“Hi my names Melisa, I’ve been given your number by my husband Alex who used to ride on your Young Rider Development Programme – DeVo back in the 00’s. He said you’d be the right person to help me learn to mountain bike. I’ve just won a competition through my work and they’ll pay for me to be trained so that I can surprise my husband and ride an MTB Enduro race with him”. Of course that’s not your usual telephone enquiry but one that lead to a summer of skills training for Mel culminating in her first Mountain Bike Race at the Pedalhounds E-MTB Enduro early in October.

Mel works for Imagine Causing and the competition she’d won was their One Life Challenge. Where they fund their staff to pursue their own One Life Challenges. Mel’s husband Alex had brought her the bike and all the kit so she could join him and their 20 month old son out on the trails. Mel thought it would be a great way to facilitate the dream of adrenaline, fun and love-filled family memories for years to come and to prove to herself that any challenge is attainable.

Chatting through Mel’s goals I put together a programme of training courses to build here skills and confidence on her E-bike and to get her ready for her first E-MTB Enduro Race that she’d entered in October. Then we worked together on developing her skills, fitness and race craft to get her ready for the race and it was great to see Mel’s progression throughout the sessions and it was great to see her achieve her dream of lining up for her first race.

You can find out more and follow Mel’s journey on the Imagine Cruising website with video’s of her training journey culminating in a full video of her surprising her husband Alex at the race and how she got on between the tapes for the first time.

Find out all about Mel’s One Life Challenge and watch Mel’s video’s here>>

If you have a personal challenge or are looking to develop your mountain bike skills then we have a course for you. Find out more about our range of courses here>>>