Gear Up Girl

Gear Up Girl MTB Weekends

September 8/9 2012

Women’s Only Trips to Canberra

Fully Catered, Skills Sessions, Meals, Accommodation & Guides

Sydney Ladies MTB Skills Sessions - Scroll Down

News 2012 - With just one more trip slated for 2012 - September 8/9 - it is time to book now. As per usualy, we've got some stella skills coaches coming along to teach you everything you've ever wanted to know about riding a MTB. Plus answer ANY question you may have that is bike related.

For an example itinerary of what a weekend looks like please click here. More details about what a weekend entails and who we are can be found below the youtube clip and testimonials.

REVIEW - from our one of our Gear Up Girl Weekends in 2011 - Off to Canberra we go - who says it's too cold to ride down there in May and June!? I must admit that it was a brisk 2C when we came home from the pub on Saturday night but ALL our GUG MTB riders were up at 6:30am ready to ride on Sunday morning, this is the FIRST time ever that we have all ALL riders up for the cobweb cleaner ride! Read more in our blog to see pictures from the weekend click here.

Sydney Ladies MTB Skills Sessions

During the months of September, October and November we will be running blocks of skill sessions in the Moore and Centennial Park area on Tuesday evenings.

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September Block - Tuesday Evenings 4, 11, 18 & 25

October Block - Tuesday Evenings 9, 16, 23 & 30

November Block - Tuesday Evenings 6, 13, 20 & 27

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Sessions start at 6:15pm and end 7:30pm they are broken down into four sessions

Session One - How to changing a tyre - Slow Corners - Sweeping Corners - Braking - Neutral Position - Balance

Session Two - Rear wheel on and off - Tight Corners at a Higher Pace - Climbing Technique - Balance - Neutral Position

Session Three -Lubing your chain - Head checks - Obstacles - Neutral Position - Pumping the Bike - Wheelies - Drops

Session Four - Putting Practice into Trail Sections

Cost - $100

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Testimonials - 'Everything was extremely well organised. Flawless execution and timed perfectly. Jill May 2011 'Great weekend - definitely keen for more!' Katie Feb 2011 'Hi Will - Firstly thanks so much for an absolutely fantastic weekend. The whole trip was so well organised - transport, accommodation, food, bikes, skill sessions and of course the rides!!' Nov 2010. 'Thanks so much Will for taking us on a memorable adventure which was so well organised ...' Wendy May 2010. 'Will, I thought the whole experience was excellent. Very professional, yet informal and fun. The progression from skills session to Sparrow to Secret to Stromlo was very logical ...' Nicole June 2010. Read more testimonials.

A little about us, we take fully catered mountain bike trips from Sydney to Canberra to ride flowing single track. Saturday morning we jump on a bus and place your bike on our custom made bike trailer. Why Canberra? As you may or may not know, Canberra is considered the home of mountain biking in Australia, it held the 2009 World Championships and holds many other annual highly acclaimed races and events.

What is the skill level required for the weekend? We do two MTB SKILLS over the weekend, the first one being at the first ride site on the Saturday. So if you’re just starting off or a seasoned vet, this weekend is for you! On Saturday, the first ride of the weekend, a skills session will take place where you’ll learn how to brake, corner, deal with obstacles and other tricks. The session is taken by a qualified instructor with years of experience. There is also another session run on the Sunday to learn some more MTB skills.

The skills sessions give everyone the opportunity to ask questions that you’ve always been afraid to ask. You will be able to draw upon these skills as the weekend progresses and feel yourself better equipped to be true mtnbiker.

SKILL LEVEL REQUIRED - During our recent trips we have had many ladies join us for the weekends. Some of those riders have been beginners while others have been racers for years. We feel comfortable instructing across the whole range of riders abilities. What riders will come to appreciate is that the beauty of Canberra is that the trails, single track that is, are built for all abilities. Forget Sydney’s boring fire trails!!

