I booked Adam for a mtn bike lesson while I was on the Island for work.
I am a 51 year old female who had goals in mind of “I don’t want to ride like an old lady anymore and I really want to learn how to corner.” No small task for Adam.
As a former road triathlete I had ingrained cornering habits that were not doing me any favours on the dirt. Adam provided a progression of drills and broke it down for me. He actually demonstrated the physics involved as to why it was safer to corner the way he was showing me. It was just what I needed.
By the way, unlearning old habits on the bike can take lots of time. There was one drill that really stumped me. I took about 30 minutes to unlearn the bad habit and finally get it. Adam was super patient with me and never gave up. He provided more variations of the drill and kept my spirits up while I kept working at it. I finally got it. From there he built on that skill.
Since that lesson my downhill times on segments have been consistently dropping. I feel much safer and I am now riding trails I only dreamed about. I have received the biggest compliments from my riding buddies. “Riding behind you is like an attending a cornering clinic” and my favourite – “You ride like a kid!”
Thank you Adam! I didn’t know I could enjoy mountain biking even more.
– Sarah //Penticton, BC
Thank you Adam for planting a seed that has opened up a whole new world of biking for me!
Last year I was doing some one on one mountain bike coaching with Adam, at the time I was training for a trail running race as well as a women’s enduro mountain bike race. Adam mentioned that all the exercise I was doing was high intensity and mentioned the value in also incorporating endurance low intensity rides not only for building aerobic fitness but also being able to mentally zone out. For me at the time I was seeking the intensity but he planted a seed then that started my hunt for a gravel bike to start doing longer endurance rides on which at the time turned out to be a cyclocross bike. I started doing long gravel rides and also ended up doing the Cross on the Rock cyclocross series, cross was never something I ever imagined myself doing, but also loved. Yesterday I completed the Belgian Wafer Ride which was an incredible experience.
Thanks Adam for opening up my cycling world to so many possibilities. You started me down this journey and now not only do I love mountain biking but also gravel and cyclocross !
I felt maybe the smoothest I’ve ever rode yesterday. I felt that the advice you gave your clients helped my riding: attack mode is super smooth. I didn’t feel like I was going that hard when I rode yesterday, but I crushed some KOM’s. Finally KOM’d Furtherburger in Cumberland too! Thanks for the tips, Adam!
My kid took a lesson with Adam/The Cycling Co. and what really got me was his increased enthusiasm for biking when he finished – to me that’s a sure sign of a great coach!
“My lessons with The Cycling Co were exactly what I needed! As an experienced, intermediate rider, they helped to correct a few bad habits I’d picked up along the way, and also gave me some extremely useful and specific tips to focus on that have already made me faster, more efficient, and more balanced on my bike. I had plateaued a bit, and now I can’t wait to get back out there and put it all together keep improving”
After 8 weeks of the “Killer B” Bootcamp I feel fantastic! I have increased mobility and feel so much stronger. Both Adam and Ali have amazing energy and made the workouts fun and interactive. I loved the creativity used by the coaches to keep the exercises bike specific. The increased power and agility that I feel has given me more control over my bike. In June, I took one of the Cycling Co’s mountain bike clinics which was amazing. I can’t wait to combine my new found fitness with the skills I learned in the clinic. Thanks for helping me in my journey. Looking forward to coming into 2018 strong.
Learning to mountain bike has CHANGED MY LIFE! More fitness, energy, drive, and confidence in daily life.
I thank The Cycling Co for this because without the confidence they instilled in me through each nicely broken down skill I never would’ve given biking a serious shot. I’m generally clumsy and hadn’t spent much time on a bike other than casually as a kid, and in just a few months of clinics and private lessons I’ve transformed into someone who plans to race this year!
This is proof that The Cycling Co. is true to their slogan… They “make mountain bikers!”
I truly believe that I am able to mountain bike thanks to Adam’s incredible methods, patience and ability to read where I’m at to push me juuuust enough but never too far.I wouldn’t trust any other person or company to teach or train me, no matter what level – from first time to elite.
Watch out mountain biking world, I’m a new racer is in the making and The Cycling Co. is my secret weapon!
Adam, I wanted to let you know how much of a difference your coaching has made to Gabriel’s skills and progression on his bike, and more surprisingly how that also translated to his general self confidence. Important stuff for a Third grader!
