Andy wanted to meet early, as the parking at Lady Cannings is limited, so we agreed to meet there at 8.30am... on the drive there the weather deteriorated with thick fog and the temperature dropping even more. I was glad I wore my Madison Flo waterproof/windproof jacket, but was regretting wearing shorts, but my usual Endura Singletrack trousers were so big on me after my huge weight loss, they looked more like clown trousers! Oh well, time to man up and I knew I would warm up after a while on the bike!
We arrived at Lady Cannings car park to find it almost empty, Andy was there already and there were 2 other vehicles... "Looks like we almost have the place to ourselves" said Andy 😊 He then pointed out there was a spectacular view from here, sadly it was hidden by the fog "We'll take your word for it Andy!"😂
The plan was to session one of the trails; there's 2 official trails at Lady Cannings, "Cooking on Gas" and "Blue Steel", both start at the top of the trail centre which requires a long pedal up to the top, and they wind their way back down to the bottom.
"Cooking on Gas", is graded a blue but Andy explained that it could easily be classed as a Red if you put some effort and speed in, and even a Black if you start clearing the features. It's a long twisty trail with some huge left and ride berms, great for putting into practice what we had learnt the day before.
First run we rode the whole trail, Andy led, with me behind and Leigh covering the back, this was just so we could recce the features. I loved it, I could see the potential to really give it some beans in places and get some proper lean into the berms.
We got to the bottom and Andy said we would take a short cut that would bring us back to the halfway point, no point in riding to the top of the trail every time and wasting energy.
We rode part of the way back down and stopped before a series of left and right berms with some rollers, we got rid of our back packs and Andy asked us both to ride this section remembering about correct body position, outside foot down, look through the berm... we did this a few times, I was loving this, and feeling more and more confident on the berms, then my confidence got the better of me and as I dropped my left elbow and turned into the fast left hand berm, something, I don't know what, made me look up instead of ahead and before I knew it I was flying (quite literally) over the top of the berm into the felled trees and shrubbery beyond... OUCH!
The bike landed about 6 feet away from me, and I somehow ended sitting upright in a hole, feeling rather dazed 😵 Andy and Leigh appeared around the corner looking rather shocked, and both jumped off their bikes and scrambled over the berm to see if I was OK? I seem to remember laughing, not wanting to let on how much pain I was in, I had whacked my lady bits proper hard on the top bar of the bike frame but I do remember joking that if I were a bloke I'd have a high pitched voice now!
I was given a hand up, Andy grabbed my bike and checked it over, no damage done fortunately, and I hobbled to the side of the trail to sit down. I had cut my face and Andy wanted to clean it up (he had joked back at the car park about the size of his First Aid pack, and how British Cycling insist he carry enough medical supplies for 10 people!) well I wasn't going to need all that but he did get through a few antiseptic wipes cleaning the blood and bits of tree off my face.
By this time my lady bits had stopped throbbing, I felt well enough to continue but not before removing the broken peak from my TLD helmet... bugger, I like that helmet!
I think Andy was thinking to call it a day, suggesting we head back to the car park, slowy... I was quite insistent that I was fine to continue, I didn't want to spoil the day and could ride to the end of the trail... I got back on my bike and carried on as though nothing had happened, I clearly remember Andy saying rather loudly behind me "well that hasn't slowed you down" 😂
We decided to call it a day at Lady Cannings and head out to ride some off piste stuff, so we headed over to Blacka Moor and the infamous Devil's Elbow, I had heard of this trail but never ridden it so was quite excited, even though it was a technical descent with rocks, roots and mud, it was still raining so everything was going to be super slippery which added to the excitement and the challenge.
The day before, we were talking about confidence on the bike, and I was telling Andy how I felt my riding and my confidence had soared since I got the Intense Primer 29er, I couldn't put my finger on why? It could be I have gone up a frame size from Small to Medium, even though I'm only 5'3" with a 29" inside leg the bike feels more roomy. It could also be I've gone from a Small women specific bike to a men's bike so the geometry is different?
