Lisa recently completed a 2 hour mountain bike session with Hanley Tan and Laval Chung. It was a great day out and both Hanley and Laval progressed their mountain bike skills. This is some feedback provided by Hanley:-

"Thank you Lisa for the wonderful training today. We need professionals like you to show us the correct MTB techniques. We definitely need to practise more of what you've taught us. "

(Hanley Tan Oct 9, 2016)

In December, Lisa and twelve other coaches from around Australia and New Zealand took part in the first accreditation of level 2 mountain bike coaches within Australia.

We spent 7 days living in the accommodation based at the Super Centre in Runaway Bay, Qld. The coaches took part in a number of practical coaching sessions and theoretical presentations. It was a fairly rigorous process which culminated in the completion of  a 2 hour written exam.

All coaches were also required to practise coaching their class mates. The 5 core skills that were taught were the manual, power assisted manual, rear wheel lift, track stand and attack position(ready position). 

Lisa passed the course and is now one of only 10 UCI Level 2 Mountain Bike Coaches in Australia. This qualification is recognised by the International Cycling Union (UCI), World Cycling Centre and Mountain Bike Australia.

Hi Lisa

I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the beginner mountain bike skills clinic on the weekend.

I thought I might have been a bit too advanced for the beginners skills clinic, however on reflection I gained a lot from it and I’m glad I stayed in the beginners group.

I really appreciated the focus on technique such as riding position when cornering and braking, as well as how to best position yourself and your bike to get over obstacles.

I thought the course was well organised and flowed really well! I think we were given just the right amount of time to learn new skills and then practice them. I felt like you divided your time up between all participants evenly and I know that I gained insightful individual coaching from you. Thanks!

In my opinion, what we practiced in the morning translated really well into what we did after lunch so for me that was a really good progression to put my new skills into practice.

I thought the course length was appropriate and I also found the discussion about safety gear, tyre pressure, adjusting your seat and cleaning your bike valuable as well.

I’m sitting here trying to think of some constructive criticism for you but I don’t have any! Maybe if you could control the weather a bit better next time… to be honest I wasn’t even bothered by the rain.

The course will be well recommended by me to my family and friends.

Kind regards,

David Grant

Lisa McHarg and Liz Bennett from Sydney Bike Skills won the 2014 Pairs Cross Country Mountain Bike Event at the Kings School Mountain Bike Classic.

They are photographed here with the Kings School Headmaster and Mountain Bike Coach.