Ben Cathro at Sick Skills and Ronan Taylor from Taylor Trail Tuition provided the coaching for the Academy riders in 2017/18. The training sessions have focussed on:
- Developing riders core skills which include body positioning, bike movement and braking which are vital for controlled riding. This training took place at Ae Forest in Dumfrieshire in the Autumn of 2017 so riders would have time to practice the basics over the winter.
- Improving cornering and braking in more detail to help riders carry more speed down the tracks in a controlled way. This time the training took place at Innerleithen in the Borders
The final day of training is still to take place at Dunkeld, bad weather having prevented this from going ahead as planned. It will focus on line choice and vision to help the riders pick the best way down the tracks and use their vision to help keep their balance and minimise mistakes.
Ben said “riders progressed amazingly well … we could visibly see big improvements in control and speed”.
The Academy riders have posted some amazing results at races with particular highlights coming from Pheobe Gale who has won 2 rounds of the SDA in the Junior Female Category; Grant Murdoch claiming his best ever result with a 2nd in Senior at the opening SDA round in Ae Forest and Alastair Berry scoring 2 of his first ever top 10 results in the Senior category.
Photos Matt Miller