This months Newsletter Contents:

1. Meet Our New Instructors - Careful they might bite
2. Up Coming Course Dates
3. MTB Riding Hints & Tips from Jessica Douglas
4. MTBSkills Rider Profile - Claire Stevens
5. Recipe of the Month - YUM!
6. Competition - Win a $90 prize.
7. Norm's NORMOUS socks.

What our clients say about our courses:

Only 4 weeks remaining till our inagural Skills Camp @ Eumeralla Scout Camp Anglesea. Find out More Here

Our aim is to teach fellow mountain bikers ‘correct techniques’ of riding. Feeling confident as well as being competent riding technical terrain gives freedom to the rider to go anywhere (almost) and have more fun. Whether it be racing or riding with friends, riding your mountain bike should be fun and exhilarating.
There are so many people out there in the big wide world who want to have more fun on their bikes, and that’s why we started MTBSkills.com.au, to cater for you!

New instructors – welcome to Adam and Rob

Many of you who attended our courses at Lysterfield on 29th of March would have met or even been in one of the groups led by Adam or Rob. Both are excellent teachers and have a lot of experience coaching and leading groups. Read on to find out more about our valuable additions to MTBSkills.com.au:

Adam Kelsall

Hi i am Adam,
I grew up in the bush with a penchant for adventure. I took up mountain biking in 1987 and all that was available was expensive fully rigid bikes with panaracer smoke tires, deore thumb shifters and toe clips on them. The world mountain bike champion of the time had hair on his face (a dirty mo) and (shock horror) his legs!!! My first ride lasted 15 mins and i was stuffed. There was no one to show me the ropes, i just had to learn cornering, braking, changing gears through the experience of crashes and broken gear. Now over twenty years later newbies are walking out of bike shops with light weight fully suspended carbon rigs that are relatively cheap and the world's best are metro sexuals without a hair on thier whole bodies! My passion now is to fast track the newbies into flow experiences on their bikes and help them avoid the crashes and the broken gear i had to deal with. I have extensive experience working in the outdoors teaching surfing, rock climbing, canoeing, cross country skiing and extended outdoors trips mostly with disadvantaged young people. My praxis is "make learning fun, so you dont even know you are learning you just think you are having fun"

Rob Faull

Mountain bike coach and racer this is a sport I have been around from the getgo, It's a sport with various demands and something you can never perfect but I keep trying, there's always something to learn.

MTBers are generally awesome people to be around and I love to pass my experiences on to all that I can.

Upcoming SKILLS COURSE dates

At MTBSkills.com.au we are always ready to listen to what you want from a skills course.

At any time feel free to drop us a line and offer an idea or a new location for a course.

We are currently developing a curriculum that will enable to you to progress and develop all the competancies to become an ADVANCED rider.

Progression is the key, consolidation of basic techniques with practice on lots of varied terrain and obstacles.

We would love to see you at one of our upcoming courses – so much so, that for every ‘past customer’ that enrolls in one of our future events we are pleased to offer you a $10 discount coupon. This can be redeemed when you pay on our online system and you can transfer it to another person. This offer has a start date of 1st April 2008 and we will continue to offer it until further notice. Please email us on This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to take this offer up.

26th April 2008 – FORREST MTB PARK

$60 per person
½ day session 9:30-1:00pm
Mtb Skills session for all levels.
Visit Forrest, get some local tips on how to ride some of the best trails.
Learn some new techniques on log roll over’s, drop offs, cornering smoothly and fast, riding smooth with flow and ease.
Only a few places still available.

