Emails from cross country racers after their BetterRide mountain bike coaching session/s and camps.

“I learned more today than in the last 10-11 years of just riding” (in a rushed 3.5 hour lesson, BetterRide camps are 19-22 hours over 3 days!)

– Ross Schnell, Jan. 23rd 2010, Singlespeed World Champion, 2008 Downieville Classic Winner, Team Trek

Read what Ross Schnell said about training with Gene in his blog: http://rossschnell.com/updates.html

“Gene,

The results are starting to trickle in as I have the time to ride some of my local rides that I track my times on.  I’m astonished!  My descending time from the summit of Chimney Gulch to the Beaver Brook cross over dropped from a personal best of 6:51.0 to 5:46.0, for the bottom section it went from a personal best of 13:42.0 to 10:12.2.  Considering that I really haven’t had enough time to practice a lot yet, I’m stunned at the improvement.  I can also say that I felt more in control than I used to and I cleaned a section I’ve never had the balls to even try before.
Again Gene, I can’t thank you enough.  The camp was great.  Your ability to break skills down into digestible parts, watch riders and help them refine techniques, your humility and sense of humor make you a world class coach.  I’ll be taking your next level two clinic this year and probably a refresher next year.”

– Mark Forgy, expert XC racer, mountain bike fanatic

“Hey Gene,

Just wanted to give you an update and let you know that I am starting to experience the delayed effects of your camp.  I knew when the camp ended that I was leaving with some new skills that were helpful immediately.  But I also knew there were other skills that were going to take more practice, patience and time.  Well, I’m starting to see them.  I’ve been practicing descending the way you instructed us but until the last couple of weeks, I knew I was still faster descending the way I always had – I was just more comfortable that way.  But in the last couple of weeks, it all kind of clicked.  I’m not winning any downhill races – yet – but all of a sudden (and it really did seem to happen pretty suddenly) your techniques took over and instead of just using them at low speeds only when I thought about it, I was using them all over the trails and feeling pretty comfortable.  Now I find myself only reverting to my old techniques when I come into a corner already off balance.  Anyway, thanks, it’s a great feeling – can’t wait to use them on race courses this year!

Take care,
SK” Sarah Kaufman, top pro endurance racer

Gene,

Tonight was the first night of practice cyclocross races.  The cornering techniques I learned in you camp last weekend rock on the cross bike.  I was able to carry speed through the corners and off cambers that I could only dream of last year!  I was actually found myself cranking up the speed before the corners instead of braking. Nobody else is using this technique.  I found my self keeping pace with stronger riders just on cornering skill alone.  Imagine after I’ve a had a few weeks to practice.

I had best time of my life on a mountain bike at your camp, and look forward to doing another one next spring.

Best,
– Chris Cornelison September 15, 2009 (2 days after his camp!)

Hi Gene,

Just wanted to show you what your lessons made me do this past weekend!  If you click on the photo or link to the photo album look through the album and on the 2nd page, bottom row, there’s a great shot of me doing what you taught me to do with my elbows-totally Brian Lopes style I was impressed to see myself doing that-a big change in my riding style and I know it’ll make me faster in the long run.

So thanks and I may have some time coming up where I can make it to one of your camps-I’ll let you know.

I hope all is well with you.

–Amanda Riley, Kenda, Titus, Hayes Team, winners of 2008 24 hours of Old Pubelo

This thank-you is long overdue. Please accept my apologies. Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I am riding 5-6 times per week and am enjoying mountain biking more than ever thanks to your camp. Your instruction was the best I have received in any sport. It is obvious you have spent a lot of time observing and dissecting the art of mountain biking as you have superior knowledge of how to mountain bike. In addition, you are excellent at explaining everything to your campers. In fact, it wasn’t until I went to a local’s day clinic a few weeks ago that I realized how great you instruction really was. Your explanations for some of the same moves were so much better and effective. Thanks Gene.

