Page 39 - The Wish Stream Year of 2021

Exercise DOWNHILL DRAGON From the 12th to to 17th December 2021 six OCdts led by Staff Corporal Martin (instructor) departed RMAS on Ex DOWNHILL DRAGON consisting of of five days mountain biking in in in in South Wales With top of of the range bikes kitted out out with full full suspension and full-body dirt suits we we were ready for anything the trails could throw at us us The week was spent
either hurtling down trails at at Bike Park Wales or or the the Black Mountain Cycle Centre or or or or challenging technical climbs at at Afan Forest Forest Park and the Forest Forest of Dean in in Glouces- tershire The downhill routes typically consisted of incredibly muddy conditions Lessons had to to be learnt about the the the “line” one took through the the the corners balancing our weight on on the the the the the bikes Fur- thermore we we learnt how to to “push” the the the bike bike away from us us and and lean back so as to to land both wheels on on on on the the ground at once Our main learning points on on on on on the the second day included: trying to generally relax whilst riding tips on on on braking and using speed to cross difficult obstacles/jumps One OCdt Knight
of the the more helpful tips when cornering was to to shift your your weight into the the corner corner by turning your your hips Most importantly we we we learnt that more often than than not speed was was key as as as as well as as as as focusing on where your bike was was going rather than than staring helplessly at at the the front wheel In terms of climbing this presented a a a a a a real challenge however many of the the the skills learnt on on the the the downhill sections were applicable here including looking round the the the cor- ners and and maintaining speed and and momentum In particular Day 5 saw us us climb roughly 1000ft up to to to to the the the the the top top of of the the the the the W2 trail which took us us along the the the the the tops of of the the the the the the the fells past the the the the the the the windmill farm overlook- ing ing ing the the the the valley Uphill surprisingly was the the the the most lethal and saw us falling off regularly due to our lack of of momentum over some tricky tree roots Overall the the trip was a a a a a resounding success and thoroughly enjoyable seeing the the the entire group stretched out of of o their their comfort zones and improving in in in in all aspects of of o their their mountain biking proficiency!
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