Firecrest MTB in partnership with Northamptonshire Sport are running a range of MTB Skills Courses at Northampton Bike Park.
Find out more and book your place below: –
Following the success of the 2023 training camp Firecrest MTB are once again partnering with Ride Southern Spain to put together a 7 day pre-season warm weather training camp based from their stunning accommodation in Lanjarón, riding the Alpujarras mountain range on the southern slopes of the Sierra Nevada from Saturday 9th March to Sunday 16th March 2024.
We have put together a package price of £800.00 per person.
The package price includes the following provided by Ride Southern Spain:-
Also the use of the:
The package price includes the following provided by Firecrest Mountain Biking:-
You need to purchase your flights – flying to Malaga Airport on Saturday 9th March.
The accommodation is a short walk away from town, where there are plenty of bars and restaurants and a local supermarket.
The local trails are great, mainly natural, rocky and technical. All our routes are accessed with either none, or a minimal amount of pedalling/pushing. Ride Southern Spain have 2 x Toyota Land Cruisers to get riders as close to the trailhead as possible.
To book your place please e-mail ian@firecrestmtb.com or call 07711 638195
The Firecrest Mountain Bikxing Adult Rider Development Programme (RDP) based at Rushmere Country Park is your chance to join a Group Skills Course for riders aged 18 years old and over, focussed on Skills Development through a range of terrain.
Firecrest Mountain Biking’s Skills Training is underpinned by ‘The System’ our proven Skills Training methods which supports our ‘holistic approach’ to MTB Skills Development. ‘The System’ enables us to work with you and give you an insight into ‘why to do’ things over ‘how to do’ them. This in turn gives you a unique perspective on developing your Skills and how to improve your performance when you’re riding trails.
This Group Course will enable you to access Firecrest MTB Skills Training at a significantly reduced rate. It is a chance to join a focussed Training Group aimed at enabling you to achieve your skills goals.
Check out Neil Hawkins Photo’s from June’s Adult DeVo Here>>>
The Course is ideal for Downhill and Enduro Riders new to the Firecrest MTB Skills Courses and riders that have previously had MTB Skills Training from Firecrest Mountain Biking. The Course will cover an introduction to the ‘The System’ and then a range of ‘Technical Trail Features’, Including but not limited to; Jumps, Drops Corners and Technical Downhill Sections showing how you can use ‘The System’ to optimise your Skills, Mindset, and Performance.
‘The System’ will enable you to understand how to optimise your riding and easily identify areas that you need to focus on as you develop your skills. Tapping into our experience will give you the knowledge and confidence needed to ‘fast track’ the improvements to make those gains that will have you riding faster with more confidence.
“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.
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>>>
The Firecrest Mountain Bikxing Adult Rider Development Programme (RDP) based at Rushmere Country Park is your chance to join a Group Skills Course for riders aged 18 years old and over, focussed on Skills Development through a range of terrain.
Firecrest Mountain Biking’s Skills Training is underpinned by ‘The System’ our proven Skills Training methods which supports our ‘holistic approach’ to MTB Skills Development. ‘The System’ enables us to work with you and give you an insight into ‘why to do’ things over ‘how to do’ them. This in turn gives you a unique perspective on developing your Skills and how to improve your performance when you’re riding trails.
This Group Course will enable you to access Firecrest MTB Skills Training at a significantly reduced rate. It is a chance to join a focussed Training Group aimed at enabling you to achieve your skills goals.
Check out Neil Hawkins Photo’s from June’s Adult DeVo Here>>>
The Course is ideal for Downhill and Enduro Riders new to the Firecrest MTB Skills Courses and riders that have previously had MTB Skills Training from Firecrest Mountain Biking. The Course will cover an introduction to the ‘The System’ and then a range of ‘Technical Trail Features’, Including but not limited to; Jumps, Drops Corners and Technical Downhill Sections showing how you can use ‘The System’ to optimise your Skills, Mindset, and Performance.
‘The System’ will enable you to understand how to optimise your riding and easily identify areas that you need to focus on as you develop your skills. Tapping into our experience will give you the knowledge and confidence needed to ‘fast track’ the improvements to make those gains that will have you riding faster with more confidence.
Firecrest Mountain Biking’s Young Rider Development Programme’s (DeVo) is on the road. With Aston Hill Bike Park staying closed we are heading to BikePark Wales for day at one of the UK’s top BikeParks.
The day trip to BikePark Wales is for Mountain Bikers aged from 12 years to 18 years old its recommended that you are a DeVo Level2 Regular having attended at least 3 DeVo Level2 courses in the last 6 months.
We will be riding the trails at BikePark Wales under the watchful eye of Firecrest MTB’s highly experienced staff providing expert tuition.
The trails at BikePark Wales offer something for everyone with a range of graded mountain bike trails. We’ll also be using the Uplift so there’s no riding or pushing to be done to get back to the top for another run!
We’ll meet outside the Visitor Welcome Centre at BikePark Wales for 9.15am prompt you’ll need to arrange your own travel but there may be the option to lift share.
NB: This course requires participants to have and wear their own Full Face Helmets with gloves and knee pads as a minimum level of protection.