I also found your mind- and body-wellness talks very informative. I liked hearing about the latest flexibility and strength training philosophies and I liked the mind tricks you showed us. Thanks to your teaching, I now better understand the impact the mind has on the body. I practice visioning on the trail and it really helps!

As I said in my first email, I really want to race, but would only do so after going to your camp. Well, now that I have, I feel I am ready to give racing a shot. Thank you for the help you have given me. I am very grateful for the opportunity I have had to learn from you. I hope to hear more about your accomplishments in the future.
Keep riding hard.

Sincerely,

– Laura Patten (who less than a year after taking a camp with me was winning sport races!)

Gene, thanks for the e-mail.  By the way, after completing your camp in Arizona, I dropped 5 minutes off my previous best lap time at the 12 hours of Temecula mountain bike race (59 to 54 minutes).  Obviously, this was a significant breakthrough.  I’ve also noticed that by being a smoother and more efficient rider and by decoupling my body from the bike, I exert less energy and travel faster.  ”Looking to victory” works like a charm.  Most importantly, the basic skills I was exposed to in your camp (and continue to develop) have made mountain biking more enjoyable.

Many thanks and warm regards,

Keith   Jan 2008

Hi Gene,

I just wanted to let you know that I’ve had big improvements in my racing this year after taking the betteride course (about 10 minutes improvement from last year).  I got 2nd place in the beginner category at Eldora, then placed 15th out of 35 in the Sport category at Winterpark in my first ’sport race’.   I passed people on the downhill for the first time in these two races, and am feeling much more confident on the downhills (I hit 31.5 mph max on a tight singletrack in the Eldora race).

Thanks for the help,
Jonathan Jones

Gene-

Your camp gave me the confidence to go out and try a few races this summer.  My first race was in the beginner 40 to 45 age class in the “Point to Point” cross country race in Winter Park.  While I certainly did not break any records – I at least had a respectable finish and more importantly had a total blast.  My second race was a Super D (much more my style in that there is MUCH less uphill cranking) at Winter Park where I got a second place finish in my age group.  3rd race was a Mountain States Cup Super D race in Copper where I came in tenth.  Again no records but still having a total blast.  My friends the same age as me think I am crazy doing this stuff but I think they are crazy to be sitting on their arses.  Again, thank you for giving me the confidence to go out there and try some racing and hopefully in the near future I will be in another one of your camps!

Say hello to Andy for me.

Sincerely,

Will Edgington, September 1, 2009

Gene,

Thanks again for holding the camp last weekend.  I was finally able to get out and ride yesterday on the falcon trail (loop that goes around the Air Force Academy).  There are two sections that I have had problems with in the past.  One is a tight turn with two drop offs that are oddly spaced and the landing slopes off into some bushes.  I’ve ridden the trail a dozen times and walked that section most times.  Once I tried it and endo’ed into the bushes.  When I rode it yesterday, I cleared it with confidence.  I kept repeating to myself “Do or Do Not – There Is No Try”  I relaxed, saw the line I wanted to take, found my balance and went through the section very controlled – it was great!

The next section is a steep switchback climb with a ton of sand.  I have never made that turn, although I have tried to every time I’ve ridden the trail.  This time I approached the switchback using the techniques and strategy you taught us.  The result – made it!  No problem!

The last thing I noticed is that the whole ride was smoother.  I focused primarily on the vision techniques  - and body position skills.  The ride felt slower than what I normally ride, but it was actually six minutes faster!  Absolutely amazing!

Brad.  Oct. 8, 2008 5 days after his 3 day coaching session

Gene,

Thanks again, you were a great part of my succees for 2005. I had the best year of my life. Part of which at the age of 52, I entered numerous mtn bike races, podiumed 5 times and won the Texas Mountain Bike Racing Association series for my division.

Your instruction, professsionalism and emails went above and beyond all expectations.

Best wishes for 2006 and beyond.

–Kent Wells