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What’s your vision for MTB Skills and what do you want participants to take from the course? To continue providing a unique and quality service. Ensuring that every rider who comes to us ‘gets it’ and experiences the measurable MTB skills development coaching that Gabby Molloy’s skills clinics have become known for. I know of so many ‘experienced’ riders who have been thrashing around and working it out for themselves for years. Trial and error has its place but so many bike handling skills are not intuitive or easy to pick up. In a traditional sense we are given a bike as children, the training wheels come off and that’s it, we have learnt to ride a bike! Riding mountain bikes without any training is a bit nuts and possibly fool hardy when you consider what challenges and terrain modern mountain bikes allow people to take on! How much is new bike technology helping riders, or does it make old hands have to learn how to ride again? New bike technology, weight reduction, hydraulic brakes and suspension etc make riding rough and challenging trails so much easier and enjoyable to ride. That said, so many really good riders have a background
in riding hard tails or BMX. It’s important to learn to ride well on simple gear to get your skills up, then people can polish their riding further with the flash gear and appreciate it. All the latest gear and gadgets in the world can’t hide the flaws in someone’s bike handling skills. That kind of approach to mountain biking is dangerous if you ask me. What courses do you offer during the school holidays? We have some cool kids’ skills packages, available NZ wide. It’s so important for kids to feel good about themselves at an early age and being able to get outside and ride a bike really helps. I have observed a big link between kid’s skills and their own sense of self-worth. Learning skills also teaches kids patience, the reward comes from enjoying the learning and when they get a new skill dialled.
Rail trails were once the backbone of NZ’s economy, they’re proving to be popular for biking today. Without the steam of an engine, what is the trick to getting track fit? Make time for riding your bike, don’t get all soft if it’s wet and don’t use ‘adult’ excuses like jobs and kids! If you don’t know who digs the trails you love to ride, then go and find out & help them dig even cooler new ones! It’s another excellent way to meet people & get really fit & strong. What would you like to see in NZ cycling’s future? More positivity and support for fellow cyclists (there’s lots already). More people holding quirky ‘fun’ events, more people getting into trail building, more trails to link people and communities. MTB friendly Councils like Christchurch and NZ’s top mountain bikers and cyclists getting the recognition they deserve alongside big name acts like the All Blacks!