Gravel Biking Skills and Guided Ride

3160 Airport Road,Boulder CO 80301

28 April, 2023

Description

Gravel riding is the new cool thing in biking. Why? If you're a road rider, you feel safe from cars.If you're a mountain biker, you feel like gravel is less gnarly. These sentiments are both true, but gravel riding is only safe and fun if you know how to handle your gravel bike. It's obvious that gravel riding requires way more technical skill than road riding. What's less obvious is that gravel riding requires as much skill, or perhaps more nuanced skill, than mountain biking. Huh? Why? Modern mountain bikes have stable geometry and fat tires and suspension and dropper seatposts. Gravel bikes are basically mountain bikes from 30 years ago. Compared to modern mountain bikes, gravel bikes' geometry is less stable, the tires are less grippy and the rigid forks and frames rattle your eyes out of your skull. Yeah, I said it. Gravel riding requires more skills (certainly more nuanced skills) than either road or mountain biking. Now the good newsSafe, fun riding skills are simple and easily learned. I've taught more than 10,000 riders of all levels, many with drop handlebars, how to ride with safety, confidence, speed and fun. I've written 11 books on cycling. I am the national downhill mountain bike champion. Back in the day I was a feared sprinter in the local road race scene, and I corner like no other cyclocrosser. I can surely teach you. What you will learnI'll teach you the essential skills for joyful gravel riding: Riding positions. Ride with balanced ease. Braking. Control your speed with total confidence. Cornering. Generate your own traction no matter how loose the trail is! Descending. Ride with confidence and find the kind of flow you might have found on skis. Climbing. Pedal powerfully and handle bumps smoothly. Crazy surfaces. How to handle gravel, sand, mud, leaves, Cracker Jacks and other special challenges. Note 1: The core skills are the same on every bike. This will make you a better mountain and road biker too. Note 2: The location might be changed based on conditions and permits. DatesI'm offering two Level 1 gravel classes: 10 a.m. to noon Friday, April 2810 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 29I'm leading a guided gravel ride on Sunday. This ride is for people who attended a Level 1 gravel class (or a Lee Likes Bikes mountain bike class) and want to apply their new skills on a real ride. You will be coached the whole way. I'll help you choose lines and carry smooth, fun speed. If there's a tricky section we'll "session" it, which means we'll do it over and over, trying new things until it feels great. And of course, we'll further refine your new skills. The route will be chosen based on the riders and the weather. If you want to join us for this ride, sign up for: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 30About Lee McCormackLee McCormack is a true polymath nerd athlete. He is an award winning journalist and infographics artist, information designer, software designer, champion mountain bike racer, inventor, entrepreneur, author, teacher, corporate speaker, spiritual leader and of course a world class bicycle skills instructor. Whether you're a beginner or a pro, Lee will help you reach your goals — then surpass them. Ask Lee what his mission is, and he'll say proudly: "I help you live your most joyful life using your mountain bike as the vehicle." 1,000,000s of video views on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Outside TV. Co creator of the "Joy of Bike" YouTube show.10,000+ mountain bikers taught and coached3,000 articles in major cycling and fitness magazines and websites, including Bicycling, Outside, Mountain Bike Action, REI and his own site www.leelikesbikes.com 1,500 youth mountain bike coaches trained in the United States; thousands more trained worldwide via the book “Teaching Mountain Bike Skills.”11 books so far. Mastering Mountain Bike Skills, published by Human Kinetics, is in three editions and a dozen languages. 8th place at the Masters World Downhill Mountain Bike championships4 companies founded3rd place at World Pump Track championships2nd place at a Grand National Rodeo bull riding competition 1 U.S. National Downhill Mountain Biking championship1 Pulitzer Prize1 patent for the RipRow integrative trainer1 purposefully joyful lifeQuestions? Email Lee at [email protected]. Lee shows some cyclocrossers how to carve off camber grass. Old photo of Lee cornering his road bike. This ran in VeloNews in his article about cornering with drop bars.