COST - The cost for the weekend is $339. This covers accommodation, food and all transport. Accommodation is at the Australian Institute of Sport. For more information check out the FAQ page on the site then hit Book Now to make sure you get your spot on this trip.

EQUIPMENT - we recommend that you at least have a comfortable pair of cycling shorts, gloves, solid (non-flashing) lights, helmet and a working recently serviced mountain bike.

Please note that a wavier must be signed before the session starts

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mtnbike.com.au also offer small group or one-on-one MTB skills sessions. They are held in the Sydney metro area, where convenient for you the rider. For more information please contact Will via email - info@mtnbike.com.au

Reviews from past GUG MTB trips

We have now experienced two Gear Up Girl (GUG) weekends. Fourteen ladies ventured down to Canberra on the first weekend followed by thirteen the following weekend to play on the trails. We all had a great time, lots of laughs and all the riders improved throughout the weekend. Both weekends had perfect weather for the entire trip, crisp Autumn days, almost balmy Saturday nights and clear skies.

On the first GUG weekend everyone was exited for what was ahead. One rider could barely contain her excitement who commented via her facebook page 'On a bus with a bunch of girls squealing and brushing their hair....'

For both weekends we had our usual stellar mountain bike skills session leader Peter Dowse who was joined by the 2nd place getter at the recent National 24 Hour Championships, Claire Graydon. After learning how to corner, balance and manoeuvre the bike better we were off on a tour of Sparrow Hill. Two different groups worked on different skills out on course. They all made it back for a big lunch and ready to grab a coffee on our way back to the AIS.

The first weekends Saturday afternoon ride went all the way through dusk to almost complete darkness! It was hard to get these girls off the trails! The following weekend we had our Radical Lights at the ready and could ride into the night. A hearty meal at the AIS, everyone loves ALL YOU CAN EAT, then off to All-Bar-Nun for chat over an ale.

On the first Sunday morning we had an impressive eight riders out for more trails. The second weekend we had nine!! We have NEVER had such great numbers out for these sessions!! A quick hour spin before breakfast is the way I wish everyday would start!

For the first weekend at Stromlo half of the riders made it to the top with our other leader for the weekend Stacey Birch, two hours out there just flies by but it was a great opportunity for the ladies to put the skills they had picked up over the weekend in to their final ride.

The second weekend saw a busy Stromlo with us splitting up and having our own adventures out in the dirt. The majority of the riders were impossible to get off the hill and down to lunch as they were having such a great time.

Thank you to all the ladies for such great weekends. We'll be seeing the majority of them again sometime in the near future for another weekend.

Other reviews can be found on our blog - click here.

Will, I thought the whole experience was excellent. Very professional, yet informal and fun. The progression from skills session to Sparrow to Secret to Stromlo was very logical and looking back, I can't believe I rode the Stromlo trails given my skill level before the trip. That is a testament to the building up of skills over the two days at a pace that suits the rider. Well done. The whole set up with the AIS is a brilliant score ... It also adds a novel "sporting" theme to the weekend ... I really enjoyed the rides with you ... because you would intuitively know when to ride in front for demonstration, then when to ride behind for assessment & instruction. It can be a fine balance between learning versus fun but I think you nailed it. Overall I will definitely recommend these trips to others ... I would struggle to even think of any suggested improvements to be honest ... I wish you all the very best and believe that you have the skill set and personality to make this business a success.

Nicole (June 2010)

Thanks so much Will for taking us on a memorable adventure which was so well organised. I loved that the weekend had structure, but was still so laid back with plenty of choices available to everyone ... The freedom you gave us to go into smaller groups and ride on our own was also appreciated as we could ride at our own pace, enjoy riding with our 'new friends' and feel like we could create own little adventure. Thanks again for taking the time to organise the food, accommodation, travel, skills day, bike transport, pick up and drop off and FUN, so well!!

Wendy (May 2010)