3rd & 10th May 2008 – GREAT OTWAY AND ANGLESEA HEATH PARKS

$120 per person
2 x 2.5 hour sessions – 9:30-12noon on both days
Meet at Pt.Addis Rd, Iron Bark Basin Walking track Car Park.
BEGINNER MTB SKILLS CLASS
-snacks, free tube and certificate of completion also included.
-Any participant in the beginner course who is riding a NEW MTB Bike bought from Torquay Cycling Factory (with proof of purchase conditions apply) – receives a 35% discount on course cost. Please enquire.
Run over 2 consecutive weekends. We believe this is important to help consolidate the foundations of new skills. Sessions are short and sweet, so you enjoy the rest of your weekend…maybe out practicing on your MTB for next weeks session we hope!

16th, 17th & 18th May – MTB SKILLS CAMP at Eumeralla Scout Camp, Anglesea - Victoria's BEST MTB Skills Camp - Don't miss out

$300 per person
Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday until 3:00pm
Mtb Skills CAMP catering for all skill and fitness levels.
Food and accommodation provided in comfortable, modern facilities.
Do you dream of eating, sleeping and living Mountain biking? Come and do it with us. Be an athlete for a weekend and indulge in your passion!
Loads of activities to have you riding smoother, more confidently and stronger by the end of the weekend. Workshops, How to sessions, Night riding (10 demo sets of lights to use), Stretching, Spot Prizes, Goodie Bag, Snacks, nutrition seminar, bike maintenance, Strength and conditioning, specific skills being taught, single track rides, jumps session…plus heaps more!
Secure you place now with a $50 deposit – full payment required by 9th May

14th June – ALL DAY SKILLS COURSE at FORREST MTB PARK
$129 per person
Catering for all skill levels.

A ‘good’ base fitness is required to manage being on the bike all day. 10am-4pm Limit of 20 participants – 4 instructors, book now as we will not be extending numbers.

4 groups – Advanced, Intermediate 1, Intermediate 2, Beginners 1&2.(see enrolment form to choose your level)

Expect to ride from 20-40km dependent on group, this is a lot of kms when practicing skills.

Morning session 10-12pm (2 hours) spent on techniques to master the Skills required for MTB riding at your level. Various trails used to cover all possible obstacles encountered while MTB riding.

Lunch at 12:15pm – 1pm at local Cafe 3 Blundy Street. Lunch and coffee is included in the cost.

Afternoon session 1:15pm-4pm (2 ¾ hours) spent putting these skills, using the correct techniques, to practice on new trails, including a few new challenges to test what you have learnt today.

Optional and complimentary BBQ dinner POST ride at MTB skills HQ(Our house!), 14 Frizon Street, Forrest. Ph: 5236 6424. Time: Arrive from 5pm onwards.

Only $129 per person includes Lunch, coffee, snacks, instruction, loads of riding & post ride BBQ.(all welcome!)

MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDING – hints and tips. Jessica Douglas

Do you have a question you want answered? Email me on This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
your identity will remain anonymous.

Question: How do I get better and faster in the shortest possible time?

Answer:
Where do I start? One of the tips I give many mountain bike riders whether at a beginner level or advanced level of skill or fitness is to firstly know why you want to get better. Once you have established your motivation or reason, it is then easier to put the steps in place to make your goal a reality.

Let’s say you want to race, then start entering races. Don’t wait until “you are fit enough”. Racing will show you exactly where your weaknesses are and if you be honest about this, it will give you the clues on what to include in your riding and strength and conditioning program.

For example, through racing, I have learnt that my greatest weakness is my start. I am not aggressive enough and don’t like to hurt in that first five minutes. However my strength is endurance and mental toughness to go the extra mile when others are fading. So guess what, I focus my racing in the ENDURANCE area, and enter shorter XC style races to work on my weaknesses. These are not my “primary” races, rather just part of my training program.

These help build up my speed so when it comes to a 24 hour race that I want to do well in, I am ready to go faster for longer and put up with the pain and suffering when it comes to that. If you need advice in this area, I can give you some for “free” via email. However, I can also develop programs, especially if you have a few specific goals in mind. This service starts from $25 per week for a program to suit you. We can also do one on one coaching including fitness and skills at various outdoor locations. POA.

