. It’s not only faster and requires less energy – it makes racing that much more fun.

These skills will help you carry more, easier speed all around the course. If we have time, we’ll also look at dismount/remounts and hops. 

Class will meet at Valmont Bike Park so you can dial in the terrain that you’ll race in local and national Pro CX events.

Bonus: All attendees get 10% off the Boulder Bicycle Works Speed Treatment — the drivetrain treatment that keeps your bike running smoothly despite gnarly conditions — which is key for CX racing!

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Fairlee Frey 12-week build to XCE world championships: Week 6

After one week of rest, pro mountain bike racer Fairlee Frey (@fairleefrey_mondin) is diving into her second build phase.

This just in from her coach Mike Durner (@coachdurner) –>

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Fairlee Frey 12-week build to XCE worlds: Week 4

Pro mountain bike racer Fairlee Frey (@fairleefrey_mondin) has been ripping and rowing on the RipRow, and she’s been ripping on her bike. Check out this week’s video plus Week 4 training from coach Mike Turner (@coachdurner).

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Remote coaching: BMX success story

I just got a cool note from Roger in Finland. I’ve been helping his daughter with her BMX skills for a few years, and she’s now on the Finnish National BMX Team!

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Racing for the right reasons

Hi Lee,

A while ago you I believe you wrote an article that addressed racing mountain bikes and why people do it. I think the byline was something like “If you’re racing, ask yourself why?”. Does that ring a bell? If so, could you send me the link so I can re-read it?

I’m the former head coach of a high school mountain bike team, and I’ve become quite disillusioned with racing. We’ve lost no small number of kids who loved (notice the past tense here) mountain biking, joined our team, and quit in frustration because training for racing, and racing itself, took all joy out of the sport. I feel really bad about this, and I know other coaches around the state are experiencing the same thing. Kids should not join a club and end up hating mountain biking. Something is seriously amiss here.

Me, I’m done with racing. I’m riding for fun and fitness now. It’s why I fell in love with the sport in the first place.

Best,

Ex Racer Dude

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Shredding the Breck Epic

Hey Lee. Paul and I are having fun at the Break Epic in the duo 80+ division. We have won arguably the two hardest stages, Guyot and Wheeler, not in small part due to shredding skills we picked up from sessions with you. Ciao.

Mike D. and Paul R.

Both Mike and Paul have done private and semi-private MTB skills classes with Lee, and they are both active members of the Lee Likes Bikes MTB School. This stuff works!

Meanwhile, our coach Kristie Van Voorst, who teaches our women-only Level 1 classes, is riding her bike solo from Boulder to Durango.

She reports:

“Ran into racers from the Breck Epic 2 days. The first was on a downhill. I was farther back in the pack but pretty much kept up on a fully loaded hard tail… I kept watching everything they were doing wrong… ”

Ha! When an exhausted, fully loaded bike tourer hangs with you on a downhill while you’re racing, there’s some fruit on your descending tree. All you XC racers: You can’t believe how much faster you can be!

We offer lots of instructional options, both in person and online. Get faster now!


Not the ideal descending setup, but Kristie makes it work.


Go Kristie!

Aaron Gwin wins — chainless!

By now most of the internet knows Aaron Gwin won last week’s World Cup downhill in Leogang without a chain. He broke it out of the gate, shrugged it off then railed and pumped his way to a win — over the best riders in the world — the rest of whom pedaled!

Totally rad. Go Aaron. Go America. Go God.

Update July 3, 2015: Added link and summary of Dirt article “Aaron Gwin – Chainless – How did he do it?”

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Lesley Paterson: a professional at work


This week I’ve been working with XTERRA world champion Lesley Paterson. She is a gifted, driven, smart and methodical professional athlete.

Her fitness + LLB kung fu skills = world class mountain bike racer. Just watch.

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Chloe Woodruff shreds the 2015 Whiskey Off-Road criterium


NinerBikes posted some beautiful photos on Pinkbike yesterday, and they show Chloe Woodruff shredding!

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The power of kung fu skills

Niko Mulally’s chainless world championship downhill run!

Plus notes from two stoked Peoria, IL skills students:

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The joy of not racing


Last weekend was a big deal in Winter Park, CO. You had the Air Downhill, the Enduro World Series, the Slopestyle, some cross country and more I’m sure.

I didn’t compete at all. It felt strange, but it was good.

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Bike for Megavalanche?


Hi Lee,

A mate and I are looking at training up for the Mega Avalanche 2014.

We were wondering what bike you would recommend?

We have watched lots of videos and noted that it is really a mix of DH rigs and AM bikes.

Would the Specialized Enduro be an option or should we step it up to the Enduro Evo?

Thanks

Rhys

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