I do know that my weekend at the Hopetech Women Enduro at Gisburn Forest last October, gave me an immense confidence boost, riding completely new stuff, not just new trails but more technical terrain and pushing myself well out of my usual comfort zone, I loved every minute of it!
I went on to tell him about a section of the Red route (Follow the Dog) at Cannock Chase that I absolutely love, it's right at the end and called "Snakes n Adders" and its a series of super fast berms and tight corners and there's a couple of left hand almost blind turns, which I love riding as you can't see the exit and I felt it was about putting all my faith in my tyres and my bike. Andy asked "why do you think it's the bike? It is to an extent but it's you, you believe in your ability to get round that corner" and that really resonated with me, I almost had an Epiphany in that moment if you like, realising "Hell Yeah, I'm actually a much better rider than I give myself credit for" and hearing that from someone else, and more importantly hearing it from Andy gave me such a confidence boost and it stayed with me for the rest of the Skills weekend and beyond 😊
When we came to ride down Devil's Elbow, which is the most technical descent I have ever done, I just cleared my mind, focused on what lay ahead without over analysing it (worrying about falling off!), relaxed my body and let the bike do it's thing, I trusted it, and more importantly I believed in myself and I remembered Andy saying "stay off the brakes"... yeah, don't want an OTB on this stuff!
We stopped a couple of times on the way down to look back up at what we had just ridden down (wish I had taken some photos!) and also to recce what laid ahead with Andy asking "What line will you take down that section?" this was really helpful, what wasn't helping was trying to clip back in on a super steep, narrow, rocky trail, it was a nightmare (Andy suggested trying flats at some point) but other than that I loved every second of riding through the rocks, ruts and over roots and if it wasn't for the fact it was a mare to get back to the top I would have done it all over again!
I am going back ASAP, as I want to ride the whole thing from the very top by the road to the bottom without stopping, I don't care about the time (well maybe I do a little bit ) but I'm not going to get anywhere near Bex Baraona's QOM of 1 minute 17 seconds (16.3 m/h 😮 WTF!) but she is a top Elite EWS rider! 😍
Once we got to the bottom, we then had to make our way back to the top, a long slog uphill, pushing the bikes in places as it was so muddy (and still raining). The views at the top were stunning now the fog had cleared.
Fortunately for him, all 3 of us had come well prepared and we lent him bits and bobs and gave him an inner tube, but it turned out in the end he was on fat tyres and Andy's inner tube wasn't big enough, so he faced a very long walk (about 10k if I remember rightly) pushing his very heavy bike back to where he had parked.
We headed off and eventually got back to Lady Cannings, it was still raining and all that standing around with E-bike man had meant I was really starting to feel the cold, I really wished I had trousers on now!
Me and Andy, all smiles despite the rain and cold!
Andy suggested we ride "Blue Steel" back to the bottom of the trail centre, as it would be a fitting end to the day.
It was another great trail, with lots of twists and turns and great fun, we were all grinning from ear to ear by the end 😁
We got back to the car park where the fog had cleared and we were now able to enjoy the view Andy had mentioned that morning, it was as stunning as he said with Sheffield in the distance.
So how to summarise my weekend with Andy... well it was bloody epic! I came away feeling inspired, confident, eager to ride more, learn more and most importantly the realisation that racing Enduro this year is going to be so much fun!
OK, I didn't learn to manual or bunny hop in one weekend but this will take time and practice but I've learnt so much about myself and how capable I am on a mountain bike!
So many mountain bikers spend thousands of £'s on their bike, on the latest gadgets, the lightest wheels, bars etc but you know what, if you haven't got the skills to ride that bike to it's full potential then what's the point in spending all that cash?
I learnt so much in 2 days, stuff that will make me a better, safer, more confident rider... I invested in myself and it's paid dividends. My learning, won't stop here either, I will be booking more time with Andy, getting out on more rides with him and of course Leigh, because we did the Skills weekend together, we can push each other, watch each other and help each other progress.
