TESTIMONIALS
My girlfriend signed us up for a skills clinic this weekend and since she's faster and more skilled than me (plus I thought Grit was really not that interested in coaching guys), I wasn't sure I would get much out of it, but I came along because she offered to bring me.
Tina totally blew my mind!
As an intermediate self-taught off-road cyclist, I figured some things out on my own but really don't have the textbook skills - how to position my body, how to move my body and the bike separately, heck - even wheelies were a challenge (during the lesson I learned that wheelies are easy but manuals are the actual challenge I am struggling with :))
Tina figured out our skill levels, gave me great positioning tips - little things like bend your elbows and keep your heels down - that immediately led to better balance, confidence, and control - and didn't make me feel like I didn't belong there even while she focused a bit more on my girlfriend (which is what we both wanted).
Further, she vastly improved my safety on drops and taught me how to safely do a flat landing off of one, taught me how to use my body to run a pump track without pedaling, and was in general a badass whose experience she expertly mapped to mine ("ok, on a singlespeed cross bike, which you've used most, this would be different because X"), and most importantly increased my confidence - around switchbacks, in the rock gardens, and on jumps. We rode hard the next two days and I felt great - went faster and more safely!
I can't wait to have another lesson with Tina.
And only afterwards did I realize "oh, this is THAT Tina. The one who they named a race series I once raced in after..." :)
- Chris McCraw
Tina totally blew my mind!
As an intermediate self-taught off-road cyclist, I figured some things out on my own but really don't have the textbook skills - how to position my body, how to move my body and the bike separately, heck - even wheelies were a challenge (during the lesson I learned that wheelies are easy but manuals are the actual challenge I am struggling with :))
Tina figured out our skill levels, gave me great positioning tips - little things like bend your elbows and keep your heels down - that immediately led to better balance, confidence, and control - and didn't make me feel like I didn't belong there even while she focused a bit more on my girlfriend (which is what we both wanted).
Further, she vastly improved my safety on drops and taught me how to safely do a flat landing off of one, taught me how to use my body to run a pump track without pedaling, and was in general a badass whose experience she expertly mapped to mine ("ok, on a singlespeed cross bike, which you've used most, this would be different because X"), and most importantly increased my confidence - around switchbacks, in the rock gardens, and on jumps. We rode hard the next two days and I felt great - went faster and more safely!
I can't wait to have another lesson with Tina.
And only afterwards did I realize "oh, this is THAT Tina. The one who they named a race series I once raced in after..." :)
- Chris McCraw