Today, Jenn and I headed down to Conyers, GA so that she could attend a woman’s beginner clinic held by Namrita O’Dea. Namrita is on her way to becoming the fastest endurance racer in the woman’s class so her advise for Jenn was going to be incredible. Her and her husband Eddie (another endurance monster) also own 55Nine Performance. 55Nine is the best bike fitting service in the southeast, so check them out when you are ready have your bike fit like a glove. This also gave me the chance to ride a trail that I haven’t ridden since 1996. For those of you that remember, that was the first year that mountain biking was a Olympic sport. This Olympic trail is in Conyers, GA at the International Horse Park. You can still see the wooden platforms for the camera crews scattered around the trail.
The beginner clinic went great. Jenn got a lot of valuable information during the day that will really help her riding. The guys out there can attest, sometimes your better half does not listen to your advise like she would from and outsider. This beginners clinic was a perfect chance to get woman specific riding advise from one of the best. On the way home she was really excited about the way the ride went. She even had her first OTB! Her leg is going to be pretty bruised and she is limping around a little bit…but she’ll be ok…she’s tough! I did make the following comment though…
From the Bike198 shopHero Dirt - Trail Forecast - Send It!$26Shop Remember all those times that you would hit me in bed to see what hurt?!
She quickly reminded me that it would probably not be a good idea to try that out. I think she is really going to get ahold of the whole mountain biking thing. I asked her in the car if she had fun and the answer was “yes” with a big smile on her face. That really is the most important part for a beginning rider. The endurance and skill sets will come, but you really need to enjoy what you are doing.
CONYERS Horse Park Mountain Bike Trail
Like I said before, I haven’t ridden this trail since sometime in 1996 when they opened the trail to the public. From what I understand, it has changed pretty drastically since then, but the topo and terrain is still the same. I really enjoyed the trail. With a mixture of granite and rooty, fast sections, the trail really kept you on your toes. You never knew when that fast downhill was going to take a turn to a steep up. I am looking forward to the next trip back, but I think next time I will take the 6″ bike. There are a lot of areas that you can have a lot of fun on with a little bit more burl.
Overall, a great day. I got to get some riding in and Jenn got to get another real taste for mountain biking. You can’t really ask for much better than that.
I founded Bike198 back in 2008 and started riding bikes seriously in 1994. A lot has changed since that time and one of the greatest releases is still getting out on the bike and shredding trail or tearing up the road.