MTBSkills Rider Profile

Claire Stevens - completed Level 1 course Lysterfield 2008

Recipe of the month

Do you have a healthy, nutritious recipe? A pre or post ride energy food that works for you?
Submit it to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

DESSERT FOR BREAKFAST – Jess Douglas

Ingredients: ½ cup of instant rolled oats
1 egg white whisked with ½ cup hot water with fork
½ grated apple or pear
10 or so frozen blueberries
pinch of cinnamon
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
rind of lemon or lime
juice of lemon or lime

You must do this in a large soup bowl with high sides.
Place dry instant oats, grated apple, cinnamon, vanilla essence, rind and juice of lemon in bowl and stir to mix.
Now add the whisked, fluffy egg white mixture and stir until mixed and all ingredients are wet. Add a bit of apple juice if you like, mixture should be consistency of a lumpy cake mix not soup.
Place in microwave for 4-5 minutes, check at 3 minutes. The mixture will puff up like a soufflé when ready.
Add frozen blueberries and serve with a dollop of natural fat free yoghurt and a teaspoon of honey drizzled on it.
Does that sound like Dessert for Breakfast to you?
This contains Carbohydrates in oats and fruit, Protein in the egg white and yoghurt and some calcium. It tastes so yum and only takes 6-7 minutes to prepare and cook. MMMmmmmmmmmm. Energy to start the day.

…tell me what you think when you get around to making it.

MTBSkills.com.au COMPETITION

So you have attended one of our courses and you have been trying to convince your friend, partner, spouse, brother, sister, mum or dad to come along as well…now here is your chance to give them the same opportunity that you had.

Write us a short paragraph or two and tell us WHY your friend deserves to win a $60 voucher to put towards any of our upcoming courses or camps.
If your story wins, you also get to attend the next course of your choice with a $30 credit.

The story will be published in our next newsletter, if you would like us to change names to keep anonymity for this purpose please advise at the time of writing.

The winner will be notified via email.
Competition closes on 30th April 2008 at 8pm.

The $60 voucher must be used by a new customer who has not attended a course before, it is transferable so long as these conditions are met.
The $30 voucher for the “author” of the story can not be used in conjunction with the $60 voucher. It must be used on its own and is transferable.
Should the winners decide to give the vouchers away, notification via email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to advise of this is necessary.

NORM’S NORMOUS SOCKS…and other important stuff!

Jumping bikes has always been a pastime of mine. I just love it. From jumping my old “dragster” off the gutter, to hitting the big doubles at Lalor BMX track on my PK Ripper in the 80’s and now to “smackin” the Gap jump on Trav’s Track at the You Yangs, I just can’t get enough of it.

Fortunately a few brave souls agreed to come and try my first Level 2 Jumps course. We only had a small group of 4 of us but I can assure you we had a whole bunch of fun. My theory to jumping is simple… Hit the jump with confidence, keep the bike in control, and have fun.

Our 3 riders were Tristan, Wayne and Stuart. All three knew perfectly well what they were in for and were all up for the challenge. The course was held in PERFECT Forrest weather (read, slightly overcast and threatening to rain all day). J2 was our track of the day and I informed everyone that J2 would not disappoint. This track was built by Glen Jacobs and I’m sure he MUST have built it specifically for my Jumps Course.

Cutting to the chase, we all had a ball, learned how to jump with more confidence and safer, and nobody got hurt… even though Tristan tried his best to scare me a few times.

If you are thinking that this course is beyond you, think again. I’m sure Wayne won’t mind me telling you that this course certainly challenged him, and he was on a hard tail, but by the end of it, his confidence was way HIGH.

A few tips on jumping I can give you:

• Don’t BRAKE right before the jump
• Picture your bike launching off the jump
• Keep your bike flat through the air
• Land with soft hands.

Up for the next Challenge? Come and try my Jumps course. Nexts dates will be available shortly.

Check our www.MTBSKILLS.com.au