Andy is a great coach, he has this amazing ability to teach you stuff but make it so much fun, you just feel like your out riding with a mate, which of course he is, but he has the natural ability to bring out the best.
So where to go from here? Just get out on my bike and ride as much as I can, mix it up, ride different places, different terrain, have fun, keep learning 😊
Before I sign off, if you read Part 1 (I hope you did!) then you'll recall me mentioning the Rider Profile we both had to complete which include a a section where we had to rate our ability levels between 1-10 (with 1 beginner and 10 pro) on things such as cornering, riding position, technical descents, technical climbing etc.
I found this quite hard to complete, so I played safe and gave myself a 7 for most things (probably a little more than I should have, but like I've said previously it's really hard scoring yourself?) except for technical climbs which I scored a 4 and 5 for technical descents and terrain! Leigh on the other hand gave himself a 5 for most things.
A few days after our Skills weekend, I asked Leigh if Andy had given any feedback on our scores? So he messaged Andy, who responded with the following, apparently he's never been asked this before! It's makes very interesting reading.
I found this quite hard to complete, so I played safe and gave myself a 7 for most things (probably a little more than I should have, but like I've said previously it's really hard scoring yourself?) except for technical climbs which I scored a 4 and 5 for technical descents and terrain! Leigh on the other hand gave himself a 5 for most things.
A few days after our Skills weekend, I asked Leigh if Andy had given any feedback on our scores? So he messaged Andy, who responded with the following, apparently he's never been asked this before! It's makes very interesting reading.
There are 2 sides to how I'll approach your original ratings.
1st you've rated yourselves based on where, what and how you usually ride. Based on this I'd say that Leigh you understated your ability level and that Celeste was really a bit more accurate and you could have used her ratings for you both.
1st you've rated yourselves based on where, what and how you usually ride. Based on this I'd say that Leigh you understated your ability level and that Celeste was really a bit more accurate and you could have used her ratings for you both.
This is within a margin of + or - 1 as based on where you ride 90% of the time your skill sets are what I would have expected from experienced riders without any formal guidance.
Now I'd rate you a firm 7.5 across the board as you now have the tools and mindset to really develop your skill sets and push through to a 9.5.
All you needed was guidance as you are both open minded, wanted to learn and took everything on board and questioned when you needed confirmation.
2nd is the unknown, if I'd have asked about how you felt your skill levels where with regards to natural, unpredictable, steep, technical riding then you'd have both given very different scores as you both have very different views on riding this type of terrain. To assess you on riding the unknown I have to consider your personalities and how much you desire to ride this type of terrain.
You both now have the techniques / knowledge on how to ride the unknown and both of your skill sets are certainly growing. It now all comes down to confidence and where you want to be.
Leigh I would give you straight 6's across the board with the caveat that you are still building your confidence as this is not the terrain that you are used to riding. Easing off of the brakes will benefit you greatly, you know this and understand it, it will just take practice and I can't see any issue with you hitting 8 or 8.5 as I feel that is where you'll be very happy and you won't want to push any further.
Celeste I'd assign 6's to most with a 7 on berms and technical descending. Your confidence and speed on the unknown are growing quickly and your caveat would be to slow things down a little to allow for yourself the time to really become one with the bike and to start pushing harder.
A greater belief in how the bike can cope with awkward drops and obstacles will come with practice and really boost your skill set to a straight 9.5 as it's what you love and want to do.
10's are usually saved for those daft enough to wish to incorporate 6 ft gap jumps and 4 ft drops! Becoming a 10 at riding Enduro is totally possible as it's about being a solid, confident all round rider who know's how to handle their bike, the unknown and their limits 🙂
Hope this helps, you've both come so far, it really didn't take much, I just guided you through a process you both felt the benefits and you both embraced them, your on a fantastic journey and I'm honoured to be on the ride with you 👍
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