Veatch Reports on Fluidride Training at Duthie

A group of close buds and a couple interesting individuals that I’ve never met before showed up to join me for a two-day training session with Simon Lawton from Fluidride at the Duthie Skills Park on April 10th and 11th.

I had originally contacted Evergreen earlier in the year to see about going to their skills class that Cage Aaron, Aaron Althauser, and I took in 2009 at Colonnade, which was fantastic. That course has moved to Duthie, so Evergreen suggested we contact Fluidride. After talking to Simon, ordering the fantastic Fluidride video, having a pizza and beer video party, and watching the vid, we realized we had no idea what we were doing and decided we should have stay at home.

Unfortunately, we had already rented a house 10 minutes from Duthie Skills Park and procured Simon’s instruction. At $120 an hour for six hours over two days (split among us), we decided we’d show up.

Simon has been racing mountain bikes for over 20 years, with 15 years of experience in the pro downhill ranks. He has had over 50 pro podium finishes at regional events, and silver and bronze medals from the UCI Master’s World Championships in DH in 2005 and 2006. Impressive credentials aside, he’s a very good instructor. This was evident from the video, but more so face-to-face after I crashed on the very first exercise and he was able to explain why.

Braking, flat and off-camber turning, pumping, loading corners, technical climbing, 2-3 foot drops, manuals, J-hopping, and jumping were some of the main points we focused. Simon read me like a book. He pulled me aside, told me that I must have some road experience, and my focus for the weekend was to get my knees out. And wow, what a difference.

The other members of our group had similar experiences. Simon also told me to stop wrecking, lighten up your grip and loosen your body, separate your hands and feet so they’re independent, look through the turn, and don’t aim for the tree. I think he also told Cage to stop hopping around so much.

After the first day, we had an opportunity to ride an 8-mile out and back trail that climbs out of Duthie to practice some of our skills. Forgetting Simon’s advice, I bit the first corner of the ride. My squeaky turtle alerted me to that fact as soon as I plowed him into the dirt, immediately before plowing my face into the dirt further down the trail. Good thing we had a second day of training.

Look through, load the front, inside knee out, chin towards the goal, pressure on the bars, outside foot down but knee slightly bent so you’re not at the end of your rope, load the apex - and the list goes on. When I’m riding now I hear Simon in my head. Just a little more confidence is all it takes.

In summary, Fluidride is an exceptional value, and even better when experienced with a group. Whether you’re an absolute beginner or a seasoned athlete, Simon is an exceptional instructor with a firm grasp of tangible actions that lead to results. He can read bad habits and offer solutions. Fluidride is aptly named. I highly recommend it, as well as his video.