WELCOME!

As the Golden H.S. Mountain Bike Team continues to grow rapidly, we recognize a need to adapt our program to meet a wide variety of rider abilities and to be able to address their particular personal goals. The implementation of GoldenMTB Development in 2018 served as a re-focusing of our efforts to ensure that our student-athletes learn to love the bike by becoming both comfortable and confident while riding technical trails. Many of us learned to ride a mountain bike by throwing a leg over and riding dirt, myself included (in 1987!). As a new Level II Coach in 2012 I was introduced to these fundamental skills for the first time at the NICA Coaches Summit in Eagle, and it immediately transformed my riding skillset, as well as my enjoyment of riding technical trails. We hope that we can do the same for all riders we come into contact with!     -Coach Warner

MISSION:

Golden MTB Development is a multi-faceted approach to advancing the skillsets of both riders and coaches, with the ultimate goal of being able to teach critical skillsets efficiently, with a focus on addressing a rider’s limiters. Although the primary goal is always safety, by focusing on skills progression and having fun hopefully we can get every rider to learn to talk to themselves while riding, to always be ‘working on something’, so that if they decide to race they don’t have to think about it, and can just ride. 

 

 

2018 Golden MTB Development Goals

1. ‘GoldenMTB Devo’ Middle School Program: Once the Bell Middle School Friday MTB Ride program started funneling additional riders into our Team, we soon recognized the need to provide a bridge between family riding and high school racing; that now starts in Middle School! As of Spring 2018 the GHS MTB Coaching Staff accepted the responsibility to coordinate and provide resources to allow the Bell Middle School Friday Rides to continue, and we subsequently decided to allow Middle School-aged kids to participate in our weekly practices (28 total)! 
2. Conduct free 1-Day Summer Girls MTB Skills Camp in Golden
   1. Primary goal is to get girls and their friends riding together early (i.e. at Bell/Manning MS), then once to GHS they may already have a friend to join with!
3. Wednesday Mini-Clinic Series:
   1. Instructional talks
      1. Subjects like basic bike maintenance, periodization (training) principles, physiology/intervals, nutrition/hydration, race-day strategies, etc.
   2. On-the-bike Skills sessions: Focuses on a particular skill
      1. Wheel lifts/drops, bunny-hops, bike-body separation, cornering, rock gardens, line selection, pumping, etc.
4. Increase number of Level II Coaches for 2018 season
   1. Necessary for sessioning trail sections, as Level I’s cannot be alone with a group
5. Integration of GMTB Development Skills Instructors into each group
   1. Selects a few selected riders to session section(s) of trail, focused skills instruction
   2. Should ultimately allow practice groups more uniformity in skill level
6. Mentorship of new Level II Coaches – Paired with experienced Coach at clinics and practices
   1. Provides them opportunities to teach in a controlled environment (with oversight)
7. Conduct Parent Skills Mini-Clinics – Gives parents an idea of what we are trying to convey
   1. Gives new MTB101 Coaches the opportunity to start using/developing their instructional skills
   2. Hopefully gets parents involved in our process, maybe interested in become Ride Leaders or Coaches
8. Development of COACH SKILLS DRILLS REFERENCE Card – Basic framework of the skills that we want every rider to be comfortable with, especially prior to advancing Riding Groups. Focus on Balance, Stability and Control. Work on one thing at a time, very easy to ‘overload the brain’ by using a scattered approach.  [pushed to 2019]
9. Host a Wilderness First Aid Course in 2019 – We will offer in Spring 2019 (mud season!), likely in conjunction with Vince Secor (Front Range CPR):
   1. Likely Friday night classroom session, Saturday practical session.
   2. Invite public to attend

1.