Gabriel progressed from riding green trails on the North Shore to blue and even some black diamonds since last summer since attending your program. But it’s not just time in the saddle, local pros who have seen him remarked on the distinctive techniques you taught him and asked where he had learned to ride that way. I guess they clearly recognized it wasn’t me ;).
The way he positions his body and moves the bike to manage terrain set him apart from many of the other kids he rides with, and he has more fun riding as a result. This has made him more excited to ride his bike more often, and generally given him a sense of accomplishment I think he takes to other aspects of his life.
Most of all, as a dad, I’m thrilled to have a riding buddy who I can go out and have great rides with. Even though I can tell him what to do, there’s something to be said for hearing it from a non-parent and professional who knows how to bring a rider up the learning curve safely and so effectively. And for this, I can’t thank you enough.
“So to say I was shocked on the massive increase in skill and confidence in my daughter would be the understatement of the year. I just wanted to let you know I just had the best ride ever with my daughter and can’t thank you guys enough!
She tried and rode (most of) everything. Even things I had serious concerns about, but she rode them before I could say anything because I assumed she would just stop. Unreal. Nicole (wife) now has to definitely get into a class if she has any hope of keeping up with this little speedster. Thanks again!”
“Recently got to be a participant in Cycling Co’s customized 3 day Road bike clinic at Bear Mountain. It was awesome. Adam and Mariska spoiled us rotten and took care of every possible detail for us. They have customer service nailed to perfection.
Adam worked with me well in advance to tailor the weekend for our small group and as a result, it was incredible. I can’t think of anything we’d change. For me personally, I came away with some personal ‘bucket list’ accomplishments – made it up Bear Mountain and finally, finally faced my fears and rode up Munn’s Road!!
My husband and I took the opportunity to stay at Bear Mountain with our out of town guests and had a fantastic ‘staycation’ as a result. I’d go back in a heartbeat – the rooms were great (who can’t fall in love with Westin’s Heavenly Beds) with beautiful peaceful views; food was delicious; and the staff were so friendly and helpful.
We all learned a lot in his skills clinic, had great rides around the area and my out of town visitors fell in love with cycling on the island. Oak Bay Cycle Westshore (location for our skills sessions) happily welcomed us to the shop, helped us with any last minute equipment fixes or purchases and made sure my out of town fellow cyclists felt like ‘kings and queens’ for the weekend.
Strongly recommend checking out customized clinics with Adam – he’ll make sure you come away loving cycling even more. I hope that this will entice out of town cycling aficionados of all skill levels to check out our city – Bear Mountain is a perfect location – lots to do in the area – mountain biking, road biking, tennis, golf, the rec centre, and of course, the spa – the perfect island getaway.
Can’t wait for next year when our group has committed to do this again – great way to kick off spring training and get ready for the upcoming race season.”
“I attended the first ever Corporate Cycling retreat from The Cycling Co / Bear Mountain Resort and it was fantastic. It was a complete package with 3 days of training, rides along the Tour de Victoria route, great accommodation with fairway views and tasty packaged lunches.
Adam is a great coach and I learnt much more about road cycling in 3 days than I did in the 2 years of trying to figure it out myself. Most of the group who participated in the 3 day corporate cycling retreat are at Intermediate level and we all learnt several new techniques that can be used to improve our rides and races.
The best part of the experience for me was going on long rides with Adam on each of the 3 days along the Tour de Victoria route and learning about cycling directly from a Pro. According to Adam there is no such thing as a silly question and we had a lot of questions. We covered everything from how to quickly check the bike before a ride (the ABCD test), how to dress appropriately according to the weather, common repairs, diet and nutrition before, during and after the ride, how to conserve energy, techniques for ascent and descent, tips on breathing effectively and much more.
The weather was perfect and scenery fantastic. We rode through the rolling hills of Metchosin, the Saanich Peninsula (including the big climb at Munn Road followed by an exhilarating descent) and the gorgeous coastal pathways of the South Island.
Adam and Mariska from the Cycling Co were absolutely awesome. I highly recommend this experience to anybody interested in improving their cycling while at the same time enjoying the rides through beautiful Victoria island.”
“The women’s cycling clinic has literally transformed the way I ride; the tiniest tweaks have yielded incredible results. I am stoked! Adam is an awesome coach full of great tips and tricks. I highly recommend this clinic to anyone wanting to take their riding up a notch and learn a few things from a pro.”