We have a packed programme of Mountain Bike Skills Courses for kids over the Easter Holidays. With the Holidays split by a week for Beds and Bucks we have 3 weeks of sessions so you won’t miss out. With DeVo Level1 and DeVo Evo on Tuesday’s and DeVo Level2 all day on Thursday’s. We also have a Girls DeVo on Saturday 2nd April from 9.30am – 12.30pm.
The Level1 Courses can be booked through Eventbrite and the Level2 Courses are part of British Cycling Cycling Development Pathway Centres – Gravity Programme and can be booked through the British Cycling Website. Find out more about the opportunities through the British Cycling Development Pathway and what it means for the DeVo Programme here>>>
Here’s our programme with links to the booking pages:-
We have a packed programme of Mountain Bike Skills Courses for kids over Summer Holidays. With DeVo Level1 and DeVo Evo on Tuesdays and DeVo Level2 all day on Thursdays. We also have a Girls DeVo on Saturday 31st July from 9.30am – 12.30pm.
The Level1 Courses can be booked through Eventbrite and the Level2 Courses are part of British Cycling Cycling Development Pathway Centres – Gravity Programme and can be booked through the British Cycling Website. Find out more about the opportunities through the British Cycling Development Pathway and what it means for the DeVo Programme here>>>
Here’s our packed programme with links to the booking pages:-
Just as I thought 2020 couldn’t throw any more curved balls, I get the news that Aston Hill Bike Park won’t be re-opening after the second Lockdown and that it will have to close for 6-8 months so that the large number of ash trees with ‘chalara ash dieback’ can be felled by Forestry England.
Aston Hill Bike Park has been the home of my Firecrest Mountain Biking business in various forms for 23 years, so in many ways I see Aston Hill Bike Park as a ‘member of my family’. I have spent thousands of hours on ‘the Hill’ riding, racing, promoting Races, trail building and skills coaching. It has generated so many good memories, friends and standout moments which means this news has been a devastating blow, especially coming on the back of such a challenging year with the Covid-19 Pandemic.
For 22 years I have run Mountain Bike Skills Courses at Aston Hill Bike Park, returning to run them full time again from 2015. Firecrest Mountain Biking is my sole source of income so my first thoughts on hearing the news of the closure was to source a local alternative. Fortunately the staff at Rushmere Country Park on the outskirts of Leighton Buzzard, 15 miles from Aston Hill, have welcomed me with open arms. It’s a fantastic venue for my Mountain Bike Skills Training. What it lacks in the elevation we enjoy on Aston Hill it makes up for with a series of short feature filled ‘gravity trails’ and a winding 6 kilometre cross-country trail that has some excellent sections for training.
The best news is that I can continue to offer my full programme of Skills Courses and Training for riders of all ages and abilities across the mountain bike disciplines of Downhill, Enduro and Cross-Country. The even better news for those that found the ground conditions, particularly in the wet, challenging on Aston Hill you’ll be pleased to hear that Rushmere Country Park sits on the Greensands Ridge and has very similar ground conditions to Woburn/Aspley/Chicksands with the sandy loam surface offering up lots of year round grip.
If you have a Course booked I’ll be in touch with all the details you need on your booking and the new venue.If you haven’t got round to booking your Course find out more on our website www.firecrestmtb.com . I look forward to seeing you for some training in the future at Rushmere.
Firecrest is not leaving Aston Hill for good. The silver lining to this cloud is that this is a chance for Aston Hill Bike Park to get a much needed make over, refresh the ageing trails and new trail sections to be added. With heavy machinery coming in to carry out the felling works there will be some sections of trail that will be unrecognisable once the the trees are gone. Over 300 plus trees of concern are peppered across the Hill and other trees are being thinned to improve the woodland ecology. Aston Hill will look a little different when we return which should offer up some great options when it comes to refurbishing the trails.
I’ll be working with Bike Park Chilterns CIC (Community Interest Company) to ensure Aston Hill Bike Park can come back better than ever and we can get back to riding the trails that we’ve all come to know and love and with an added new twist. Keep an eye on my social media feeds for updates, the latest on the work being carried out on Aston Hill, and the Skills Courses I’m running at Rushmere Country Park.
See you on the trails!
Forestry England have updated their guidance and I can return to running group course coaching alongside the 1-2-1 courses I have been running at Aston Hill Bike Park.
This means that I can get back to running the Young Rider Development Programme – DeVo and the Adult Rider Development Programme group courses.
There’s just enough time to squeeze in some Young Rider Development Courses before the end of the Summer Holidays. We are running at Level1 and DeVo Evo Course on Tuesday 25th August and a Level2 Course on Thursday 27th August. You can find out more and book your place here>>>
Again I would like to thank everyone that has supported me through these challenging times. It really means a lot to me to have you checking in and supporting me and my family in all the ways you have. I know you can’t wait to get back to improving your skills too. Thank you.
I’d also like to welcome those who have taken up or got back into Mountain Biking during lockdown. if you looking to improve your skills then have a look through the range of mountain bike skills courses we offer or get in touch. There’s no better time to get off on the right track than at the beginning and i have range of courses for riders of all ages and abilities.
Thanks again and I look forward to seeing you on Aston Hill!
